Living on campus is great and I highly recommend it. That is where you meet some of your closest friends while bonding over how awful the dinning hall food is, or how obnoxiously loud the guys across the hall are. It is a safe place where you have every resource at your fingertips. If I could have, I would have spent all four years living on campus. Why become an adult any faster than you already have to? Between bills, neighbors, upkeep, and groceries, living off campus can be a drag. There are positives though, and here to share some of ups and downs of living off campus are every 90's kid's favorite duo, the Olsen Twins.
1) Con: Searching for a Place
They say love is a battlefield, but really, searching for an off-campus place is a battlefield. You don't know how long it took me to find the house I am in and even then I played phone tag with my landlord for about two weeks before we even saw the place. It was pure madness! But while you are searching, your inner HGTV comes out and makes it impossible to not look for your "dream home," when in reality, you are a college student and just need a place to host kick backs, not dinner parties.
2) Pro: Finding the Perfect Place
Once you find a place that is A) affordable and B) semi-pretty, you feel like you are on top of the world! Finally things are falling into place and this is going to be a magical experience! You can feel it in your bones!
3) Con: Paying Rent
"I'm sorry, that amount is due EVERY MONTH?!?" Panic mode initiated. "Hold the phone, I have to send in rent checks? It doesn't just get magically paid for by my parents? Or automatically floats away and I don't have to do anything?" Yeah, welcome to real life kids, where if you are late on your rent you are either slammed with a fee or evicted. *Bubble of Innocence Popped*
4) Pro: Total Independence
On the bright side, you have opened up a whole new world where you can do pretty much whatever you want when you move off campus and away from the eyes of your RA and RD. You want to light a candle? GO FOR IT! You want a normal sized refrigerator? GO FOR IT! You want to turn your music up to 11? GO FOR IT! The world is your oyster! No one can stop you now (except your neighbors and if you're being particularly obnoxious, campus security/the police). But still, you are sort of on top of the world!
5) Con: Utility Bills
And now gravity has set in and you are smacked down on earth when your first set of bills arrive. Did you know the Department of Water and Power charges you a $300 deposit just to turn on their services? 'Cause I didn't. REALITY CHECK!
6) Pro: More Space
Now that you live in a house off campus, you have 10 times the room you did in the dorms. Depending on the number of housemates you have, chances are you all will get your own room, and if you're truly lucky, your place may even have a backyard for you to frolic in. Let me tell you, after sharing a closet with a stranger for the past three years, it feels amazing to be able to go to bed and not ask your roommate if it is all right if you turn off the light now. Once again, the world is your oyster!
7) Con: Noise Complaints
Some things don't change though because you don't want to be THAT neighbor who is blasting music so loud the people halfway down the block can hear your Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons record. And if you think that is a very specific example, that's because it is. It happened to me last night and trust me, I love Frankie as much as the next guy, but not when I am trying to sleep. Keep it down kiddies, or the LAPD might show up, and that is never fun to deal with.
8) Pro: Party Central
Moving off campus is liberating and will be the time of your life. You get to personalize a place to exactly how you want it and have friends over whenever you want and for however long you want. Just make sure to keep your priorities straight. Sure it is great that you can now throw a party and the chances of getting caught have lowered significantly, but you still have to be a responsible adult, attend classes, and pay rent on time.
