I loved it.The community thrives when everyone is always on campus. Had friends from all different groups instead of just my sorority or sport or whatever group one identifies with. Plus it was a ton of fun.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, dorm life is much easier. Apartments are a 12 month bill even if your child comes home for summer vacation or goes elsewhere for an internship. Also, driving a U Haul on the interstate isn't my idea of fun. Most apt rentals do not come furnished. And finally, NO ONE gets their deposit back no matter how much you clean.

Sounds like you did a yearly lease. A lot of students that I know are just renting a room, and got their furniture from craigslist

Depends what the accommodations are. You couldn't pay me to do the cinder block wall, community bathroom, dining hall food etc. thing (ie typical dorm accommodations) for more than two years and if that is what's meant by living on campus all for years, I'd never go to that school. But, my school had the four year residency requirement and after sophomore year, there were options galore- apartments, townhouses, suites, even some houses (of course those went quickly in the lottery so your odds of getting one were low). I thought that was great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a pro. Appleton and Lawrence aren't big enough to have a student ghetto and normal people don't like living near undergrads. And be glad you won't have to pay 12 months rent.

I don't know if you understand how small the cities in Wisconsin are. Appleton isn't the boonies, but it is nothing like a DC suburb.

I'm from Appleton. It's really not that small, I don't think there's any "understanding" that needs to be done.

Dude.....there are fewer than 75k residents in Appleton. How is that not small? As a point of comparison Rockville has nearly 70k residents.

Are you suggesting that Rockville is a small town? Seriously?

As a parent, dorm life is much easier. Apartments are a 12 month bill even if your child comes home for summer vacation or goes elsewhere for an internship. Also, driving a U Haul on the interstate isn't my idea of fun. Most apt rentals do not come furnished. And finally, NO ONE gets their deposit back no matter how much you clean.

Is it true that freshmen at big state universities need to start deciding on sophomore year apartments and roommates almost immediately? I went to a smaller private college and chose to stay on campus all 4 years so I have no personal experience here.

I would think it would be really hard to be having to plan for the next year so soon after starting college.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a great idea. I went to a college that only guaranteed on-campus housing for freshman and sophomore years and the scramble to find affordable off-campus housing was a headache (as was splitting bills, collecting rent, walking further to classes, etc.).

This was my experience as well. Looking back, it would have been SO much easier and cost effective to stay in the dorms.

Anonymous wrote:Huge pro. More oversight, more immersion in the college atmosphere, less worrying about paying utility bills or calling a plumber. The only con is for low income kids whose families live nearby, who want to commute to save money.

I believe a student can appeal this condition and be exempted from living on campus on grounds of financial hardship, or having a home/family nearby.
The con is that the university will offer some form of aid that will cover some expenses related to living on campus, but not all

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a pro. Appleton and Lawrence aren't big enough to have a student ghetto and normal people don't like living near undergrads. And be glad you won't have to pay 12 months rent.

I don't know if you understand how small the cities in Wisconsin are. Appleton isn't the boonies, but it is nothing like a DC suburb.

I'm from Appleton. It's really not that small, I don't think there's any "understanding" that needs to be done.

Dude.....there are fewer than 75k residents in Appleton. How is that not small? As a point of comparison Rockville has nearly 70k residents.

I went to a school like this. I didn't like it. Money wasn't really an issue for me/my family but I still felt like it was stupid I was paying $1000/month for a shared 1 bedroom when I could pay $750 for my own bedroom off campus. By forcing kids to live on campus, there's no ability to Price shop, shop around for the amenities they want, etc. Monopolies are never good.