Pros & Cons of Living Off-Campus // Exchange Post #5

I have lived in an off-campus apartment near Murray State University for the past 2 months so I have gotten a solid ideas of the pros and cons of what it is like to live in an apartment. Also, when looking at dorms I found lots of information about the pros and cons of living in a dorm. Here is my list of what I think are advantages and disadvantages of living on-campus and off-campus.

Pros and Cons of living in an apartment vs dorm

Apartment Pros

- My own room & bathroom

- More room to move around

- Balcony: sitting outside.

- Kitchen appliances: I can cook my own food. This reduces food costs.

- Laundry machines: can do my laundry whenever I want for free.

- Can have guests sleep over

- Pool

- Gym close by in the clubhouse that is free to use

- Tanning bed in the clubhouse

- Pool and hockey table in the clubhouse

- Occasionally there is free food at the clubhouse

- Bikes to rent from the clubhouse

Apartment Cons

- Loud neighbors: my neighbors have a party every weekend so I can't sleep well most weekends.

- Messy roommates: I am used to having my living spaces very clean all the time, but I have realized that American students have different standards for cleaning. This means that kitchen, living room, and laundry room are not as clean as I would hope.

- Limited space in the fridge/freezer: There are 4 people living in the apartment so the freezer and fridge give limited space to put your food in.

- Farther from campus & classes

- Don't have any RAs or person to turn to for help at the apartment

Dorm Pros

- Close to campus & classes

- Has residence help if needed

- Closer community

- Easier to make friends that go to college with you

- Don't have to deal with parking problems

- Quiet nights = better sleep

Dorm Cons

- No kitchen: no stove, oven, can't cook.

- Living with someone. No space for yourself

- Very small living area

- More expensive if I want a room to myself

- Small bed

- Can't have guests for the night without permission & for more than 3 days.

- Inconvenience to do laundry & not free.

- Older building

I hope this helps you decide to live off or on-campus, or then gives more information about my living conditions.

Be on the lookout for my apartment tour video to see how the apartment and clubhouse looks like!

Love,

Susanna Poysti

#University #Exchange