People in college, I need help!!!

[IronFist]

Alright. I need to know where I should live next year (my senior year). Here are my options:

The dorm I'm in now is rather ghetto, and people get shot and mugged here. Many people who live here are thugs, and as such are very rude, uncourteous, etc. That's why I'm moving out.

Choice 1: This other dorm (single room).
Pros:
•I wouldn't have to cook.
•Ethernet.
•Nice, new wood furniture provided (big computer desk/bed/wardrobe/etc).

Cons:
•It's a dorm
•It's a 20 minute walk to where my business classes are (my campus is pretty big)
•It's one room and it's not that big
•I can't go anywhere during the week because I'll lose my good parking space and then I'll have to park far away.

Choice 2: A Single Apartment
note: A 12 year lease, which is the shortest one available, will cost exactly as much as living in a dorm and meal plan. So, I will have to pay for my own food and furniture which will cost extra.

Pros:
•It's spacious 22x15 living room, 12x13 bedroom + kitchen and bathroom and stuff and a balcony
•It's not a dorm
•Parking is fine, and I can drive places without having to worry about not having a spot when I get back.
•It's in a safe location (ie. no shootings, burglary, etc.)

Cons:
•No Ethernet (arguably the most important factor)
•Having to buy my own food/furniture
•Will cost more than living in the dorm
•Doing dishes

Alright, so you college people out there who have lived in both dorms and apartments, which did you like better? Which should I choose? I have to decide by tomorrow! Cráp!

IronFist

[Budokan]

Apartments. Why? Because you have much more freedom and are less restricted than having to live in the dorms.

[dezhen2001]

speaking as a final year student who has done both, i would say: get an appartment! Right now i'm staying in Dorms, and it really sucks It's far cheaper right now than living in other accomodation, but there are more Cons than Pros...

1) The other people on my corridor like to get drunk, smoke weed etc. EVERY DAY, which really sucks...Especially when i'm training in my room!

2) My room is small so it's hard to train there properly

3) mine still don't have the internet

4) If you try to go to bed early, chances are you get woken up by other people from your building: loud music, banging etc.

The good thing though, is it's 5 mins walk from my building/classes, and only a couple of minutes from the supermarket (24 hours )

If you do get an appartment, you could get broadband installed? If you have flatmates you could all share the cost of it?
It is rather hard to get your finances organised when you have none to begin with though

david

[IronFist]

Yeah, but broadband is like $60/month! Just having a freaking phone line in an apartment is $25/month. wtf? I hope I get an internship this summer so I can make some money...

IronFist

[Galadriel]

Just get a couple of friends together and rent a bigger appartment or a house, that way you can share the bills, share doing the dishes, and its not as crappy as living in a dorm, and not as crappy as living in an appartment on your own.

Galadriel

[LEGEND]

Try to get a position as an RA( free housing and food no??? ). For the distance...try rollerblading...for the thugs and shooting u need to complain to the officials more or do a bunch of 911 calls that will get more cops to scout out the area.

[kungfu cowboy]

D@mn! A twelve year lease! Stay in the dorms! Seriously, though, go with the apartment. Space and the ability to drive your car without fear of having to park it in the next town are big bonuses!

[Nichiren]

I would choose the dorm. I like online games so fiber/lan is a must. Another benefit is that it is easier to find people to study with in a dorm. I don't know what you are studying but if it is for a Master or MD etc., study friends is a must.

[Chang Style Novice]

For an anti-social at-home nudist like myself, your own apartment is the only answer. Unless I had money for a house.

Further advantages to an apartment -

You will probably be permitted by the landlord to keep a pet, either a cat or small dog.

Dorm food is tastes like crap and is usually unhealthy. Buying and cooking your own food will let you have tastier, healthier meals. It's really not that expensive if you avoid pre-prepared things like TV dinners and stuff (which would defeat the point of avoiding dorm food)

NOT having ethernet/lan to play videogames on will give you more time to study/train.

and most important of all:

Bringing a girl back to your place? There's no roommate to get rid of and no nosy RA to make trouble. Wanna do it on the sofa, or the kitchen table, or hanging upside down from the chin-up bar? Go for it, it's all you, baby!

[Xebsball]

"anti-social at-home nudist"

LOL

[NafAnal]

I hear Brinstar is nice this time of year...

[Chang Style Novice]

At-home nudism saves me a lot on electricity bills. Usually just in the summer, but lately in the winter, too. Saves a little on laundry, too.

Anti-social is tougher to justify.

[Sharky]

you will have more friends if you live in dorms - trust me.

i live in a house and resent that people living in halls/dorms have a massive group of friends while i never got the chance.

i've sorted out a house for next year with 4 girls and my mate Dee - it's going to be a good year

And i have 3 really good friends (2 of the girls and dee). So i am ok with that.

Still, i have not met anyone i am similar to, i really want to meet someone with at least a few same interests as me.

[qeySuS]

lol i'd definetly go with the dorm, cause in all likelyhood i'd be one of the guys getting drunk stupid Although i'd pass on the weed. (I've promised myself that unless Serj Tankian offers it to me i say no).

[DragonzRage]

I thought dorming was actually pretty fun my freshman year, and it definitely gave me better opportunities for meeting people, although sharing the place with a roommate made gettin' laid a bit complicated sometimes After freshman year, I've lived two yrs in the frat house. Its been fun, but I'm ready to move on and calm down a bit. I'll be a senior next yr too and i'm getting a three bedroom apartment with two of my friends. If you've had your fun with communal living, but are now ready to move on as I am, I'd say get the apartment. But then again, in my opinion having a single room in the dorms offers some of the same benefits as having an apartment. For those benefits that it doesn't have, hey at least its cheaper and includes $hitty but edible food in the package. So i guess it depends on how you weigh the benefits and shortcomings as well as what your financial situation is.