The Advantages and Disadvantages of Living on Campus

Choosing between living on campus, in digs or renting a house is a tough decision. All of your options have advantages and disadvantages. Having lived on campus for my first year of college, I am here to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of living on campus here at the University of Limerick.

Advantages:

One of the main advantages of living on campus is not having to worry about bills. Your bills are covered in your accommodation payment at selected intervals during your college year. Electricity, oil, and internet are all covered, making your usage pretty much unlimited. It’s hard enough to budget as a student, so eliminating the pressures of paying fortnightly bills makes planning your finances that bit easier!

Living on campus definitely helps in terms of making friends. You are placed in a house, usually with people that you have never encountered before. Many people make friends for life out of their housemates. You will see your neighbours on a regular basis, eventually persuading them into becoming your friend too! You never quite feel alone when you are living campus. You are completely surrounded by people who are in the exact same boat as you. Those sunny days where everyone hangs out on the green will become some of your fondest college memories. There is always some form of noise, interaction or people just knocking around which creates a “home away from home” scenario.

When the rain is pelting against your bedroom window on a dreary Monday morning, knowing that you live a stone’s throw away from college definitely helps. All campus accommodation at the University of Limerick is usually within a fifteen to twenty minute walk of the campus or less. You can’t help but pity those that have long commutes on those miserable, wet, windy days. Knowing that you can hit home for a bit of lunch between lectures also prevents ridiculously spent money on food that you know you have sitting at home anyhow. Every bit helps after all!

Security is extremely comforting when coming in late at night. Knowing someone is always there to help in case of an emergency makes you feel a lot safer. Security often get a bad name for crashing parties and cracking down on any bit of fun, but once you respect them, they will respect you. They are just doing their job. Your safety is in their best interest.

You can’t beat unlimited on-campus wifi, you really can’t! The internet is extremely rapid, hardly ever causing any hassle to residents. Again, as mentioned previously, you don’t have to accommodate for internet bills. It is the same wifi used throughout the University of Limerick as it is for on-campus accommodation. Whether its college work or binge watching on Netflix, you won’t have to worry about failed internet connections or buffering.

One of the greatest advantages residents of on-campus villages in the University of Limerick have is their free membership to the state-of-the-art sports arena and swimming pool. Your usage of the facility is unlimited. It is a luxury only those on campus can enjoy free of charge. Between the gym, swimming pool, sauna, basketball courts and sports halls, the choice of how you exercise and relax is endless. There is also an array of classes throughout the day, suited to each individual’s preferences.

Your free time is instantly maximised if you live on campus. You won’t have to dedicate as much time as others do to travel and traffic. You will have more time to visit friends, join clubs and societies, go to library or start the gym.

The on-campus accommodation is extremely modern, with Plassey Village and Kilmurry Village being recently refurbished in the past two years. Kilmurry Village is in the midst of creating a new reception and games room for the residents of 2018/19. The exterior and interior of all villages are built with the student in mind. The rooms are suitable to all your needs with suitable storage, plugs, lamps, large desks and comfortable beds. Each house is equipped with essential modern and contemporary utensils and electrical appliances. It makes settling into the new chapter of your life, that much smoother.

Disadvantages:

Living on campus has plenty of advantages, however there are some pitfalls as with everything in life.

There is a pretty strict policy on partying in on-campus villages. Prinks or parties are not permitted without consulting and filling out a form from the village reception. Loud music is a total giveaway which will lead to security popping in to close your little gathering down. Even with permission, parties are not to surpass 10pm.

Bringing people into on-campus accommodation who have no been signed is unfortunately not allowed. Guests must be signed in by a resident of the selected village beforehand in the village reception. You cannot sign a guest in through security. The security will have all the essential information regarding guests with them. Guests will not be allowed during Charity (RAG) week. Only one guest, who has been signed in, is allowed per house at one time.

Living with other people who you don’t know may work to your advantage, but there is also the possibility that it may work against you. Every single person has a different personality, background and perhaps a different perception of what cleaning is, how to behave, manners etc. Personalities often clash, and you can be subject to this when placed in a house with several other strangers. The likelihood of this is improbable, however it is better to be conscious that it may happen. The only way to overcome this is to respect your other housemates, clean up after yourself and do your best to be civil to each other!

House inspections, what more needs to be said? Living away from home means that you can finally escape your mother constantly nagging you about your messy room, not quite! House inspections take place once a semester. A member from the Village management will arrive at your house on a pre-informed date to inspect the cleanliness of your accommodation. Upon inspection, your house will be given a rating out ten, with less than three resulting in a fail. Each housemate will receive the result through their college email. Upon failure, your house will be given a second chance to improve. The house will be inspected a second time. If a failure is appointed for a second time, contract cleaners will be hired and their payment will be equally deducted from each person’s deposit, which is paid at the beginning of the college year.

If you are found disobeying the policies of the accommodation, disciplinary meetings will be imparted on the house in question. Disciplinary meetings are usually distributed as a result of breaching the village’s policy. All members of the household must attend the meeting. Consequently, numerous disciplinary meetings may lead to eviction in extreme cases.