You’re cramming for exams, finishing capstone projects, crossing your fingers and toes while applying for jobs or grad schools, trying to stay involved all those extra-curriculars that make your resume top-notch and probably working part-time so you don’t have a breakdown over your looming student loan payments. Isn’t it great to be a senior? Everyone wants to know what you’re doing after graduation. You’ve mastered filibustering your way out of those questions, but the problem is you might not know what you’re actually going to do once you graduate.

One of the biggest decisions we must make: Do you move in with good ol’ mom and pop or do you find your own place? Of course, living with your parents will be much, much cheaper. Free rent, no utilities to pay and did someone say cable? Don’t forget you get home cooked meals on the daily, instead of only on the holidays and the next few days after… leftovers! Sounds perfect, right?

If you’re calling Mom to tell her you’re moving back in, hold the phone.

Recent graduate Kerry Hartenstein has had a taste of both living on his own and with parents. He reminds us why moving back in with your parents isn’t the best idea. “You lose all the privacy you once had, and you have to live by your parents’ rules.  Are you trying to take someone home after a night out? I’m sure a real sexy line is ‘Try to be quiet, so we don’t wake my parents.’  Also, you’re returning home to your old bed, which is most likely older than you are and creaks…enough said.”

Hartenstein offers his veteran advice, “I would say stay away from moving in with your parents because you have a taste of freedom. The second you move back in you will want it back. Even if you have to be poor for a while, your freedom and adulthood are more important.”

Senior Katherine Svitavsky feels similarly. “After being on my own for so long, it’d be really hard to move back in with my folks… though, I have no problem with storing my junk in their basement. I’m hoping to be employed before I graduate in May, but if that doesn’t happen, I’ll at least sublease for the summer to avoid moving back to my hometown.”

Hartenstein gives us one last bit of advice, “If you absolutely have to move back in with your parents….well then I apologize and wish you the best of luck. If not, now all you have to focus on is how to sneak your favorite cat out of your parents place.  We all know we only truly visit home for the animals.”

Moving in with your parents isn’t the worst thing, but do you really want someone judging how late you stay out and sleep in or your attempts to set a new record in how many Netflix episodes you can fit into one day? Maybe not. Make a pros and cons list and make the best decision for you.