Finding a place to live matters when you go to college since you need a space to relax, study and sleep. Many students go with on-campus housing, so they can get to classes easily while minimizing travel time back to their houses. If you plan to look into on-campus housing, you should go through this checklist to make sure you have everything.
Consider the Location
Even though you plan to live on campus, you should still think about the location of the building. Each campus places the on-campus housing in different locations, so you need to see if your school offers a good location. For example, if you notice the on-campus housing is at the back corner of the school on a large campus, you may want to go with something else.
If you live on a small campus, the location may not matter as much since you can get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time despite the location of the housing. You just need to think about the location to see if it works for you.
Laundry Machines
You need a way to do your laundry while on-campus, so you should see what laundry machines the campus offers. For example, some may have a room you can access with tons of laundry machines. However, they don’t want anyone to walk in and use them for free, so they may have a laundry card system to prevent this from happening.
Depending on the system in place, you may get free laundry through the cards. On the other hand, other campuses may require you to put money on the card, so you should do some research first. That way, you can see if you should save some money for laundry.
Access to Transportation
You also need a straightforward way to transport yourself around the town, so make sure you can get transportation of some kind. For example, if you can’t bring a car with you, then you should see if your college campus has a bus near it. Otherwise, you may find yourself in difficult situations where you can’t go where you need to.
Even though you’ll spend time at school, you may want to go with your friends to different places or hang out. On top of that, if you do bring a car with you, then you need a place to park it, so make sure the on-campus housing offers some parking space.
Collect the Necessary Supplies
You should ensure you get the necessary supplies for your on-campus living. For example, you should make sure the apartment includes a bed, so you don’t have to buy one yourself. You must also think about any food, silverware, school supplies, and anything else you may need to cover your school needs.
Make sure you figure out what the on-campus housing offers, so you’ll know what you need to purchase. From there, you can purchase everything you need before you go to college, so you can avoid any unnecessary problems. Make sure the campus has some stores nearby, so you can purchase everything you may need for the semester.
Groceries in Walking Distance
This also includes having a store within walking distance of where you live. Since you can’t always guarantee you’ll have transportation, you need to make sure you can walk to the grocery store when possible. Otherwise, you could end up without access to food if you run out of groceries or other items without realizing it.
This means you should see if on-campus housing has a grocery store within 10 or so minutes. While you may be able to walk farther than that, you need to consider how far you can walk with groceries in your hands. If you have a car, you may not face this problem regularly, but it’s still useful to know about.
Conclusion
Creating a checklist for your on-campus housing can help you get everything you need for the upcoming semester. While some people realize the importance of supplies, others may forget about amenities or nearby locations. Make sure you go through this checklist, see what you need to bring with you and figure out if you should go with on-campus housing.
