The Move Off Campus
As someone that moved off campus during the summer going into junior year, I know I was nervous about the process. However, I’ve since realized that I missed the positive benefits of the off campus living process when I was first thinking about it, so I’ll share my story of living off campus, and how it’s contributed to my college experience.
My housing search process during my sophomore year started early in spring semester, when I had solidly decided on the roommate I was going to live with. We focused our search on the Tufts housing website, which has a very in-depth search function and displays housing options available that are open to Tufts students, which meant we never had to try and filter out places that didn’t want to rent to students. We checked the website once a week to see new places that popped up, made a spreadsheet to stay organized, and got an easy look at the comparisons between our top options. From there, we talked with realtors, scheduled visits and tours, and figured out what we were really looking for in terms of laundry, parking, etc. While there was of course some nervousness involved, the search process ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would, because after a short time we were able to find an apartment that really fit our preferences. Overall, the process was a lot simpler and more straightforward than I had ever expected.
I only searched for housing within a mile of Tufts campus, which is what I had heard from upperclassmen. I was surprised to see dozens of places available in that range, and I ended up living only a few minutes away from campus. Most rising juniors have a similar experience, as I’ve never met anyone off campus that lives more than a 5–10-minute walk away. With all of the students in the surrounding areas in Medford and Somerville, I’ve never felt separated from Tufts. Even off the center of campus the student community really does feel like it spreads into the area, and even during the summer I’ve been able to meet up and hang out with other students very easily. You also get to avoid cars being a complete necessity, since you can easily walk to classes, general stores, etc. Even if you do want to have a car off campus, there are plenty of places that have on or off-street parking.
Living off campus has a lot of benefits in the experience it can provide, because you get the opportunity to have a taste of what living after college will be like. Having your own place means you have to be on top of cleaning your common spaces, like kitchens and bathrooms, taking out trash and recycling, doing laundry, and you need to communicate with your roommates on how to split those tasks up. I’ve found that staying organized is key, and while it’s a lot of responsibility for sure, you get to improve those skills before they become even more important after college. I think it’s a really great experience to have, and it’s helped me prepare for independent living after my time at Tufts.