Advantages and disadvantages of staying off campus.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of living off campus?

It is important to figure out your accommodation before entering school(preparing for jamb), just as you figure out your choice of universities among others, and also figure out the best course for you to study.

Accommodation is also a major factor to consider as it significantly impacts our academic progress. The place we choose to reside during our studies has a hung influence on our academic performance.

The campus is commonly recognized as the setting where students engage in both academic and social activities.

Within campuses, there are various structures including departmental buildings, faculty buildings, senate buildings, and hostels, among others.

The school authorities provide these hostels as accommodation options for students, which are commonly referred to as “school hostels.”

Accommodations located outside the campus are referred to as “off-campus accommodation”.

Therefore, I will outline the advantages and disadvantages of choosing to reside off-campus.

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OFF-CAMPUS ACCOMMODATIONS.

They are often called lodges in most school areas usually owned by private individuals or private
companies.

They are built in areas outside (but usually around) the school. In school lingua, it is called off-kay.

Living off-kay has its perks as well as its downsides, as do everything else on the planet.

Before delving into the advantages and disadvantages, let’s quickly check this article out you need to know what works best for you, as well as what is within your financial strength, and go for it.

11 ADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL HOSTELS AND 6 DISADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL HOSTELS.

ADVANTAGES OF STAYING OFF CAMPUS IN SCHOOL.

1. COMFORT.

No matter how low-end an off-campus apartment is, you can always experience maximum comfort.

Largely because you live alone, and you can make adjustments to suit your personal taste. You can organize your room without the fear of coming to meet it disorganized.

You have a kitchen and a toilet to yourself alone (except for cases when you have a roommate, and even then, there is usually mutual agreement among yourselves, so you both can have a routine for organizing).

2. FLEXIBILITY.

The fact that you have a room to yourself (or one more roommate), you have rules that are bendable by you, especially because you are the person that makes the decisions.

By staying off campus, you have the freedom to live independently without the restrictions imposed by hostel officers.

However, it’s important to note that off-campus accommodations also have their own set of rules, although these rules are generally less strict compared to those found in school hostels.

You can bring in guests, as many as you want, and do whatever you want(As long as it is legal and does not cause any harm or damage).

3. PRIVACY.

Your best bet to having a space all to yourself is by having your own place.

Your prayer/meditation time (for religious people), your exercise time, and your time i.e. self-care time can be observed without distractions.

You do your thing without external intrusion or distractions, well except the intruding factor is your wandering mind.

4. YOU SAVE MONEY AND RESOURCES.

Choosing to stay off campus can help you save money. While many students believe that it is expensive, the reality is that it can be much cheaper if you find an affordable apartment.

Especially when you are a person that cooks for yourself, you spend less in the long run. You cannot afford not to be prudent in spending when you are a student.

As a student, you can choose to cook meals for a whole week without worrying that your roommate will eat your food before you return to your room.

In school hostels, some businesses may increase the prices of goods and services because they assume you won’t have the motivation or energy to go outside the campus to shop.

This can result in you purchasing items at higher prices. However, living off-campus provides various shopping options and convenient access to markets, allowing you to find better deals.

5. YOU DON’T NEED TO RELOCATE EVERY SUMMER.

Having to relocate your belongings after every exam session is both stressful and time-consuming.

In many university hostels, students are mandated to leave the campus premises at the conclusion of the second semester.

Choosing to stay off campus can eliminate this burden, as all you need to do is renew your payment on a yearly basis.

Staying off campus helps in removing the stress of struggling to apply for hostels every new session.

6. A CLEAN AND HYGIENIC ENVIRONMENT.

People choose to stay off campus because it is usually cleaner. One of the main reasons is that they can come back to a tidy room with a neatly arranged bed as it was before living the room.

The bathroom and toilet are also clean, especially when there is no roommate.

Students prefer staying off campus because the toilets and bathrooms in school hostels are often in poor condition.

One of the advantages of living off campus is having clean and well-maintained toilets. By staying off campus, students can avoid contracting infections and diseases that can be transmitted through unhygienic toilets.

Treating such infections can be expensive, so staying off campus helps save money in the long run.

7. OPPORTUNITIES FOR BETTER PART-TIME JOBS WHILE STUDYING.

Staying off campus provides students with the advantage of greater opportunities to pursue part-time jobs without being restricted by rules and regulations imposed by school hostels.

Some part-time jobs involve working in shifts, which can extend from 9 pm to 4 am.

In such cases, living off campus allows students the freedom to rest after classes without disturbances from roommates. Seeing you have a job to catch up on later that day.

Moreover, off-campus living permits students to come and go at any time, without being constrained by specific curfews or limitations on movement.

8. BENEFICIAL TO INTROVERTS.

If you thrive academically in a quiet and focused setting, off-campus accommodation is the perfect solution.

Unlike crowded rooms that can house up to eight or even fourteen individuals in some universities, off-campus living eliminates the challenge of constantly being surrounded by many roommates.

This quiet environment enables introverted individuals to perform well academically without having much disturbance from other students, resulting in improved academic performance.

When you live off campus, you have the opportunity to choose your friends more selectively. This helps in avoiding situations where your friends may think you are avoiding them.

Ensuring Understanding and Avoiding Misunderstandings.

MUST READ: A Practical Guide to Overcoming Shyness And Inferiority Complex in Campus Environments.

9. OFF-CAMPUS FOSTERS ADULT DEVELOPMENT.

More responsibility for your daily activities, off-campus encourages adult responsibility.

Off campus bring you into thinking like an adult and it will be of great benefit to you even after you’ve graduated, it keeps you in check.

It makes you strong for the real world, for example paying your bills regularly, fixing your appliances when it’s faulty, and trying to fix them before giving them out to a repairer.

Staying off campus shapes you properly in learning how to manage resources in any given situation.

You get into the habit of cleaning your space, taking off the dirt from the floor without waiting for the school cleaner as it is done in school hostels.

DISADVANTAGES OF STAYING OFF CAMPUS IN SCHOOL.

1. SECURITY IS POROUS.

except for cases where the lodge management provides a security outfit to safeguard the area or facilities that cater to security (such as a towering gate).

Many off-kay lodges are not properly guarded, thereby leaving them vulnerable to attack from bad people.

There are a myriad of real-life cases of students who have been harmed by cultists simply because they could get easy access to their abodes.

2. EXPENSIVE.

For the most part, off-kay lodge apartments are not affordable.

Of course, points can be made in favor of this point because one can say staying on campus is the proverbial case of being penny-wise, pound foolish.

The reason being the cumulative monies spent on food and other luxuries can equate to renting an apartment off-kay.

Be that as it may, off-kay lodges are not always cheap for the common man.

ALSO SEE: Avoiding Sapa, How to Manage Money While in School.

3. VULNERABILITY IN TIMES OF EMERGENCIES.

Another disadvantage of staying off-campus is In case there is a health emergency and you stay alone.

It may be difficult to get help as soon as possible for the avoidance of a tragedy.

4. LOW MOTIVATION.

When you live off campus, there is a possibility that the absence of other students in your immediate vicinity may lead to a lack of motivation.

To take your studies as seriously as you would if you were surrounded by diligent roommates in the school hostel.

The presence of serious students within your living space can create an environment that encourages you in reading your books and having the positive energy of you are capable of doing it likewise.

So in essence, it sort of induces indolence.

5. LACK OF SUPERVISION.

One possible disadvantage of living off campus is the absence of restraining orders or strict oversight.

Which can occasionally lead individuals to the wrong path, Unlike in school hostels where security measures are in place.

In certain cases, off-campus students can unknowingly associate with individuals engaged in dangerous activities, such as smoking and cultism.

Without the presence of university school security, these activities can be carried out without any security check on them.

MUST READ: HOW TO BALANCE ACADEMICS WITH SOCIAL ACTIVITIES.

6. PROXIMITY ISSUES.

Proximity is one of the basic keys to why most students are advised to stay in school hostels.

Being close to classes and other activities is a top priority for every student.

However, some off-campus apartments are located far away from the campus, which can pose challenges.

The daily routine of waking up early and transportation to campus can become costly and time-consuming most time.

And also in some cases, they might be a delay due to traffic and other unseen circumstances.

ALSO SEE 11 ADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL HOSTELS AND 6 DISADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL HOSTELS.