For college students, choosing whether to live on or off campus is one of the bigger choices they'll make during their time in school. Because so many factors -- academic, financial, personal -- all go into the decision, it can be challenging to determine if living off campus is a good idea.
If you're considering living off campus, it's perhaps most important to define -- for yourself and your own college experience -- what "good idea" means in this context.
Think seriously about the following factors as you try to determine whether off-campus housing is the right fit for you.