Should you stay in university residence or not – advantages and disadvantages of staying in res

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For most students going to university they will be going far away from home, and for many it’s going to be their first time away from home. Some students would have applied for res during the application process and many will get reses but many others will not get a place in res because places in university residences are limited. Some will not even apply for res and look for off campus accommodation instead. Some people will get res offers but they will have to choose where they are going to stay. Below I am going to share the advantages and disadvantages of staying in res.

Advantages of staying in res:

- Residences are usually conveniently located close to campus or have shuttle systems used to transport students to campus

- Residences have a supportive environment that is a student environment surrounded by people who go to the same campus as you in the same institution.

- Reses have regular student functions or activities to keep students entertained and informed.

- There is security in reses as access is limited to outsiders who do not reside within that particular residence.

- Reses usually have internet access and computer labs for students to use

- Reses have laundry facilities for students which are usually free for students

- Catering reses provide food 3 times a day for residents depending on the meal plans the student choose

- Residences provide a good platform for students to make friends especially during res orientation during o week.

- Saves you the trouble of having to look for a place to stay in a strange city.

- You don’t have to worry about cooking after a long day at school if you are in catering res and you don’t have to worry about running out of food because you did not budget properly (e.g you spent all your money shopping, eating take-aways or partying etc.)

Disadvantages of living in res:

- They usually have strict rules when it comes to visitors and bringing in alcohol or having parties in rooms although students usually break these rules

- Res food is crappy but expensive, to eat what you want you have to live off campus or self-catering res which is not usually for first year students.

- First year students usually share rooms in their first year at res, which sucks if you get a crappy roomy or you are not a peoples person.

- Residence is very expensive especially catering reses.

- You have to share bathrooms with many students, you are unlucky if you get a res with bathtubs and you live with dirty people who don’t clean the bath after using it (which is highly likely as people are dirty out there).

- You usually get tiny single beds or ¾ beds.

Those are some of the advantages and disadvantages of living in res, I am sure there are others, if you think of any share them in the comments below. It’s usually a great idea to stay in res in your first year especially if you are moving to a strange new city and if finances permit, then in second year if you did not like res or want to save money and be more independent you could move into your own flat once you are familiar with your new city. We are going to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living off-campus soon so keep an eye on this site over the next few days to read that post. Please subscribe to us via email to get updates whenever there is a new post. Cherio, I hope you are enjoying the holidays!