Freshman year, I lived in Woodcrest Hall with one random roommate, and our room was huge compared to other dorms! Woodcrest is three levels, and each floor was either all-female or male students. The bottom floor/basement is where you do your laundry, and some rooms are down there more for overflow.
Sophomore year I lived in East Residence Hall with a different random roommate. This building is four floors with the top floor being for honors students. My room was on the first floor, which was great for moving in/out as well as doing laundry since the laundry room was also on the first floor! The second floor and the fourth floor both have large study lounges. The second-floor lounge also has a tv and ping pong/pool table, so a lot of people hang out there. A lot of people study in the fourth-floor lounge since it has whiteboards to write on and is less busy than the second floor. East also has an elevator for those who need it.
This coming fall, I will be in a four-person suite in South Residence Hall, Cabrini's new dorm building! I'm really excited that I will be rooming with one of my friends this year! I'll share a room with my friend, and her two friends will room together. The four of us will all share a small common area and bathroom/shower space.
Living on campus is definitely a great college experience. You get to meet a bunch of people who live in your hall and usually from anywhere in your building, especially while doing laundry! I made a lot of friends because they lived next to or near me, people I would've never met otherwise. Living on campus also allows you to hang out with friends more easily, if you just want to spend time in your room rather than going to get food, etc.
Living on campus also makes it easier to stay at events longer, without worrying about driving home. It's a lot easier when getting ready for class too! It is so easy to wake up 15 minutes before class, change out of your pajamas, grab your bookbag, and head to class, which most people do. One of the things I don't like is the communal bathrooms. However, that's where I would see and talk to a lot of friends from the other end of the hall when I lived in Woodcrest. However, I won't have to worry about that this year since I'll be in a suite. I also love that in between classes, I can go back to my dorm rather than waiting for the next class or driving home! Commuters do, however, have a lounge available to them in the Holy Spirit Library, and a lot of commuters hang out in there when they have a gap in classes. I also like that I will most likely meet people from different states when I live on campus, which is always really cool!
I also find it easier to study in my dorm room, study lounge in the residence hall (many of them have this), the library, or Cru5h. Whereas, I would not be able to study well at home, which I found out during the time we were home in the second half of the Spring 2020 semester due to COVID-19. It was a lot louder and harder to focus at home. Also, I was not able to study with classmates. I find it better to study in my dorm room, where it is more comfortable, and I can't be distracted by a bunch of people walking around or seeing and talking to friends. Unless, however, my roommate is watching TV or has friends over, then I will study elsewhere!
Additionally, you're allowed to have people stay the night in your dorm, as long as your roommate is okay with it. Once you are a Sophomore, you're allowed to have any one of the opposite genders stay as well, so it's cool to be able to have my boyfriend stay over! And if I wanted, since I'm from Maryland, my friends could stay the night or weekend if they came up to visit. It's also really exciting to decorate my dorm room every year and have my family visit and see my room, hangout with them on campus, etc.
Living on campus also makes it easier to have a job/internship on campus. Additionally, it helps not to have to pay for a parking pass if you choose not to bring your car to school (I live on campus but also have my car, so I still have to pay for parking).