If you have been planning to live on campus next semester in a residence hall, you should have already turned in your housing application.. If you have yet to do so, you might miss out on your top 3 choices or miss out on the opportunity to live on campus as a whole. TURN IN YOUR HOUSING APPLICATIONS!
Living on campus comes with lots of benefits and negatives. For starters, the residence halls on campus give you a great situation to be close to your classes and facilities on campus. If you love exercising and going to the SRC everyday, living on campus will be a good situation for you. If you have a campus job that requires you to be on campus everyday, living close by in a residence hall is a great option.
However, if you are a rising junior or senior and are getting tired of the on-campus vibe of college then living off-campus might be a better option for you. Living off campus will always be cheaper than living on-campus so that is an important detail right off the bat. Living in an apartment or house off-campus will more than likely be accompanied by a kitchen space that will allow you buy groceries and cook for yourself instead of getting Panda Express and Chick Fil A everyday.
If you want to take a big step in terms of maturity i recommend taking the jump from living on-campus in a dorm to living off-campus in a house. Much more responsibility comes with living in a house. It is your responsibility to take out the trash, clean the dishes and keep your house from turning into a mess. It is those responsibilities that keep students from making the steps to living on your own in a house but it really does allow and help you make a big maturity step.
Whatever living situation you decide is the right option for you, more than likely you will have to deal with living with other people. Having roommates can be a frustrating situation if you and those roommates do not have much in common. Try to find people to live with who are in your classes, organizations/clubs, or people you work with. Living with people who are focused and committed on similar things as you will result in a “happy marriage.” Having issues with your roommates can be an unpleasant situation and I promise you that not wanting to go back to the place you live because of conflicts with your roommate is a horrible feeling that I have dealt with personally.
