<p>There is a superior/more mature dimension to living off campus. I really enjoyed living in a house with a group of friends, we used to have lots of dinner parties and had very comfortable arrangements for very cheap (living room, dining room with piano, large kitchen, deck.) You will always get a great deal if you can share a house or a large apt with a group of friend, and you get the most space per $ too.</p>
<p>At Berkeley, you get into food with the great groceries around, into socializing and lounging, and you might outgrow the dorm lifestyle, which at many other schools people don’t. Paying the bills and fixing a quick meal (or the occasional elaborate dinner) is not that bad. the key is having a good group of friends, or landing into a situation where your housemates become good friends. Most of the time, it works out.</p>
<p>Sure, there is definitely a more mature dimension to live off campus, and I think it’s great to learn those responsibilities of paying bills on time and having to fix things around the place. I guess, personally, I just feel like right now I’m 18 and I’m not in such a hurry to gain that particular mature dimension, if that makes any sense. Personal choice, I suppose</p>
<p>This is what I just don’t understand: people at Berkeley talk about how the dorm lifestyle gets old, how you just start wanting to get out of dorms after a year, but students at private school stay in dorms for four whole years. Is it just because Berkeley students go in with the expectation that they’ll be moving out? </p>
<p>(Again, I’m not saying one shouldn’t move off campus, or that there aren’t a lot of cool things that come with having your own apartment. etc. I’m just curious)</p>