As a student that has lived both on campus and off campus, I can assure you that living off campus is a much better experience than living on campus. Here are a few reasons why.
1. More Freedom
There's no more having to worry about scanning to get into your building and then having to show your ID to the person sitting at the front desk to prove that you live in that building, even though you literally just scanned in, but okay. There's also no more having to sign people in if they want to just come to your room or stay over.
2. Less Money
Have you ever sat down and looked at how much room and board is? Well, I have and it's a lot. So when you're living off campus, you end up saving so much money. Which is good, because I know that I'll be paying student loans off until I die. So if living off campus is going to make that amount of money smaller, obviously it's the right choice.
3. Live With Whoever You Want
You choose exactly who you want to live with and you don't have to worry about not filling up your room and the school coming in and putting a rando in that empty spot. Because, let's be real, that's when things get awkward.
4. Learn How To Do Real Life Things
Yeah, living off campus does come with new responsibilities, but who ever said that that was a bad thing? I now know how to pay rent, deal with getting something fixed by talking to the landlord, and even I know when to put the garbage on the street so it can be picked up. Those might seem like very small things to learn, but it's more than I knew while I was living on campus.
5. No More Random School Policies
You don't have to worry about getting a knock on your door by the RA on duty telling you to be quiet because it's after 10. Or have to deal with random room checks where you have to hide everything that you aren't supposed to have, like lights or extension cords.
So, trust me when I say that you should definitely live off campus if you get the chance to. Enjoy being free, learning new things, and just living life! Four years goes by too fast to not enjoy it to the max.
