More and more students like to live off campus rather than on campus nowadays. There have been two opposing views about living off campus. One view states that renting a house outside campus is better. Another view, in contrast to the first one, believes that it is more harm than good to live off campus. I would like to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of renting a house off campus.
The advantages could be as follows. First of all, time management is easier if living off campus, because students can make their own plan of when to get up, when to sleep, when to have meal and when to study. Students can also burn the midnight oil when the study is very busy. Secondly, students can have a free living style. They can cook for themselves in their house. They can play games, watch movies, and do whatever they want in the house, and these are not possible, or at least not convenient when living on campus. Finally, renting a house could help students learn how to live by themselves, and help them learn to control their behaviours.
The disadvantages are also obvious. In the first place, it may be not safe for a student living outside the campus without the supervision or help from the staff of the university. When emergencies happen, students have no one to ask for help. In the second place, some students may not be able to control themselves very well. They may addict to computer games, or even gambling, because nobody would control them. Last but not least, it should be more expensive to rent a house and live outside the campus.
To sum up, it is hard to say living off campus is good or bad. It is reasonable to say that it depends on the characteristics of the student. If he/she can control himself/herself well enough, it may be a good idea to live off campus. Otherwise, living on campus may be a suitable way of living