The Student Life: The Pros & Cons in living On or Off Campus

by Mohammad Ikmal Safwan

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Students’ life are centered around anxiety. It is considered as a never-ending cycle of growing nervousness where nothing is certain at that point of life. But for those who are still struggling with university, one of the biggest anxieties is really a worry about where to stay and live for the next 4 years.

As the end of the semester is quickly approaching, the applicants are fighting for a spot like in the Hunger Games! In this article, we are going to look at the Pros and Cons of living on-campus and off-campus that maybe could ease the anxiety that you might have now.

Living on-campus surely offer the comfort of convenience and simplicity to the students. One of the top advantages is being able to sleep in. Students are big on the “5 more minutes” scheme and that 5 more minutes can easily turns to 10 or 20 minutes and suddenly you’re late for your 8 a.m. class. So, the close proximity of your college and faculty becomes the biggest benefit ever!

According to Ooi Ming Ian, 21, student, he often wakes up late for his morning class because of close distance between his residential college which is Bestari residential college and the Business Faculty.

Other than that, living on campus offers you a lot of opportunities and accessibilities. Residential colleges tend to hold some events throughout the semester which they highly urge for student’s participation. This would then give the students opportunities to join and mingle with other residents either from the same college or a different one.

“Programs such as FESENI and SUKMUM are there to help students to improve on themselves in terms of confidence and talents. There are also other programs such as Frenster or Bfest that I believe were created to sharpen student’s leadership skills.” Dannie Syazwan, 21, first year.

Furthermore, if you are someone who have a strong dislike on spring cleaning, then staying on campus might be the answer for you. Residential colleges hire cleaners to clean up the mess that you make daily as well as the clean the toilet you use weekly. Certainly, less work for you.

There are also questions about the value for money. According to one of resident in Bestari Residential college, he thinks paying RM 900 for a semester doesn’t compensate the amenities that is offered. “Where I’m staying at now, we have water filters that doesn’t even have the filter, a burnt iron and really rusty cupboard. I feel as if things are there just to fill the requirements and they (management) doesn’t even bother to do inspection.”

“Some people shared a small room with 3 other people and still pay the same amount of fee that everyone is paying and I don’t see that as fair.” Haziq Rohaimi, 20, First year student from 3rd residential college.

Having to share your livings space surely means to sacrifice some of them and that is considered as one of the ultimate cons of living on-campus. People come in all different traits; one is not the same with the other. Unfortunately, some are gross and have little knowledge on hygiene.

“There were lots of times where we would find the toilet unflushed and hair all over the sink. It is disgusting having to clean up after someone else and I always find it repulsive that an adult doesn’t even have basic knowledge on sanitary.” Muhammad Afiq bin Hazli, 21, Second year from 12th residential college.

You are also being denied of any form of privacy. Living with young adults will certainly come with ruckus and this would probably disrupt your sleeping schedule as noises would erupt at midnight onwards.

“Sometimes I can’t sleep or I would wake up in the middle of the night because of the noise that others would make. I wouldn’t be a problem if I could sleep back but I can’t.” Alia Azman, 21, Second year from Kinabalu Residential College.

Living off-campus would be a tough decision to make. Especially if you think about the cost of a house or a room. But if a proper research was to be made, you could actually find a house or a room at an affordable price. Scouting housemates would also help you in terms of lessening the rental.

If you end up renting an apartment, you would definitely get the access to many amenities such as private pool and the gym. This would be a plus because you would save some money on gym membership and pool fees.

The greatest benefit of staying off-campus is that you gain life experiences that aren’t being taught in the classroom. You are forced to be independent when the bills are due and seasons of cleaning has come. In the long run, these traits and responsibilities would definitely help you.

“I lived in an apartment with 9 other guys and my rent per month is RM 180. Undeniably, it is a tad bit pricy but we have everything here and I realize that I spent less compared to when I was in college” said Ashraf Zamri, 24, student from the Science faculty.

Of course, the cons of living off-campus would be the inconvenience. Surely the house you rent is not a walk away from your campus so you need to be there earlier. This would mean you have to go to campus earlier to avoid any mishap from happening and be late for class.

Being off campus would also make you miss some opportunities such as being in a college project and be more detached from a cohesive social community. But it doesn’t mean that you would be completely lonely. There are projects and clubs that you can join which is registered under the University.

“I’ve been staying off-campus since my 2nd year and I still join some University and faculty projects so I don’t believe that by staying outside, it will limit your involvement in activities. Plus, the merit for university project are higher than colleges.” Farah Hanisah, 24, Final year student.

There are plenty of perks for both sides but there are also drawbacks also. The decision ultimately is in your hands and maybe a way for you to decide is by asking yourself questions that could be a deal breaker. By answering your own question, it will clearly help you in making decision whether where to live.