Apartment or Dorm?

I'm sure there's been a thread like this before, but...well...I don't care.

I'm planning on going to Tennessee Tech Univeristy once I'm out of high school next year(hopefully), and the main question on my mind right now is whether or not to live in the dorms or rent an apartment. I'd prefer to have my own apartment and share it with the two people I know who plan on going there, but there are a lot of disadvantages to it as well. Anyway, any input would be great, since I know most of the TNLers here are in college.

Advantages to living in a dorm include convenience as far as being close to campus, no bills to pay for anything, easier to meet other people, don't have to cook

Disadvantages are sharing a large bathroom, paying a lot of money for food, usually not as quiet

A two bedroom apartment will be cheaper in the long run when split 3 ways in most cases.

A few things:

- How well do you know and trust these two people? Sharing an apartment is a whole different story. There's no rent when it comes to dorms, so if they don't pay up it's not your problem. Secondly, if they are total slobs you have a place you can send your complaints. You're on your own if you have an apartment.

- Depending on where you live, you may get totally raped on apartment rent. Do some research of the apartments around your school and compare some prices.

- Living conditions may vary wildly, but living in an apartment gives you the freedom to behave or drink as you like. Conversely, you lack immediate access to other students or school facilities if you live in an apartment that's a little ways away.

I would want a dorm, but I don't know your situation, so take the advice in mind then thinking about what you would prefer.

Freshman year: Dorm. Meet people, make friends, find out which people are worthwhile and which are worthless. Live/hang-out with the worthwhile people sophomore through senior year.

I spent freshman and sophomore year in the dorm and only regret not being able to cook my own meals. Seeing how my apartment-bound friends missed out on meeting so many new people gave me a new appreciation for communal living.

Some school's dorms are complete shit holes. If your school qualifies as own of those, get an apartment. I'd also choose an apartment over a dorm if the dorms aren't co ed. I wouldn't wanna live in a building with nothing but dudes, for several reasons. But otherwise I'd recommend living in a dorm your freshman year. Its a unique experience, and one that you want be able to have once you're out of college.

Id avoid an apartment my freshman year. College is very very difficult to get used to. Youve been living at home for 18 years and now you wont. Dorms in most schools do a great job of basically holding your hand. They cook your food, its close to campus and you get campus maps, they have TV and phone service, its easy to meet other people.

Also, I guarantee you that if youre friendly with the people you know now, you wont after living in an apartment for a year. It was tough for me to live with people I hated when I had my apartment, I guarantee you it would be 10X harder for you since its your first year. Trust me on this, living together in college shreds friendships faster than you can believe.

Just go with a dorm.

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Originally Posted by Kinopio

Some school's dorms are complete shit holes. If your school qualifies as own of those, get an apartment. I'd also choose an apartment over a dorm if the dorms aren't co ed. I wouldn't wanna live in a building with nothing but dudes, for several reasons. But otherwise I'd recommend living in a dorm your freshman year. Its a unique experience, and one that you want be able to have once you're out of college.

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http://www.tntech.edu/reslife/halls/...n/Img_0352.jpg

This is a basic idea of what some of the dorms look like at this school. I personally don't like the whole "military" thing - just having a bed, toilet, and desk - even if it is the cheaper deal. My dad had over $100,000 saved up for me once I went to college, but after he lost his job, he needed it to pay the bills and - well - stay alive, so I'm screwed financially. Still, even if the apartments cost more, I'll be splitting the cost three ways, and I'd really like a place that I wouldn't mind living in for four years.

Those don't look too bad.

Don't live with friends if any of yours are going to the same school. SpoDaddy and I made that mistake and nearly killed one another.

That photo is sans anything, once you have all your shit in there it will be better.

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Originally Posted by Swift

http://www.tntech.edu/reslife/halls/...n/Img_0352.jpg

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Is that a single room? Or will you have a roommate?

Because there's nothing better than having a whole dormroom to yourself.

I say go with the dorms too.Sounds to me like money may be a bit rough for you and your family,and your going to need a lot of stuff to fill out a decent apartment/house - your own bed, furniture,entertainment center,pots/pans,etc,etc.which obviously costs a lot of money,and if you go for a furnished apartment your wallet will be taking a serious hit as well. And yeah if you go for non-furnished you and your friends could split costs for stuff like that, but once you split from each other, it'll be rough to decide who gets what.
But, yeah start off in the dorms, and find yourself a rich sugar-mama/girlfriend to mooch off of for the other semesters.

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Originally Posted by FirstBlood

Because there's nothing better than having a whole dormroom to yourself.

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Indeed. You wouldnt have to worry about the whole sock on the doorknob etiquette.

Myself, Tracer, and two other friends of mine lived in an apartment when we graduated from high school, there was a point where alot of people weren't talking to each other, one guy we dont ever talk to anymore unfortunately. I'd go with a dorm, if I could do things differently I'd have maybe done that, instead of being a commuting bastard. Be careful if you go for the apartment.

A lot of people told me to live in the dorms my first year.

I didn't listen, and I'm moving out of my house and into my first apartment on June 1st. I decided against the whole dorm thing because im going to a huge state school (NC State - School of Design) and dorms are small, packed, and shitty. My girlfriend is in summer school there now, and she gets her own dorm, but says its the definition of shitty, right now to the huge stains on the floors/walls. I found an awesome place, 2 bedroom, 550 a month, and closer to the Design building than all but 2 dorms. It's just an 8 min walk across a park, so it worked out great. Another reason is I'm so ready to get out of my town, and this lets me spend all summer on my own, instead of trapped in the shithole I currently inhabit for another summer. Parking was a big deal too, its hard to get a pass, its 600 a year, and the parking lots are a mile away from where all my classes will be. I get 2 spaces at my place, so atleast I wont feel so trapped.

Live in the dorms for a year or two. It'll give you a chance to make freinds, not worry about bills, and focus on your studies. Socially, it's night and day. I've really had trouble meeting people since moving out of the dorms. But it costs ALOT in the long run. It's like $600 a month or something when you break it down. So eventually it's wise to move on.

So it looks like everyone who is or has been in college says to stick with the dorms, while the person who is not in college is getting an apartment.

No offense to you Lobo, but you should take that into consideration Swift.

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and I'd really like a place that I wouldn't mind living in for four years.

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Dont even THINK that anything you do now will last all four years. I started at NJIT, convinced thats where Ill be all four years, as a Computer Science major, but nothing ended the way it started. Do not plan for the future when youre in college, be flexible always.

Well, you all made some very good points, and I do appreciate the help. I'm definitely considering just living in a dorm the first or second year, but if I can find a deal on an apartment that ends up being cheaper and is in walking distance of the school, I'll probably go with it.

diff: You're right about the four year thing. I'm not even 100% sure right now that this is the right school for me. If it doesn't end up working out, I guess I'll already need to have some options figured out.

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Originally Posted by station82o

Myself, Tracer, and two other friends of mine lived in an apartment when we graduated from high school, there was a point where alot of people weren't talking to each other, one guy we dont ever talk to anymore unfortunately. I'd go with a dorm, if I could do things differently I'd have maybe done that, instead of being a commuting bastard. Be careful if you go for the apartment.

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Barring V we got along ok (actually, for the time I was there I did get a long with him, it was just that he was a slob)... Greg and I didn't so well but that wasn't a big deal. I think we're an exception to that norm of 'going at each others throats' thing, but even then everything was far from peachy. Also, we were unwise in our selection of places, with all the wrong priorites so we could have done much better. Also, UH dorms (Moody Towers for freshmen) is no where near as nice as a prision so that also influenced our descision (that and I wasn't going to school so I'd be at home with parents).

If I were going to school though, and it wasn't UH, I would definitly go with a dorm.

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Originally Posted by Mike

Those don't look too bad.

Don't live with friends if any of yours are going to the same school. SpoDaddy and I made that mistake and nearly killed one another.

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Ah, it's only for a period of time. I've lived with a friend for the past 8 months or so. We share a room and worked at the same place for almost 6 months so we never had much time apart. For awhile it was to the point where we didn't talk very much and I tried to be absent from whatever he was doing as often as I could, even encouraging other friends not to invite him along sometimes. Eventually all the resentment and bitterness just faded away and we get along fine now like we did before we lived together.

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Originally Posted by Swift

Well, you all made some very good points, and I do appreciate the help. I'm definitely considering just living in a dorm the first or second year, but if I can find a deal on an apartment that ends up being cheaper and is in walking distance of the school, I'll probably go with it.

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The apartment will be cheaper and have more space. Dorms cost alot, on a per month basis. It works out a little better if you look at it per year, but you need to realize you won't be allowed to live there 4-5 months out of the year.

I'll probably end up living in a dorm unless I find local people to help rent with at an apartment when I go to college. My only real concerns are the fact that I have sleeping issues when it comes to noise, and I turn into a raving psycho bitch when people snore or are loud when I'm trying to get some shuteye.

The other? Jesus Christ, so much crap gets stolen. Both my parents lost incredibly valuable things due to roommates or the dorm life in general, and I hear about all this other petty or serious theft from most college people I know. Maybe it's just Ohio. My dad lost his awesome guitar, my mother lost a very sentimental ring from her dead father, and my brother's friend had the engagement ring for his girlfriend stolen three days before he had planned to propose.

If it is your first year, I say go with the dorms. Since you say you are going to a tech school, you probably don't have a lot to worry about. However, if you decide to go to a average joe type school, ask around about the dorms. My current school's dorms are like night and day. Yarber, which I was not it, is like nerd capital USA. I've drove by and they are out playing with toy light sabers and shit. White Hall, ironically named so, on the other hand was and is a ghetto. Drugs, assholes, stabbings, etc etc. That place had some of the shittiest openly racist bastards I have ever had the displeasure of living near. The baseball team around me wasn't that bad. Well once you got past the fact they liked to run around in their undies, and at 2 in the morning, play a nice game of slam the door, OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

I won't be in a dorm next semester if they put me back in White. Fuck white, and fuck the people who live there.

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

So it looks like everyone who is or has been in college says to stick with the dorms, while the person who is not in college is getting an apartment.

No offense to you Lobo, but you should take that into consideration Swift.

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None taken. I would have gotten a dorm too, if it wasn't for finding an apartment that close to perfection.

And the stains.

Oh and here is a nice little pic I took from the second story window. This is right above the area that the thug bastards would hang out while waiting for their pot and easy white girls.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...id=15570&stc=1

My sister's dorm was really shitty, too. I dont know why so many dorms are. The ones at UCLA are really good (I lived in the oldest one built, it was still really nice - and the food there is really great) and even the ones at NJIT were above average (one was kinda old-ish, but it wasnt nearly as bad as some of the other ones Ive seen).

Now, my friend's first dorm at Rutgers was fairly disgusting, but still livable.

Although I will say, living in a crummy place toughens your skin somewhat, like I did for my 5th year. I feel like I could live anywhere now.

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Originally Posted by Swift

http://www.tntech.edu/reslife/halls/...n/Img_0352.jpg

I personally don't like the whole "military" thing - just having a bed, toilet, and desk - even if it is the cheaper deal.

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You should be happy that you have a dorm with a toilet and a desk.

This isn't Saved by the Bell: the College Years. Every freshman dorm I've ever known has just been a bed and a desk.

Don't get an apartment unless you plan to stay there all the time by yourself, end up hating your roommates, and never make any friends for the entire year.

Live in the dorm to meet people for the first year or two. Even though you have friends going to the same school already, if you're all in the dorms it increases the chances of finding the new people you'll spend the next 4 years hanging out with. You miss out on so much living in an apt from the beginning, it's just not worth it. Plus, if it's horrible you can always leave the dorms and get an apt later, but it's never that easy to make it back into university housing. You usually have to get back on a wait list and then you get the shittiest pick of dorms.

I recommend living in a dorm as well. If you're not on campus it's a lot harder to make friends. You'll quickly learn who you like to hang out with and who you won't. And for where I went to school at least, a dorm was a lot cheaper. No utility bills, food is easy to get to, blah blah blah. Basically all the stuff everyone said already.

Apartment living can get dicey. If the rent is low (you said 500 or so right?) you may not have a problem, but money/bills can REALLY make things unpleasent. You could live with a deadbeat and it's going to be a complete nightmare. I have a friend who was completly fucked over by his roomates (who are frat brothers) and it's just fucking insane. I could go on but you want to live with in an apartment with people you complely trust and are financially stable for the foreseeable future.

Oh, and I got really lucky. Freshman year I basically lived with my best friends. Started out with a suite with 7 of us and then I lived with the same 3 other guys for the next 3 years. I got insanly lucky. I didn't know anyone and we just hit it off from the first day and we became like brothers. I still talk to and see many of them to this day (graduated 2 years ago).

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I could go on but you want to live with in an apartment with people you complely trust and are financially stable for the foreseeable future.

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Yea and you dont know about this until your third year of college or so. I changed so fucking much my first year, hell, my first month. Its just like a tidal wave, going to college. Someone cool in September is not necessarilly gonna be the same way in November, and you dont want to be stuck for a year with him because youre in the apartment. He might get a girlfriend, stop paying bills, dick you over, etc. You put the cable in your name and youre late with a few bills because your roommates are asshats and your credit can be damaged. Ive been in the situation as a 4th year, it was tough to handle, couldnt imagine it as a freshman.

Plus theres the inevitable stupidity nearly every freshman gets involved with. Your roommate comes home drunk, throws up on the carpet, leaves a huge stain, who has to pay for it? YOU DO! Dorms are a lot more lenient with that. And you might say, "but I know these guys, theyre not party animals". Yes... theyre not, yet. But they havent been to college yet, that shit transforms people.

A lot of people you know freshman year wont be at the school by Junior year. If youre living with one of those, that person might party all the time and interfere with your schoolwork. Etc. By the third year, everyone who is gonna drop out usually has, and people are over their initial partying phase and more interested in grinding it out for the degree.

Getting an apartment with "friends" your freshman year is just walking into a fucking landmine of potential problems. And Murphy's Law says that those problems will pop up.

This one friend of mine who's going to the same college is pretty much a spoiled rich kid. He's cool and all, and he's got a good head on his shoulders, but he's been raised horribly and basically just gets what he asks for - not in a snotty way, but in more of a mommas-boy kind of a way. So today I was talking to him and I asked, "So what kind of a job are you going to get once you're in college?"

"I'm probably just not gonna get one."

"Not gonna get one? Don't you need - like - money and stuff?"

"No, my parents are gonna pay for it all."

"Well, I'm not just talking about tuition - I'm talking about the food and the bills and all that."

"No, they're gonna pay for that, too. That's what they did for my brother."

My jaw nearly dropped. If I'm lucky, though, I'll be able to mooch some money off of him when times get rough.

I'm probably not going to have a job the first 2 years either.

Tons of people don't work during college. Tons of parents pay for their child's tuition, room and board.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

Tons of people don't work during college. Tons of parents pay for their child's tuition, room and board.

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This is true. I hate those fucking kids.

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Originally Posted by The Dave

This is true. I hate those fucking kids.

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You're just jealous.

I didnt work for my first 2 years...

Anyway, if a kid is one of those snotty rich kids who doesnt have to work, theres a good chance hes gonna just end up partying all the time and shit. Thats a doubly red flag.

I'd rather have a roomate that parties all the time than one who never leaves the dorm, like my roomate freshman year. He was boring, smelled bad, and because of him I never had the room to myself.

But if your dorm room is a single you've got it made. You get the social advantages of living in a dorm without having to put up with other people's shit. I think you'd be foolish to pass up a single dorm room.

Originally I was slated to live in the dorms/apartments this year, but living there would have doubled my tuition, so instead I ended up getting an apartment close to school, and it turned out some what cheaper in the long run. Once I eventually graduate my student loan debts will be below $10k.

There are things I regret about not getting a dorm, especially the community thing, but living by yourself, cooking for yourself, buying your own food, being able to come and go as you please, and all those other responsibilities rule. But then again, I live on my own, so I don't know what its like to live with strangers. All I can tell you is that my current arrangement is great.

So, I guess my advice to you would be do just do the math, if living in an apartment means that you won't be in debt for the next 20 years, then I say go for it.

=\ I don't work while I'm in school. I couldn't see doing this major while having a job. Some science/math/tech classes can eat a lot of time.

For the record, I'm still debating on whether to major in Jornalism or Web Design.

You could probably do that while working. Make sure you structure your day well enough to give you time for future projects.

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Originally Posted by Swift

For the record, I'm still debating on whether to major in Jornalism or Web Design.

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So either way, you're looking to major in regular unemployment and low pay, then? It doesn't say much for you when you can't spell journalism right.

rofl

He has time.

Typo /= Misspelling

Either way, you should probably kill yourself now.

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Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

So either way, you're looking to major in regular unemployment and low pay, then? It doesn't say much for you when you can't spell journalism right.

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Well, he could be a music major... eh Tommy Tallarico?

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Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

Don't get an apartment unless you plan to stay there all the time by yourself, end up hating your roommates, and never make any friends for the entire year.

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This is true. I transferred to a new school my sophomore year and had to live in the apartment, and I spent most of first semester alone and bored I also hated 2/3 of my roommates. Second semester came around and really, my only friends spawned from the one roommate that I actually liked.

Dorm all the way, seriously.