What to consider when choosing a place to live.
For those who choose to study abroad, there are 3 major questions that they must answer that will determine their experience abroad.
- Which country will you study in?
- What school will you choose and which major to study?
- Where will you live? (on campus, off campus, etc..)
I receive a lot of inquiries from students who have gotten letters of acceptance from their chosen school, but have not explored their housing options. Lets focus on topic 3 since I feel that this is a question that many students aren’t sure how to tackle.
So what should you consider when choosing a place to live?
These are likely going to be your options:
- Student housing / dormitory (on campus)
- House/apartment/studio off campus
- with family
All of these are going to vary in price, depending on where you live, if you live with other people, and how far from campus or downtown you are. With that in mind I can still confidently say this.
Option 1: Student Housing
If you can afford the costs of living on campus, or somewhere within walking distance, THIS is what I would recommend.
There is something special about being close to and surrounded by the creative and explorative energy of University that you just don’t get if you live far away.
The ability to open your doors and walk out into the hallway and see others your age studying, exploring, connecting, learning, experimenting. Studying with your friends at a local café at 1 am in the morning during midterms or finals week, popping out for late night eats, access to campus events and the campus cafeteria. Student events and movie nights. This is what university and campus life is all about.
The living situation would be a shared dormitory or apartment on campus with other students. This usually means 2 students to a dorm, which would include a bed, small closet, and a workstation. You will be living very close to your dorm mate and other students in the building, which presents an ideal opportunity to make friends and explore campus together.
The costs will usually range from 1500 – 1900 a month at a top level university, and will cost will likely already have a meal plan included so you don’t have to worry as much about cooking or food.
The university will usually only offer this to first year and new incoming students. This option is generally not available for year two and beyond (for some schools) as you are expected to have situated yourself, become more independent, and able to find your own accommodation with the friends you will have made.
If in Canada i.e. Toronto, then approximately 22,000 CAD. If in California, Approximately 22,000 USD per year. This can be cheaper depending on the school of choice.
Option 2: House / Apartment or Studio off campus
This option is available for you right away if you choose to forgo living on campus. An apartment is appealing if you already have a natural network of friends that you want to live with.
You get more space and privacy, and you can potentially save money depending on the location and number of people you live with. Your options are limitless.
In fact, the cost of living is getting so high in certain cities that people are choosing to commute to avoid paying the ridiculous costs of living in the big city.
For example, Tim Chen is a senior student majoring in Arts and Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada and instead of living in Vancouver, he flies 687 km twice Every week to study.
This seems wild right? But Tim did the calculations and it comes out like this.
With each flight ticket priced at $150, and with two school sessions per week, he spends $1,200 per month on his travels, per month.
However compare this with the cost of a 1 bedroom apartment in Vancouver ($2500 per month) and he actually saves $1300 dollars per month.
This option also doesn’t cover food, so this is something you’ll have to budget in.
Food tends to be significantly more expensive in cities, and will cost about 800 dollars a month in cities like Los Angeles, and can go well into the thousands if you have the money to spend. How much is your health worth to you? How long can you eat ramen for? Can you cook?
Know the tradeoffs, your budget and search accordingly.
If in America you can use Craigslist
If in Canada you can use Craigslist and Kijiji
If in Australia, Gumtree is very popular
Option 3: With Family
You might have the option of living with family in the area.
Assuming that you would live for free or low cost rent, this would by far be the cheapest option. You would have the safety and security of family and the ability to focus strictly on your studies.
However, there are some reasons why this might not be ideal.
Living with family, although cost effective, will carry its own costs. After all, free is usually never really free.
You will likely not have the same freedom as if you were living in the dorms with others your age. You will not have the same opportunities to explore with others your age in the same way if you were on your own.
Your exploration of the country and the city will likely be guided by your family instead of being guided by your own interests and influence of your peers.
Most of what you do will be under the watchful eye of those who you lean on, and they will have rules and regulations for you.
You might even have to work or contribute to a family business in order to justify your stay.
This will all depend on the perspective of your family and how they decide to treat you however. I have heard amazing stories of support and guidance, and I have also heard horror stories where the student must work in the family shop, cook, clean, and cannot leave the house when they want to.
Ultimately, your decision will come down to
Budget
Time and Convenience
and Lifestyle and Social Life
- Budget
Isn’t the goal to learn as much as you can about yourself and the new country you live in? If you live in the safety net of family and away from where the culture is most vibrant, you will likely limit yourself to what you can experience and miss out on developing that confidence necessary to succeed.
I suggest that you go out on your own, or live with other students or friends. Take every opportunity to immerse yourself in a new culture, and learn how to thrive in it. Understand different ways of thinking, make new friends and connections, and build self confidence in who you are and what you can do.
Which leads us back to the first consideration. How much can you afford? If you cannot afford to live on your own or in the city, then try to find a place close to public transport that can give you access. Live with family, but find a way to have independence and work towards getting out on your own. Find solutions to your issue of access, and find that balance between costs and location.
- Time and Convenience
Your time is precious. So is your sleep. Imagine waking up at 5am to get ready to travel to class because it’s an hour away. How much is your sleep worth to you? 50 dollars a month for an extra hour of sleep a day? 100 dollars a month? 200 dollars a month? That’s a whole extra 30 hours of sleep a month, at 200 dollars that comes out to over 6 dollars per hour of sleep.
Living closer to campus gives you benefits that you won’t be able to quantify until you’re there.
Most of student life revolves around a 5 km range of campus. This includes sporting clubs, facilities, the school library, and a lot of cultural events. Your friends that you make will likely live closer to campus as well. Study groups that gather for group work will usually meet somewhere close to campus.
THIS… is campus life, and if you live far away, you will likely experience very little of it.
Again, this all comes at the trade-off of cost. There’s a reason why we humans pay more for convenience and lifestyle, which is our 3rd point.
- Lifestyle and Social Life
This might be the point that students consider the least, however it is also the number 1 reason why students drop out and go back home to their home countries.
The aim here is to find people who you can connect and share meaningful experiences with. People who you can build meaningful relationships with. IF you do not do this, you do not find a group of people who you can connect to, your odds of success drop significantly.
Creating new friendships and bonds? THIS…. Is not easy.
HOWEVER, universities are the ideal place to form these bonds. This is where you will find people from all backgrounds and experiences who are also trying to make it.
For those who are willing to engage and interact, school provides a nurturing environment and structure that allows for an easier process of integration. It should be an environment where people share their thoughts, opinions, culture, and learn the skills necessary to succeed in society.
But, if you live further from campus, it could make the integration process more difficult. You may have little in common with those who live far from campus, and it can be difficult to find likeminded people or find a welcoming community. If you live with intrusive family members, it can make the process of exploration even more difficult.
Try and live close to campus or the city center so that you can be exposed to as much of the activity as possible. However if you are the type of person who prefers the quiet less populated areas, you could try and find a place that is easily accessible by public transport. You might just find a place that is more affordable with minimum sacrifices to quality of life.
Your curiosity, passions, interests, and relationships will determine your chances of success. Choose your environment with that in mind and you will be well on your way to integrating and thriving.
I wish you the best of luck in finding a new home abroad!
For more information on succeeding abroad, check out: