<p>You are asking very good questions and it’s good to inform your son to do so as well.</p>
<p>Make a list of questions to ask the financial aid office and possible lessors about anything which you are concerned. That’s always a start.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for information on how the BU Financial Aid Office looks at Off-Campus living versus On-Campus then you can find some numbers here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bu.edu/finaid/cost/index.html[/url]”>http://www.bu.edu/finaid/cost/index.html</a></p>
<p>They concede that meals at home will be cheaper than the dining plan, but input their own numbers for incidentals (more than on-campus) and room/board as $0 (11,848 on campus). So you really have to do your own plugging and crunching of numbers.</p>
<p>I will admit, I did live off campus sophomore year and I was a little isolated, because my apartment was farther away than I would have liked, but we liked the apartment a lot, not only because it was nice, but we got a good price and included utilities. I will say again, he should really think about waiting until junior year to move off.</p>
<p>I agree with you though, TheMan. I lived on campus, my second semester of junior year and I saw a mouse in my beautiful little brownstone. You could imagine how P.O.-ed I was, given the amount I was paying for my tiny little 2 bunk room.</p>
<p>I really do hate the meal plans at BU, especially since I love to cook and I’d much rather spend $13 bucks on a meal at a restaurant, hole-in-the wall. Then again, there’s nothing like “produce shopping” in the dining hall either.</p>