Top Reasons to Choose Off-Campus Housing in Calgary

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While all students should experience on-campus living at the University of Calgary for at least a year, it does start to get a little old for most people. Living on campus does have its benefits, including proximity to classes, but if you’re looking for a University of Calgary residence alternative to dorm rooms, you’re not the only one considering a move to off-campus housing. Here are the top reasons to change your address in the fall.

Experience Adulting

When you’re living in on-campus housing, you’re not really experiencing life as an adult. You don’t make payments for monthly rent, you have convenient and prepared food, and you have constant access to other students. These are all great benefits that really help first-year university students transition from living with their parents. But, they aren’t teaching you about real adult life.

Moving into off-campus housing means you’ll have to start making monthly rent payments and making your own food. You’ll have to communicate with property managers, landlords, and maintenance people to express your needs and get things done. Plus, signing a rental contract is often the first real contract that people sign as an adult, which means you’ll start to understand that process and requirements.

Independence

Along with beginning to undertake adult responsibilities, moving to off-campus housing will also give you a new sense of independence. Yes, moving into on-campus housing and out of your parents’ house was a big first move, but you still had a list of rules you had to abide by, which limited your ability to stretch your wings.

Once you rent your own off-campus space, you can make most of your own rules, which means you won’t have a curfew, can have guests at any time of the day or night, and can burn candles in your home, all of which might be restricted in a dormitory. Of course, if you have roommates, collaboration on house rules will be important, and there will be some general rules for the housing complex as a whole (like no pets, for example), but overall, you’ll have much more independence than you had in on-campus housing.

It’s Cheaper

According to a new study on the cost of living in Canada, it’s about $500 cheaper per month to live in off-campus accommodations than in on-campus housing. As a student who might be on a tight budget, that $500 per month is pretty huge. Certainly, you will have to set limits on dining out at expensive restaurants and try to use public transportation instead of your own vehicle when possible, but if you’re careful, you can actually save money by moving off campus.

Entertainment might be a little more expensive off campus than on because you won’t have free events organised by the university. However, if you choose a student-centered off-campus housing complex, it will frequently host free or low-cost activities to its residents. While this isn’t always the case, most off-campus student housing in the University District area in Calgary is close to affordable entertainment as well.

Conclusion

Moving off campus might be a little scary at first, but once you live away from the dorms and don’t have to pack up all your things at the end of the school year (unless you want to), you’ll never yearn for on-campus living again.

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