by Angela Rivas

Created on: August 01, 2007

There are many compelling reasons to move off-campus. Pretty much all of them can be broken into seven main areas.

1) Cost
2) Freedom
3) Space
4) Privacy
5) Health
6) No Res-Life Drama
7) Life Prep

I'll go into further detail on each below:

Cost:
It can be expensive to live on campus. First off, residential life/housing offices tend to require that your bill be paid in full with tuition which most likely means a loan, which while resulting in a single payment, will likely mean you are going to accrue interest while paying for on-campus housing. Secondly, in many situations you will be required to purchase a meal plan, another expensive ticket. If like some students, you have dietary restrictions, or even schedule restrictions, you may find that you are paying for excessive amounts of food outside of your meal plan. This includes going out for meals and buying snacks since you can't take advantage of the food available with the meal plan. Finally, if you break down the amount you are paying for on-campus housing by dividing it by the number of months you are staying there, you will find that it is a rather large figure. Yes, this figure does include your "rent" and utilities, but in many cases it still remains cheaper to live off campus. Living off campus can be much cheaper if you find a good apartment, or choose a slightly more expensive apartment but add a roommate to split the costs, and if you are careful about what you use (utility-wise) and what you spend (on food).

Freedom:
Most dormitories and student housing facilities have a number of rules - these tend to include prohibited items (even things like warming plates!), visitor hours and numbers, room checks, mandatory meetings, etc. If you choose to live off campus, you ultimately are responsible for your own rules. You have to follow the law, of course, but you have the freedom to decide what to include in your apartment, how it will be set up, when to come and go, the number of people you can have over, and when you will clean. Your time and space are your own.

Space:
There are a few spacial benefits involved with living off campus. Getting hold of a single room can be pretty difficult, not to mention expensive. So you will most likely be rooming with someone, which is not the worst thing in the world, but it can have some pretty negative repercussions when you find yourself sharing a shoebox with one other person and all of their worldly belongings. Moving off-campus will allow you to take advantage of greater

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