Living-in vs Living-out

[angels&angles]

The current U Illinois thread has sort of devolved into a housing thread, so I thought I'd start a new thread on that topic.

This won't be universally applicable, as some Universities don't have houses, and at some places, you're bound to living in (I believe?).

However, for those places, like my alma mater, our houses were not as big as our chapter size. For us, about half the sophomores and a handful of juniors and seniors (mostly officers) lived in the house.

For those who will be making that decision, pros/cons of living in vs living out?

I'll start.

I never lived in the sorority house. I lived CLOSE to it, so I still ate all my lunches there (included in cost), and studied there/hung out there. I got my fill of being with my sisters without ever getting truly pissed like I did with my roommates.

Additionally, I could live in a single (important to me).

To me, one of the best things was that for my sophomore year I lived in an "on campus apartment" -- so I basically got a trial run at stuff like making my own meals, calling maintenance to fix broken things, cleaning the place, etc. BEFORE the added stress of landlords, rent, bills, etc.

To me, the sorority house is a little too much like dorm living, where other people are looking after you/cleaning for you/cooking for you and making rules. I think it can be a good intermediary step between actual dorms and an apartment, but I know girls who NEVER had any sort of apartment all through college (lived in dorms/suites/srat house), and then were totally thrown into the real world without ever being on their own.

Not all colleges and sororities offer the choice to live off campus, but if it is an option, it should be considered.

(Sorry if this has been discussed before, I did a quick search but didn't see anything in the last few years)