what do you guys think would cost more? living in a college dorm or going to college but renting an apartment

Question

i wanna go to college, but i really wanna live by myself and i wanna know if that would be better financially

Answer 1

Apartment landlords around colleges generally never give the deposit against damage (from $1500 to $3,000) back to the student. They always find something you did wrong. So in addition to the rent add that amount. Apartments also have utilities which add about $200 per month.

Many times you must rent the apartment for a full year even though you only want it for 8 to 9 months while in school. Landlords don't care about you, and they care about your money.

The college dorms give you peers, and that is something that you have no idea is a good thing until you experience being on your own. They help with becoming more experienced at college life, how to do papers when there's little time left, what professors are really tough and which ones are great. They also give you momentum, and that's what school is all about.
Can you picture having to get yourself up from an apartment (cooking for yourself, cleaning for yourself and hanging out at the laundramat on Sunday evenings by yourself?) If you are late, who will care?

Many fast food places deliver to college dorms, but may not deliver to apartments because the college dorms many times have more than 1 order at a time.

It's not just financial, there's something about protection also from living in a dorm.
What happens if someone sees you coming and leaving your apartment and breaks into your apartment? Where will you be then? At least there's campus security, not the best, but something is already in place.

You'll be living by yourself soon enough, just think how fast high school went by. Four years is nothing. Then you have the opportunity to:
1. Pay rent or a mortgage forever.
2. Pay utilities of $200+ per month forever.
3. Pay for a phone forever, plus deposits for everything.
4. Clean your apartment forever.
5. Cook for yourself and your friends forever.
6. Take out the trash forever.
7. Buy your security system forever.
8. Insure your stuff even with renter's insurance forever.
9. Have this joyful experience plus working for others forever.

Wow sounds easy huh?

GOD bless.
MBA - Boston Univ.
CPA-retired

Answer 2

Depending on the college, dorms can be very expensive. Especially if they make you buy the meal plans to. Plus they are way more restrictive. On the other hand, you may end up meeting a lot more students and making a ton of friends.

If you can find a roomate though- you could probably get a 2 bedroom apartment and split the rent. You will still have to share some space, but you will have more privacy and freedom than if you were in a dorm. This will usually end up costing a lot less too.

Answer 3

Overall living in a dorm is much more affordable than living in an apartment because the dorm is all inclusive. You don't have to pay for utilities like electricity, gas, garbage service, water, phone, internet service, etc. You don't have to put down deposits for anything either.

And if you're living in a dorm, you'll also have meals included so you won't have the expenses of groceries, plus the cost of shopping, cooking, cleaning up after cooking, etc. Just stocking your own kitchen supplies might cost as much as a month's meal card.

You can request a single dorm room (not many are available) but an even better option is to embrace the challenge of living with a roommate and consider it part of your freshman year education.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I saved a lot of money on college by going to school close to home at first (still living with my parents), and later by renting a room in a house rather than living in the dorms. The house belonged to a family living near campus, and my section of the house was fairly private. Although this wasn't living alone per se, it gave me a great deal of privacy and independence (and perhaps more security than living alone).

Another factor in the savings was the food: a requirement of living in the dorms at my school was the campus meal plan, which was a lot more than I would spend on food otherwise.

Check into the meal plan requirement and compare that to your current food budget. Then check into housing costs and compare them to costs of apartments in the area and perhaps other housing options. (If you're open to ideas like renting a room/basement or something from someone, you can probably find advertisements through the school.) I think that if you desire to live alone you can likely do it for cheaper than living in the dorms, especially if you consider your options.

Answer 5

It would depend on where you went to school, and what other expenses you will have. The best thing about living in college dorms is that you pay your "rent" up front, so you don't have to worry about making rent every month.

Answer 6

dorms have to many restrictions. apartments cost more.

Its a trade off situation