A lot of my friends live in apartments off campus, while others lives in dormitories. Both has it own advantages and also disadvantages and it is a hard choice for any students. On the one hand, dormitories has a lot of pros.
First, dorms is a suitable study environment. You can easily find a study group, for example an English club, to practice English or other society activities, etcetra. It would be an advantage for dorm student in comparison with those who lives off the campus, notably if you are a foreign student.
Second, you do not need to care as many things as others, because there are laundry, cleaning, meals services in the campus, so more time you have to focus on study. And as a dorm student, you get a cut in price for those services.
Third, dorm is usually designed to be an ideal location, which is near the library, recreational facilities and classroom buildings. No more time is spent for travelling and a lot more money you saved.
Last but not least, the room price is usually lower in a dorm when compares with other places outside. You can save money to buy books and other things which are neccessary for your life.
Nevertherless, an argument can still be made for the pros of living off the campus. It is very hard to find a part-time job to increase your income in a dorm: it is crowded by people. But that does not true for students who live in apartments off campus. You can even find a full-time job if you want, which is not allowed for dorm students. And you can control your time, you can come back to your place when you want, but dormitories always have a time plan, they will close exactly at the time they post, so if you want to go in or out, it is not allowed.
In conclusion, after considering carefully each type's pros and cons, I think that living in dormitories on campus is still a better choice for students, especially for the first year at an new university or college.
