<p>My 19 year old D has chosen to live off campus in a school where most undergraduates live on campus . The place she will be living will be with a retired professor and 2 cats , with a large sunny quiet room in her house . D is very responsible ,this move will save us 4k per semester ,but I am not sure I like this idea . Any people out there with D's around 20 living off campus ? Please let me know how this is going for you . Thanks ! I don't like the idea because I feel it will be isolating for her .</p>
<p>My D only lived on campus freshman year.
This year she is living in a big house with 4 other girls. It seems to be going well, it is located very close to campus( actually closer to the center of campus than her freshman dorm was) & also to the town.</p>
<p>If this is what your D chose- I would let her try it. Is her prime motivation, quiet? Does she already have a good set of friends on campus? I would be a little concerned if her motivation is primarily to save you money- because socially it doesn’t seem optimum, especially if she is the only college student there- however if that is an area where most students live- then it might not make too much of a difference.</p>
<p>No, there are no students nearby, mostly families and couples . I guess I am nervous with her walking around at night . She is a 20 minute walk to campus . Her friends all live on campus .</p>
<p>Oh I took it to read this was an area where most students lived * off* campus.</p>
<p>In that case- I would try and get more info about why she wants to do it.
If her friends are staying on campus- it seems like she would want to be with them.</p>
<p>Living in an area with a lot of students would be better whether off campus or on - usually walking distance to campus, safer with more people about, more student oriented stores/services, more potential friends nearby, etc.</p>
<p>Lots of students live off campus after a year or two - especially at state Us.</p>
<p>It’s about the time of the year when the realization of what on-campus meal plans cost per meal 
or room rate per month hits home… </p>
<p>DD1 will be moving to an across-campus apartment with 3 other girls - same or similar major - Architecture is a very time demanding major and one really needs their own privacy after all nighters, something that a shared dorm room does not provide.</p>
<p>DD1 has no car so we’ll depend on roomie’s car and parental food drops for grocery shopping. She can cook fairly well. DD1 reports the dorm environment is not conducive to all night work at one’s room - a 27" flat screen monitor 2 feet away from roomie’s head? not likely :-)</p>
<p>Back in my days a couple of friends did the ‘room with retired old person and cats’ gig. Worked out pretty well actually.</p>
<p>She loves her "quiet time " .Vegan eating is so much less than standard food package . Not a party girl .Except for the night walks from campus ,it is pretty perfect for her .</p>
<p>Is it the daughter who you were concerned about in this thread that is thinking about moving off campus?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1228109-agony-daughter-thinking-about-dropping-out-college-boyfriend-abroad.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1228109-agony-daughter-thinking-about-dropping-out-college-boyfriend-abroad.html</a></p>
<p>Then I agree with your worries- she doesn’t need to be more isolated from the campus- it would take more effort to be involved if she lives in a single family area, than if she is living where the other students live.</p>
<p>My d. moved to downtown Washington, DC with her roommate at 19. She loved to be able to cook for herself, to get to her job and internships more easily, and to take full responsibility for managing her money. (She went vegan too, for a year).</p>
<p>The pros- retired professor (presumably female?), saving money. The cons- a campus where most stay in the dorms, unlike where son went. Perhaps the landlord will be good for her, keep her involved. 8K per year (2 semesters) is a huge savings. Some people are introverted and need the down time. She is likely to spend entire days on campus, unable to hide in her dorm room. She also will not be constantly explaining her food choices to the dorm mates. Let her try it.</p>
<p>She just called 5 minutes ago to say a couple of friends helped her move in ! She is thrilled to be there .</p>
<p>Living off campus can be fun. However, your daughter is choosing to live with a retired professor rather than her peers. It sounds like another means to isolate herself and a way to justify not interacting or socializing with her peers.</p>
<p>What is it about living with a retired professor rather than her peers that makes her thrilled to be there?</p>
<p>Hope it works out well for her and you, OP. Would be ideal if she can remain involved in campus and school, including socializing even tho she now lives 20 minutes from campus. I imagine you & she figured how she will safely get home late at night & get to campus in the early morning safely as well?</p>
<p>My daughter does live off campus and she has not looked back. She does have an apartment mate who is from another country and not really a friend. She has never really enjoyed being around lots of people. She also likes to cook some. She took her instrument back this semester and will start taking lessons again. I am happy that she will be doing something to introduce her to a new group of people.</p>
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<p>sounds like the decision was already made. Hope she dealt with the H housing folks and you are not stuck paying for both on and off campus housing.</p>
<p>You are SAVING $8000 a year? I have to ask…how? It sounds like she is paying a pittance to live with this professor…</p>
<p>Sorry but money isn’t everything. With all of the students in the area of her school and the vast housing choices at her university, I would have to wonder what’s up.</p>
<p>I can’t help asking - is the prof female? Is your D the only student living there? Is renting out the room something the prof normally does or is this a special thing with your D?</p>
<p>At most campuses I wouldn’t have an opinion. At Harvard I think it’s a HUGE mistake. The house system is the core of the Harvard experience. You are missing out on a huge part of what makes Harvard Harvard.</p>
<p>I’d also wonder what was afoot with this “special deal,” especially if it’s just D & the prof (regardless of the prof’s gender) with no one else around; just wondering & probably others may wonder as well (3 of us CC posters have articulated it so far). Would agree that from all I’ve read/heard, living in the house system is a HUGE part of Harvard.</p>
<p>In my experience, house life was a huge, huge part of the Harvard experience. This being said, in my rooming group of four, one roommate chose not to come back to campus after spending the summer in an apartment off-campus. She transferred to Dudley House (which is essentially an administrative entity for off-campus students) and stayed in her apartment through junior and senior years. Another roommate spent the first semester of junior year studying puppetry in Honolulu. When she came back to Harvard, she lived in a room at the top of a little frame house a few blocks from the Quad that served as overflow housing for the Quad houses. She rarely set foot in our house dining hall and basically pretended she lived off-campus. </p>
<p>House life isn’t for everyone. Harvard isn’t for everyone.</p>
<p>Whereabouts is the apartment? After all, the Quad itself is 20 minutes from some parts of campus! So is Mather House, if your classes are in the science buildings at the North end of campus. And I’ll bet it’s 20 minutes from Kirkland to William James.</p>
<p>I figure the retired prof has her
House paid for and is lonely & renting a room to a student seems like a nice gesture plus she makes a few bucks.
For a student who already doesn’t participate
Much on campus ( according to other threads), it either may give enough of a place to retreat to when she needs it- & that gives her motivation to be more fully there when she is on campus… Or it is a barrier to the informal exchanges that happen when you live with others who are engaged in the same sort of work that you do.</p>