<p>my daughter wants an apartment for next year. She will be a 2nd year student…what are your experiences with your kids moving into apartments? Pro? Cons? Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Will she be sharing or be on her own? Is her campus a place where lots of activities take place? My S is a sophomore and he is very involved with his suitemates. There are lots of activities in his House as well as on campus.</p>
<p>S1 shared an apartment with others in his senior year; it was meant to help students transition to real life but it was a real pigsty. I’m not sure how much the students had in comon, either, while S2 will be with the same group until graduation. But all this depends a lot on individual campuses and group dynamics.</p>
<p>Both of my older two children moved off campus in their sophomore year. It was a good experience for both. However, neither had liked dorm living for various reasons (roommate problems, noise, food services, etc). Both were able to live in places convenient to their campuses. Both enjoyed being able to fix their own meals, sleep and study when they wished, and socialize on their terms.</p>
<p>The biggest problems I have heard from other parents have been more in the area of finances. Mostly problems with roommates not paying their share of rent or utilities on time. </p>
<p>My daughter moved into a condo complex where the next youngest person was 55–so we really didn’t have to worry about wild parties ;). </p>
<p>I never sat down and figured out dollar for dollar, but I don’t think it ended up being any more expensive in our situations.</p>
<p>Most important factor is probably choosing roommates carefully.</p>
<p>My child isn’t there yet, but this is what I"ve learned from friends whose kids are down the road and where this issue has come up. A lot depends on how moving in to an apartment will effect connection to campus life. If it is remote or becomes an escape it can not be good for a kid who tends to isolate or procrastinate or who has difficulty setting limits with others. If they do not choose carefully in regards to roomates or landlords it can be expensive or stressful (housemates reneg on paying, damage to the house happens and there are expenses; landlord is not responsive to needed repairs)–so kids need to be able to negotiate as adults about these issues (many sophomore are not ready for this yet I don’t think). On the other hand, if it is a junior year (or equally mature) group of well-established friends who have done other things together (like travelling, living in a quad, etc.) and the apartment has a connection to the campus life (adjacent or in a building with a student culture) then it can be a great step towards independent living and life beyond campus.</p>
<p>My D is doing this.</p>
<p>Pros: Saving about $3,000/yr, nicer quarters, living with people she gets along with (and who are calmer than those in the dorms), more exercise (walks), likes food more.</p>
<p>Cons: summer subletting, accumulating furniture, dealing with the cable people and landlord, making certain everyone has the money for bills, less security, no effortless social life, need for shopping trips</p>
<p>My son, who is a junior at a large state university, moved into an apartment (with three other guys) this year, after living in the dorms for two years. The tenants in this apartment building are all students at the university.</p>
<p>His main reaction to the move was, “I really like living here, but I can see why everybody says that freshmen shouldn’t live off-campus. You don’t meet people easily in an apartment building the way you do in a dorm. I really don’t talk to anyone here except my three roommates.”</p>
<p>So I think that an important question for your daughter to consider is whether she is likely to have made enough friends by the end of her freshman year so that the greater difficulty in meeting people while living in an apartment won’t be a problem.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that you ask your daughter why she prefers the idea of apartment living. There may be aspects to dorm life that really turn her off (communal bathrooms, noise, lack of a kitchen), and maybe living in an apartment would help to solve those problems. But her proposal of moving to an apartment might also reflect problems that could be solved in other ways – without waiting until next year to do it.</p>
<p>Finally, I would suggest that your daughter should think about the usual living arrangements of sophomores at her college. At some schools, it is extremely unusual for sophomores to live off-campus. If your daughter chooses off-campus living, she might be taking herself out of the mainstream of college life. At other campuses, though, it is quite common and normal for sophomores to live off-campus, and they don’t feel cut off from their friends.</p>
<p>She wants to share the apartment, her campus is active, so she wants to be closeby…</p>
<p>There are different types of apartment-living. S1 lived in an apartment that belonged to the uni, and ate most of his meals as the uni. So there was no need to do food shopping on a regular basis which would have been a major hassle considering that he and other apartment mates did not have a car. At the same time, the apartment was furnished, so he/we did not have to buy furniture and worry about delivery and such, or summer subletting.
S2’s school does not have provisions for students living off campus, so students who live in apartments are on their own as far as food and furniture are concerned. As far as I know, there are no easily reached food markets close to campus, and parking would be nightmare. I do know that some students choose to live off campus, but getting to on-campus activities can be a drag. S has a section that meets at 6 and another one at 8 in the evening.</p>
<p>As one can see from the various posts, much depends on the school. With my two, parking was a non-issue and grocery shopping was convenient–campus actually within walking distance. </p>
<p>At Chapel Hill most apartment complexes that cater to student are on the U. bus line also many apartments there rent by the person. Also utilities are included, so that one doesn’t have to worry about dealing with the nonpaying roommate.</p>
<p>At Elon, there are college owned apartments that make a nice transition.</p>
<p>At neither college my children were, did I worry too much about safety. However, with the news lately, I am aware that no place is really safe.</p>
<p>DD lived walkable to campus, but solo first semester sophmore year, in an all-bills-paid efficiency. It was a “learning experience” for her. Since she did not have vehicle and is an extrovert, she found it rather lonely and isolating. For extroverts, I recommend living with a number of other people!</p>
<p>I lived in an apartment during my junior year. I also lived off-campus during law school. Here goes:</p>
<p>Pros:
-Not having to be on the school’s move-in/move-out schedule (i.e. 24 hours after last exam);
-living with friends but not sharing a bedroom;
-cooking own meals;
-I lived very close to campus, across from my freshman year dorm, so it wasn’t any different for campus activities
-having our own place and not having to deal with RAs (not that we are wild partiers)
-in some apartments, we each had our own bathroom - so nice to not share and not have to wear flip-flops
-quieter than a dorm</p>
<p>Cons:
-roommmate issues. Cleaning, bills, boyfriends (one had a boyfriend who essentially moved in). In one apartment, I was the only one with a car, so I ended up driving everyone everywhere, always getting stuff that we needed, etc.<br>
-Furnishing the place.
-Paying rent during the summer if it can’t be subletted (or if you don’t want to sublet to a stranger)</p>
<p>At Rice many kids live off-campus starting soph year and are still very connected to campus life. There are tons of great apartments and rooms in houses near campus. D moved off junior year and has kept the same apt for senior year. She lives by herself and loves it. It is cheaper for us than the dorm, because she is good about preparing her own food a lot of the time. She was SO ready to get out of the dorm (2 years of boarding school and 2 years of college dorm life) and absolutely loves her apartment and being by herself. I was a little nervous at first, but her boyfriend was with her a lot. She took one of our cats back to school this fall since our household was moving, and both D and the cat are happy with that arrangement.
It really is a mix. Some off-campus apartments turn into Animal House, some turn into peaceful sanctuaries.</p>
<p>momofwildchild, that was another thing my daughter has enjoyed–the pets. She has her cat and our beagle at school with her. She loves having the animals as never in her life had she been without pets until college. It has made her feel so much more at home there.</p>
<p>A couple of people here have touched on a potentially important issue – food.</p>
<p>People sometimes assume that students living off-campus cook all their own meals, but this may not work out. Students may find that cooking takes too much time. Also, unless the apartment is right next to a supermarket, buying groceries and lugging them home may be very difficult for the apartment-dweller who does not own a car. The apartment-dweller who does own a car may feel obligated to help his carless roommates with food shopping, which can be time consuming. And many students living off-campus are on the campus for most of the day. Where will they eat lunch?</p>
<p>When I lived off-campus many years ago, food was not a problem for me. The college had excellent on-campus dining facilities where people could pay for their meals using cash, so I could easily eat on-campus whenever I wanted to. And I walked right by a supermarket on the way from the campus back to my apartment. But my son, who is currently living off-campus at a different university, is having more of a problem with food. There aren’t a lot of cash dining facilities on his campus, and there is no supermarket within walking distance of his apartment. He has resorted mostly to eating in sandwich shops just outside the campus or buying sandwich ingredients from an on-campus convenience store that has a deli counter and bringing them home. I don’t think he has eaten anything that wasn’t surrounded by two pieces of bread since the term started.</p>
<p>What my d. and some of her friends have done was start a “dinner schedule”. She, her roommate, and 3 other girls started a rotation last year. They take turns cooking Sun-Thurs. evenings. It’s just as easy to prepare for 5 as for 1 or 2, and this way each person only cooks about once/week and they get good full meals.</p>
<p>Of course, I can see girls doing this much more easily than I would boys. My son was probably more like Marian’s–sandwiches, pasta, pizza and what he did on the George Foreman! Even though he did have a large grocery store within 100 yards of his apartment–getting the food was not the issue–more the cooking and the cleaning up. Luckily his school allowed cash purchase at all the dining options–so he usually ate a more well-balanced lunch while on campus.</p>
<p>My youngest child is debating the question of on or off campus for next year (his junior and first year they allow off campus housing).<br>
His view for moving off:
Pro:
-hates food in dining hall
-wants to be able to prepare lean meats, smoothies and eat when he wants
-own bathroom
-own bedroom
-own regulation of heat and A/C
-quiet to study in own room and less need to sit in library
-general comfort
-does not have to adhere to move-in and move-out school schedule
-can keep same place for next 2 years</p>
<p>Cons:
-furnishing
-driving to campus or long walk (now walks to all classes within a few minutes)
-dealing with finances with roommate</p>
<p>There are plenty of ways to eat without actually “cooking”. Sandwhich fixings, salads, microwavable dishes, mac and cheese- all cheap and easy. I do think not having a car makes things harder. You can usually get a food plan from the school, but D did not want to do that. She does have a car. The Rice kids who don’t have cars off-campus find it harder.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider when looking for an off-campus apartment is “Where is the nearest place where I can do my laundry?”</p>
<p>It may be in the apartment (my son’s building, which is only two years old, has washers and dryers in every apartment), in the apartment building, elsewhere in the apartment complex, at a laundromat down the street, or at a laundromat a mile away.</p>
<p>Again, this is more of an issue for kids without cars than kids with cars. Nobody wants to walk more than a block or so with a full laundry basket.</p>
<p>As for furnishings, in some college communities, many apartments are rented furnished. Some landlords will give you a choice of furniture vs. no furniture (with, perhaps, a small additional charge for furniture). I guess they have a warehouse someplace that’s full of indestructible desks and old couches. </p>
<p>When my husband and I were in graduate school, we rented an apartment that came furnished, but the landlady was willing to remove any furniture that we didn’t want to use. So we had the opportunity to save up money and start acquiring a few things of our own, without having to either stuff too much furniture into our apartment or go without essentials. By the time we moved out of there, we had a bed, a couple of desks, a few chairs, and other essentials that were a big help when we moved to our next (unfurnished) apartment. But I think this was an exceptional case.</p>
<p>This is a very helpful and informative thread. Thanks to the OP who started it and to all who have participated. Many topics that I would not have thought of (like roommates not paying up - how brain dead am I 
- or, in the alternative, apts. that rent by the person with utilities included).</p>
<p>S is now at a school without guaranteed housing for all 4 years. Don’t know whether he will want to move off or lose out in the lottery and have to move off in jr/sr year, but I really like the input you have all provided.</p>
<p>My D wanted to move to an apt sophomore year. We stipulated it had to be walking distance to the campus or she couldn’t do it. She chose non-university run apts (against our recommendations) with 2 other roommates,
We preferred the university-run apts. At the risk of being redundant:
Cons:
–Coming up with significant dollars for deposits–apt, and utilities
–Paying rent for the summer
–Finding an “acceptable-to-roommates” person to subletfor D’s coming semester abroad.
–Unforeseen changes in roommates–one girl left 2 WEEKS after move-in. They were unable to find another roommate until the next semester.
–Challenges in splitting utilities, especially when new roommates come/go–some bills charged in advance, some in arrears. Getting roommates who left to pay up after they’re gone.
–Utilities in general–problems with internet & cable working, gas, and even electricity working, interruption in service, etc.
–Having to furnish a complete apartment–starting from scratch. This includes everything from kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, not to mention furniture.
–Laundry not on premises
–Vandalism (D’s car had a car battery thrown through back windshield even though it’s considered a safe area)
–Being available for repairs, utility workers, pest control guy, etc. Roommates all had very busy schedules.
–Roommate not doing share of keeping the apt reasonably clean
–Roommate not sensitive to keeping utility bills low, ie conservation
–Overall more expensive due to all of above.</p>
<p>Pros:
–Horrible roommate situation in dorm resolved
–Eating own food instead of dining hall–this is a BIG plus
–Privacy (own bedroom, sharing bath with 1 other)–probably the major “pro”
–Easier to study at home
–Learned LOTS of lessons about dealing with landlords, utilities, roommates
–Decorating apt to personal taste
–Initial outlay to furnish apt will make next transition after graduation cheaper, easier
–Not being on university schedule to “move out”</p>
<p>Generally, I wouldn’t recommend an “independent” apt option unless:
–it’s through the university where there are options for summer and guarantee of better “landlord” maintenance and handling of utilities
–either fully or partially furnished
–student is at least a junior, preferably a senior.</p>
<p>While my D is quite mature, dealing with the unexpected stresses of apt living while carrying a very heavy academic load and multiple EC’s was more than she bargained for. There were many unexpected financial burdens that came along with it as well.</p>