Dorming vs Commuting

<p>I live about 5 minutes away from Livingston but all of the people I know who are/attended Rutgers said you should dorm because its a great experience but its also a great opportunity to get involved. I dont want my parents to pay the extra money and I don't mind commuting but can someone list or talk about why dorming at rutgers is better than the 5 minute commute I would have to make</p>

<p>I live about 5 minutes away too and commute. I cannot comment on living there but WHY on earth would you want to waste your parents money , that is thousands of dollars, when you can just commute? Just think if it was your own money I am sure you would rather commute in that case. Unless it is cheaper for whatever reason for you to live on campus then do that but if you can live for free or cheaper at your parents then I would just commute.</p>

<p>I would commute. Join clubs and form study groups with your classmates if you don’t want to feel left out. </p>

<p>I knew couple kids who lived 10 or so minutes away. They all told me they decided to dorm on campus for their first year and then commute the rest of their years at Rutgers (or find off campus housing). </p>

<p>If I lived that close to school, I would do the same since it is sort of difficult to make friends if you do commute.
But, if you are very persistent and optimistic, definitely just commute and commit to the ECs that Rutgers provides. </p>

<p>Even though you live nearby, if you can, definitely live on campus at least for your freshmen year. It is actually hard to get involved if you commute just because most (if not all) clubs and organizations take place at night and dorming is a great experience if you put in the effort!! Dorming can be expensive, but a lot of my friends who could have commuted also dormed to get that “independence” (which is an important life skill, in my opinion) and meet new people. So if you can, I absolutely recommend dorming for at least a year.</p>

<p>How would attending meetings for clubs be hard if OP lives 5 minutes away?</p>

<p>It’s nice to dorm, but for a lot of students, it is a very hard choice due to finances. A lot of my son’s friends commuted to save money, some taking the train in because they couldn’t afford a car. Now that’s hard.</p>

<p>I can’t speak as a commuter, but just from reading the complaints and posts on the Rutgers FB page, it seems it is difficult to make friends on campus as a commuter (even if you do live 5-10 minutes away). </p>