I knew there was no way I'd be happy staying with someone I don't know, so it was a pretty easy decision for me, other than almost ending up in a cheap apartment in the bad part of town
. I'm gonna end up spending probably an extra $3,000 a year in rent and will have a smaller space, but it will be well worth it. If it were an extra $9,000
I'd have to think a lot harder about the decision. What size apartment are you looking to rent by yourself, a 1 bedroom? Mine is a studio that is only 365 square feet, but I don't have to share any of it.
I've looked at apartments to share and there's one I'd consider. It had the bedrooms with their own bathrooms attached. If I were living with someone else, I'd want my own space to retreat to and I wouldn't share a bathroom with someone else, did that once, just for a weekend at a conference and OMG all the stuff the person had in there, there was like no counter space left!
Good luck in your decision making. When do classes start in Illinois?