<p>Like so many things -- it depends -- on the apartment. If they are close to campus (preferably within walking distance) kids stay well connected. The farther off campus they go the less connected they become.</p>
<p>I moved off campus to an apartment that was a little too far away. It was the end of my being even remotely engaged on campus (except going to classes). I regret that, but it wasn't a place that had any college housing nearby. Some "college towns" are just better set up than others.</p>
<p>My D's school only has dorms for freshmen and sophomores. There are hundreds of undergrad and grad students living in the area. I really thought she would end up in an apartment focused on student rentals. I suspect that she and her apartment mates intentionally looked for alternatives. I think they wanted something that was not similar to the dorms. There building is much quieter than the student apartments; however, the bathroom situation is not good. There is only one bathroom for 4 girls. There are a very few furnished apartments in the area. They are very expensive and it was much cheaper to buy furniture than to rent a furnished apartment.</p>
<p>Just reading this thread makes me tired. I just hope if my son wants to move off campus I'm not involved; it just sounds like too much parent work. (My other son has to live on campus all 4 years.)</p>
<p>Moving off-campus can actually be less work because kids often stay put for two years or even longer. And many places that rent to students have fully furnished apartments with the utilities (including Internet, which I now regard as a utility) already installed. </p>
<p>When my son moved off-campus at the beginning of junior year, I helped him move in, just as I would have in the dorms. He stayed in the same building but moved into a different apartment for senior year. That required no assistance from me. Since he has a 12-month lease and spent the summer between his junior and senior years on campus, there was no summer move-out. He had problems with his Internet connection but solved them himself through a series of phone calls. He also bullied the management into giving him an indoor storage space for his bike after he had bikes stolen twice from the outdoor bike racks (despite the presence of security cameras). My only real role has been to help settle financial disputes with the landlord (a management company not known for its mental acuity). My son would be capable of handling such things, but we have noticed that the management people are more polite (and perhaps more motivated to solve the problem) when approached by a parent. They know where their rent money is REALLY coming from.</p>
<p>Many colleges allow kids who live off campus to still have some sort of eating plan. My son (a freshman) has a nice arrangement. He's in a dorm made up of apartments. He makes his own breakfast and late night snack, but eats his other meals on the meal plan. I'm sure though that a truly off-campus apartment would cost less. I consider his walk to the main campus a plus since he doesn't do any sports at all.</p>
<p>weenie, I think that it depends upon the particular campus as to how much effort it is going to take. At the school my son attends, almost all juniors and seniors move off campus. The off campus major apartment compleses are geared for this, and the renters are largely, if not all students. My kid will have his own furnished room with bathroom, the rent includes utilities, and there is a bus stop there to take him to campus. It seems easier to me now than when I thought about this when he was applying to schools. I kept housing in mind at all schools who did not guarentee on campus housing for all 4 years. I did not want extra expenses, or any headaches. As far as food mathmom is right. My son plans on going on a commuter meal plan, meaning one meal per day during the week (at least that is what I think it is).</p>
<p>yep, mine does the 7 meal a week meal plan also. Since my S is at a school only three hours from home, the switch to apt. living was painless for H and me. The 4 boys found the apt., sent me the co-signer papers to sign and then came home and loaded a truck with the stuff they needed and moved themselves in. S had been living in the apt. for over a year before I ever laid eyes on it. He pays his bill online out of his checking account each month. There is truly no difference to us than when he lived in the dorm.</p>
<p>When I said it seemed like a lot of parent work, I was sort of thinking about where we've already been with housing. I'm good for about 2 years/kid worth of helping them move. LOL</p>
<p>Oldest son (now a junior at a school that requires them to live on campus 4 years) just moves himself in and out and handles all his stuff - next year he'll live in on-campus apartments. (He's the one who's down to just a few trash bags of stuff and a TV - and the TV will probably be broken before the year is out.)
Youngest son will almost certainly move off his campus eventually I guess. </p>
<p>I just wouldn't want to get involved with anything landlord-related or moving stuff (especially furniture!) or trying to help out with utilities, sub leases, and such. I just feel pretty much done. I'm lazy! What can I say?! </p>
<p>(I also have this severe phobia about fires in some of these off campus houses. It's better that I don't see any of it.)</p>
<p>From an eating perspective though, I know my kids would MUCH prefer to cook than eat in the cafeterias, and I'd rather spend money on food they actually eat. After awhile the on campus housing thing does make a parent feel like you're held hostage.</p>
<p>Both my S's ended up living off campus one year. S1 wanted to for Junior year and we said no, since he was doing a study abroad and we didn't want to pay for a full year's lease if he couldn't sublet. He finally moved off senior year, and in hindsight said he shouldn't have. There are just a whole lot more hassles - setting up Internet and utilities, getting food, and cooking for yourself, the few minutes of sleep lost for travel to classes, the extra effort to get together with friends or go to the library.</p>
<p>S2 lost out on the lottery junior year, and had to live off campus. He is back on this year, after holding out until 6 days before the start of the term, when they finally had a room open up. He basically lived on campus during the day, and returned to his apartment only to sleep. He was not allowed to practice in his apartment. It was expensive and time consuming travelling to and from, so he went to school early in the morning, and hung out in the library or practice rooms between classes.</p>
<p>If he forgot something (going either direction) he did without it. He ate horribly. He was in NYC, so did not have a car, and lived fairly far (2 trains) away from campus. </p>
<p>D seems to have learned from her big brothers. Although she is only a freshman, she hopes to live on campus all four years. We are grateful. We hated having to co-sign leases, undergo credit checks, and the trip up to clean out the apartment at the end of the lease was no fun, either.</p>