{"id":24362,"date":"2015-08-03T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northstarmoving.com\/blog\/?p=24362"},"modified":"2015-08-03T11:54:11","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T18:54:11","slug":"dorms-vs-college-apartments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorms vs. College Apartments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re entering college for the first time in your life, you may be asking yourself questions you\u2019ve never had to answer before. Along with trying to decide between different universities and majors, you must also decide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2013\/moving-to-college\/\" target=\"_blank\">where you are going to live<\/a>. Dorms and college apartments carry both benefits and disadvantages. Make sure you make the right choice before you make the final decision.<\/p>\n<h2>Dorms<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24366\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24366\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/white-dorm-room.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24366 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/white-dorm-room-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Dorms &amp; Apartments: Dorm Life by borman818 (CC BY 2.0)\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24366\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"oembed-caption\"><a title=\"Dorm Life\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/dborman2\/3258371445\/\">Dorm Life<\/a> by <a title=\"Flickr user borman818\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/dborman2\/\">borman818<\/a> (<a title=\"Creative Commons Attribution License\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\" rel=\"license\">CC BY 2.0<\/a>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2014\/dorm-moving-to-college\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dorms<\/a> are\u00a0on-campus living centers that will house you during the regular semester. Typically, dorms will come with a roommate, and you will be sharing common areas throughout the building. Common areas include bathrooms, kitchens and living areas.<\/p>\n<p>As you may expect, there is very little time for privacy. You may also have to room with a stranger if no one else is coming to college with you. Some colleges also require you to purchase a <a href=\"http:\/\/collegelife.about.com\/od\/beforeyouarrive\/ht\/MealPlans.htm\" target=\"_blank\">meal plan<\/a>, as kitchen appliances are not allowed in the rooms. Check with the university to see their policies on what you can and cannot bring into your dorm.<\/p>\n<p>Dorms are also a great way to stay connected to campus life. This choice forces you to interact with your fellow students, and gives you a chance to experience student life. Living on campus also means you have close access to student organizations, study groups and classes. You&#8217;ll be living in a pretty tight space, so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2011\/dorm-organization-decoration\/\" target=\"_blank\">organize accordingly<\/a>!<\/p>\n<h2>College Apartments<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24367\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24367\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/dorm-with-postters.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-24367 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/dorm-with-postters-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Dorms &amp; Apartments: Junior Year Dorm D\u00e9cor by Matt Nazario-Miller (CC BY 2.0)\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24367\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"oembed-caption\"><a title=\"Junior Year Dorm D\u00e9cor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mattnazario\/13971207088\/\">Junior Year Dorm D\u00e9cor<\/a> by <a title=\"Flickr user Matt Nazario-Miller\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mattnazario\/\">Matt Nazario-Miller<\/a> (<a title=\"Creative Commons Attribution License\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\" rel=\"license\">CC BY 2.0<\/a>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But you really do value your privacy, and don&#8217;t really want to share a dorm\u00a0with a person you just met. In that case, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2013\/moving-tiny-apartment\/\" target=\"_blank\">college apartment<\/a> is the perfect choice for you. Although a dorm may bring you closer to the student body, there are also plenty of communities surrounding the campus. Take a tour of your favorite universities to see if there are good student apartments in the area.<\/p>\n<p>Along with a bit more privacy than dorms, you also have access to a kitchen and other living areas that may only be shared with a few people. This means you have the freedom to actually cook for yourself, rather than be forced into a meal plan. In addition to your new kitchen, you may also have your own bathroom.<\/p>\n<p>However, having an apartment also means that you now have a host of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bankrate.com\/calculators\/smart-spending\/college-student-budget-calculator.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">new monetary responsibilities<\/a>. You must now pay for things such as water, electric and internet. You also have to deal with roommates that may not always clean up after themselves, and may not always want to pay their part of the utility bill. If you think that living with friends is the solution to these problems, you may want to reconsider. Try living with your friends over the summer to see if you are compatible for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>What is your final answer: Dorm or Apartment? Let me know what and why in the comments section!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re entering college for the first time in your life, you may be asking yourself questions you\u2019ve never had to answer before. Along with trying to decide between different universities and majors, you must also decide on where you are going to live. Dorms&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/\" class=\"read-more\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":24368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2487,550,2486,2489,1570,2488,1875,2491,1346,1884,627],"class_list":["post-24362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-snappy-tips","tag-apartments","tag-college","tag-dorms","tag-freshman","tag-friends","tag-living","tag-privacy","tag-responsibility","tag-room","tag-roommates","tag-university"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dorms vs. College Apartments | Moving Happiness Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don&#039;t forget to spend some time on finding a new place to live for college. Find out if dorms or apartments are better for you!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dorms vs. College Apartments | Moving Happiness Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don&#039;t forget to spend some time on finding a new place to live for college. Find out if dorms or apartments are better for you!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Happiness Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NorthStarMoving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-03T16:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-03T18:54:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/80s-dorm-room-1024x574.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"574\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Snap Greene\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@northstarmoving\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@northstarmoving\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Snap Greene\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/\",\"name\":\"Dorms vs. College Apartments | Moving Happiness Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/2015\/dorms-vs-college-apartments\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/80s-dorm-room.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-03T16:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-03T18:54:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northstarmoving.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/818017f61e3733e4c245e7177fd82af9\"},\"description\":\"Don't forget to spend some time on finding a new place to live for college. 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