by GILLIAN PUMA, Staff Writer

With the school year coming to an end, many on-campus students are beginning to look for housing options for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year. While the school offers housing in dorms such as Jasper Hall, Lee Hall, Horan Hall, and Overlook Manor (C-Block is only eligible for freshman), juniors and seniors have discussed their interests in moving off campus and finding a house of their own.

Overlook Manor is offered to students primarily juniors and seniors as apartment style dorming. The dorm contains a living room, 2-3 bedroom spaces depending on how many people are in the the living space, a kitchen, and 1-2 bathrooms also depending on how many people you are living with. It also comes with a different meal plan than the meal plan that comes with living in residence halls. The residence hall meal plan gives students the option of unlimited meal swipes at Locke’s, $50 dining dollars a semester, $25 Jasper dollars a semester, and a free lunch swipe if that student has classes in Leo or RLC that end at 11 AM or start at 2 PM. The apartment plan for OV students gives the opportunity of four swipes a week at Locke’s Loft, $640 dining dollars each semester, and $160 Jasper dollars each semester.

While living on campus does have its benefits, many upperclassmen have been trying to break free of their dorm situation and live with their friends in their own apartment. Finding apartments can be hard though, especially when you don’t know for sure what’s for sale and what’s affordable.

“We encourage on-campus housing. We guarantee that it is available for all four years of your undergraduate experience,” director of residence life Andrew Weingarten replied when asked about possible assistance for helping students find off campus apartments. “There are many benefits to living on campus while in college. Studies show that students who live on campus tend to complete more credit hours and have higher GPAs, become more involved with the campus community, show greater gains in student development, express greater satisfaction with their undergraduate experience, and persist and graduate with greater frequency,” he continued encouraging the benefits of living on campus.

Alison Adrat, a senior at Manhattan College, discussed the process from moving into an off campus apartment. Adrat lived in C-Block her freshman year and Jasper Hall her sophomore and junior year. It wasn’t until her senior year that she decided to move into an off campus apartment.

“Apartment hunting is such a difficult process,” Adrat shared. “It would be really useful and convenient if the school participated or assisted students in that process.” Adrat also expressed the benefits of living off campus as well. “Another perk of living off campus is having no roommate and my own personal bathroom! Personal space is something that is very important to me that I lost while living in the dorms.”

Adrat also shared the benefits of freedom when having your own apartment.

“Not having to feel pressured to turn down my music because of the RA or something as simple as lighting a candle is also a huge benefit of living off campus.”

While living off campus is ideal, senior Vincenzo Lavore shared his thoughts on living in OV.

“It’s definitely the best option for on-campus housing, but not my ideal type of housing”, he shared. “The benefits are the apartment-style amenities like a living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. However I would definitely like to be in an off campus apartment instead, mainly because of the ridiculous guest policy in OV.”

OV’s guest policy is similar to those of the dorms, however even if you live in on campus housing someone of the same gender still has to sign you in if you come after 12:00 AM. While living in OV may be one of the best options the school has to offer, it is understandable why some students would like to move off campus to their own apartment.

Continually, some schools such as NYU, offer offices to assist students in the process of finding an apartment near campus.