<p>I've read lots of posts about how happy the freshmen are at Tufts. What is the experience like when one is living off campus (whether by choice or not)? Does the experience become more focused on Boston and the bars vs. on-campus events? Do you still feel linked to campus? Are you still happy you chose to attend?</p>
<p>My son is a junior and moved off campus with his friends this year. He and I both had some reservations initially, because he is incredibly busy, and was very content/happy with campus housing,. Dorm life just seemed simpler (and to a parent, safer). </p>
<p>They rent a house very close/adjacent to campus and LOVE it. Even now that most of them are 21 they seldom go into Davis Square or Boston, though obviously everyone’s taste and budgets are different. Social life remains in vast part on campus and at their house, which has become a regular gathering place for friends. Cooking own meals would have been a huge negative for S, but he stayed on a reduced meal plan, and it’s worked out fine.</p>
<p>Apartment life can be anything you want to make of it. As a counter-point to lspf72’s son, I live off campus, and my social life is indeed primarily conducted in Davis Square in Boston (my house is too small to host large gatherings). I happily did away with my meal plan, as I am an excellent cook and enjoy making my own meals, not to mention the vast price differential.</p>
<p>Living in an apartment feels more mature to me, as it comes with a lot of additional responsibilities, but I wouldn’t move back on campus if you paid me. I’m still very connected to campus life through my various extracurriculars, however,</p>
<p>Snarf, you’ve definitely brightened up my perspective on living off campus, if ever faced with that decision. Is it hard to find off campus housing, or are there offers in plain sight?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of someone being unable to find off campus housing. However, if you start looking too late, you may not be able to get an apartment for what you’d like to pay, in exactly the location you’d like, with all the friends you want to live with, or any combination thereof. Start looking a year in advance and you should be able to find your perfect apartment.</p>
<p>You should also note that a lot of areas (the Mason/Ossippee/Whitman area downhill, the Whitfield/Sunset area near Frat Row, and the sidestreets off Boston Ave uphill) really don’t feel off campus. At least half, if not more, of the apartments in these areas are Tufts students, and the apartments themselves are closer to some parts of campus than other parts of campus are. For instance, if a lot of your classes are uphill on the academic quad, you’ll be closer to them living in an apartment on Fairmount St than you would be if you were living in South. I split most of my time between the Aidekman Arts Center and Davis Square (where I take the Red Line to get to my job in Boston), so my location in the Mason/Ossippee/Whitman area is pretty perfectly centrally located. Living in West or Miller would be inconveniently far away.</p>
<p>that’s awesome that even lifving off campus you still get the college feel since you are surrounded by students in nearby apartments.</p>