<p>burgler ---> damn nice...</p>
<p>everyone else ---> so far im leaning towards dorming, but keep the comments/opinions coming!</p>
<p>ty :D</p>
<p>My son has an apartment but he's closer to the school buildings than the dorms and he likes a lot of peace and quiet for studying. The apartment is up to code (CO detectors, fire alarms in every room, sprinklers, multiple exits, he can go out a window from every room except for the living room. He lives across the street from the police station and above a bank and food is across the street.</p>
<p>If you're looking at an apartment, check for fire safety. I've read too many stories of kids getting killed because of apartment fires.</p>
<p>There are eight units and only three are occupied including his. The rules on the building are very, very strict. There are lots of other apartments in the neighborhood with undergraduates and I see a ton of parties. I've seen the streams of kids that walk from the dorms over to the off-campus apartments for parties.</p>
<p>I think that the choice is highly dependent on the individual situation. Off-campus housing may not be available or affordable or safe or close to the campus. If it's not close, then you might tend to do fewer things on campus and may have transportation issues. Consider the safety of apartments as dorms are usually secured. With dorms, I think that you have less privacy.</p>
<p>And you could wind up with a difficult roommate. With an apartment, you have to get furniture unless you don't mind sleeping and working on the floor.</p>
<p>You have to deal with trash such as putting out barrels once a week.</p>
<p>Dorms can be noisy. Apartments can be noisy. The one-year lease may mean that you pay for three months that you don't actually use.</p>
<p>Our son didn't have the option of a dorm given our late start on college stuff.</p>
<p>thank you BCEagle91, very helpful :)</p>
<p>does anyone know how the dorm/apartments are like at UCLA or USC?</p>