Site helps students prepare for life off-campus

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/stirling-street-sign-dn1.jpg” caption=”McMaster’s Off-Campus Experience (OCE) has launched a new interactive website aimed at preparing students to live off-campus and helping them integrate into the community.”]McMaster's Off-Campus Experience (OCE) has launched a new interactive website aimed at preparing students to live off-campus and helping them integrate into the community.

The site is geared toward incoming first-year students, but can be useful for anyone preparing to live off-campus. OCE will guide students through their entire year, from searching for housing and enjoying Welcome Week to getting along with housemates and finding a summer job. If you are a student planning to commute from home, there are even tips on how you and your family can make a smooth transition into university life.

Additional features include a Hamilton Bylaws quiz, an interactive house, which highlights house-hunting tips, and a Virtual Hamilton section, which allows viewers to preview various Hamilton sights. Visitors can also link to several other useful websites concerning McMaster and Hamilton such as Pop the Bubble, SOCS, OCRC rental listings, MacPass order info, the City of Hamilton website, Titles and much more.

In the past, first-year students joining McMaster's off-campus community received mail-out packages informing them of off-campus services and events. This year, in order to increase accessibility and support McMaster's sustainability initiatives, OCE has opted for the interactive website, which covers the most important information about off-campus living.

A culmination of resources from the Off-Campus Resource Centre (OCRC), the Society of Off-Campus Students (SOCS) and the Student Community Support Network (SCSN), the site can be accessed at macoce.ca.