Does Cornell University require its freshmen to live on campus?
On the website it says that housing is guaranteed for freshmen if they submit the documents before the due date, but does that mean that freshmen are allowed to live off-campus if they decide to due so?
Yes. All freshmen will live on campus. My Daughter just finished her first year.
Hopefully living on campus is something you desire and see as a positive. It’s a great way to meet and engage many other freshmen (you’re all going through a big transition at the same time), form bonds, and get involved with groups on campus. It’s just easier as everything is right there. Many schools require it for those reasons.
They used to make it mandatory, but my understanding is that is not the case anymore. Call housing to know for sure. Way cheaper to be off campus, but it’s good for the social aspect of getting to know people to be in a dorm. Plus there is a bit more “control” of the environment in a dorm with it being locked and an RA available vs on your own in an apartment. Plus realize in Ithaca, ALL leases are typically 12 months, so even if your student is gone for the semester break / summer you will owe that rent cost, so it does kinda equal out the dorm pricing
@Dyson90 – Collegetown rents are quite high. Savings could be realized by buying groceries instead of being on the meal plan, but a student would have to hike up a few big hills in order to realize savings on housing.
Most freshmen live on campus, and quite a few think it is required but it isn’t. I believe when the new dorms are done the plan is to require freshmen and sophomores to live on campus. But for the class of 2019 it was not mandatory and I don’t think it is for the class of 2020 either. 2021 will probably have different rules.
However, in most circumstances I think it is a bad idea for a freshman to live off campus. Besides integrating into campus and all the other normal reasons that apply everywhere, the rental market in Ithaca is brutal. The good apartments are already being leased for fall 2020.
@dadof4kids – Some students have started renting apartments more than a year in advance–signing leases spring 2019 for rentals that begin June 2020 for the 2020-2021 school year. Most landlords do not start leasing until Sept 2019 for the 2020-2021 school year, but I was amazed when I heard how early some were committing.