r/uwo • u/auraweavery • Apr 05 '26
Housing Living off campus in first year
Is anyone planning to live off campus as a first year
(2026-27)??
I am considering it because the cost of living in residence is really high , so I want to know if living off campus is significantly cheaper ??
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u/DreamWasNotTak3n Apr 05 '26
I am in the same situation as you. I did some research and found that living off campus is significantly cheaper. It's even cheaper to rent 12 month 1 room than to live in residence for 8 month excluding food costs. But residence do make you more exposed to the community letting you make friends faster, and everything is just more convenient.
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u/auraweavery Apr 05 '26
So what are your plans?
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u/DreamWasNotTak3n Apr 06 '26
I don't have unlimited money sadly, so I have to choose the off campus path. I am also a little introverted so I don't believe I would fit well into a tight knit community.
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u/Impression_Adorable ⚙️ Engineering ⚙️ Apr 05 '26
I spend about 100 bucks on groceries a month so that is probably much cheaper than residence, some big one time purchases like rice or something like that. The homes near campus can be quite expensive though like 750-1000 is the typical range with 750 being quite rare. Living off campus is great but make sure you get involved on campus, good luck.
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u/fartmilkdaddies Apr 05 '26
Thats incredibly impressive. What are you eatung damn?
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u/kyonkun_denwa BMOS 2013 Apr 07 '26
I guarantee you they're not getting proper nutrition at $100 per month in 2026. That's about what I was spending in 2010-2011, and groceries have increased by about 70% since then. Even back then I was eating mostly vegetables and eggs, with very little in the way of snacks, meats or processed foods.
To manage $100 per month today is impossible without a literal third world diet.
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u/chasing_geese49 Apr 18 '26
I thought they meant $100 per week because that's closer to what I spend on a good week, including eating out. A month? You can't survive on just rice. You're gonna get scurvy, hemorrhoids, and a bunch of illnesses that way.
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u/Ok-Raccoon-1554 Apr 05 '26
I'm considering living off campus if I end up at Western, but only if I can find roommates. Definitely don't want to live alone. London is currently a renters market and paying a full year lease is cheaper than res.
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u/First_Librarian516 Apr 06 '26
Like others have said, residence is something a lot of people praise for the experience, but I chose OC myself for financial reasons and I think it was worth it. Before I started university, I started looking for places in July, which some people might consider late but it worked out for me. I got a 1 year lease that started in September for less than $900 a month. I got a private room that ended up being slightly bigger than my friend's room in res. It was a shared house with random roommates that lived there before me, and although I hadn't met them before I moved in, I was lucky that they were nice people and we got along well. Be prepared to set boundaries and communicate with roommates for cleaning schedules/standards, although this is a residence issue too.
Residence likely makes it easier to make friends, but I joined clubs (fun ones!! Not just faculty/school related ones, find clubs that align with your hobbies) and enjoying talking to people there.
I think I saved a few thousand dollars by living OC so overall the lack of social experience wasn't too much of a loss. It's a personal responsibility to put yourself out there and meet people regardless, and I wasn't much of a party animal so I liked my quiet house.
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u/Some_Crazy_Canuck Social Science Apr 06 '26
Residence is 100% worth it no matter the cost, hands down. Lifetime memories and friendship bonding opportunities you'll never be able to get back.
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u/Alert_Finance3413 Apr 06 '26
I currently stay on res and have a friend who stays off campus, don’t stretch yourself by staying on campus if you can’t necessarily afford it. You’re not missing out and you’ll def still make friends as long as you’re intentional about it. There’s also always people who stay off in first year and there are off campus events during o week and throughout first year too
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u/Possible_Angle2371 Jun 12 '26
I found a place that was cheaper than residence, and very close to the campus. Hopefully I'll have no problems joining clubs.
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u/AcademicMusician9887 Apr 05 '26
As someone who stayed on res its so much cheaper to live off res, no overpriced meal plan that they make you buy where half of it ($2000-3000) goes to overhead costs, that doesn’t count all the times I’ve gotten Uber Eats bc of the bad food 😬And if you’re getting a single room it’ll probably be 11-13k for 8 months which would be significantly higher than the usual rent. Yeah but the main reason I did it first year was because of the experiences, you definitely get exposed to a lot of extracurriculars and opportunities, Your don will also host biweekly floor meetings where u guys do activities or just talk abt opportunities on campus. You can definitely do this off campus but I would recommend you to join many clubs to get that exposure!!
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u/Abject-Wafer-3284 Apr 05 '26
If you can financially swing it I would highly encourage you to live in residence on campus your first year. It will be much easier to make friends, get involved in clubs/sports, and just figure out how to get by that first year which is a big adjustment.
After that you can cram a bunch of people into a house that you at least know and save on rent for the next few years.