The pros and cons of apartment living, and dorm living are listed below.
Dorms
Pros
- Price – Dorms are generally less expensive and associated into the costs of the tuition at the college. This makes helps to keep college costs down. Plus, all utilities are generally paid for by the college or through the tuition cost at the college. If you are looking to save money, consider a dorm.
- Maintenance – Dorms are easier to maintain. Because of their size, they are easy to tidy up quick. Take a broom and mop or vacuum and the room will be tidy in a jiffy. You are generally not responsible for light bulbs in the halls of your dorms either. So if a light bulb goes out, there is always maintenance. Usually, janitor closets have toilet paper available so keeping up there is easier as well.
- Safety – Usually dorms will have Residential Advisors and nearby security. The manager of student life is always on campus and available to crack down on any problems. There are more security and regulation which prevent people from getting hurt, victimized, or abused. If you feel you want a safer environment, a dorm is your better option.
Cons
- Space – Dorms are no doubt smaller. There is less space and more people tucked away into that space. This causes privacy issues. More roommate rivalry is likely to occur. If you have Mr. Clean paired up with Mr. Messy, you are going to have a problem!
- Regulations – More rules means, to some people, less fun. If you don’t like having regulations you must follow so strictly, like noise and cleanliness standards, then a dorm isn’t the place to be. Usually, the noise regulations are enforced strictly and you could get into trouble for having a mess in your dorm.
- People – With more people will comes messier dorms. Though dorms are easier to maintain, they get messier and smellier in a jiffy as well. Having more people comes more study distractions. If someone comes in wanting to play a board game or wanting to listen to music, you are more likely to join in with them and get distracted from doing your homework.
Apartments
Pros
- Space – There is more space in an apartment. There are also less people to a room. College roommates in an apartment are likely to have their own private rooms where roommates share the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. A dorm is likely to have one kitchen that an entire floor of people are to share if they want to make something. Plus, privacy is always a benefit of choosing an apartment to live in.
- More fun – Because there are less regulation and no residential advisers that are likely to crack down on noise, an apartment lifestyle can get away with more. More friends can come over, more get-togethers can occur without problems. Listening to music a bit louder is more likely to occur. So if you like a good social atmosphere with more privacy, an apartment is the way to go.
Cons
- Cost – Apartments cost more and it is likely you could be responsible for paying utilities such as internet, water, heat, and television. If you want to keep cheap, apartment living is not the way to go.
- Loose regulations – Apartments are up to the managers. Liability and credibility for an apartment compared to a college is less intimidating to the manager of an apartment complex. If there is a high crime rate, the apartment manager sometimes cares less than the student life manager. This is because there is probably more at risk with a college. This is sad, but true. Managers at apartments may not enforce their rules as strictly making bad apples likely to return for the business year after year. More drugs will get in, and more troublesome noise will occur. This is because it is a freer environment in most cases. Unless the apartment is associated and managed by the college, the apartment is going to enforce rules less strictly.
- Maintenance – At an apartment, you are going to have more space to maintain and keep clean. If you don’t like to keep after other roommates, or even yourself for cleanliness, you may want to reconsider.