<p>I'd like to know from those who live(d) on campus, what were the benefits of living in campus housing?</p>
<p>Thanks,
~ Andy</p>
<p>from what I heard, there’s only regret</p>
<p>The location is usually the only benefit, and here at least you’ll end up paying 2-4 times as much to live on campus as you would to live off campus.</p>
<p>Your housing is paid for upfront.
You’re close to everything on campus.</p>
<p>Closer to resources and classes. It’s much easier to bond with students in a dorm environment than in an apartment. I actually do know of a few places where it’s cheaper to live on campus than it is to live off once you factor in transportation and other costs. You don’t have to worry about paying bills.</p>
<p>@mrund- There are LOTS of people who like living on campus. It’s generally much more convenient to live on campus than off and there are plenty of other reasons why someone would choose to live on.</p>
<p>For rich people who don’t care about the cost, sure. And for those lucky ones who got full rides. Otherwise, living on campus costs almost as much as tuition where I come from.</p>
<p>^And what is the cost of living on campus?</p>
<p>Pros:</p>
<p>-Location. A lot of events and just things in general go on around campus, so if you’re pro-active, then it’s a great place to be. It’s also great because you’re close to buildings so you get to get to class quickly and more conveniently.
-You get to meet a ton of people in your residence hall inevitably, so you’ll always be around people.
-You don’t have to worry about paying bills (but this is where the cons begin)</p>
<p>Cons:</p>
<p>-It’s so expensive to live in the dorms. You can find cheaper places if you look in the right place and time around the town your school is located in. But sometimes, living off campus can be just as expensive.
-Lack of privacy. If you’re like me, you might want some time to yourself to just relax and chill. If you like solidarity, many people will mistake you for being a “loner” and a “loser” so you’ll get a bad rep and possibly not get along with your roommate.
-Your roommate can just suck. period.
-Dorm food is most of the time gross. Sure, there is a lot of food for you but it’s just awful for your health.
-No separate bathrooms.</p>
<p>I’m sure there’s more…</p>
<p>It costs about $700 per month to live on-campus, compared to just over $700 after utilities, and then split between 2 or 3 people, off campus. Some of my friends cut costs even more by getting a 4 bedroom apartment with 8 people for $1200 per month- so each of them were only paying about $250 per month for everything including cable and even basic food. </p>
<p>Of course this will vary by area, but where I live the price of living on campus is extremely high compared to most off campus housing. My brothers only live on campus because of a new policy forcing all freshman to live on campus unless their parents live in the county and they’re going to live with them. They applied for an exception to be able to live with me, but were denied. So in total they’re paying $1400 per month when they could easily only be paying $700 per month total, and they would have bigger rooms off campus for that price! There are free school bus routes to all of the nearby off-campus apartments and buses stop there every 10 minutes reliably, so transportation isn’t even an issue.</p>
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<p>I’m lucky, I guess–the dorm I’m in is actually in a suite arrangement, and the only people I share the bathroom with are my suitemates (then again, all transfer students get suite-arranged dorms). :'D Those that get placed into the other two dorm buildings (mainly freshmen) have to deal with communal bathrooms, though. Sucks for them. </p>
<p>On topic:
you’re close to a lot of your classes, and you get to meet new people. Of course, the downside to living in dorms is that if you’re used to the quiet like me, you’ll quickly learn that dorms are the LOUDEST place and you either learn to sleep through the noise or you get grumpy because you can’t get sleep due to the noise. Also, you may not like your roommate, and depending on your school, DC food can either suck and be bad for your health or be awesome and actually be good for your health.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for myself but one of my good friends lives in the UES for $1,850/month while my other friend lives in a studio NYU dorm and pays approx $2,200/month.</p>
<p>sucks to be a new yorker. no wonder they’re protesting…</p>
<p>so in a school like columbia or nyu, is it cheaper to live on campus?</p>
<p>Well for me:</p>
<ol>
<li>I’m a 30 second walk away from 2 of my classes and a 2 minute walk away from my other 2 classes.</li>
<li>Free gym membership for residents and the gym is a 15 second walk away from my dorm.</li>
</ol>
<p>It’s cheaper to live off campus at NYU, especially if you have roommates since the dorms at NYU are located downtown, which is a lot more expensive than living uptown in UES or UWS. I can’t say for Columbia since I don’t know their prices and they’re also located above the UES in Morningside Heights, which is a lot cheaper than other neighborhoods. </p>
<p>It definitely doesn’t suck to be a New Yorker. I love it! Spending the day with a friend at Central Park. :)</p>
<p>I can see how free gym membership could be a plus, but all students here get that, not just residents. I’m also just as close to the gym on campus from my off campus apartment as I was when I lived on campus- it helps that I found a place right across the street from campus and I can end up paying half the price for it that I did when I was living on campus. For me, I’m not lazy enough that being closer to classes is worth $400 extra per month.</p>
<p>Also, dorm prices go up in the summer here, and that is not the case with off campus apartments, so you can stay in the summer and don’t have to go “home” for the whole time.</p>
<p>I like living close to where my classes are, especially when the weather’s bad.</p>
<p>It’s more expensive to live in the school-run apartments here, as in 2,000 dollars more, since they’re “luxury apartments” with granite countertops and separate rooms. With other off-campus places, it’s at least a 15 minute walk to anything on campus, plus not many of my friends want to live in those apartments, so it’d be cost-prohibitive.</p>
<p>Like others have said, meeting everyone in your dorm and floor is always a plus. In my case, my entire floor mostly shares my major, and my entire residence hall consists of students in the science field. So it really helps to be around people who can relate to your work load. I know people who live on campus even though their actual residence is pretty close by just for the experience. Especially freshman year, it can really be difficult commuting all the time.</p>
<p>The biggest con would have to be the expense. Also, when dorming you have to sacrifice some privacy and be able to deal with having someone else in the room most of the time.</p>
<p>I think the benefits outweigh the cons to be honest. After freshman year, if you decide you hate it, you can always commute. I consider dorming part of the college experience.</p>