October is here, and amid all the fun of Halloween is the great joy of apartment hunting. But is an apartment actually the best choice for you? Usually, most students want to get out and live in an apartment after their freshman year. But before you completely take out dorms as a possible living space, you should consider a few factors.

While there are some significant upswings to having an apartment, such as privacy and cost, overall these benefits don’t outweigh the benefits to staying in the dorms.

Granted, having an apartment is great for privacy because you don’t have to share a room with anyone anymore. This can be helpful for those with bad experiences with roommates in dorms.

Having your own room in an apartment means deciding when you want to sleep or study, without worrying about waking up your roommates since you can simply close your door. Additionally, apartments are usually cheaper than dorms because you only really pay for what you want.

The location of your apartment is also your decision. If you have many classes in the Siebel Center, you can get an apartment that’s only one block away.

However, finding the right apartment can be time-consuming. To get an apartment suited for your needs, you have to spend some time searching and thinking ahead. Rather than simply choosing a room in a dorm online, most people want to go check out a few apartments in person and see what amenities they offer before renting one out for the school year.

The general rule for apartments is that if it’s in a prime location, like Green Street, it’s usually more expensive. And if you want the cheapest option, you might have to live farther away than if you were in a dorm.

Also, having the luxury of choosing what you eat also comes with the price of needing to remember to buy what you want to eat. Personally, when I lived in an apartment, coming home after a long day and then needing to buy food from County Market, cook it and clean after classes was quite tiring.

Cleaning might become the biggest issue you have in your apartment. With dorms, after you eat, you simply place your plates on a tray, and they are out of sight and out of mind. With an apartment, you have to clean everything yourself. And depending on your roommates, it may or may not be a big issue.
Simply put, an apartment offers more options regarding choosing where you want to live and what you want to buy. But the price of customization is responsibility, and some people don’t have the time to balance school work and housework. This is why dorms can be a great option.

Dorm life revolves around convenience. Everything is taken care of for you, from cleaning bathrooms to food at dining halls. Dorms were made to make life as easy as possible for students so they can focus on the main reason they are at school: to learn.

If you’re hungry, there are six dining halls to choose from, each with different cuisines and specialty dishes. And, if all the libraries are full during finals week, dorms have floor specific lounges or study rooms for residents to use.

Also, if you are bored and don’t know what to do, there are always events happening either on your floor or in the lounges. Dorm life basically works to take away any problems that aren’t related to school work, like needing to buy more kitchen towels or remembering to wash the dishes. Although these conveniences are small, if you don’t have them, they can become a nuisance during midterms and finals week.

As with most things in life, convenience comes at a cost. Dorms are expensive compared to living in an apartment because there are things you pay for that you won’t necessarily use.

However, if you are a busy student and you want to focus more on your studies than on maintaining an apartment, dorm life could be the best choice for you — even after freshman year.

Brian is a junior in Engineering.

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