apartment v. dorm

<p>Im trying to decide between having an oncampus apartment in like century
or having a dorm?
would it be hard for freshmen to make friends in an oncampus apartment because im i nterested in doing the aparmtnet but i don't know whether it would be hard to meet people</p>

<p>Fresh year ALWAYS live in dorms! It's a no no to venture on your own for apart... there are far more things to do and people to meet in your dorm building!</p>

<p>Once you get the experience of living in dorms and get a good group of friends... find a house and rent with the group OUTSIDE of campus :)</p>

<p>Ps. what school? town? and how much are we talking about? Did you any research at all on prices? are these apts on campus segregated?</p>

<p>This is the USC forum, so the OP is probably talking of USC, in Los Angeles ;)</p>

<p>I've already applied for Century apts and I'm excited about them. Dorm life just isn't for me! I talked to people who stayed there last year and they said it wasn't too hard to meet people.</p>

<p>o really? ya because im leaning towards apartment too its just that im like scared if nooo freshmen do it and im also scared that id be really isolated. did you talk to the person about atht stuff?</p>

<p>as a freshman IN usc now..
i would TOTALLY suggest living in dorms because u meet SO many more people and u will never b able to have the dorm experience again, which is a lot of fun. </p>

<p>2nd years only have apartment choices... so either way... yea. and i satyed @ parkside suites which was REALLY comfy and nice.. and sociable, contrary to what people say</p>

<p>If you transfer to USC as a sophomore can you dorm/are you required to your first year there? What off campus apartments do you all recomend?</p>

<p>i put down parkside aparts and century on my list, cant bear the thought of sharing toilets with dozens of ppl plus apartments give us the choice of partial meal plans , for ppl like who dont have a set eating time.
and about socializing, its not much of an issue because after all, you see loners in dorms too.</p>

<p>The best freshman apartments are Cardinal Gardens; Century is OK, but I must admit I didn't like Parkside when I visited a friend there.</p>

<p>OK, I'm biased because I'm living in Cardinal Gardens next year. But seriously, dorms are overrated. I tend to spend more time hanging out in my friends' campus-owned apartments than in others' dorm rooms, and I live in Birnkrant. You will have to get used to cooking and cleaning for yourself if you live in an apartment, but I find that my friends who live in apartments really enjoy spending time with their other apartment floormates and are just as friendly. The only potential downside is that you're increasing the potential roommate drama factor by having more roommates, but if one roommate turns out to be a less than ideal living companion, hopefully you'll have one or two others with whom to commiserate.</p>

<p>If you're a transfer, you definitely don't have to live in dorms your first year at USC. As for off-campus housing...I'm afraid I'm not really an expert there. Generally you're better off looking at smaller buildings that aren't owned by big leasing companies like Conquest, but I don't know any specific places that I'd recommend. The Daily Trojan has a ton of classified ads for places around campus and downtown, but at this time of year the pickings are looking pretty slim.</p>

<p>which dorm is the best? I know the answer would be subjective but which dorm is the most vivid and liveliest? I am claustrophobic, i need lots of sunlight or i feel depressed. and there should be many windows. in essence which dorm would fit me?</p>

<p>Century apartments are no longer available for freshman; it's suites and dorms now.</p>

<p>I was looking soo forward to Century, I'm crushed. They haven't even updated their website to take it off the list for freshman housing :(</p>

<p>you guys must be extremely rich. most freshmen live in dorms, but apartments are nicer.</p>

<p>Apartments are rougly the same price. They are actually around 3k less per semester because only a 1k meal plan is require instead of a 4k. Of course part of this savings will be offset by grocery costs, but it's not a bad tradeoff for that much space. I called parkside and they told me that they do not have air conditioning, so there's another downside. But w/LA's weather I don't forsee this as being a huge issue.</p>