Did you live in the dorm for all 4 years of college?

[chrissyk]

Did you live in the dorms for all 4 years of college, or did you eventually move off-campus to live with friends/sorority/fraternity etc.? I'm not talking about people who commuted from home...I'm wondering about people who lived at school (in the dorms or elsewhere) for the entire 4 years.

This popped into my head because I was looking over our state's prepaid college tuition plan. It looks like you can choose to pay for anywhere between 0 and 4 years' worth of housing (dorm) expenses. The dorm expenses exceed the tuition expenses per year! If this plan still exists when the time comes for us to sign up our future kids, I wonder whether or not it would even be worthwhile to pay for more than a year or 2 of dorm expenses. Do most people choose to eventually move off-campus with their pals?

 

[Bob Slydell]

Yes, I did. We didn't have as much on campus housing as many other schools, but even so, I was in the minority, as about 1/2 of our students moved somewhere off campus usually by Junior year. I didn't have a car at school, though, so getting to and from campus would have been a PITA, so I preferred to stay in the dorms.

 

[Maleficent13]

Lived in a dorm all 4 years. But there were no other options at my school. You either lived at home with your parents, at home with your spouse, or in a dorm on campus. Single college students were not permitted to live off campus (unless you qualified for the "non-traditional age college student" program).

 

[Keggy]

I lived on campus all four and a half years, because my sorority house was considered on campus housing. I lived in a dorm for only one semester and then in the sorority house for four years.

Kelly

 

[ElizaB39]

Dorm life for 2 years, apt life for 2 years (within walking distance of campus).

ETA: Forgot to mention this was over 20 years ago!

 

[Disney Ella]

I lived on campus for three years and shared a house with five other girls my senior year. I saved money cooking for myself that last year rather than buying a meal plan at the cafeteria.

 

[PrincessCLM]

Dorm for 2 years, apt for 2 years, back to dorm for graduate year.
Check with the school to see what's offered. When I moved off campus there wasn't a lot of apt type housing on campus. However, now they have 2 different nice apt complexes set up, plus new greek housing. Other schools that my friends have gone to literally kicked all seniors off campus to make room for incoming freshman. It depends on the school and the person whether they will stay on campus or not.

 

[MinnieM3]

in dorm all 4 years!

 

[Geoff_M]

I was a "Lifer" in the dorm. I didn't have any "wheels", didn't want to mess with summer sub-letting, etc.

 

[Mrs.D]

I lived in the dorm for all four years. The last two years were in an upper-class dorm, where graduate students also lived. It was co-ed, and connected to the "international" dorm, where students from other countries lived. I roomed with my best friend, and my boyfriend lived in the same dorm. If you were over 21 you were allowed to have alcohol. No reason to go off-campus.

 

[Strawberry Lemonade]

I lived in a dorm the first two years and in an off-campus, school-owned apartment the last two. It was a fairly small school and dorms were generally for the underclassmen. There were some on-campus apartments occupied by upperclassmen but they were nothing like dorms.

 

[Equidae]

I lived in the 'dorms' all four years of college too. Our residence life staff was picky about calling them 'residence halls' though. My last year of college I was an RA so the school paid for the oncampus housing, so that worked for me. It wasn't so bad and my best friends now several years after graduating all lived down the hall from me freshman year. I actually loved living on campus since I was a lot closer to so many things and everything was in walking distance.

 

[kerrynic78]

I lived in the dorms for 2 years and then my now DH and I got an apartment off campus with his friend as our third roommate...I still to this day can't believe that my dad let me live with 2 guys b/c no daughter of mine ever will!!!!!

 

[Free4Life11]

This is my third year in university housing.

The first year I was in a dorm, but last year and this year I am in a university apartment. I will admit it may be more expensive than an off-campus apartment (it's $5640 for the year, per person), however, it includes all the utilities, cable TV, high-speed internet, and bi-weekly bathroom cleaning. The main thing is that it's convenient too -- you just have one bill a month which you pay to the university, and it's right on campus. The only thing is you aren't allowed to have alcohol in the apartments, even if you are over 21. That doesn't bother me as I rarely drink, however, it wouldn't be difficult to bring alcohol in.

I would see if they have any options like that. More and more universities are building this type of housing and it's a lot nicer than the dorm rooms!

I plan on staying here one more year. I don't have a car so living off campus isn't an option, plus I like the location of my apartment.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I lived in the dorms the first 3 years. My senior year was in another city for clinical experiences so I lived in school provided apartments.

DD is a sophomore in college and is still in the dorm this year. I'm not sure what she'll do next year but once you go off campus, there is little chance of getting back on campus.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Let's see...

First two semesters I was in a dorm.
The third semester I was kicked out of school. LOL
Fourth and Fifth Semesters I lived off campus in an apartment.
The next couple of years I lived on campus.
My last year I lived off campus in a duplex.

If this adds up to more than four and a half years, that's because I attended most summer semesters as well.

 

[Frantasmic]

I lived at home during my four years in college. Cheap and affordable and I had my own room.

 

[aprincessmom]

First two years I did...dorm and the college meal plan. The next two were in a sorority house. Even when you added in the cost of initiation and dues to the actual room and board there, it was about $2K cheaper per year than living in a dorm or renting an apartment. Of course, there was only two showers and three bathroom stalls, one long distance phone and one on-campus phone line for 40 girls. It was a time filled with life lessons for sure

 

[disneygals]

I lived in off-campus housing...6 girls in a 2 br...

 

[Soccer Princess]

Freshman year: Fall and Spring in a dorm (meal plan required), Summer in the sorority house

Soph. year: Fall and Spring in On-Campus Apartment with 3 friends (we could do whatever we wanted, had a kitchen, 4 BR, 2 baths, living room, walking distance, no meal plan required)

Junior Year: Off-campus apartment with 2 of my sorority sisters (moved in May right after on Campus apartment)