Aston applicants/offer holders 2012!!

Awesome! Yeah, I'm really nervous too. Never been away from home before . At the moment I can only get £4700 in a maintenance loan, so it's looking like Stafford Tower (boo!), or Lakeside if I can live off £200 a year

its the tower for me too!! money is a major worry as im a mature student! hey ho it's what u make of it i suppose! It doesnt help that i have not visitied aston at all yet! have you?

Yeah same for me! I don't earn because health problems leave me exhausted, and my parents earn just over the amount for the grant.

I visited last Saturday. Couldn't look at our labs, but it seems easy to get around and it looks like the biomed part is inside the main building - almost directly across the road from the tower!

i am going to put down to stay in stafford tower. can u answer sonme questions for me?
,any info on stafford tower would be appreciated as i can only afford stafford tower and reading some peoples opinion on it is making me a bit worried!

Are there lifts to all floors as i have probs with stairs?
Yes, one lift services the odd numbered floors, the other the even numbered floors.

How often do the fire alarms go off?
Varies each year depending on who lives in Stafford. I think there were around 5 the whole year I lived there.

The bathrooms.. are the separate male and female showers
Nope, if you are in a mixed flat you need to share the same bathroom.

and are there lockable doors to the shower cubicles?
Yes

ooo our labs!!! sounds weird doesnt it!! i cant believe it's so close now...exams...results....and hopefully ASTON.
did u get chance to see stafford tower at all? did u like it all? I like the idea of the small campus, cant wait!

Anyone had offers for accommodation yet? or applied for it?

its the tower for me too!! money is a major worry as im a mature student! hey ho it's what u make of it i suppose! It doesnt help that i have not visitied aston at all yet! have you?

Unless people have an unconditional offer, no accomm offers will be given until results are through.

I'm thinking it's the best option so far; I love the idea of extra money LOL. I'm just concerned about availability as I'd need a room nearer to the bottom because I find it hard to use stairs due to leg problems.

I heard it's being knocked down though? I won't end up getting kicked out half-way through the year, will I?

They won't knock it down half way through the year, don't worry about that. If you tell them about your leg I'm sure they'll set you up with a low floor, in fact I'd be shocked if they didn't. Generally speaking the Aston team are very happy to help with any problems you might have.

My personal experience of Aston accommodation goes like this; Year 1 - Lawrence Tower (equivalent of Stafford, gone now), Year 2 - Heights (private student accommodation, 2 min walk), Year 3 - Placement (London), Year 4 - Cosmo (private student accommodation, 3 min walk, new this year).

I 100% recommend slumming it in Stafford for your first year. You'll make a bunch of friends and have loads of money to go out and enjoy yourself. You're not stuck there for life, and in your later years when study becomes more important then you can look to move into more expensive accommodation.

So are you saying if we stay in new build in first year then we won't have that much money to go out?!

What about Lakeside? Is that affordable?

marginally more affordable!

So are you saying if we stay in new build in first year then we won't have that much money to go out?!

Don't know your personal circumstances, but if you're relying on student loans I don't think they cover new build. Either way, you'll have far more money to spare if you live in Stafford

Not to say there's anything wrong with new build. You couldn't pay me enough to go and live in Stafford as a final year, I'd be new build all the way! But as a first year I think it's the best place to be.