I am 21-years-old and sometimes I wish I still lived in a dorm. It has recently come to my attention that sophomores are now required to live on campus at San Diego State. Although some may see this as a bad thing, in my opinion, you guys are the lucky ones.
As a junior now, I live in a house off-campus and although I love it, I envy everyone in the dorms. I say this because living on campus is stress-free and serves as a buffer zone before really entering adult life (well, almost). What I'm trying to say is that when you live off-campus there are a lot of additional things to worry about that are out of your control.
Here are some things to think about before you decide to live in a house:
1. Expenses
Before you decide to live in a house, keep in mind that you will have a water, wifi, and electricity bill as well as rent to pay every month; and this can get expensive. That means say goodbye to your air conditioning and shower concerts. The utility expenses vary depending on how many people you live with and how careful your roommates are about using these appliances. For instance, in a house with 8 girls we are paying about $70 per month each in utilities (but we are working on it.) Depending on your landlord someone will be responsible for handling these bills and when you are a full-time student the last thing you want to worry about is managing and paying bills.
Compared to living on campus the only thing you will be responsible for paying is your rent which has the option of a meal plan built in. An added benefit of living on campus is having the option of a 9-month or 11.5-month lease which ultimately saves you money. Most off-campus housing such as Aztec Corner and BLVD63 have only 11.5-month leases resulting in us having to pay for months we are not there for. I've heard of horror stories of people moving out before the lease is up and not paying their rent anymore because of this. Due to binding leases, the other roommates are responsible to pay the extra costs. This happened to me when I lived at BLVD63, and let me tell you my parents were not happy.
2. Cooking
Samba Brazilian Cuisine
Personally, I hate cooking especially when I have loads of homework to do, I am tired, and I am rushing to get to class on time. When you live far from campus it is not easy to just go back and forth home for lunch and dinner which means packing meals. Freshman year I loved the meal plan, I even lost 15 pounds instead of gaining the Freshman 15.
Now 90% of the time I pack a meal I end up not eating it and result to eating campus food because nothing is worse than having to eat food that's been in a backpack for hours. Having a meal plan saves money because there is no food waste and what you are eating is substantial enough to keep you satisfied. Fueling yourself especially as a student is important so that you can succeed in school.
3. Security
When you live on campus or in the dorms there are numerous security gates to get into the building which makes a big difference. I remember freshman year how impressed my parents were to see all the security and it made them feel more comfortable leaving me here. When they dropped me off at my new house though this school year, that was a different story. My landlord is not the best, he takes days to respond to our complaints and even though the house is brand new he really did the bare minimum with security. Our side door has a fabulous string that can be pulled to open it, however, I have to give it to my landlord though for getting a string color that matched the door.
On-campus housing is very safe especially with having RA's, there are no issues with loud noise or break-ins. The farther you get away from campus the more dangerous it gets. When you decide to live off campus you give up the right to know your neighbors. I've learned safety is no joke even though having a house of your own with your friends is fun.
The moral of the story is to live on campus because why make your life more difficult? We have the rest of our lives to live on our own so we should take advantage of this opportunity. I am glad San Diego State has implemented the Sophomore Success Program because even though some may think it is pricey, our administrators are really just looking out for us. In my opinion, living on campus with a meal plan is about the same cost as living off campus with the addition of these numerous benefits.
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