Deciding on the best place to reside while pursuing studies at the
university depends on various factors. Besides finding a house with the right
facilities, the rental amount that fits your pocket and where the off campus
accommodation is close to essential services, you should also decide on the
place you’d like to spend most of your time. This means deciding whether you’
like to append a bulk of your time off campus or on campus. The latter will
play a major role on where you should rent your apartment.
On campus
If you prefer to be on campus most of the time while studying, then you
need to consider searching for off campus housing that’s not very far from the
institution. This will ensure that you don’t waste a lot of time commuting to
and from your campus. It will also keep you near the essential services of the
campus.
Are you planning to spend most of your time around the campus premises?
Then you should get prepared to benefit from the services available at the
university. You should consider the following:
- Get a good meal plan: Given that you intend to be on campus most of the time, you should think about getting a meal plan. This will save you the energy and time required to prepare food for your campus visits. It will also reduce your spending on groceries.
- Buy from campus stores: Most university campuses have computers, pharmacies, dry cleaning, bookstores, postal services and computer cafes. Instead of looking for such services outside the campus, get them on campus because that’s where you’ll spend most of the time. This will greatly save you the time and effort required to search for such services off campus.
- Work on campus: Most colleges offer work study programs to students and so if you’re in need of a part time job, you ask around the university campus for the available work study opportunities.
Off campus
If you would like to spend most of your time off campus, then you can
widen your options for off campus housing. Instead of worrying about the
distance between the campus and your accommodation, you should consider living
near retail establishments and other essential services. Spending more time off
campus will require that you stay at a place that’s within a walking distance
to retail stores, grocery stores, and pharmacies.
Here are the determining factors if you’d like to spend most of the time
off campus:
- If you have online classes that may not require your presence on campus
- If you don’t have many lecture hours in the week
- If you like studying from home instead of using the library
- If you’ve plans to be going home in between class breaks
- If you have plans to stay home on weekends and study
Choosing off campus accommodation depends on whether you will be
spending most of your time off or on campus. Therefore, other than the other
factors that influence your decision to stay off campus, you should carefully
assess where you’re likely to spend most of the time while attending the
university.
