Why You Need to Live in the Dorms

If you’re debating between living on campus or off-campus your first year of college, the answer is clear: live on-campus in the student dorms. When asked if you should live in the dorms, the answer is clear. Yes, you need to live in the dorms.

Even if you’re going to school near where you currently live, the extra cost of living on campus is well worth the memories you will be making. Whether you need to take out an extra student loan or beg your parents, in the scope of the next 10 years, it will be the best investment in yourself.

There’s four key reasons why:

I. Friendships

Get ready to be thrown into a small room with a complete stranger: your roommate. But in addition to your roommate, get ready to walk the hallways daily and run into your dorm floormates. Both your roommate and floormates will become a tight knit community, one whose bonds will likely last throughout all your years of college and beyond. These friendships will form with individuals you never would meet if you lived off-campus, as you will meet students studying different majors, from different cultures and backgrounds, and importantly, with differing lifestyles. You’ll get to meet the party animals, the studiers, the smokers, the gamers, the musicians, the DJ’s, the lovers, the athletes, and more. You’ll get to experience different social groups and perspectives as you share the strong uniting factor of a dorm floor (or room).

II. Relationships

Whether you plan to find yourself in a relationship or not, it is inevitable that you’ll see those around you engaging in dating, relationships, or the occasional one night stands. Whether you’ve previously been in a relationship or not, it’s a critical time to maturing socially and understanding the implications of ‘dating’. There will be tremendous opportunities to explore given the fact that you’re surrounded by so many individuals that are the same age as you. Even if you’re already in a relationship, you’ll be exposed to so many others in similar situations around you that you can reflect on how healthy your current relationship is, and if there’s areas you can improve. The experience of a breakup will also mature you in ways you didn’t expect.

III. Activities

This is arguably the best part of creating the many friendships in the dorms: the many activities. From hanging out in your floormates rooms or dorm lobby to playing intramurals or heading to a frat or house party, there’s always something to do when you’re living in the dorms. Even if it’s throwing a little kickback in one of your own rooms! Regular activities like going to a dining hall or library become entertaining as you’re surrounded by a group of your newly formed close friends. Not to mention there will always be those on the floor with cars, meaning for the events coming to town there’s always a group to go and get you there (and if no one has a car, there’s always Uber). So get out there and do fun things!

IV. Academics

If the significant improvement to your social life wasn’t convincing enough, then the following academic benefits should prove valuable. The proximity to campus is tremendously helpful in arriving to class on time. No longer do you have to drive through traffic or find parking in a full lot. Secondly, you are surrounded by resources that can help you – from academic mentors on campus to upper classmen that can share insights from classes you’re taking that they’ve already completed. Not to mention the many classmates you’ll have living in and around your dorms that you can form study groups with! Studying with friends is one of many things that will help you get a good GPA.

Here at Dorm Essentials, we see living in the Dorms Essential to your college experience. If you’re already past your freshmen year, it’s not too late to find on-campus housing! It’s time to seize your youth and make the memories that will last a lifetime.