During the course of sophomore year, one of the biggest questions facing many students is where to live as an upperclassmen – the townhouses, the apartments or at the beach?
All three options have good and bad qualities, but what is the best place to live?
According to Gary Stephenson, director of housing operations, approximately 475-500 students chose to live off-campus this year. The townhouses house 542 students, while the apartments house 186 students.
The lure of living at the beach is very strong. However, rowdy neighbors, ridiculously high rents and the need for transportation force some people to consider living on-campus.
Some students, like Kevin Spencer ’04 felt differently.
“I love living at the beach,” he said. “It’s a good time, and if I need to do work, I can always go to campus.”
In contrast, the townhouses offer students the opportunity to live in a house, but without the hassles of landlords and party-goers.
Jack Kelleher ’04 preferred living in the townhouses.
“I like the townhouses because you get internet and cable, and you don’t need a car,” he said.
Some of the drawbacks of the townhouses include having to live in a triple, and constantly trying to get a ride down to the beach on the weekends to party, according to Kelleher.
If the townhouses or the beach does not appeal to someone, another alterative is to live in the apartments.
Antuan Barnett ’04 said he likes the apartments.
“I get my own room and its nice and quiet. If I want to go party I have friends at the beach and the townhouses so I always have somewhere to go.”
According to housing, the cost of living in the townhouses is $6,920 per student, not including the cost of utilities.
Cost of living in the apartments is $7,500, but all utilities are included. These numbers are incomparable to beach rental prices, where rent varies from $500 a month to over $1000 a month, not including utilities or a security deposit, which is usually about one month’s rent.
Some students question if financial aid will be affected by off-campus living.
According to Erin Chiaro, associate director of the financial aid department, the change is minimal.
“If anything, students just have to shift from subsidized to unsubsidized loans,” he said.
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