In my three years at Pace, I have experienced living on campus in a dorm, living at home doing remote school, living in the city off campus, and living at home while commuting into the city for classes. Based on this, I believe I am most qualified to give advice on where to live as a college student. I should preface that I grew up in New Jersey, knew the commute like the back of my hand by the time I was 13, making me very confident in navigating the city from the start.
Pace’s Dorms
I lived in Pace’s dorms during my freshman year, specifically 182 Broadway. I loved it! I lived with two girls I graduated high school with, one of which is my best friend. Being on campus created this wonderful sense of community, there was always something to do and I felt connected to everything going on around me. Plus, there were no worries, every issue was fixed almost immediately. It truly felt like a home base. My only negative feelings towards it are how expensive it is, and having non-Pace student visitors was a bit difficult since the Pace dorms have the security of Fort Knox. My time in the dorms was cut short by Covid, but if I would live there again in a heartbeat!
Remote at Home
This experience was not by choice, but I did not hate it. Classes were remote because of the pandemic, and there was no point to pay to live in the city. My only real complaint was how tiring long stretches of screen-time became, Zoom fatigue is very real! During this time, I found a new appreciation for my hometown. I did not feel the need to flee as strongly as I had during high school. I missed the community of being on campus, but I found ways to make the most of the situation. I would recommend remote learning at home for anyone who wants an extremely flexible schedule, you have many freedoms to do anything between studying and classes.
Off-Campus
My experience living in the city off-campus was very short-lived – about a month actually. My apartment, unfortunately, had a very bad pest problem that I did not know about when signing the lease, and there was no adequate solution to be made with my landlord. That being said, the freedom of living off-campus is really great. It is a lot cheaper than living in the dorm, and there are no rules on who can and cannot visit when you wish. Learn from my mistake, do better research on the building and neighborhood, and it will be a wonderful experience.
Commuting from Home
Given that I had to break my lease unexpectedly, I am now living back home and commuting to the city for classes. I have a two-hour commute (bus and subway) each way that I do on Mondays and Wednesdays – these days for me begin at 4:30 am and end around 10:00 pm, it is a lot!! It is also very isolating, I miss a lot of on-campus events and cannot experience many off-campus mini-adventures, it is definitely not what I expected this year to be. Given that we are still in a pandemic, I know it is only temporary and is doable for the time being. Overall, the commute is straightforward and a designated time to relax.
No matter where you choose to live, the most important part is finding a community where ever you can. Specifically, people who understand your situations, can join you and support you. If I had to choose a favorite, it would definitely be living on campus in a dorm. I am not sure where I will end up next year, but I can say I experienced a little bit of each option.