Living on- vs off-campus

shawnspencer
Fri, 13 Jul 2018 04:30:16 +0000

You might want to look into Cornell specifically and ask around in the dorms, but my experience has been this. I found that freshman dorms are great for making communities, but part of that has to do with the fact that everyone is new and is looking to make friends in one way or another. So dorms provide a good way to have those people congregate in one place and have spaces to getting to know eachother. In my experience at my college, upperclassmen dorms do not necessarily have the same vibe and people tend to stick to themselves more – or they don’t know eachother as well. RA’s can be good at hosting events and such, but again it may not be as frequent or widely attended as a freshman dorm. It sounds like you are comfortable and happy with living off campus, and the housing situation is weird. I think you will be able to build your own community through clubs and the other transfer roommates – which could be a plus! And you will have more of your own space and can invite people over to hang out.

I was an RA in college, so generally I am biased towards on-campus housing because they can be great community builders, but it sounds like off-campus housing might be good for you and fit all your preferences.