Off-campus living: a look at the pros and cons

In the off-campus move, amenities are lost, but 'real life' experience is gained. Although a few weeks of the second semester have passed, students must soon decide where they want to call home next year. For incoming freshmen, the choice is as simple as picking a college house -- but many upperclassmen need to make a more basic choice: whether to live on- or off-campus. About 42 percent of undergraduates live off-campus, according to Director of Off-Campus Living Mihaela Farcas. "Living off campus is probably part of a certain 'growing up' -- [older students] tend to want to be more on [their] own," Farcas said. Wharton junior Renos Savvides agreed. Savvides lives on campus this year, but plans to move off campus in September. With on-campus housing, he said, "I'm closer to classes, closer to places I need to be." However, Savvides added that he is moving off campus because he sees "the experience as a kind of transition into real life." Besides gaining more independence, choosing not to live in University housing holds other advantages. For instance, off-campus rents are usually cheaper than University rates, and students can get more space for their money. But, according to Farcas, rents have been growing steeper in recent years, lessening the price advantage of living off campus. And students must also pay for their residence for 12 months, rather than for the eight-month school year. Farcas also cited the desire to be a part of the West Philadelphia community -- as well as the Penn community -- as a motivation for students to leave campus housing. "Some people really like to be a part of a neighborhood, of a city, of a town," Farcas said. In University housing, she said, students are "less exposed to the real life of a city." But for many students and their parents, the "real life of a city" suggests danger. "My parents aren't real fond of me living off campus," said College senior Kristina Herbert, who lives in Hamilton College House. "They feel it's more secure here." But for College junior Rebecca LaMantia, who lives off campus, the absence of Spectaguards and PennCard scanners is welcome. She found University housing "too restrictive. [Now] I feel less watched-over," she said, "but I don't feel unsafe." Besides safety concerns, some students cited other reasons to remain on campus. For Herbert, University housing's built-in ethernet connection was a significant factor in her decision to stay. "The Internet connection is really important to me," she said. "It would be really frustrating to get kicked offline every half hour." LaMantia agreed that the ethernet connection was convenient. "I miss talking on the phone while being on the Internet," she said. Choosing to move off campus is truly a trade-off, according to Farcas. "You are more in charge of yourself, but you have more responsibilities. And you have to be an educated consumer so you know how to interact with your landlord."