<p>Housing is expensive, but I think it’s easy to see your money at work. No other college that I know of has quite the same system with the Resident Heads, and these RHs get a significant stipend (my RH’s probably spend 20-30 hrs/week on house-related items… if you divided their stipend by the hours/week, now that’s a pathetic figure). RAs live in housing free of charge (again, not so much of a discount, once how much work they put in is considered).</p>
<p>Plus, there’s lots of house funding for study breaks, study breaks, TVs, toaster ovens, study breaks, and oh, did I mention study breaks? 24-hour security? Dorm maintenance crews (my experiences with them are nothing but positive). As much as I love eating fresh-baked cornbread and apple pie with my housies, as much as I love clean bathrooms, clean hallways, doorknobs that work, and buildings that are fire-proof, as much as I love chatting with my RA as she puts up a pot of coffee, I’m aware that I’m paying for these luxuries penny by penny.</p>
<p>I guess my argument is weakened because I don’t know the exact breakdown of where our money goes in relation to where other schools’ money goes, but I can virtually promise you that any time you spend in housing will be worth the money. (Especially if you’re in Snitchcock). I have lots of friends at lots of schools, even ones with the residential college system in place, and nobody-- nobody-- thinks as highly of their university’s housing system as I think of Chicago’s.</p>