Choosing which university to attend can, at times, be a difficult decision: You are at university for three years (at the least) so you want to make sure you choose the right one. One of the decisions you need to make is whether or not you want to attend a university close to your home. In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of staying close to home for university, or moving away to a new place.
Living at home during university often means that you can save money. You might not need to pay rent or it might be significantly less than you would be paying in halls. You can also eat as many home cooked meals to your heart's content, which certainly beats the pot noodle or microwaved meal that you would be eating in halls!
Not moving away for uni also means you can stay in your familiar surroundings, whereas moving away to a new place can be an incredibly daunting experience. Living at home means you get to spend time with your family and friends in your hometown, and you won’t have to leave them behind. Moving away and living on campus for university can feel lonely at times for some people and they may get homesick. It can be really difficult to be away from family, friends and home comforts for extended periods of time and so this is definitely an advantage of choosing to stay at home for university.
However, there are some cons of staying at home for university, and reasons it should be encouraged to move away.
When you move away for university, it feels amazing to have a new found independence and the freedom to do as you please. This enables you to learn very valuable life skills as you have to learn to do things on your own. Staying at home means you might lack this independence and freedom, and you might have to follow your parents rules, which means you might not be able to be as laid back as you can be when moving out for uni. You also may not have as many chances to meet people as you would when you move away for university, where you have the chance to make new friends in halls, whilst walking to your lecture or on a night out, for example. That being said, living at home doesn’t mean that you can’t participate in uni life and culture. You can still join societies and activities and make friends there, so you won’t need to miss out entirely.
One of the most enjoyable things about moving away for university is living in a new place! Most people will have never had the opportunity to live somewhere new before so it is very exciting to be able to start a new life in a new place which you can call home. A new city can mean new opportunities, experiences and a completely different livelihood to what you might be used to, so this is a factor definitely worth considering when you’re choosing your university.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you consider all your options and what is most important for you and what kind of experience you want to get out of your time at university.
