Most, if not all U.S. educational institutions of higher learning have available on-campus housing options for their undergraduate students. A couple more universities are now beginning to provide this housing option for their graduate students. This post aims to highlight some of the advantages of residing on-campus.
1. Easy Access to Campus Resources: For students living on-campus, they have a much less commute to campus buildings and resources as compared to those living off-campus. A less commute affords students the luxury of time, which otherwise would have been spent on commuting in and out of campus.
2. Opportunity to meet and connect with more people: On-campus living provides the opportunity to meet other students aside the ones that sit in the same classroom/lecture hall with you. Residential living provides various opportunities for students to bond, and is a big bonus for students who 'hit it off' immediately with their dormitory mates ('roomies') or quad members. 'Hot spot' locations such as the dining hall, library, and student centers often tend to be destination places for students to meet up.
3. High probability of engaging in campus activities: Every semester, there are tens of events ranging from career fairs to guest speaker series happening on campus. While most of these events are held during the day and in-between classes to attract as many students as possible, there are a few events, which are sometimes scheduled after classes and in the evening, making it almost inconvenient for the off-campus student to attend mostly because of the issue with timing. In this case, living on-campus gives the student the upper hand here, especially for those students who rightly and intentionally put themselves out there to get involved. Being engaged in campus activities is one of the major avenues of networking with other students.
4. Partially/Fully furnished dormitory: On-campus housing usually comes in different styles at varied costs. Depending on the student's preferred choice of housing style, the room could either be partially or fully furnished with a mattress, air conditioner, desk, microwave, etc..One of the most important item which is usually not provided is beddings, which students must bring along. It is important to note that, the more furnished the dormitory room/apartment is, the more expensive it may cost and vice versa. However, partially/fully furnished dormitories always save student's the time, sometimes cost and worry of getting and transporting furniture to their 'new temporal homes.'
5. Less monthly bills: Living on-campus saves student's the stress and worry that somestimes comes with making monthly payments on electric, internet, water, etc.. bills in order to avoid a disconnection of service. This is not to imply that living on-campus is not costly, but the latter option means making a lump sum payment or subscribing to an installment plan. With the stress that already comes from being a student trying to meet assignment deadlines, the last any student will want to be bombarded with is different types of incoming monthly bills.
While living on-campus can be advantageous for the student, it certainly does come with disadvantages, just like there are pros and cons with every situation. With that being said, what do you think are some of the disadvantages of living on-campus?
