I'm trying to decide where I'm gonna live next year. It's between An apartment building or a house.


The apartment:
- Living by myself.
- 50 feet from the building where all of my classes will be next year.
- That being said it's still an akward location. It's kind of in a corner where I have to do a circle to get out.
- 1950 a semester
- All utilities included
-Communal showers, bathrooms, and kitchen.
- Free hardwired internet.
- 7 HBO channels.
- Furnished with bed and dressers.

The house:
- Living with 3 others.
- 3 blocks from the oppisite side of campus my classes are on.
- That being said, it's downtown and a better overall location.
-1650 a semester.
-Utilities are split between the 4 of us. (estimated at $50 a month per person)
- My bedroom isn't furnished.
- Does have the advantage of being a house as far as has a living room, bigger obviously, and I can have parties but I gotta be careful because the land lord lives 2 houses down.

I realize it's my decision but what do you think?

I lived in a house when I went to university and it was pretty sweet. Me and two other guys sharing a pretty big house, partying a lot. It was pretty nice since I had good roommates. We all respected each other's privacy and study time. Like if someone's music was too loud and you were studying, you could easily ask them to turn it down a bit. Was a great situation.
On the other hand, when I was at residence it was a lot like an apartment. Had my own bedroom, and shared a bathroom with one other guy. Then again, I paid for the more expensive residence so that I didn't have to have communal bathrooms and such.
Overall though, I'd recommend the house situation. It's a lot more fun than living alone I'd think. Plus you get to hang out with your friends a lot, so that's always a bonus. Just be careful picking your roomies as I had problems with the phone bills and stuff being paid on time because one of the roommates was too lazy to get money from his parents most of the time. But still, wouldn't trade the memories of living in a house with two friends for the world.

It's been a long time since I was in college, but. In the apartment you will be alone, easier to take time to study. In a house with roomies, they may be partiers and your studies will fall off. Just one way to look at it.

If you're in an apartment, if your neighbors are loud and have parties a lot (like mine do) its a major pain in the butt if you want to go to bed early.

Do you know the people you would be living with in the house?

These would be my considerations.

- Is the extra $300 a month an issue? What shape are the apartment and the house in?

- What year of college / university / whatever are you going into?

- How good a student / how motivated are you?

Living in a house with 3 people who like to party could be a serious mistake for an unmotivated / academically challenged first or second year student. I mean, it could also be the time of your life. But I know of people in situations like that who ended up dropping out of school because they could not handle it / manage their studies.

The way you described it, your apartment complex might also be fairly social ... with the shared facilities it sounds like you would meet other tenants ... but you can have privacy there easier, when you want / need it.

I'd also consider whether one or the other is unisex or coed. Having lived in both, I prefer the coed arrangement myself.

Thanks guys. I'm going for the house. Hopefully everything works out. Because you asked:

I'm a sophmore with a 3.5 and in an honors frat so I'm not worried about my grades. I'm pretty motivated and I get my work done. The extra $300 may be wiped out because I have to pay for utilities at the house but it's not a huge issue. Thanks guys. Wish me luck on getting the house!

Good luck! I was going to say go for the house also