Living on campus or at home?

Student Lounge College Life
1

I’m having trouble deciding whether I should live on campus or at home. I am an incoming transfer student btw.

I live about 10 minutes away from campus (though distance wise I’m about 6 miles away and have to take the freeway). This is when there is no traffic (but there usually isn’t traffic to get there, just to come back home during rush hour), and doesn’t include the time it takes to find parking.

My net cost if I decide to live on campus is $9,000. I have some money saved up that I could use but I feel uncomfortable using it all to live on campus since I wouldn’t have anything left over as a safety net. If I live at home, then everything will be covered and I wouldn’t have to pay out-of-pocket (and I get to keep my savings to do other stuff like study abroad!) If I do decide to live on campus, it would probably only be for the first year and then I would live at home to save money/not take out loans. I am an incoming transfer student btw.

My home life is good (most of the time). My parents let me go out and don’t really have any strict restrictions on me (plus I’m not one to party or be all wild). My main responsibilities are just doing my laundry and keeping my space clean, honestly. I know how to cook. But there are some cons: I don’t have a room, I sleep in a mattress on our living room. It’s hard to concentrate on my studies while at home, because I’m very close with my parents so there’s always this slight pressure to interact a lot with them (it would be rude if I simply ignored them the entire day… but alas since I don’t have a room it’s hard to just focus on school w/o distractions). My parents argue. Sometimes, they get along really well for most of the time. But then there are some times where they argue often… it’s really up and down and I end up getting involved too. I try to ignore it, but again, hard to zone out and ignore them when you don’t have your own room and you’re basically forced to listen to them. But in exchange I get free laundry, I don’t have to share a bathroom or bedroom, I get free food most of the time, and I don’t have to pay for rent. My parents don’t make me pay for my share of the car insurance either, so I don’t really have many commuting costs, plus as a student, public transportation is free. Sometimes I do have to cover the rent or bills when they can’t pay for it that month though, so that is another financial responsibility I may have at home. I’m already pretty strict about budgeting and saving money, and a lot of people say I’m pretty mature for my age (typing that made me cringe im sorry) so I don’t really know if I have much to benefit from living on campus when it comes to personal growth/maturity. (i realize how arrogant that may sound, but when i hear people talk about “growing up” by living off campus, I think of students who drink and party and just eat out all of the time and spend money on clothes and other things until they realize “oh i have rent and bills to pay oops!” I already know what it’s like to have to live pay check to pay check so I just don’t know if it’s really worth the learning experience.)

I turned down UC Berkeley to attend UCSD mainly because of the superior on-campus housing, and now I realize it may be a waste to not live on campus after having rejected a prestigious school (though obviously there were other reasons I turned it down). The chance of meeting people on campus seemed really enticing, but now that I have a social life outside of school I don’t really feel that it’s a big necessity. I guess I am a bit scared of not getting along with roommates or not enjoying my life on campus or that it might be boring, and many will say “well that’s part of the college experience!” but should one really pay money to not enjoy their time when they could save money living at home? You wouldn’t tell somebody to buy a pair of shoes because they hurt and say “that’s part of the experience!” as a reason for buying them… But I neither want to say no to this chance simply because I may be a scared. I don’t know how valid this reasoning is and if it’s something I should seriously consider or if I’m just making excuses for myself. But I do know that financial stability is also pretty important to me and I don’t know if splitting with $9k is worth it for that “college experience.”

Is the on-campus experience truly worth it? Would I get similar personal growth benefits from studying abroad?

Thank you for reading and I welcome any and all advice you could give me on this difficult decision!

2

Do you have enough to pay for living on campus and if not, would you take out loans for it or would your parents help pay for it? The arguing would be an issue for me. On the other hand, since you live so close, you can plan on getting most if not all your work done on campus in the library, etc… before you go home and limit the time spent at home.

We were planning to have our DS live on campus if he went to school in our city to eliminate the need for transportation and give him every opportunity to focus on his lessons.

I can see it both ways in your situation. But as I said, the arguing would be an issue for me and maybe something I would discuss with my parents as being a reason I’m considering living on campus.

3

This is key here. Living so close allows to your U, you to spend time between classes and after the end of classes for the day, in the library. You can also go to the library on weekends, so there is no need to study or do homework assignments at home. You can still participate in on-campus activities/clubs, interact with your friends on campus, etc. You would probably go home to sleep and eat while a student at this U.

My son and his 3 roommates lived about 20-minutes from his university during his junior/senior year (lived in the dorm for freshman/sophomore year). The available apartments close to the university was limited and super expensive.

It also appears you are helping your parents with their living expenses (occasionally?), so that is an additional bonus for living at home. I was a commuter student for all 4-years of college, with over 1+ hour commute by train/bus, did well academically and had a solid college experience.

4

Are there nice libraries or study spaces on campuses? That way, you don’t come home until you’re actually done studying.