When McCormick senior Hong Song traded his Evanston Place apartment for an Allison Hall dorm room this fall, he became one of about 250 seniors who opt to live on- rather than off-campus, according to Dean of Students Burgwell Howard.
For Song, it was a practical decision: He wanted to save money after realizing the expenses of living off campus in Evanston.
When Song lived in Evanston Place his junior year, he wound up eating out for almost every meal rather than cooking as he had planned.
“I wasn’t saving as much money as I hoped,” Song said.
Off-campus life has received plenty of attention lately, including articles on Gawker about raucous off-campus tailgates and the near-implementation of a “brothel law” that would have evicted thousands of students from Evanston residences last year. A smaller, less publicized community are thar many upperclassmen who choose to remain on campus in dorms every year. In addition to the 250 seniors, Howard said 1,750 juniors and sophomores live in University housing, while 3,100 students live in the surrounding community. Those figures do not include residents of Greek houses, but a significant number of students in residential housing each year are upperclassmen who have opted to stay behind as friends move off campus.
For the 2011-12 academic year, room and board adds up to $12,780 for all undergraduate students living in a double room with a 19-meal-per-week meal plan.
In addition to weighing the economic costs of living on campus, students also consider issues of location and convenience.
Song said he likes his dorm room’s close proximity to classes and the convenience of a dining hall. This year, some of his friends also decided to live on campus.
Apart from one friend, who thought Song’s move was unusual, he said he hasn’t received any negative reactions from peers.
“I thought people might think it’s weird (that I’m a senior) but I actually haven’t encountered as much as that,” he said.
Like Song, Communications Residential College’s junior Keegan Dunn said his decision to stay in CRC for another year has been well-received. Dunn’s decision was dictated more by wanting to maximize his college life experience — he said he would have ample time to live in an apartment once he graduates — than by financial motives.
“There’s a little more energy in a dorm than in an apartment, and I feel like you’re more involved with campus,” the McCormick junior said.
Aside from higher costs and more regulations, Dunn said living on campus has its benefits, such as saving him time.
Upperclassmen can choose from a wide array of housing options, said Virginia Koch, the associate director of University Residential Life.
Other than off-campus housing and Greek houses, upperclassmen can choose from mixed-class housing, which is open for all students, and upperclassmen-exclusive housing, such as Kemper Hall, 584 Lincoln, and Foster-Walker.
“These small houses are really a great option,” Koch said. “It kind of gives them the option of living on campus but the option of more space.”
Still, there is not enough on-campus housing to accommodate all students.
Unlike Dunn and Song, some students left University housing and never looked back, like Communication junior George Elkind, who moved off campus the summer before his sophomore year. Elkind was a resident of Chapin Hall during his freshman year, and said he would recommend moving off campus to anyone.
“I wanted a little more autonomy; I didn’t want a CA looking over my shoulder,” Elkind said. “It’s hard to feel like the place is yours or it’s home when you’re in a dorm.”
Although he technically lives off campus, Elkind said he never feels isolated from the NU community because of his involvement in extracurricular activities, his friends, and his classes.
“Being a full-time student, I never felt disconnected from campus,” he said. “It felt really nice to take a break from it.”
According to the 2011 Off-Campus Student Life Report given to all off-campus students by University Residential Life, 52 percent of survey respondents moved off campus after sophomore year, 25 after freshman year, and 18 after junior year.
“It seems to me that when they do move off campus, it’s with people they lived with freshman year,” Koch said. “I think they had that sense of community in the halls … (and they want to) have that living experience with their friends off campus.”
Although Song said the biggest drive behind students’ housing decisions is what their friends do, Koch advises students stay on campus as long as possible in order to take advantage of all that the campus offers.
**Correction (Sept. 21): The article incorrectly stated that freshmen are required to live on campus. The Daily regrets the error.
