Most students move off campus when they reach their junior or senior year. They love the fact that they are finally on their own, don’t live two doors down from an RA, and can have whatever they want in their apartment; such as candles that are not allowed in the dorm rooms or any illegal substances. But some people regret moving off campus, which is why I have created a list of pros and cons about moving off campus.
Pros:
Privacy
Students at The University of Tampa are lucky that their freshman and sophomore dorms are very spacious and most of the bathrooms have suite style rooms, meaning students are only sharing a bathroom with two people. Most colleges, especially big state schools, have communal style resident halls. They share a bathroom with 20 other girls or boys and the bedrooms are half the size of ours. A big pro with living off campus is having your own space. Having somewhere you can go at the end of a long school day and not be surrounded by three other people is such a great feeling.
Being able to choose who you live with
Typically most people go into college not knowing anyone, so they are randomly placed to live with people they don’t know. These people can become your best friend or most likely your enemy. I had such a horrible freshman year experience that I had to move out three weeks into the semester. When you live off campus, you will most likely know the people you live with (or have a sense of who they are through mutual friends) so you wont have those bad experiences.
Sense of responsibility
No college kid looks forward to marking their calendars and writing checks every time a payment is due, but having your own apartment makes everything seem more real, and that you hold more of a responsibility. You can now have the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want. You can buy as many groceries as you feel you need, and you don’t have an RA telling you to be quiet all the time. This all comes with getting older, and it’s something we all look forward to.
Cons
Expenses
The living arrangements, such as having your own apartment, might be cheaper than if you were to live on campus, but it all comes down to the little things. The utilities (to keep the lights on and the AC on in the brutal summers), to the groceries (no more meal plan), all start to add up and leave you sometimes spending more money than if you were to live on campus. These little, but very necessary purchases, can easily leave you with an empty wallet. Watch your spending!
Isolation
Usually when you live off campus you are living with a roommate, or even maybe three roommates. Even though you are living with people, you are still “far away” from the campus scene and you aren’t as likely to hang out with your friends as much as you did when you lived in the center of it all. Inviting your friends over for dinner and wine or having a movie night can help with the isolation feeling.