This replaces the old sticky, which grew from a single query into a three year old megathread. Post all of your questions regarding bathrooms here and engage in lively related discussion!
Applying for accommodation at university? You'll know that no two university halls are the same. Their assets differ according to location, price, cleanliness, facilities, the list goes on. One of the more endearing of these issues is the big bathroom question. I will attempt to unravel the dilemmas that freshers often have to face and hopefully provide you with a clearer picture!
Seeing other people
Even though very private business is conducted in bathrooms, a shared bathroom requires your presence in public. Not as much as a shared kitchen, of course, but it requires you to leave your room and will increase your chance of seeing a peer or two in the corridor. If you have an en-suite bathroom, this won't happen.
Also, shared bathrooms are one of many introductions to the duty of responsibilities for the fresher. A part of growing up, as it were. Many won't have cleaned a toilet or shower before. Many still won't have to, depending on whether or not the hall has cleaners. But there's always the implied obligation to leave it clean for the next person.
No two shared bathrooms are the same..
Shared bathrooms are cheaper, no doubt. But will the trade-off work? It depends on the hall, of course. I went to UCL, and two of the freshers' halls are called Ramsay and Hawkridge. Ramsay is catered, has very long corridors and bathrooms akin to those in public buildings, with cubicles in a line containing showers and toilets. Hawkridge, on the other hand, is self catered and split into flats of three and six. I lived there, in a flat of six. We had two disabled-style toilets between us, plus a shower room. Cleaner came every Friday.
In this situation, I didn't mind the Hawkridge bathrooms at all, but on every visit to Ramsay, I wondered if I'd have been able to tolerate the bathrooms. So, I'd say it pays to investigate your options. Will you live in a corridor or a flat? Will there be six bums to a toilet seat or just three? It all makes a difference.
Your finances
As I said, I went to UCL. The cheapest halls for 2013-14 are £130 per week (I think). The cheapest en-suite is £170-odd, close to college it's something like £190. So will the expense be worth it? On the other hand, in less expensive areas you might just be able to justify the cost for an en-suite.
So all in all? If you're umming and ahhing, check the halls you're applying for out. Get the brochure. See what the living arrangements are. Work out the extra expense. Then you're good to go.