While I have never lived in an apartment, I lived in dorms and commuted from home.

Pros of dorms:

1. It’s easier to meet people. Many colleges will offer free programs for students living on campus, especially within the first month of school.

2. Homework help is always around the corner. (I had an English major down the hall, which was great when I was writing papers.)

3. Closer to campus = sleep in later. I used to roll out of bed 20 minutes before class and walk over.

4. It will be much easier to motivate yourself into joining on campus organizations if you live on campus, just because you’re already there.

5. RAs. While the room inspections may be annoying, if you are having problems with other people, they are there to take immediate steps in solving those problems.

6. You don’t have to cook for yourself. The cafeteria is usually close by.

7. People understand that quiet is needed during finals and midterms.

8. Sense of community. My floor used to have movie nights before finals and such so we could unwind. While we weren’t all exactly the best of buds, you learn to co-exist peacefully.

9. You can get a scholarship to cover room and board.

Cons of dorms:

1. Small town syndrome – everyone knows everyone, and what’s going on. You will also get on each other’s nerves pretty quick.

2. The roommate lottery – You may luck out on your roomie assignment, you may not.

3. Limited space – those rooms are small

4. Noise – The walls are not thick; I used to be able to hear my neighbor’s cell phone conversations.

5. Cafeteria food. While it’s usually better than high school cafeteria food, it’s still cafeteria food.

6. Dorms are expensive.

Pros of apartments/commuting

1. You’re not on campus constantly.

2. You can choose your roommates.

3. Having a full kitchen. Living in a dorm with a microwave and cafeteria food will make you appreciate having “real food”.

4. You will be in the city/in town rather than on campus, which means being closer to what the city has to offer, which means that you won’t get bored as easily as you would sitting in a dorm room.

Cons of living in apartments

1. You don’t always have neighbors who understand why you need quiet around finals/midterms.

2. Apartments are a prime place for parties. Now, I see this as a con, some may see it as a pro. But parties mean lots of noise and little sleep.

3. Commuting. Traffic and gas prices are something to consider.

4. Signing the lease/paying rent and utilities. You will have to sign a lease and stay in the apartment for the length of your lease. Plus, you will probably have to find a job to pay the rent and utilities. Consider carefully if you want to balance work and study, and enjoying your new freedom all at once.

What I would suggest doing is living in the dorms for a year. You can meet people, and possible apartment roomies. I know quite a few people who moved to an apartment after a year or two in the dorms. Plus, you will get used to and enjoy college life without having to worry about getting the rent paid each month.

I hope this helps you out some, and good luck with college! It’s a fun time!

Is the apartment on campus or off campus? Is cost an issue? Especially for your freshman year, living on campus surrounded by other students is a great way to meet people. You’ll make friends in classes, but since you spend more time out of class than in, it makes sense that you’ll make friends outside of class, too. You can work around that if the apartment is the better choice, but its something to think about.

Dorms are generally louder and offer less privacy. At some coleges there’s a wide variety of dorm accomodations available, so make sure to find out what your choices are before you make this decision. Especially as a freshman, its normal to share a bedroom in a dorm. Depending on the dorm, you may share it with more than one person. Dorm costs generally cover both the room and the meals (room and board) but the cost of an apartment will just be for the apartment. If its on campus, the apartment won’t necessarily be much quieter, but you’ll have more privacy. Those campus apartments are spacious compared to the dorm, but only compared to the dorm. How much time will you spend on campus? If you go home every weekend, it just doesn’t make sense to spring for the apartment. However, if you will stay there most of the time, especially year-round, take the apartment. You may share a bathroom in an apartment but will almost certainly share one in a dorm.

When I was in grad school, my decision to live in an apartment was based on a couple of things. I wanted a kitchen and control over when and what I ate. I know that campus food is much better than back in the Dark Ages when I did my undergrad, but still… However, the deciding factor was that I went to grad school far from where I’d been living. I needed a place to live 12 months a year, not just during the semester. That made an apartment a necessity.

Consider your options and what you must have or can’t stand. Good luck!

I think it depends on what area you go to school in.

I go to Berkeley and the dorms AND apartments are extremely expensive. In some places, though, apartment are WAY WAY WAYY cheaper. From my knowledge, UC Davis students prefer the apartments because they pay much less than Berkeley students. My friend, who lives with a few other people, pays I believe $300-ish a month to live in her apartments. This doesn’t include utilities, though, so don’t forget about that.

This is what I factored in when making the decision to live in an apartment my sophomore year. It might be different elsewhere (price-wise):

Dorm:

Someone cleaned our bathroom everyday

Someone vacuumed our hallway everyday

You meet LOTS of new people really quickly, make new friends much easier

Most of the time closer to campus

Price includes meal plan so I don’t have to worry about food

Triple dorm room (shared with two people in a very small room)

Resident assistant organized activities for us (sometimes included freebies and food =])

$1000 per month

Apartment:

$600 a month (twice as much as Davis) + utilities, but no food included (I’m buying a small off-campus meal plan)

I share a room with only 1 person instead of two; kitchen (fridge, dishwasher, stove, oven, sink) + living room (much more room for way less money)

A little further from campus than my dorm (but still walking distance)

Have to buy own furniture

More freedom to do what you want with YOUR place, independence

All together, the price for my apt (including utilities and the smaller meal plan) came out to be BARELY less than my dorm, but it’s much more spacious… and pretty for that matter. =]

I think if the price is cheaper for an apartment then you should go for it. Otherwise, the convenience of a dorm outweighs the other pros of getting an apartment.

Living in a dorm your first year is very important, though. That’s where you meet all your first friends. It’s much easier to get comfortable with college when you have so many other people in the same boat as you in such close proximity. After that, you want more freedom and more independence so most people go for an apartment their second year.

I hope I helped and that I didn’t miss anything. Do what you’re comfortable with! Have fun in college!

Some universities have a policy underclass persons must live on-campus unless a relative lives inside the city location of that school. I think dorms are the fast lane getting the degree. An apartment becomes the shortest distance between the school and a part-time job.

apartments are more expensive, but you get your OWN room and sometimes your own bathroom. I don’t have a problem paying a little bit more for my privacy. If money is an issue you can get student loans to cover your housing expenses. Some apartment complexes are specifically for students so they may have individual leasing (so if your roomate decides to bail out you don’t get stuck with their bill). They also include things like water, sewage, internet, cable, etc in your rent. (give or take some things). I lived in an apartment complex like this and it was nice because it had the privacy of the apartment, but the feel of a big dorm with everyone being students going to the same school. And the apartments were furnished as well so I didn’t have to worry about buying furniture or appliances.

Whether it’s more expensive will depend on the city, how many people you would share the apart ment with, and whether you’re required to be on a meal plan if you’re in the dorms.

In terms of lifestyle, you have more people around in the dorm, which can be more fun, but can also mean more distractions. In an apartment, you probably have fewer rules, but you also have a lot more responsibilties – many bills to take care of instead of just one, you have to do all your own cleaning, etc.

depends on your lifestyle.

i like my college life but i need my time as well. dorms arent the place for me. there are people around which is good but then, you dont wanna always have people around.

apartments are expensive compare to dorms

you would have to pay all your utilities bills personally.