In my third year of college, I have lived in a dorm, two different campus apartments, and I’ve moved back home. Besides paying rent at an off-campus apartment or house, I have experienced the majority of living situations in college.
I decided to move back home for my junior year of college. I live in the next “suburb” over from the main campus, so paying $10k to live a 15 minute drive away with insufferable strangers didn’t sound ideal anymore.
Now that I’ve spent almost a whole year at home, here is my review of the three different situations.
Living in a dorm:
The most overrated college experience. I lived in Bailey Hall, the most isolated dorm at my university. I had a 4-person suite with two bedrooms and a living room. I shared a bathroom with my floor. I took a campus shuttle every single day to go to class on the main campus.
Some people absolutely love dorm life, but I hated it. My roommate wants to go to sleep but I’m doing homework, roommates having hookups in our living room, sharing a bathroom with a floor of girls who never flushed/washed their hands/or picked up their hair from the drain, and crappy dining hall food makes dorm life something I would only do once.
Study dates, dinners, and late night Monopoly games with my friend group I called the Bailey Bunch made the experience tolerable.
Rate: 4/10
Living in a campus apartment
Oh chile when I tell you I thought I was grown when me and one of my girls got an apartment. We had 4bed-2 bath apartments our sophomore year. We lived in one apartment complex in the fall semester and moved to a different one in the spring. Cooking for yourself for survival instead of enjoyment comes with a learning curve. The challenge gets harder when you basically live in a food desert of a campus. Eating out was frequent and unapologetic.
I had my own room which was the best thing I could’ve done for my mental health. I also LOVE interior design so I loved having an extra ass bedroom and not feeling judged.
My girl and I DID NOT like our roommates fall semester. One had a strange obsession with plants, used up almost every square inch of storage space, and didn’t respect our boundaries but would freak out when we crossed hers. She also claimed to be half Brazilian and a chef at birth but seasoned her chicken with butter, so…
Second semester came with a new, more spacious apartment and better roommates. Besides the absense of a fresh water fountain in the building and having to drink tap water for the first time in ten years, it was pretty nice.
Rate: 7/10
Commuting to College:
Being back at home this year has been bittersweet, but mostly sweet. Instead of paying the equivalent of $5,000 in rent per semester, I’m living rent free. To commute to college, I pay $114 per semester for a metro pass and less than $250 in gas per semester.
When I was in Thailand, my mom decided to get a bigger place and we moved right when I got back. I never wanted to move, but now I’ve gotten the chance to renovate my bedroom to the Pinterest bedroom I’ve always wanted.
Room tour coming very soon to the blog.
Cons? I can’t have…fun… with my friends to the extent that I’d like because I have to drive home. Even at age 21 my mom sends me the “where are you?” texts at only 10pm. I can’t host functions at my place, and if I did I’d have to ensure I have the place to myself. Studying is damn near impossible when I’m not in control of who’s in the house.
Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed having my own place, being with my family, having access to my car, and seeing my Navient loans slow down.
Rate: To my surprise…8/10
The Wrap-Up:
In conclusion, I can already say that I’m grateful that I’ve experienced all three of these situations. I’m also really grateful to live near my school. Dorm life can be a hit or a miss, but it can be really integral to transitioning into college. I loved living in an apartment with my friends and having my own space but you can still run into roommate problems. Living at home has been challenging and less convenient but good to my pocket and student loan count. This is just my opinion, though, so here are so more tips to get you feeling like you never left!
Carpe Diem – Seize the Day!
Manyi.