Well, without knowing the cost of the dorm fees, it’s hard to say. But it seems you can answer the cost question yourself just by looking at the numbers….so I am guessing your real question is whether to live in a dorm (with roommate or roommates) or to live in an apartment alone.

This decision is probably like many other decisions…full of tangibles (e.g. real touchable stuff like money, furniture, etc which are easier to quantify) and intangibles (e.g. subjective judgment / value biased items like convenience, comfort, “ease”, safety…you know, perception and opinion kinds of things that differ widely among people…falling into the category of quality…something hard to assign to a number or quantity.)

I suggest that you do a comparison contrast table and check off the times line by line…1 check mark, 1 point, then tally the scores to see which one has the most points. But this may not be as easy as it seems. But let’s try anyway, OK?

From the list you have describing the apartment, I am guessing that the dorm may have many of the community amenities (if you really stretch the imagination…PE classes / gym = “fitness center”, etc.), so basically the same for this example (or you can decide the actual points).

So the real differences comes in the unit amenities. I am guessing the dorm might only earn 1 point for being a furnished unit.

Some other quantities you can add to your evaluation:

**Time/distance to class

**If commuting, costs (e.g. bus, car & parking; is parking at the apartment included with the rent?)

**Time allowed for commuting/parking

**Cost of meals (dorm = eating out; apartment = cooking which requires time for shopping, preparing, cleaning; making lunch?)

**security deposit

**estimated/actual monthly utilities

**deposits to install utilities

**cost for all the little stuff for the apartment (dishes, utensils, cooking/cleaning gear…and supplies..toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, mop, broom, vacuum, etc)

**laundry (and associated costs)

[There’s probably more, but…sorry, not coming to me right now…you get the drift.]

For some of these items, the lower cost / shorter time wins = 1 point, loser gets “0”

The intangibles are the qualitative items. For example, the list might include:

**safety: in the building, neighborhood/campus (do you know the crime rates for the neighborhood/campus? what about traffic accident rates in the neighborhood/campus and travel route to and from school?

**convenience: only you can answer

**comfort

**privacy

Since these are subjective value judgment things, the way to “quantify them” is to assign a rating scale of say 1 to 5, with 1 being a low rating, and 5 being a high one. So when you check off a “5” for privacy, that means you get a lot of privacy in the apartment vs. maybe a “1” in the dorm with 3 roommates.

So, after setting up the list of intangibles and the rating scale, tally up the total score for both tangibles and intangibles…and you should see an logical, numerical outcome. And then, if you are like the rest of us humans, and you don’t like the score you see…you’re completely free to do what you want, ignore the rationale approach and go with your feelings….NOTHING wrong with that.

But at least you can clearly see what the possible consequences will be financially, in your schedule, etc. and can consciously decide to reset priorities, give here to get there, etc.

Sounds like a really tedious exercise. But if you can practice this systematic decision making approach, it becomes reflexive and happens faster and faster each time. But you need to be sure to include all the variables no matter how small. Life is full of trade offs. The key is to know what you are trading off to get to your goal.

Hope this helps. Best wishes for your success and peace and contentment.

Just keep in mind when residing off campus, not only do you have to pay rent, but often utilities are not included (gas, electric, cable, etc.) Also take into consideration the gas you will spend if you have to drive to campus (given that you don’t have a car yet, you might need other transportation), and whether or not you want to do grocery shopping and make your own meals 🙂 On the plus side, it’s nice to have the freedom of being in an apartment, and if you can find roomates, you will be able to split the cost. However, I think overall you will be saving money if you hold off on the apartment, unless it is University owned. Once you graduate it’s a lot easier. (I didn’t even need a cosigner.) Maybe you can save up for a car!

Apartments are nice because you have privacy, there’s no one to argue with (i.e. a roomate), you can come and go as you please, no questions asked. People are older more mature so you don’t have to worry about chics getting banged out in the room next to you. etc etc.

If you’re scared to live alone then do the dorm option. If you have a boyfriend, see yourself having a boyfriend, or like privacy and no drama, convenience, and piece of mind. Go with the apartment. Your man would rather see you and not your girlfriends or better yet you might not want your girlfriends to see your man (get it)?

I’m an independant male so I would always choose my own place. But you must weigh the pros and cons.

Is the apartment close?

Is it safe at night?

Would you be OK alone there?

Will you feel like you’re missing out on what’s happening on campus?

Hope I was able to point you in the right direction to figure out the best way to make that decision.

Singles in that area are 400-450 starting, Cable TV would be $60 a month, Internet would be $30 a month, electricity varies from $50-$150 in winter time.

I’d say $642 isn’t a bad deal. Don’t forget you will need transportation to school.

Hard to say – you don’t give enough information about the costs for the dorm.

But keep in mind that the dorm usually comes with a meal plan, so you’d have to figure in the cost of food, plus utilities to cook and light the apartment, plus gas to drive back and forth to classes, plus renter’s insurance if you want that. At a guess, I’ll bet that the dorm is cheaper.

Only you can answer if it’s cheap enough to make it worthwhile.

depends on area…i know in my area a 1 bd room apartment near the university (UCF) is probably 700ish+Utilities. The dorm covers your electric/internet/phone so dorm would be better

living in ur own apartment will be cheaper then dorming. but it also depends on how far a commute it is from ur school…a pro is also u won’t have to share w/ other ppl