Living On Campus Versus OffI was recently asked by a student whether or not she HAD to live on campus as a freshman. I answered by referring her to her school’s policy requiring freshmen to live on campus except in certain circumstances. As I was typing my response, it struck me that prospective college students shouldn’t look at it from the “Do I have to…?” perspective. They should turn it around and ask their campus tour guides “Do I get to live on campus?”
Except in rare cases, I think all new students should live in campus housing (that includes such things as suites, apartments, the traditional residence halls, and in many cases, fraternities and sororities). It provides a structured, supervised setting that still allows for much personal freedom. And, while freedom is one of the most sought after aspects of college for many freshmen, complete freedom (the kind you get if you live off campus) is the last thing most need. My reasons for suggesting students live on campus fall into three categories: convenience, activity, and people. To me, convenience alone should be enough to win the argument – no grocery shopping, no cooking, no washing dishes, minimal required cleaning, fewer parking hassles, bills consolidated into one payment, as well as easier access to classes, professors and other academic resources. Some schools even make tutoring and academic advising services available inside campus housing. Trust me, you’ll have plenty to worry about, and need as few responsibilities as possible. If that’s not enough for you, next to the Student Union, campus housing is the biggest hub of activity (and activities) for most campuses. From intramural sports to leadership opportunities, to 2 a.m. pizzas, to campus and community involvement, most everything that happens at college begins or ends in campus housing. But the most meaningful and probably memorable reason to live on campus is the people. You’ll find some of the best friends you’ll have in your life, people who look, think and act differently than you do (I promise, that’s a good thing), maybe the love of your life, and people you’ll learn from and come to respect and emulate. In short, you become connected with your school and its people more easily on campus than off. Most any school representative can recite stats on how their campus residents have better grades, stay in school, become more involved on campus, and/or graduate sooner than those off campus. And lots of research exists linking connectedness to campus with all kinds of positive outcomes, academic and otherwise. Students would be less concerned about living on campus freshman year if they knew how many schools required students to live on campus sophomore year too (still others require it all four years!). Just a reminder, regardless where you live, there's a good chance your college bedding will likely be XL Twin bedding (extra long twin beds). Therefore you'll need to find out for sure, and then purchase extra long bedding, if applicable, instead of standard single sheets. Back to Articles List |
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