UnMoved
Can residence halls compete with life off campus?
Bartholomew Klick
Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: Opinion
It's 2 a.m. Loud music is rattling the wall to my left, and the sounds of a racing game rumble through the wall to my right. I can't find my RA and I'm too tired to go find one from a different floor. I give up on reading and bury my head into the pillows. Between this and my ever-dwindling supply of money, I find myself wondering if an apartment would have been quieter and cheaper. I know I'm not the first person to have to make this choice, and I certainly will not be the last.
It isn't a light choice to make, either, particularly for freshmen who are just getting free from their parents' clutches, and who genuinely benefit from the supervision University Housing provides. But for sophomores, juniors and seniors, floor meetings have become banal and intrusive, and the constant stream of fines makes it feel as if the management is wringing blood from dry bones.
For those who feel they are mature enough to live without constant supervision, the factors in choosing between a dorm and an apartment are travel time and expenses, the cost of food, the cost of the living quarters and the amount of space available.
University Housing charges between $4,700 and $7,000, depending on the dorm and meal plan. I spend $6,000 to stay in the dorms. That's about $660 per month for nine months in an academic year, including cafeteria access, Internet and generally convenient travel times to classes.
University Commons, an apartment complex near campus, charges $450 per month for a similarly sized studio apartment, or $520 for a one-bedroom apartment. This includes Internet access and utility bills. This leaves students to buy their own groceries, and since Pittsburg's cost of living is very near the national average, that's around $200 per month.
There are, of course, other apartment complexes throughout Pittsburg, but a close examination will reveal that they're all, more or less, competitively priced. For instance, Brentwood Point Apartments, which is about four blocks from campus, has rooms for $495 per month, but this doesn't include utilities, and they have no studio or one- bedroom apartments.
It isn't a light choice to make, either, particularly for freshmen who are just getting free from their parents' clutches, and who genuinely benefit from the supervision University Housing provides. But for sophomores, juniors and seniors, floor meetings have become banal and intrusive, and the constant stream of fines makes it feel as if the management is wringing blood from dry bones.
For those who feel they are mature enough to live without constant supervision, the factors in choosing between a dorm and an apartment are travel time and expenses, the cost of food, the cost of the living quarters and the amount of space available.
University Housing charges between $4,700 and $7,000, depending on the dorm and meal plan. I spend $6,000 to stay in the dorms. That's about $660 per month for nine months in an academic year, including cafeteria access, Internet and generally convenient travel times to classes.
University Commons, an apartment complex near campus, charges $450 per month for a similarly sized studio apartment, or $520 for a one-bedroom apartment. This includes Internet access and utility bills. This leaves students to buy their own groceries, and since Pittsburg's cost of living is very near the national average, that's around $200 per month.
There are, of course, other apartment complexes throughout Pittsburg, but a close examination will reveal that they're all, more or less, competitively priced. For instance, Brentwood Point Apartments, which is about four blocks from campus, has rooms for $495 per month, but this doesn't include utilities, and they have no studio or one- bedroom apartments.
Be the first to comment on this story