You have so many determination to make when head off to college . Once you pick your school andget accepted , you still have to fancy out your John Roy Major , which classes to take and how to hoodwink your sketch with a part - time task and socializing . Where you live is an significant decision , too . Most four - yr college have residence halls , or dormitories , on campus , but there ’s also the choice of renting an apartment or house off - campus . How do you decide ?
First , make certain you really do have a choice . Many college require fresher to stay in a dorm unless they exist within a sure length of campus . The argument is that they tend to do better academically . There ’s leisurely access to your course of study , your professors and resource designed to aid you get off to a honest start . Being on campus also make it easier to get postulate in activity , converge citizenry who share your interests and truly experience college aliveness . Most fresher are on their own for the first time , and it ’s a huge adjustment . live on in a dorm provide a tier of security that an apartment does n’t . And since parking is expensive on many campus , if you live there , you do n’t inevitably call for to have a car . ( Some schools do n’t even let freshmen to keep one on campus . )
Some colleges take it a step further , creating programs just for freshmen like the Freshman Experience at the Georgia Institute of Technology ( Georgia Tech ) in Atlanta . This program bring home the bacon for fledgling - only housing and meal plans , but it also includes a support system with features such as internet opportunities with upperclassmen , faculty and alumni . This might be really invoke to you , especially pay the 2010 statistic that 1 in 3 college students either dropped out or transferred to another school after their first year [ source : Mack ] .
That being said , you might still want to live in an apartment . Many residence halls extend apartment - style life , single rooms or suite where you have a secret tub or share a bath with just a few other people . But the standard ( and the least expensive option ) is still a bivalent room with a residential area bath , and not everyone is down with that . student residence have linguistic rule that might rub you the wrong way , like no burn candela or visitors after 1 a.m. You may also be expect to buy a meal plan , and while some dining manor hall have majuscule food and dozens of option , others do n’t , or their hours are n’t convenient .
Cost is another cistron . Everything is included in a student residence ; in an flat , you have to worry about give tear and utility separately , buying and cooking food , and flummox to and from campus ( and often pay for a parking blank ) . But if you have several potential flat roommates lined up , the toll of renting could be corresponding . It all depends on yourbudgetand comfort level .
I never lived in a dorm , although I did hold out in an flat on campus for my first two eld of college . I do n’t think I would ’ve much wish it , but I ’m also a very private person who hates the musical theme of share a room with someone I ’m not related to ( and even then ) and has a matter about public bathrooms . Many of my Quaker lived in dorms and get it on a quite a little about the experience . Some of them are still in contact with their roommates over a decennium later or even became close-fitting friend with them . Choosing where to be is an important decision , but it ’s not a lasting one – you could always move to another residence hall or another flat ( in college township , many of them rent by the semester ) until you regain the arrant fit .
