For those of you that are sick of living at the Residence Halls, you might consider living off campus at any number of apartments available for renting around Newport News. If you’re local, you might even be able to kick back with your family and save on the cost of residential housing! When making a decision as big as this, it might be in your interest to lay out the reasons for and against moving out. Here’s just a few pros and cons for your consideration.
- Privacy
Wherever you choose to live, anyone would want a decent amount of privacy, but between an apartment and a residence hall, it’s unclear which will give you the better deal in this area.
Pro: Living off-campus will guarantee you no more visits from RAs, a healthy distance from those potential neighbors who just can’t stop getting in your business, and a peace of mind that other students aren’t listening to you while you’re just trying to chill at home.
Con: When choosing to leave behind the residence halls you might find yourself having visits from a landlord or neighbors, if you stay with family you might struggle to find a healthy distance from them, and you might be exchanging a lack of privacy in a dorm for a lack of privacy in an apartment block.
- Freedom
There might be such a thing as too much freedom, but within your place of living you shouldn’t have to answer to anyone else. Freedom is one of the biggest advantages that is held from living off-campus, provided you’re not choosing to live with an overbearing family.
Pro: Being off-campus, you will be able to do what you previously couldn’t under campus rules, provided it’s within the law. If you want to have friends over, you ask them and that’s that, go wild.
Con: When living off-campus your neighbors will have this same freedom, which can lead to nuisances that you can’t do anything about. You also have a responsibility to take care of yourself within this newfound freedom, which is a real danger.
- Safety
We can’t honestly discuss people’s priorities without bringing up personal safety. Without a doubt, on-campus housing will be leagues safer than the choice to live off-campus.
Pro: You’ll have to leave the nest at some point, and these kinds of considerations for your personal safety are going to have to be made at some point. Also, if you have the option to live with family, you’ll be even more safe than you would be living on campus.
Con: On-campus living will always enjoy a degree of safety that comes with regular patrols by Campus police, good lighting, student-ID required door controls, and a degree of separation from the rest of the Newport News community.
While there are so many more things to consider in the choice to move, in the context of a decision to stay in on-campus or off-campus housing can be reduced to these three factors. Beyond that, always weigh up what matters most to you and consider what other costs you’ll have to take in order to follow through on this choice.
