To live on campus or off...

[Anachronism]

I spent my first year on campus and my other two years off, and I think both have their merits.

On the one hand, I'm very glad I lived on campus in my first year because it made it so much easier to meet people, organise get-togethers and just generally get used to the university lifestyle. On the other hand, I couldn't have gone back to campus for my final two years, and overall I enjoyed being in a house off campus much more. It felt more like real life on account of being in a normal house, and obviously the best bit was that I was living with some of my best friends.

So, off campus is better overall in my opinion, but on campus is probably a good bet for your first year.

 

[DragonStorm247]

Nice dorms are awesome. Crappy dorms are hell.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Off campus, the internet plans will be better, it will not be filtered (do you want to be able to torrent legal things?). It will be bigger and you'll be able to have parties.

 

[Varitel]

Living on campus as an underclassman is difficult for a one major reason. They give you the worst dorms on the whole campus. There will almost never be A/C, and there will usually be an abundance of asbestos (At UMass Lowell, we couldn't even touch the ceilings in the freshman dorm because of this problem). I will say though, that I moved off campus after freshman year, and by senior year, I was regretting not still living on campus. The biggest advantages to living on campus are that campus is where all the fun is, and the commute basically involves rolling out of bed. I say wait a year at least, and then try and get housing after that. That way you're more likely to know people to room with, and you'll be eligible for the better facilities (If you can get enough friends together, suites often have their own bathrooms!)

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Dorms are huge social hubs and have all the pros and cons of that. If you're introverted or you despise noise and a mess, then you might not enjoy them. If you're extroverted and you enjoy being surrounded by social interactions, then you probably would.

Dorms often depend on the college that supplies them, and can suck or rock for varying reasons. Is the Internet blocked or siphoned or rationed out? Does is supply laundry services? Do the bathrooms make you want to clean yourself in a bucket behind a Pizza Hutt instead of using them? What basic furniture comes with the dorm? Are any of the nearby shops and stores marked up to the nines in order to make a killing off of your proximity?

Living off campus depends on a lot of factors. Is the housing cost worth it? If the housing cost is going to gouge you, do you have a roommate who could split the cost (and the housing) with you? Is the neighborhood good? How much of a hassle is getting back on campus? (Mainly, how is auto and foot traffic to your classes?)

 

[Camaranth]

Based on the little info you've given I'd say off campus but no further than a 10-20 min walk. Close enough to be involved in the events, far enough away to avoid anything you don't want to be involved in.

My first year was in res (private room shared facilities) but was off the main campus. I was in a program with 830am class start everyday and a 4pm finish, plus a heavy work load outside of lectures. All of my dorm mates were in arts classes and only had about 4hrs of class a week. Pretty shitty for me.

As for the social thing, the people I'm still friends with now I met when I was living off campus. I'm not in touch with anyone from back in the days of res. Join a couple of clubs and (most importantly) Make an EFFORT attend the meetings, go on the events that your faculty puts together, work hard and enjoy the experience.

 

[shado_temple]

As someone who lived all 4 years on campus, I'd definitely say to at least give your first year a shot on-campus. My dorm had something of an unofficial "open door policy", where if you were sitting in your room doing anything that didn't need to be private, you'd leave your door open. While I know most people would cringe at the idea, it was crazy effective at getting people to talk to each other, and getting to know the floor.

Case in point: there were 30 people on my freshman floor. I'm now in my senior year, and I'm living with 20 of those people on the same floor, now in the upperclassmen housing.

Now, of course, I'm not saying that dorm life is for everyone. If you don't like being around other people frequently, off-campus is definitely for you. I didn't exactly like the idea at first either, but it really grew on me after about a month, to the point where I'm going to miss not being able to just walk down the hall to find some sort of fun when I move to an apartment.