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Student Housing Options & Campus Housing Choices in College

English Composition

College often provides students with their first opportunity to live independently, at least with respect to their families. In fact, many college students consider this one of the advantages of a residential campus. The list of housing options from which college students may choose includes living at home, renting a single apartment, living in a residential dormitory, living in a sorority or fraternity house, or renting an off-campus house with a group of friends. Each choice comes with various advantages and disadvantages that students must consider before making a choice.

Living at Home:

Living at home while commuting back and forth to school is certainly the cheapest housing option. For this reason, students living on a very tight budget, as well as those who have family responsibilities may consider this option preferable to others.

The obvious disadvantages of living at home include saving money and the ability to fulfill family responsibilities with which other forms of housing may conflict.

Living in a Dormitory:

Living in a dormitory is the most common housing option, especially among college freshmen because many colleges specifically prohibit freshmen from living off campus or in fraternities and sororities. The advantages of dormitory living include proximity to other students as well as the availability of pre-paid food plans in dormitory cafeterias. The disadvantages of dormitory living include the possibility of having to share a living quarters with strangers with whom one does not get along, as well as unwelcome disturbances such as loud music at times when one is studying or sleeping.

Renting a Shared House:

Many students consider renting a shared off-campus house after their freshman year of living in a dormitory. Typically, this involves finding a suitable property and enough roommates to pay the entire rent. The advantages of sharing an off-campus house include the opportunity to choose all of one's preferred roommates, relative freedom from campus rules that apply to dormitory living, and in general, a more independent experience than either living at hoe or in campus housing facilities.

The disadvantages of living in a shared off-campus house include the possibility that one or more roommates will default on his or her rent obligations, leaving the other roommates to make up the difference. Typically, only one or two of the roommates actually sign the rental contract and merely collect rent from the other roommates every month. Where other roommates decide to leave, the student(s) who signed the lease must still come up with the entire rent every month.

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