Should I rent an apartment on campus or stay at home?
Should I rent an apartment on campus or stay at home? So next year I will be transferring to a university from a community college. I’ll be 20 years old by then. I would like to know your opinion on whether I should stay at home with my parents or move into an apartment on campus. Here are the pro’s and con’s of moving into an apartment:
Apartment Pros: -I will be in walking distance from school - I will meet new people (I’m such an introvert and don’t have many friends) - Everyone has told me that it will be a good experience - I can finally become independent (I’m the baby in my family so I’m pretty much pampered at home)
Apartment Cons: - I will have to pay rent (I don’t have to pay ANY bills at home)
- I will have to get a full job
Staying at home Pros: - Don’t have to pay any bills
Staying at home Cons: - I don’t get along with my sister and my older brother might move back in with us soon - I would have to drive 20 minutes to get to school - My parents don’t like it when my friends come over
Shazwott2013-08-03T19:42:03Z
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I do think its a good thing for your to get an apartment, but is there any way for you to wait until after the school year starts? I suggest this because community college and universities can be very different and the work load may be more than you are expecting and it would be good for you to know how much work the university classes are before you make the commitment of working full time to pay for an apartment.
I would generally lean towards staying at home due to the great cost savings. Another option that you didn't mention was the dorms. It can be a great way to meet people and it's far less distracting or costly than an apartment. It's close to classes and campus activities. There are lots of other students nearby to study with or for homework help. You don't have many of the time consuming household chores or food preparation in a dorm. I had friends that thought they'd save money by renting an apt. rather than the dorm. They ended up living on costly junk food, bickering over household chores, and arguing with noisy pothead slacker neighbors in the apt. next door. They moved back to the dorm the next year and their grades improved too. The dorm can give you independence and a great social life as well. My university offered dorm floors with student preferences. For example, some were "quiet" floors, or all science majors, or coed, or all grad students, etc. You may like some of those options too. Consider the dorms.
It's better to stay at home than to rent an apartment, because this means that as stated in your question, you will have a lot of responsibilities(i.e having a full time job and paying rent or whatever else is needed to pay bills) which could lead to a decreased amount of time to study at home. Unless you can work part time and no more than 10 to 15 hours maximum, your only option is to stay home until you graduate, and have a nice, steady job.
living at home can be a real pain but it is absolutely the best way to make it through college. The reduction in living expenses decreases you need to work which increases your time to study.