Decision day has just passed, but chances are you knew where you wanted to go to college long before May 1st. The real question for many students is where to live. 

While some colleges might have required you to already submit your preferences, there are still some students wondering whether to live in an on-campus dorm or settle down into their own apartment. 

{RELATED POST: How to Spruce Up Your Very First Apartment (+ Decor Ideas!)}

Here are some of the most important factors to think about:

Table of Contents

Socializing

At least 80% of my friendships in college originated from either my major or living in the dorms. Living in the dorms provides you with the opportunity for instant interaction, as you’ll probably end up hanging out in common study spaces or even talking in the bathroom. I know exactly zero of my current neighbors now that I live in an apartment. And while it might just be me, I’ve noticed that most of my friends in apartments also know, at most, one or two of their neighbors.

The flip side is that having an apartment makes it easy to hang out with the friends you make elsewhere. It’s harder to invite people over to a small dorm room and think of things to do. Game night always worked well, but the small space meant we could never have a big enough crowd. Having an apartment means you can having baking parties, movie marathons on a screen bigger than your laptop, and offer guests a proper place to sleep if they spend the night. 

Cleanliness

Having an apartment is work. Having common bathrooms can be frustrating when you get locked out wearing a towel, but you also don’t have to clean them yourself. Our kitchen gets dirty so quickly, so there’s a trade-off between sink cleaning and being able to cook. The size of a dorm room means that it’ll take you less than a fourth of the time to clean than it would in an apartment.