Michael
For college housing- Dorm or House?
I have lots of friends who want to go to the same college I do, but my concern is housing. I want the cheapest possible, to save money, so I am thinking about getting a house and cramming a lot of guys in it. A 4 bedroom house, say it's $1400/month, with 7 beds, if all beds are filled that's $200/month/person. Would that work? Or would it be better to just go with a dorm?
#housing # #college #rooming
4 answers
James Ryan
James’s Answer
Getting together a bunch of people can be a great way to save money, but you're also going to need to put in a lot of work to make sure that it's worth it. If everyone involved has never lived with each other before, they might have very different expectations or approaches to living with other people, and you don't want to end up with a roommate who skips out on paying their share of utilities or regularly makes a lot of noise in the middle of the night.
One of the benefit of a dorm is that they already have these sorts of rules and expectations in place, as well as the means to enforce/upkeep it (RAs, campus security, paid cleaning & maintenance staff).
Living off campus can be cheaper and can be very rewarding but make sure you know what you're getting into first.
Michelle M.
Michelle’s Answer
Hi, Michael E. My guess is that the fee for a dorm is a lot more than $200.00 a month . The roommate situation sounds good. At least try it. You may have guys that come and go because it may not be their ideal after they try it. Someone will have to make up the rent difference if another roommate is not found in enough time. In the dorms, you'd have more or less the same sharing of space but in a house, you'll have more room, more common area and a more private bathroom situation as compared to the dorms. The actual rooms in most dorms are quite small. If you get a house, it may have a backyard and that would be awesome.
I had (non student) roommates during my first two years of college. We had three of us in a four bedroom house with a pool and a Jacuzzi. Although it was a great space, I would have preferred to live on my own. Than me and the one roommate rented a two bedroom apartment. That was better. At the start of my third year in college, I was finally able to get my own apartment. It was a 12' x 15" studio apartment in a very desirable area - lots of artists, cafes and events. Don't fall off your chair, but I was paying $125.00 a month including utilities. Times will never be like that again. But I loved living alone, off campus . Times have changed greatly since than.
Best wishes to you in your future ! :)
Ashley Santos
Ashley’s Answer
Personally I really enjoyed having both experiences. I stayed in a dorm for the first 2 years of college and a townhouse for the last 2 years. In a dorm there is such a sense of community that is great when you are in a new place with the desire to make new friends. Everyone is essentially in the same situation where most know a handful of people but want to really find their tribe. There are often events for the building and/or floor of the dorm that also help with getting to know people. It was such a great way to start my college experience. Then when we had a couple of years to find our tribe, a few of us moved out into a townhouse and it was also an amazing experience as we felt much more independent and had more space.
As far as the financials, I would just urge you to really find out what the difference in cost will be and think about the situation that I shared to see if that sense of community will be worth the difference in cost.
I hope this information helps! Good luck to you and I hope your college experience is everything you hope for!
