My kid is currently a junior. Spent freshman year in a double in North campus near the FB stadium. Sophmore year in a 3BR suite in south campus. Currently resides in a high rise on Balt Ave off campus.

Freshman dorms are not great. AC being added to more every year. There is a plan and you can take a look at it online, I believe, to see when AC will be added to which dorm.

That said, child did not have many complaints. They had a meh roommate who was always busy with marching band and away a lot. But they made close friends and have many of them.

The location of their dorm was perfect for classes and ECs.

Food is excellent.

They have so far stayed on campus in the later years and moved to South Campus second year. They do not want to cook and would probably not eat enough if not for the dining hall.

Many students stay on campus sophomore year because this will allow them to move into South Campus Commons apartments as juniors. These are nice (though not luxury) apartments that are on campus but convenient to shopping and nightlife. They are safe and affordable (when compared to off campus). Still a significant number move off because they want to be guaranteed to live with their friend group or want a more luxurious apartment living experience. As for on campus dorms, there are gorgeous new/newer dorms and disgusting dorms. Most live somewhere in between. My understanding is the old dorms are being updated but I haven’t paid much attention as I have a senior. The biggest issue is a few old ones have no AC but I believe they will be fixing that. My senior had no AC sophomore year and was probably in the worst dorm on campus but he didn’t complain. With 3 kids we made lots of college visits and I found similar dorm conditions at many schools. My own kids stayed on campus all 4 years.

There are a ton of off campus apartments. Some are quite fancy but they can be expensive. The kids we know pay $200-$400 more a month than my son in South Campus Commons. I’m glad my kids were ok with South Campus Commons.

There are also rental houses. This can be the most affordable option but we have no direct experience. We have heard lots of rumors of slumlords.

The old dorms are not great, but they are getting renovated, and the new dorms are very good. There's a zillion of new off-campus "luxury" apartments that are nice enough, but overpriced ($1000-$1500/room). The cheapest option is rooming in single family houses that are rented, as cheap as $600/room.

Houses all around

The closer in the frat zone are pricey though

Good bad ugly? Do students move off campus after first year? To where?