Overpriced and honestly disgusting are the two words that come to mind when discussing the on-campus dormitories.

Colorado Mesa University (CMU) is dedicated to ensuring students live on campus for at least their first two years of attendance. Before that, getting permission to live off campus is only possible once you meet the Residence Life (Res Life) requirements, and you must meet all of the requirements.

After living on campus for two years, I have encountered the horrors of what it’s like to live in the dorms. This includes more of the cheaper dorms here. My first year I lived in Garfield Hall in a double. Besides my roommate being a slob, the room was nice. The only downside was the communal showers.

For the entirety of my time in Garfield, there was what was suspected to be glow paint, from the beginning of the year party, all over one of the showers. That and random hair to avoid, the toothbrush someone insisted on keeping next to the sink, and vomit stains. I only encountered one drunk girl on the floor during my time in Garfield. She had vomited everywhere, and it took custodial a full day to come and clean it.

The second semester I moved over to Bunting Hall. It was a little pricey, but it came with a better bathroom and roommate. The only complaint I have is that the move-in process was horrendous.

I attended a roommate change fair that happens at the beginning of each month. Despite Res Life hosting this fair and supposedly getting the rooms ready to move in, when I arrived at my new dorm, someone was still living there!

The place was a mess. The previous owner left trash everywhere, the carpet was mysteriously wet and the mattress was trashed because it was being used without sheets. It was appalling to say the least.

The RA was shocked and clearly did not complete a move-out check. I had to clean up the room and vacuum the bed. I tried to get a new mattress, but that was a lost cause with Res Life on the job.

That brings me to the worst part about living on campus, Res Life.

It is the most poorly run place here on campus, Res Life is tasked with moving in, hiring and training RA’s, and forcing people to stay living on campus despite there being no room left for more students.

We are so out of dorms on campus they had to build an entirely new dorm, make an office building back into dorms and make male RA’s share a room with residents.

Wingate apartments are not even finished yet and they are already promised to incoming students. Many students are stuck in dorms they do not want or in other accommodations for the meantime.

Not to mention Monument and Bunting had floods last year. The Bunting flood happened because the fire sprinklers were set off and would not shut off. This is due to Res Life having a non-existent up-to-date fire plan and procedure. That’s super dangerous and most of the time they do random fire drills in the middle of the day. No one ever knows if there is an actual fire or if it’s just a test.

This is all without mentioning how most dorms force kids to have a meal plan, skyrocketing the price for students to live and eat on campus. The cheapest dorm here with a meal plan is $9,670.00, and that is for a double in Rait Hall with Meal Plan B.

All students must have a meal plan when living in a traditional dorm. However, if you somehow manage to land a spot in an apartment dorm you do not need a meal plan. Not to say anyone doesn’t deserve the coveted apartment-type dorm, but there is a clear lack of accommodation for those who need to live in dorms that do not come with a meal plan.

I have a friend who is vegetarian and she can not eat at the Caf because of the lack of options for those with allergies or dietary restrictions. She was one of the unlucky few who did not receive an apartment-type dorm. Despite Res Life knowing she needed food accommodations. Her two other friends moved off campus as soon as they could because they have the same dietary restrictions.

There are a lot of complaints that come to mind when thinking about living on campus. Getting approved to move off campus was the best thing to happen for me personally. I was lucky to find an apartment close to school for a decent price.

It’s hard to find a place in town to live, especially without roommates. It is definitely cheaper than living on campus. The cheapest apartment style is Lucero Hall, the yearly price is $7,500.00 for a double and $8,500.00 for a single room. That would be about $833 a month for a double. I know most people living with roommates off campus that pay significantly less. In Lucero, you live with six people in an apartment-style with two bathrooms and one kitchen that does not have the space for everyone’s pots and pans.

So for all the incoming freshmen and anyone else that wants to move off campus, I can guarantee that personally, it’s worth it.