As a student at West Cheser University, I have experienced living in both dorms and aparmtnets. I am going to give you some insight into how those differ.
On North campus, the dorms are Goshen Hall, Tyson Hall, Killinger Hall, and Schmidt Hall. They are called the traditional dorms. We also have affiliated housing up North Campus: Allegheny Hall, Brandywine Hall, Commonwealth Hall, and University Hall.
Now as we move on down to South Campus we have different types of apartment complexes, as well such as the generic South Campus apartment building, which holds up to five people and has either 2 doubles and a single, 2 doubles, or 3 singles and a double. We also have upgraded apartment complexes, as well, called the Village Apartments and the East Village apartments. You can live in the affiliated housing apartments year-round, even during the summer.
The Village and East Village Apartments are the apartment equivalent of Allegheny Hall, Brandywine Hall, Commonwealth Hall, and University Hall. They are all considered affiliated housing. They are also run by University Student Housing (USH).
For those of you who don’t know, while USH is affiliated with the unviversity, it is actually an outside company. That is why they are so different from the traditional dorms.
The main advantage for living in the dorms are, you get to meet all of your other neighbors who either live across the hall from you, next door to you, and there will be socials almost every week so you can get to know the people on your floor as well. Also, you have the advantage of being able to access everything easier on campus such as the Rec Center, the Diner, Sykes Student Union, the Library, and many other different events on campus as well.
You will also be required to have a meal plan determining on how much you pay, as you can have up to a 14 meal plan and as less to a seven meal plan.
Another important thing about living in the dorms is that you can bond with people to figure out who you would want to live with either your sophomore year down on South campus, or possibly acquiring a triple room in the dorms as well.
The dorms are a great way to start off your college career, as I would never regret living in Wayne Hall my freshmen year (which is now an office building). I have made friendships that will be lifelong.
The advantages on living down the South Campus apartments are that you can live with up to five people, and depending where everyone had lived that previous year will determine your setup.
In the South Campus Apartments, you can either get the three single apartment rooms and the one double, the one single room and the two doubles, or simply get the double apartment complex.
Another advantage is that you basically have a lot more freedom as you can rearrange items to a certain extent the way you want them. The apartments also come with kitchens as you can make your own food and store in the big fridge as well. It basically gives you as feel of how you can live after your college experience is over giving you a little taste of the apartment life in the real world.
Currently, as this year of school has ended, I lived down south with some of my fraternity brothers, and it was one of the best experiences because we got to meet so many different people, and get a bigger taste of freedom. Also if you have a car and the correct parking permit, you can park your car right in front of your apartment as well, and also can take a shuttle bus that will take you up North Campus for any events or classes you have during the week.
Marcelus Council-Jones can be reached at MC785844@wcupa.edu.