5 Advantages Of Off-Campus Living For College Students

Most colleges require first-year students to live on campus if they don't commute from a family residence. After the first or second year, students are generally free to move out of the residence hall if they want to. Colleges like to promote all the advantages of living on campus, but lots of students aren't thrilled with residence hall life. If you're debating whether to continue living in the dorms or rent an apartment, consider the advantages of apartment living for college students.

More Privacy

Even if you have several roommates, and even if you share a bedroom with a roommate in an apartment, you'll have more privacy than you do in the residence hall. For instance, dorm wings house dozens of people who have to share bathrooms with multiple stalls and multiple showers. The dorms tend to be noisy places, especially those that primarily house freshmen and sophomores.  

More Space

Your apartment bedroom may be as small as your dorm room, but you still have the rest of the apartment to hang out in. You don't need to have all your belongings stuffed into one small room. 

Your Own Kitchen

Residence halls may have a kitchen, but students have to share it with a lot of other people. In an apartment, you're free to bake cookies, cook spaghetti and make a salad whenever you feel like it. You'll have a refrigerator and cabinets with plenty of food storage space. 

Fewer Rules

Your landlord will probably have some rules you must follow. Examples might include not smoking in the apartment or not having a pet. Nevertheless, there will be fewer rules than the residence hall has. Dorms may have quiet hours and prohibit drinking alcohol, for example. Some of the more conservative schools have curfews and restrictions about guests. 

Continuous Housing

You don't have to move in and out of an apartment during the year as you do with a dorm room. Residence halls typically close between semesters or quarters, and only one may be open during the summer. Students with a room in dorms that close for summer must move to a different room if they take summer classes.

In addition, having an apartment makes it easy for you to stay in town over the summer and work without being required to take at least one class. 

What's Your Decision?

You've experienced residence hall life; are you ready for apartment living? If so, start finding out whether students you know who live in an apartment are looking for a roommate, or begin looking for an apartment with friends. You'll experience all the advantages of living off campus and gain a greater sense of responsibility from paying bills and managing your own place. If you're looking for an apartment, visit Pacific Properties for help.