One of the most important aspects to studying abroad is where you’re going to spend each night. Depending on the length of the program, this is going to be nearly half a year of your life; you’re going to want to like it.
There are three different options, though not every program is going to offer all of them; with a host family, on-campus in a dorm, or in an outside apartment. Each has its benefits and detriments that I’ll go through in detail.
Warning: I’m biased. I’ve lived with a family. I’ve lived in an outside apartment. I’ll explain why I prefer the former to the latter near the end.
Host Family
This is usually the cheapest option and can provide a variety of ‘free’ benefits that you would never get from any other living situation. A host family can be an ethnic chef, tour guide, and language tutor all in one. Every family is so different that you can never really be sure what you’re going to get, of course, but their job is to be there to help you.
Benefits
- Private bedrooms. Host families are required to provide a private bedroom, whereas this is usually an additional expense with college dorms.
- Less hassle. The study abroad program will do all the legwork for you. All you need to do is tell them what you’re looking for in a host family, i.e. if you would prefer there are no young children or if you’re okay with them having a dog. With outside apartments, you have to be the one to find an apartment, contact the landlord and pay the monthly rent on time. It can be an added stress that’s not necessary.
- Constant reference. Your host family knows where the post office is. They know the best restaurants in town. They know that the bus stops outside their front door at exactly 8:14 every morning. You can always find this information out on the internet, but it’s nice having someone to ask.
Living with a host family isn’t all roses and sunshine, though. One of my biggest problems was losing a bit of my independence. I enjoyed having the host mom do my laundry and cook for me for the first week, but then I began to miss doing it all myself. Of course, there was an easy fix: I asked my host mom if I could help around the house a little more. I started by folding the laundry and cleaning up after dinner. And by helping her cook, I learned how to prepare some of my favorite meals I had over there!
Detriments
- Switching schedules. With a host family, you have to be considerate of when they eat, shower, and go to sleep. My host family ate lunch at 2:00 and dinner at 9:00 on the dot. I was expected to be there or text them when I wasn’t going to be.
- Cleanliness. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the tidiest. While I definitely picked up some habits, such as making my bed every day, I still had to consciously think about how I was leaving my bedroom and bathroom every day. My college roommates hadn’t cared if I left clothes on my bed, but my host mom sure did!
- Types of meals prepared. Your host family might be the type that cooks every meal, such as mine, or they might be the type that lives off of take-out. While the university takes this into consideration before they allow a family to host a student, there’s no requirement that they have to cook every day. And you might not like every dish they prepare. The important thing here is if you don’t like something, tell your family. I can’t stand raw tomatoes, and my host mom made sure that they never ended up on my plate after I mentioned it.
These are just a few of the things I experienced with my host family, both good and bad. My friends living with host families all had extremely different living situations than me. For example, one hardly ever saw her host family since they were always at work, which left her on her own for meals and guidance.
On-Campus
This can mean a variety of things. Some universities have dorms like you’d find here in America; usually two beds to a room with community bathrooms. Others, like mine in Italy, actually rent out apartments nearby for you. I’ll talk more about this in the next section, as I consider it more of an outside apartment than a college dorm even though I didn’t have to find it on my own.
Benefits
- Location. College dorms are, at best, attached to the college and, at worst, within a ten-minute walk. And there’s usually a ton of college-friendly bars and restaurants in the area as well!
- Safety. I’m not going to say that the college will be in the safest area, but I am going to say that they won’t be in the most dangerous area. There’s usually campus police on site, as well as more people around to act as witnesses.
- Lifestyle. Whether you’re looking for a more studious environment or a more party atmosphere, you’ll get either on campus. House parties are not a thing with host families, and you might find it difficult to study at an off-campus apartment when your roommates are drinking in the next room.
On-campus housing is the middle-of-the-road option. It’s not the cheapest or the most expensive, and it’s most likely you know exactly what quality you’re going to get far in advance.
detriments
- Food. With a dorm, you’re not going to have a kitchen. You’re going to have a cafeteria, probably only one, that may or may not serve good food. There’ll be more options at each meal than with a host family, but the quality of food probably will be less than satisfactory.
- Comfort. I can’t speak to this with experience but from what my friends have told me, dorm beds are just as bad outside of the US as they are within.
I believe this is a good option for those who want to be close to class and be surrounded by other students. You’ll likely meet a good mix of international and native students.
Off-Campus Apartments
As mentioned before, sometimes dorms won’t be an option and this is what the university will provide instead. This is sort of the dream scenario; you get all the benefits of a beautiful apartment without having the hassle of searching out roommates and landlords that you’ll get along with. Don’t count on this being an option, though, especially with big universities.
In reality, off-campus apartments are exactly like their American counterparts. There’ll be many options with a large range of prices, and it’ll take some research to find one that’ll work.
benefits
- Independence. You can come and go as you like, cook what you want, and even have a party if your roommates are okay with it.
- Choice. There are a ton of different scenarios where you might need unconventional living conditions. For example, if you’re in a wheelchair or if you have celiac disease. A friend of mine needed an outside apartment because her son needed to live with her while she was abroad.
- Pets. I’ve known people to bring their pets to study abroad with them; most study abroad programs will tell you that you have to find your own pet-friendly housing.
There’s a reason I prefer living with a host family versus a private apartment, however. Sharing a bedroom wasn’t a huge deal, but I’m glad that I’ll never have to do it again.
detriments
- Location. Prime spots for apartments always mean a higher rent, so you might end up in a ‘bad’ part of town in order to get the right price. This could also mean a further walk to class or even the added expense of a bus pass.
- Roommates. Likely, you’ll need roommates to help offset the monthly rent and you’re responsible for finding those roommates (hopefully ones that you’ll get along with). Of course, if you’re going abroad with family or a significant other, this might not be an issue.
- Other expenses. There are plenty of things that you won’t have to pay for with a college dorm or host family that you will have to with an apartment. The prime example of this is furniture, though utilities is another thing that could be costly.
An outside apartment makes a lot of sense in certain situations. Example: you’re going abroad with someone you know. Or if you’ll be abroad for a full year since shorter leases are hard to find.
Take-Away
Each living situation can provide an extremely different experience. What works for one person might be a disaster for another. You need to be honest with yourself about what you like and don’t like. The best advice I can offer is to look at what makes you feel the most at home; is it being surrounded by people you like or having a private space to relax?
My one caution is don’t choose the comfortable option. See below:
My first experience studying abroad had been in Italy, with five American roommates. I loved them, and I loved the way we figured things out on our own, with enough mishaps to make a TV series out of.
However, I had a different goal the second time. Italy had been a short summer excursion. I needed to prove to myself that I could live abroad (and one day I’ll tell the story of how I almost got stuck in Rome without money or a passport!).
Spain was a semester program, chosen because I wanted to become more familiar with the language. And the best way to do that wouldn’t have been to live with Americans.
And I didn’t want to be comfortable. I wanted to feel safe and secure, of course, but I didn’t want a place where I would be able to hide away from the world. And a private apartment would have been my shell; as a naturally shy person, I wanted to force myself to have to interact with others daily.
I genuinely believe my host family made all the difference. I spent the program laughing and enjoying their company, not alone in an apartment. Of course, I might have gotten better grades then…
So that’s my opinion on the different housing options for study abroad. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or shoot me a message!
