At your college, living in a dorm may be compulsory for the first year or two. One of the reasons colleges do this is because student housing would provide experiences for students to grow. Although this is true, it can be very expensive to live on campus.
Many people think that getting out of campus living is tough. There is thankfully a way around it, and we discussed it below.
How Do You Get Out of Living in The Dorm?
You might need to have family living close to the university. How close they would need to be depends on the college. The distance most of the time would be around 40 miles. You can live with them and commute to class.
If you don’t want to live in the dorms, but don’t have family nearby, what do you do? You could have a living space rented within the specified distance. Have your family say that it’s their home, or the residence of a guardian.
Once the application to live off-campus has been sent, the chances of getting it approved are not always high. You might have to state the reason why you’ll be living with a family member. If you’re suffering from an anxiety disorder, sharing a dorm room may not be the best idea.
Related:
- How to Turn Dorm Bed into Sofa?
- How Long Does It Take to Move Into a Dorm?
- How to Make Dorm Bed More Comfortable
Why Live Off-Campus?
When colleges state that living in their dorms provide opportunities to grow, they’re not wrong. However, there is a number of reasons living off-campus would be a better idea.
Save Money
Most of the time, colleges make it a rule for students to live in dorms so that they can make a profit. An apartment shared among friends would be much better for your wallet.
Lack of Loud Noises
Dorms tend to have thin walls. The chances of you hearing what the others on the floor are up to would be high. When you have an important exam the next day, this is not what you want.
An apartment’s walls would be thicker. The people in the building wouldn’t be kids your age either, so you wouldn’t hear music being blasted at odd-hours.
You Make the Rules
Living in a dorm means that you’ll be subject to the campus housing rules. They could be strict, and your RA may heavily enforce them. For example, you may be over the age of 21, but the chances of you being able to drink in the dorm would be low.
Having a place of your own means that there would be no rules. Dorms would likely be segregated according to gender. With your own place, you could have members of the opposite sex over whenever you want.
No Bad Room Mate(s)
The roommate you’ll be sharing the dorm room with may not be nice. Unless you have a good reason, it would be hard to get your application to switch rooms approved.
Superb Privacy
Having a place of your own would feel much better than sharing a room with others. The privacy would not only be appreciated, but it might be necessary if you’re going through some physical or mental problem.
Helpful Tips When Choosing Off-Campus Housing
There are probably many apartments to choose from. How do you know which would be the most worth your time? The following points can help.
Live Nearby
Make sure the space you’re renting would be well within the designated location limit. The closer you are to campus, the better. You’ll be able to get to class easily and dealing with short trips would help you get more study time.
Remember that your rent depends on the location you’ll be in. You could find a great place for a much lower price a couple of neighborhoods away.
Avoid Expensive Rent
Paying for tuition would be expensive and you probably don’t want to spend thousands on a lease. What would make rent cheaper would be living in the apartment with roommates.
If you look around, you’ll find that there are third-party dorms that accommodate students. They’d be more affordable than college housing.
Get a Good Room Mate
When you’re living on campus, you wouldn’t have a say in who you’ll be sharing a room with. You could apply for a room transfer, but your college might reject it. Having a place of your own means that you can be picky about who you’re living with.
Not only should the roommate be someone that you get along with, but they need to be able to pay the rent too.
Find A Decent Landlord
You probably don’t have much experience living on your own. Having a great landlord would make things easier. If there’s ever any issues with the plumbing or wiring, he or she would help.
A difficult landlord is not what you want. The apartment may have some damages that have been there for a while. As you’re just a college student, they might try and blame you for the damages so that you pay for them.
Analyze Your Lease Contract
Although the space may be great, the lease contract may not be. Unless you read it closely, you might miss hidden fees.
The lease may have a lot of stipulations that you may not be expecting. It would explain parking policies, pet policies, lease termination and more.
Let’s summarize. Living in the college’s dorms would most likely be compulsory for the first year or two. If you choose to live on campus, you’ll have some great memories and have opportunities to grow as a person. However, you’ll also be met with hefty housing fees. Not living in the college dorms can be done by moving to a family member’s home nearby. If you don’t have family living in the area, you could rent a space and get your family to say that it’s their place.
Along with these, some of the other reasons’ college make campus-living compulsory is because you can get help with studies, and take part in school activities with ease.
