<p>“I can’t fathom why any freshman would want to live off-campus at any college or university.”</p>
<p>The main reason would be financial, probably. Lots of people attending college here in the NYC area live at home. Many of the schools don’t even have dorms.</p>
<p>D2 has friends from Ithaca, and they don’t live at home either, for reasons cited above. But some others probably do.</p>
<p>Another case it might be considered is if you already have good friends there who want you to share a house with them. Or if you are married, actually or essentially, and significant other is there too. Or if you are a much older, non-traditional student. All very exceptional circumstances.</p>