It’s about that time of the year again for freshmen to start the frantic search for a place to live the next year. Which complex is best? Which ones are closest to campus? How much does that one cost? There are a lot of important questions that need to be answered when you decide where to live for your sophomore year of college. Most people immediately dismiss the thought of spending another year on campus. I’m not really sure why but there’s a certain stigma about living on campus after your freshman year of college. Well if you’ve already discounted the idea of staying on campus, hear me out. Let me try to persuade you into staying. Or if you’ve already committed to staying on campus, let me tell you what you have to look forward to.
1. You’re right in the middle of campus.
Okay this one seems kind of obvious but you don’t realize how convenient it is until you have to sit in twenty minutes of traffic to get to class every morning. It’s so much easier to just walk out the front door and get to your class in five minutes. Nothing beats the convenience of living in the heart of campus.
2. You have the most convenient study spot for you and your friends.
Need a place to study but the MLC is full? Lucky for you, your room is only a five-minute walk away. The dorms even come equipped with study rooms if your roommates happen to be home. When you’re working on that late night group project, your friends will be grateful to use your room and you’ll already be home when you’re done.
3. You can nap whenever you want.
Most students who live off campus commute in the morning and don’t return to their apartment until they are done with all of their on-campus commitments for the day. Sometimes you aren’t done till 6:00 p.m. or later. What if you get tired during the day? You don’t want to drive twenty minutes home to nap only to have to drive twenty minutes back to campus after you’re done. When you live on campus all you have to do is hop on a bus and no matter where you are on campus, you will be back at your dorm within five minutes. You could be asleep in your bed ten minutes after initially feeling sleepy. Nothing beats that.
4. You don’t want to walk? Not a problem.
We all know that life is hard sometimes and you just don’t want to walk around campus to get back to your dorm. Luckily UGA has buses that go to pretty much every dorm. Just hop on and it will take you straight there. Many off-campus apartments aren’t on the Athens Transit bus routes which means you have to make it all the way back to your car and then you have to drive back to your apartment. The process could take more than an hour. But if you live on campus the buses are always there and will only take you ten minutes max to get back to your room.
5. You still get the highest priority for parking.
This one doesn’t seem like a big deal but it is. If you live off campus you automatically have the lowest priority of anyone else who needs a parking spot on campus. Most off-campus students have to park at the intramural fields and get a bus back up to main campus. When you live on campus you are guaranteed a spot close to your dorm, ensuring that your car will never be left in the far corners of campus.
6. You don’t have to walk far on game days.
This one is a much bigger deal once you experience the inconvenience of a game day as an off-campus student. Campus is practically shut down on game days when it comes to driving. It’s extremely difficult to drive in and out and if you don’t have a permit on campus, you’re going to have to pay a minimum of $20 to park your car. Getting here is a challenge for off-campus students. But if you live on campus you don’t have to worry about any of that. You just have to walk outside and you’re already in the middle of the action. And once the game is over you don’t have to spend two hours in traffic getting home, you just walk up the hill to your dorm.
7. You don’t have to clean your bathroom.
I can’t stand cleaning my bathroom. Most of the time you have at least one other person sharing it with you and it’s gross to clean something that they use too. Hair builds up in the shower. The sink gets old toothpaste on it. And guests using your toilet? Gross. If you live on campus, there is complimentary bathroom cleaning once a week. As soon as it starts to look a little dirty, it’s probably time for them to come clean it. You never even have to lift a toilet brush.
8. You don’t have to worry about bills.
Okay this is the most important one of all. When you pay for your dorm room water, heat, wifi, and cable are included in your bill. You pay for it all once each semester and you don’t have to worry about paying four separate bills every month. You bill is separate from your roommate’s and you never have to worry about splitting the cost of rent. Everything is taken care of up front. This saves you a lot of stress down the road.
So as you can see, there are a few perks to staying on campus for your sophomore year. Living on campus is the ultimate convenience. Of course there are definitely perks of living off-campus. But no one ever mentions why staying on campus is fun too. I don't regret staying on campus for a second year at all. Whatever you decide, do your research. Make a pro and con list. Think about what is going to be better for you in the long run. But don’t count out on-campus living until you’re absolutely sure that it isn’t for you.
