Many students choose to live in on-campus dorms their freshman year and then find an off-campus apartment for the remainder of their college career.
For these students, the main reason for the transition is generally the same idea — privacy.
Students said living on campus provides many benefits like meeting new people, getting to know campus and being more involved. But after a while, students said they needed a place to call their own.
“I chose to live in the dorm my freshman year to meet new people,” said elementary education junior Lauren Chiasson. “But after one year, I had enough.”
Chiasson, a resident of the Varn Villa apartment complex, said she enjoys her new living situation because she has her own bedroom and bathroom.
Chiasson said she also enjoys having a kitchen for her own use, rather than sharing it with several others like in the dorms.
Human services management junior Pamela Owens lived in Herget Hall her freshman year and East Campus Apartments her sophomore year.
      Owens, who now lives in Ole Towne apartment complex, said the size of off-campus apartments appealed to her.
“The on-campus apartments are small, and I didn’t like living with four other people,” Owens said. Owens said she saves money by stocking her full-sized refrigerator — a major perk of having an apartment and also something lacking from the dorms.
“In the dorms, we always had to eat out,” Owens said.
Porcia Bernard, assistant manager for Sterling apartment complex, said students initially are drawn to off-campus apartments because of the amenities.
Many student-oriented apartment complexes such as Sterling offer private bedrooms and bathrooms, fully furnished or unfurnished apartment options and a pool, fitness center and game room open to all residents.
“It’s very convenient for students [to live in an apartment complex] because it works like a community,” Bernard said.
Bernard said Sterling management works very closely with students and often offers promotions such as delivering doughnuts and orange juice to students in the morning as they wait at the bus stop to go to class.
Also, the students’ parents enjoy having their children live in apartment complexes such as Sterling because it provides a safe environment, Bernard said.
Glenda Ricord, manager of Varn Villa, agrees safety is a major concern of students and parents.
But privacy and freedom after living in the dorms is the main motive for the students Ricord often sees apartment hunting.
“With an apartment, they feel like they are not so jammed up with everyone,” she said.
However, Ricord said there are benefits to living on campus because students are within the campus community.
Owens said she is a big supporter of living in the dorms freshman year, but once students become comfortable with campus and begin focusing on their major curriculum, they need more space.
“Once you start taking the harder, upper-level classes, you need more room to spread out and study in peace,” Owens said.