This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Colgate chapter.
Living off campus senior year is every Colgate students dream, right? Obviously, living off campus means you get to live in a house or an apartment with spacious singles and full-sized beds, but before you run off to sign that lease sophomore year, it’s time for a reality check. Here are some things to keep in mind when making this important decision, because living off campus is more like the real world than you think.
1. You may have to pay for utilities in addition to rent. It’s not hard at all to go to the Hamilton Municipal Office to set up your utilities account, but just keep in mind that, in reality, this means that your rent is now more expensive. Granted, utility bills aren’t outrageous around here, so just don’t leave the lights on 24/7 or take hour-long showers.
2. You may have to pay for Internet and cable, which is also separate from rent. While Colgate wireless is just about the most unreliable thing on this planet, it is second to waiting for a Time Warner Cable representative to show up during some scheduled time. As with utilities, it’s just another monthly expense to add on to your rent.
3. Where will you do your laundry? There is a coin-operated laundry machine in the basement of my apartment, but, for some reason, the one time I used it, my clothes came out dirtier. Plan B was to take my laundry over to the Laundromat and drink a sugar-free vanilla skim latte at the Barge while waiting. However, since that isn’t an option anymore (R.I.P. Laundromat), I lugged my basket to the Parker Commons and pretended to do work while the laundry machine did its thing. Just be aware that you may have to commit a large chunk of your time to do laundry in places other than your home.
4. Heating. The heating system in my apartment is a baseboard system. Instead of setting an exact temperature, you must arbitrarily turn an unlabeled dial in each room and hope for the best. Thus, my apartment is either a human freezer or a sauna.
5. Parking. If you live downtown, you may be parking at Wayne’s Market. Not only will you have to walk to your car every time you need it but it also costs $200 to park there. Equally as inconvenient is if you live in a house where there are less parking spaces than there are cars which means you will be keeping your car in ‘on-campus parking lot’ and walking to your car every time you need it. Biking instead of driving is an environmentally friendly solution to this conundrum…for the two months during which there isn’t several feet of snow covering the ground.
6. Furniture. There is a whole new level of sketchiness when it comes to the furniture in off-campus housing. If you think I picked my apartment because I fell in love with the ratchet plaid couch in the living room, then you are certainly mistaken. Said plaid couch is in the basement and the new couch I bought sits in its place. Be aware that you don’t know where your furniture has been, and ask yourself, “Do I feel comfortable sitting here?” Other problems that I have run into include not having a kitchen table and hanging my own blinds upside-down.
7. Cleaning. I was not pleased with the state of my apartment when I moved in, and, fortunately, my loving parents paid to get the apartment sanitized. Furthermore, with more square footage comes more responsibility. Ask yourself and your housemates whether you would be willing to put in the effort to keep the place consistently clean, or whether you’d prefer to split the cost attached to a professional service. That being said, there is truly nothing wrong with living in your own filth.
8. When you get locked out. You can’t call Campo. Just saying.
When I signed my lease, I didn’t realize how convenient living in a Colgate apartment was. However, this list of warnings is not meant to deter you from signing that lease, but is meant to help you make an educated decision. Happy lease-signing, and when you enter the lottery to get off campus senior year, may the odds be ever in your favor.