What to Consider When Choosing Between a Dorm or Off-Campus Apartment

By Brittany Loeffler on January 25, 2018

Many college students are faced with the decision of living in an on-campus dorm or off-campus apartment while attending school. There are many things you and your roommates should consider when making this decision. Where you choose to live could not only affect your happiness, grades, and social life, but also your wallet.

It’s important to weigh the facts and think about what is most important to you when choosing to live in a dorm or off-campus apartment. Hopefully, this article will help you with this decision.

college, college campus, campus, location, dorm

via Pixabay

Location

An important factor when deciding where to live during the school year is the location. When you live on campus, you will be close, typically just a few minute’s walk away, from your classes, library, and on-campus amenities. There is no need to drive a car or take a bus each day to get to campus. When you live in a dorm on campus, you tend to feel part of the campus and can partake in campus activities in a moment’s notice.

When you live in an off-campus apartment, you may have quite a ways to travel to get to campus each day. Consider this when budgeting out living costs if you have to have a car or take public transportation. It will add up over the year. You should also consider how much time you spend on campus. Think about how many late night study sessions you will have in the library each week. Is it reasonable or safe to travel back to your off-campus apartment in the early hours of the morning?

Privacy

How important is your privacy? Take a minute and think about your lifestyle and preferences. Do you love having someone with you at all times? Or do you value having your alone time? Think about this when deciding between a dorm or off-campus apartment.

When living in a dorm, you will most likely be sharing your room with one other person. That means sleeping, eating, studying, and getting changed in your room with someone else there. This can be a little overwhelming for some people, especially if they have never shared a room with someone else.

You may find yourself looking for some privacy on campus while living in a dorm and becoming frustrated with the results. If you go to a medium or large-sized school, it can be difficult to find an empty spot on campus where you can relax and be by yourself. Chances are, you won’t be able to escape the “campus-feel.”

If you decide to live in an off-campus apartment, you will most likely have your own bedroom and a shared common area. This allows you to have the best of both worlds, ultimate privacy in your bedroom and the chance to be social and hang out with your roommates in the kitchen and living area.

off-campus living costs, on-campus living costs, dorm costs, costs of college living

Infographic by Brittany Loeffler

Costs

It’s common knowledge that dorms are more expensive than an off-campus apartment. The average cost of living in a dorm, according to MyCollegeGuide is $9,448 per year. Now, remember, this only covers housing during the months you are away at school, which does not include winter or spring break most of the time.

Compare that cost to the average cost of an off-campus apartment, which is $7,134 per year according to a study done by the University of California. Students can save over $2,000 by renting an off-campus apartment and splitting the rent between roommates over living in a dorm. Of course, this can depend on where your college is located as rents may be higher than dorms in certain areas.

Some students may rely on certain grants and scholarships to pay for schooling, which can be used to cover living expenses when living in a dorm. Many scholarships will not cover the cost of rent when students move to an off-campus apartment.

Don’t forget about hidden costs either such as meal plans, utilities, and renters insurance.

Utilities and Amenities

A hidden cost of living in an off-campus apartment are utilities. Most apartments will require tenants to pay utilities such as electricity, WiFi, and gas separately from the rent. On average, tenants will pay about $245 in utilities per month or about 10% of their monthly rent when living with roommates. This, of course, depends on how you live and the age of the apartment.

Amenity-wise, on-campus dorms come with ample amounts. Many dorms will have study lounges, available computers, and events. Not to mention, residents are close to campus gyms and campus-related amenities. Off-campus apartments rarely have luxurious amenities that can be found on campus.

Kitchen Access

Living in an on-campus dorm means getting creative with a microwave to make some of your favorite dishes. Residents typically have limited access to any kitchen amenities other than a microwave and mini-fridge. Students will usually resort to using their meal plans to eat on campus. This is yet another expense to consider when living on campus. The average, unlimited meal plan can cost $1,600 per semester.

The food students typically find on campus that is covered by their meal plans is usually unhealthy, fried, and processed foods. Not only does this affect your health, but can also affect the way you feel and your success in school.

Having access to a fully equipped kitchen in an off-campus apartment will not only cut down on your average food costs, but will help you learn how to cook and have a healthy diet. The average person spends $125 per month on groceries, bringing the total cost to just $1,500 for the year.

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via Pixabay

Restrictions

There are plenty of rules and restrictions residents must follow when living in an on-campus dorm. Restrictions on what you can and cannot bring in to the dorm and how many guests are allowed in your room may be mandated by your Residential Assistant and university. There may also be room checks scheduled throughout the semester that you have to deal with.

An off-campus apartment is more lenient and has fewer restrictions than a dorm. The restrictions you may run into are the allowance of pets or the maximum number of people who can sleep in the apartment for a certain amount of time before they must pay rent. Tenants have much more freedom to do as they wish when on a lease.

Supervision

As a freshman in college, it’s likely advised that you live in a dorm during your first year. Moving out of your parents’ house with strict supervision to complete freedom in an apartment can be a shock and set someone up for failure. Sometimes having certain restrictions can help students learn responsibility and prepare them to live in an off-campus apartment.

If you are an upperclassman and are ready to take on full independence, it may be time to rent an off-campus apartment. With no supervision over how you live, you can start to create the type of life you’d like to live and learn what type of person you may be.

Learn to Live On Your Own

As mentioned above, you are still supervised when living on campus and have someone to go to to help you with any problems you may run into. They have preset rules for you to follow and help you to succeed.

When you live in an off-campus apartment, you must learn to live on your own. You have to figure things out on your own. This can be problems between you and your roommates or maintenance issues around the house. It gives you a great opportunity to learn how to take care of yourself and where you live.

Social Life

Living in a dorm allows you to meet a ton of people very easily. If the setup of your dorm has a communal bathroom, you are bound to meet plenty of people and make a lot of friends. Dorms make it easy to get together with your friends because most of them live in the same building or just a few minute’s walk away. There are plenty of places on campus where you can all hang out too.

It can be more difficult to make friends and meet new people when living in an off-campus apartment. There are fewer people to come in contact with, which narrows your chances of meeting people you like. Moving off-campus is great when you have your circle and network of friends, but if you are new to campus, it is recommended to live in a dorm so you can meet people.

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via Pixabay

Study Space

Where are you most productive when studying? Is it in the library on campus or at your desk in your bedroom? This is something to think about when choosing where to live during the school year.

If you find that you study best in a place on campus and you tend to study late at night, it may be beneficial to live somewhere on campus. The convenience of being close to the library may help to improve your grades and keep you motivated to study.

Maybe you do your best studying at home in your room with a lit candle and your study playlist in the background. This is an ambiance you can create for yourself in an off-campus apartment in your private bedroom. The library can be distracting, especially when you run into people you know, so wanting to study at home is completely understandable.

Furniture

One last cost to think about when deciding to live on campus or off campus is purchasing or finding furniture. When you choose to live in a dorm, the room already comes furnished with a bed, desk, chair, and maybe even a wardrobe. It comes with the essentials and everything you need to live in the room. This does mean that other people have used it before so it may not be in the best shape. However, you don’t have to worry about moving or buying furniture.

If you live in a third-floor apartment, you may regret moving off campus when it comes to moving day. Moving furniture takes a ton of energy and definitely more than one person. It can also be pricey to buy furniture, but that also means that you will have furniture to take with you wherever life brings you.

Another option to furnish your apartment and get out of the hassle of moving and carrying furniture is to rent your furniture from a professional company. This allows you have everything you need and not worry about storing it when your lease is up or moving it.

Renters Insurance

Invest in keeping your belongings safe by signing up for a renters insurance policy. Renters insurance will cover the cost to replace your belongings if they are stolen, if there is a fire at the apartment, or if there is weather damage. Not to mention, policies cover liability, belongings that are stolen from a car, and much more.

Unfortunately, renters insurance policies do not cover your belongings when you live in an on-campus dorm. Burglary in dorms is not uncommon on college campuses. In fact, for every 10,000 full-time students, there are 10 robberies. If you happen to be one of the unlucky students who is a victim of a burglary, your belongings will not be protected.

Things to Consider

As you can see, there is a long list of things that you need to consider when deciding to live in an on-campus dorm or off-campus apartment. It all depends on what your expectations of college are, your personality and lifestyle, and readiness for responsibility. If you are an incoming freshman, it’s extremely recommended to live in a dorm so you can establish yourself and have the guidance you need when first starting out. However, if you are an upperclassman ready to gain some more responsibility and learn how to live on your own, it may be time to live in an off-campus apartment. Don’t forget all of the money that you can save while getting more space, privacy, and healthy meals when living off campus!

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