Student life comes with many important decisions. Apart from choosing your university, and the degree, subjects, and courses you want to study, you’ll also have to think about your living situation.
When it comes to accommodation, the lack of options can actually make this process a lot easier some students choose to go abroad, so they can either rent a place or live on the campus, depending on their budget.
But if you’ve chosen a university close to home, and you have the possibility to either move away or continue living at home, it can be rather difficult to decide which option to choose.
It’s important to take your time and weigh both the pros and the cons in order to figure out what works best for you.
After all, this is something that will strongly influence your student experience, so you don’t want to rush in and make a decision that you’ll later regret. So, let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of living at home versus moving away.
Living at Home
In most cases, your home is the place where you’ve lived your whole life or at least a part of it, so it can bring a feeling of comfort and reassurance in a time where everything around you seems to be changing: new study institution and professors, new friends, and a lot of new information to absorb. If adaptability is not your strong suit, staying at home can definitely seem like a tempting option.
However, growth usually happens when you leave your comfort zone behind, so if you want to broaden your horizons and enjoy new experiences, you’re not going to find all that at home.
Another aspect that might stop you from leaving your nest is your financial situation.
Whether you lack the necessary funds to rent a place or you simply don’t want to spend money on accommodation, staying at home is definitely the cheaper option.
If you think of all the money you’ll be saving and all the things you could do with it instead, you’re not going to want to leave.
Now let’s say you’re not exactly the life of the party and you’re very selective about the people you socialize with. That can be an issue if you move to a student hall or share an apartment with other fellow students.
Staying at home gives you the privilege of keeping your social interactions at a level that feels comfortable for you. The same cannot be said about students living in shared accommodation.
And if the aspects we’ve exposed so far haven’t helped clarify things, maybe this argument will: a university might not be the exciting and thrilling place you thought it would be. Sometimes, it can feel like a lonely and unwelcoming place.
When your dreams of starting a new life at the university don’t materialize, the home remains the one place where you’ll find the love and support you need.
Your parents might embarrass you from time to time and make you feel like a child instead of the grownup that you’re trying to become, but at least they’ll be there when you need them.
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Moving Away
Now let’s see what you can expect if you decide to spread your wings and fly away, even if this only means moving across town in a different neighborhood.
The first aspect that might constitute an advantage is the variety of choices. When you decide to move away, you can pick accommodation based on your wants and needs, whether that means renting an apartment with a friend, moving alone into a studio, or living in student halls.
There are so many different locations for students to choose from, that you have pretty good chances of finding something to match your requirements and budget. If you feel the need to make a change and bid goodbye to your old room, you have more than enough options to consider.
Next, we have the constant dilemma of comfort versus freedom. Your home might feel safe and cozy, but it can limit you a lot in terms of independence.
You can’t do whatever you want, whenever you want, as you’ll have to respect the space and time of the rest of the people living in the house.
On the other hand, moving away will give you a sense of autonomy and independence that you won’t be able to experience if you continue living with your parents.
If you’re a social animal and it seems we all are, according to scientific research you might also find living away from home a lot more interesting. This will give you the opportunity to meet new people, build new connections and relationships that will add value to your life and help you grow as a person.
You’ll feel more like an adult and less like the child that your parents want you to be. Extroverts are surely going to appreciate this lifestyle more than the one they had at home.
Also, if your home is not close to the university and you’d have to waste time every day on a long commute, choosing to live on campus or in another type of student housing can help you avoid this inconvenience as these accommodations are usually located within walking distance of universities.
As you can see, there are pros and cons to both these options. There are some things that you’ll have to give up and some things that you’re going to gain, regardless of your choice. You can’t have it all, as much as you’d like.
What you can do is make a list with all the aspects that are important to you when choosing accommodation and then decide which of these two variants tick your boxes.
In the end, you’re the only one who knows what you want and you shouldn’t let anyone else influence your decision.
