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Inside University of Bristol
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student houses instead of halls?

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Reply 20
Ahh, I'm visiting bristol for a post-offer visit day, hopefully it will be possible to look at some accomodation. I'm not really wanting huuuuge halls, but then loads of people said some houses were awful because of bad matches with people. :s-smilie:
Inside University of Bristol
University of Bristol
Bristol
Reply 21
im going to bristol for mental health. and would much prefer a house. purely because of costs.
Reply 22
I'm currently at Bristol, living on St Michael's Hill, it's awesome. Definitely the most underrated accommodation; dead cheap, and the closest place to the Uni.
It takes me literally 5mins max to walk to lectures, and I can come home for lunch nice and easy. All my friends who live in Stoke Bishop and Clifton are dead jealous!
Any questions, please ask me!
Original post by slizzie
Ahh, I'm visiting bristol for a post-offer visit day, hopefully it will be possible to look at some accomodation. I'm not really wanting huuuuge halls, but then loads of people said some houses were awful because of bad matches with people. :s-smilie:


I'd recommend colston street, its a good size :smile:
Reply 24
could anyone recommend somewhere thats not too far from glenside and decent?
Reply 25
Would stay clear from student houses- know a lot of people who have had very bad experiences, the chances of finding the people you really click with from the 4 others in your house is very low.
I have a friend in a student house, she is the only one who has been there since october, all the others have dropped out/moved into halls. Lots of them international or not very sociable. She says the problem is you just meet so few people, even going to society nights out or out with course friends is hard because at the end of the night theres no body to walk back with wheras if you're in halls you can always find someone from your hall to taxi it back or walk back with.
Would really reccomend Hawthorns from what i've heard, its small and near uni/the triangle but theres enough people to find people you really get on with. Before uni you assume you will get on with whoever but once youre here and past freshers people settle into friendships and you need people you really click with, not just accquaintances you can have fun with when drunk but not much to talk about when sober.
Reply 26
Original post by slizzie
Hello,
I spent an hour or so looking through the accommodation thread and I could hardly find any conversation about the student houses. I know there are far few less places in these, but are they that unpopular?

I quite like the idea of them, especially st micheals hill. Can anyone who has lived in them tell me their experiences good and bad please?

I am leaning towards the student houses as opposed to the halls but wanted some reassurance that I am making the right decision. I definitely don't want catered as it's too expensive and I'd rather cook.

I might even look into the possibility of a shared room, any experiences with people sharing??

Thanks!


My daughter lived in one of the shared houses on St Michael's hill. She loved it.. her friend who lived out in halls actually transferred there as the halls were just too far out really and she hadn't liked her flat mates.

Good points:

1. Cheap. Brilliant price really compared to everywhere else.
2. Location, location, location.... brilliant. Outweighs all other disadvantages.
3. Nice way of sharing ie. you can get really good friends with people or keep to yourself if you want as there's quite a lot of people in the St Michael's hill houses over four floors (rather than the Victorian house set up with less people which is also available.)
4. They rented a washing machine which is on the ground floor so no having to go out to a laundry facility.
5. If you put it as first choice then you're likely to get it rather than people who miss all their choices and end up somewhere they hate.
6. There's usually a post-grad tenant who is a house rep. has a room in the building and can sort things out for everyone if neccesary.

Other points:

1. Four stories high so quite a tromp to the top level if you get put there
2. No garden/grass faciity (common in Bristol though in the older properties)
3. Bit shabby... ie the carpet on the stairs worn etc. OId Georgian house. Nice area.
4. The rooms vary quite a bit. My daughter cried when she first saw hers.. it was tiny, dark and painted mustard! She opened the wardrobe and it fell apart! She almost went home again. The rooms at the front are much bigger and lighter. However we came back the next day and painted her room white, put the wardrobe back together and took a trip to IKEA and so forth and though it was still tiny she got to like the whole place. So bring some of your own soft furnishings like a bed throw or rug etc to guarantee any cheeriness! (not abnormal with student accomodation) There's a huge IKEA in Bristol for picking up stuff too, maybe on moving in day if your parents are up for it.
5. Very steep hill in winter... flat shoes and crampons needed!
6. There's a floor with the kitchen with many fridges and cupboards for everyone and a living/seating place to the front of the building.
7. Her house was all women and next door was all men.

Personally I thought the location and price outweighed any drawbacks...
She said people who took catering often didn't get back to the meals as they were out for the day and its a way back to the halls... thus not very economical option.

Good luck choosing.
:smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 27
Original post by slizzie
Ahh, I'm visiting bristol for a post-offer visit day, hopefully it will be possible to look at some accomodation. I'm not really wanting huuuuge halls, but then loads of people said some houses were awful because of bad matches with people. :s-smilie:


Ok, the bad matches with people is a possibility in all kinds of accomodation really... biggest danger being the kind of 'flat' set up in halls and smaller houses.
It happens in universities all over the country that some personalities just don't mix. More often than not though people get on fine and get to be good friends.

If you did find you were not comfortable after a while then put yourself down on the transfer list and move. You're not stuck if it hasn't worked out though you might have to wait a little while for a place to come up.

The St Michael's Hill houses have more people in them than other smaller houses and some of the halls are rooms and corridors rather then flats if you're really worried.

Good luck choosing.

:smile:
Reply 28
Original post by tigger01
Would stay clear from student houses- know a lot of people who have had very bad experiences, the chances of finding the people you really click with from the 4 others in your house is very low.
I have a friend in a student house, she is the only one who has been there since october, all the others have dropped out/moved into halls. Lots of them international or not very sociable. She says the problem is you just meet so few people, even going to society nights out or out with course friends is hard because at the end of the night theres no body to walk back with wheras if you're in halls you can always find someone from your hall to taxi it back or walk back with.
Would really reccomend Hawthorns from what i've heard, its small and near uni/the triangle but theres enough people to find people you really get on with. Before uni you assume you will get on with whoever but once youre here and past freshers people settle into friendships and you need people you really click with, not just accquaintances you can have fun with when drunk but not much to talk about when sober.


Yes, Hawthorns is a good location. It can be oversubscribed though... a lot of people didn't get it when they put it as first choice.

:smile:
Reply 29
Thanks for all the replies! I loove St Micheal's Hill but am concerned on having so few people. Colston Street is also amazing just more expensive... plus I have heard it will be quite hard to get into this year as last year there wasn't much info about it but this year there will be.

Though to be honest, I just returned from a visit day this week and was a bit disappointed with the department.. I love Bristol though but some people have said bad things about the history department recently..
Go for the Hawthorns. I'm living here right now, and it's amazing. Physics lecture building is right across the road where 4/6 of my module lectures are and priory road is a 2 minute walk down the road. Atmosphere's pretty cool too, I've never felt like im missing out by living in Clifton. There's loads of people to make friends with, the people in my kitchen and the kitchen after that are really close. All the clubs are a five minute walk away except for Thekla and Syndicate which are about 15 minutes away. I don't understand why Student houses are so underrated.

Also my room is huge. Sofa, armchair, desk chair and a double bed. You can't get better than that :smile:
Reply 31
I'm currently living in Osborne villas. It's a lot better than the website suggests. There are a total of 4 houses, with rumours of 5 for 2012/2013. Each has their own washing machine as well. The other side of the road is the St. Michaels Park residences, again there are more houses than are shown on the website, 4 large houses. This equates to something in the region of 50 students. This means a brilliant student lifestyle as we are located within 5 minutes of everything; lectures, supermarkets and clubs. Rooms are also a lot bigger than what you get in halls. I really couldn't recommend it more. Hopefully see some of you next year, I will be one of the student reps for Osborne villas.

If you do choose Hawthorns be careful as room sizes vary greatly, carbondummy is lucky as I have heard of rooms that are the size of the bed.
Reply 32
Original post by carbondummy
Go for the Hawthorns. I'm living here right now, and it's amazing. Physics lecture building is right across the road where 4/6 of my module lectures are and priory road is a 2 minute walk down the road. Atmosphere's pretty cool too, I've never felt like im missing out by living in Clifton. There's loads of people to make friends with, the people in my kitchen and the kitchen after that are really close. All the clubs are a five minute walk away except for Thekla and Syndicate which are about 15 minutes away. I don't understand why Student houses are so underrated.

Also my room is huge. Sofa, armchair, desk chair and a double bed. You can't get better than that :smile:


That's really helpful, thanks.:biggrin:
I'm considering the Hawthorns, but a bit unsure because normal Halls seem the more conventional choice. How expensive is it compared to living in Stoke Bishop, and are there any other advantages/disadvantages you can think of?:redface:
Reply 33
Original post by Pheebs1201
I'd recommend colston street, its a good size :smile:



I really like colston street because its en suite, and in a really good location. But I noticed all the other halls do things together and have the JCR. I'm really worried that colston street won't do organised nights or themed nights because I do like to socialise.
What has it been like this year? :smile:
Original post by georgie13
I really like colston street because its en suite, and in a really good location. But I noticed all the other halls do things together and have the JCR. I'm really worried that colston street won't do organised nights or themed nights because I do like to socialise.
What has it been like this year? :smile:


Colston Street has had its ups and downs. All uni-related stuff is max 15 mins walk away. So awesome when you wake up 15 mins before the start of the lecture! You're close to the O2/Hippodrome/The Apple/Cabot Circus/Syndicate/Thekla and way closer to Motion than any other hall or house.

However, I live on the top floor - that's 5 flights of stairs every time I want to leave the building. No-one's quite sure if the lift is off because of money/safety/fascism and the laundry room is in the basement... plan your washes well! Also my room is a box room barely big enough to fit me and my ego let alone having anyone to stay. The higher the room in the building, the smaller it is. So lucky 1st floors.

The building has a great common room that's clean and maintainable when you have socials. We haven't had many official ones so people made an effort when one was actually put on. So much booze. But the building is small enough to go around and introduce yourselves, just leave you flat door propped open (coz of the keycards.) The kitchens aren't skanky yet and are fit for purpose if you're logistical about sharing utensils.

CAREFUL with the fire sensors... too many drills to count...:smile:
Reply 35
Original post by operajunkie
Colston Street has had its ups and downs. All uni-related stuff is max 15 mins walk away. So awesome when you wake up 15 mins before the start of the lecture! You're close to the O2/Hippodrome/The Apple/Cabot Circus/Syndicate/Thekla and way closer to Motion than any other hall or house.

However, I live on the top floor - that's 5 flights of stairs every time I want to leave the building. No-one's quite sure if the lift is off because of money/safety/fascism and the laundry room is in the basement... plan your washes well! Also my room is a box room barely big enough to fit me and my ego let alone having anyone to stay. The higher the room in the building, the smaller it is. So lucky 1st floors.

The building has a great common room that's clean and maintainable when you have socials. We haven't had many official ones so people made an effort when one was actually put on. So much booze. But the building is small enough to go around and introduce yourselves, just leave you flat door propped open (coz of the keycards.) The kitchens aren't skanky yet and are fit for purpose if you're logistical about sharing utensils.

CAREFUL with the fire sensors... too many drills to count...:smile:



Oh wow, thanks for replying. I thought the bedrooms were all quite big so that's worrying. Would you rather have stayed in halls for the social side or are you happy in colston?
Original post by skotch
Go for halls without a doubt. You'll have a far better experience of first year. I'm not saying you'll have a bad one if you lived in a student house, but you'll just have a much better experience living in halls. Also, go for a stoke bishop hall.




Only halls can be awful.
Original post by georgie13
I really like colston street because its en suite, and in a really good location. But I noticed all the other halls do things together and have the JCR. I'm really worried that colston street won't do organised nights or themed nights because I do like to socialise.
What has it been like this year? :smile:


Yes we've had things organised, but we are part of ORBITAL which is absolutely brilliant, the christmas ball was fab!
Reply 38
Original post by Pheebs1201
Yes we've had things organised, but we are part of ORBITAL which is absolutely brilliant, the christmas ball was fab!


How often do orbital organise something then? Would you say people in halls have more organised nights out than those in accomodation like colston street?
Thanks for the help by the way:smile:
Original post by georgie13
How often do orbital organise something then? Would you say people in halls have more organised nights out than those in accomodation like colston street?
Thanks for the help by the way:smile:


They are constantly organising things! But as term rolls on you will have a fair bit of work so wont have time to go to everything anyway. I'd say we have an equal amount of events as halls if not more...

:smile:

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