My top 2 college choices are University of Minnesota Twin Cities and University of Washington Seattle. Both of those allow freshman to live in apartments. I am considering apartments at both of those schools that are right in the heart of campus (so not living in some far off neighborhood). I would like to have an apartment-mate. It seems super nice to be able to have a kitchen and have laundry facilities in unit. Anyone have experience doing living in apartments freshman year? how is it compared to living in dorms?
Whether or not you have a kitchen and bathroom doesn’t matter so much as the setup of the apartments. Will you have your own room? Will you be sharing a room (e.g., 4 people to a 2-bedroom apartment)? Will you be in an apartment community of mostly other students? Are there common areas and meeting spaces in that apartment community where you can meet other people through community wide events?
In Seattle I know that there are tons of apartments that are geared towards college students and young professionals that are set up so that there are tons of meeting spaces and community spaces where you can meet your neighbors and make friends, and management also puts on events. An apartment complex like that will probably feel a lot like living in a dorm.
Consider, also, that an apartment complex that is not for students specifically might require a 12-month lease. If you want to do an internship or go home during the summer, that could be a problem. SO look for places that allow 9-month leases. I would imagine a lot of places in the U district have those, though.
I’d recommend living in a dorm freshman year before moving off campus - it’ll be easier to meet people this way.
You may find campuses with semi suite or apartment style halls though.
You may also underestimate the amount of time that you need for planning, shopping, and cooking your meals - a meal plan, even partial, can come in handy while you’re learning how to handle college.
You may also be an atypical high school senior with household responsibilities (the planning, shopping, and cooking mentioned above, plus cleaning and managing a house.) In that case, it may be easier than for typical freshmen to handle, but the issues of handling college on top of it and of making friends who’ll likely be in the dorms are another matter.