Students also say they enjoy the tranquility of living away from campus during busy reading and exam periods--a benefit that becomes crucially important when thesis-writing time rolls around.

"I get work done when I should and socialize when I should because people don't just drop by," Lewis says.

And living alone also helps foster personal independence, which is often undermined by house life.

Lewis says she does not feel isolated as a non-resident student, "but I do feel I have more autonomy. I have control of my own life."

Others say that the responsibility of digging up rent money every month builds a solid "real world experience" lacking in house life.

"You really feel self sufficient ... I'm ready next year to deal with anything," says T.C. Haldi '92, a former Currier resident who moved off-campus in January of her junior year.

And contrary to the belief that most social activity at Harvard revolves around meals in the dining hall and house parties, the former house residents say moving off-campus hasn't slowed down their social lives one bit.

"A lot of friends come here, I have a sofa that is permanent to [my friends'] use," says Petschek.

Off-campus residents can remain on the meal plan, and they can even choose from several alternative meal plans not available to house residents. But superior food is still one of the reasons most commonly cited for moving out of the houses.

"if we aren't eating any Harvard food, we must be getting better food," says Bull.

A Room With a View

Students find apartments more pleasant than house rooms not only because of extra space, but for the little touches that make an apartment more like a home than a drab dorm.

"We have really nice wood floors, a lot of win-dows and clean white walls. We live on the third floor which gives us a nice view," Lewis says.

"The thing that I love about [living off-campus] is that I live on a residential street," says Haldi. "There are kids in the street playing soft-ball...It's a normal healthy environment."

But if off-campus life is so great, how come 97 percent of Harvard undergraduates don't seem to have figured it out yet?