On-Campus is the Way to Go

When you first arrived at Southern Methodist University, you weren’t worried about making new friends, the difficulty level of your classes, or finding your way around a city as large as Dallas. Instead, you were worried most about living in a dorm.

For as long as you could remember, you had a bedroom two, three, or even four times the size of your tiny dorm room all to yourself. The thought of sharing a room the size of a shoebox with another person for an entire year was a bit frightening.

As your freshman year flies by, you get used to the lack of space, and actually become somewhat fond of your “cozy” room. Christmas break comes and goes, and before you know it, your freshman year is almost over. You’ve survived dorm life and are looking forward to the next step – a step towards independence – your very own apartment.

Students at SMU and other colleges around the nation are dying to move off-campus for what they presume to be a better way to live the college life. However, off-campus living is not all it’s cracked up to be. More and more students are realizing that living on-campus is actually the better way to live college life.

At SMU, moving off-campus is almost like moving to another town. You remove yourself from “the bubble” and slowly become disconnected from daily campus activities.

Laurel O’Connor, a sophomore SMU student from Dallas, lived on-campus last year, and now lives off-campus. She says this year she feels “disconnected, almost as if I’m back in high school because I’m driving back and forth to school every day.” She also points out that everything is more convenient when you live on-campus.

On-campus, your social life is built in – it’s easy to find a friend to eat, study, work out, or hang out with. Living off-campus, you’re more isolated from school activities and other students.

Aside from the social aspect, living off-campus can actually be more expensive – especially in a city like Dallas. You have to pay for utilities, furniture, appliances, cleaning supplies, cable and internet. Your monthly gas bill will increase because you will have to drive to class – and then circle the parking lot five times before you can find a spot. And if there’s a wreck on 75 or Hillcrest, forget being on time for that 9:00 class.

Many students have to sign a yearlong lease for a house or apartment, which leaves them paying rent during the summer months when they aren’t even living there.

Students have more chores living on their own; on-campus someone else does most of the housekeeping.

On campus living offers students convenient access to classes, faculty members, the library and other campus facilities.

A recent article in Vanderbilt University’s student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler, reported students living off-campus generally complain of a lower quality of life.

“We’ve received a large number of complaints this year about all sorts of quality of life issues,” said Ruth Nagareda, director of the office of student conduct and academic integrity.

A Vanderbilt sophomore who lives on campus said, “A few girls that I hung out with last year moved off-campus this year, and I really don’t see them much anymore. They come to campus to go to class, and that’s it. I feel like they’ve kind of secluded themselves this year. It just takes so much extra effort for them to hang out with people that live on-campus. If I want to see my best friends, all I have to do is walk down the hall.”

So, before you freshmen go apartment or house-hunting for next year, you might want to give on-campus housing a second look.

Margaret McNeilly is a sophomore CCPA major. She may be contacted at [email protected].