University of Edinburgh Accommodation Thread for Entry 2012/13

Ahh, okay. That sucks about Pollock Halls. :frown:

But I'm happy to be in any self-catered. I was planning on buying pots and pans in Edinburgh as I'm flying up from Dubai. :tongue:

Reply 841

mexicanwalkingfish

Wow Dubai is a long way away! Luckily there is a big IKEA in Edinburgh that I will be raiding! :smile:

Reply 842

Quick-use

20

Original post by nearlyheadlessian

Well you'll have to cook for yourself eventually, so I don't see why the catered-element is that important. As for socialising, Pollock is no better or worse than self-catered sites, if I'm honest.

I can cook; I guess I'd just find catered much more convenient. I'm really worried about the social aspects. I know that for Beaverbank there's only 6 persons per floor whereas at Pollock Halls the number is much larger. Also, Pollock Halls has several other buildings right next to it so there's plenty of social aspects there. It's much closer to the university itself as well and I just don't want to feel left out. :frown:

Reply 843

mexicanwalkingfish

Original post by Quick-use

I can cook; I guess I'd just find catered much more convenient. I'm really worried about the social aspects. I know that for Beaverbank there's only 6 persons per floor whereas at Pollock Halls the number is much larger. Also, Pollock Halls has several other buildings right next to it so there's plenty of social aspects there. It's much closer to the university itself as well and I just don't want to feel left out. :frown:

That's exactly what I'm worried about - the majority of freshers are in Pollock Halls and consequently that's where all the parties will be!

Reply 844

nearlyheadlessian

OP

15

Original post by Quick-use

I can cook; I guess I'd just find catered much more convenient. I'm really worried about the social aspects. I know that for Beaverbank there's only 6 persons per floor whereas at Pollock Halls the number is much larger. Also, Pollock Halls has several other buildings right next to it so there's plenty of social aspects there. It's much closer to the university itself as well and I just don't want to feel left out. :frown:

You'll clearly be able to socialise with all the other people living in Beaverbank (there will be a pretty high number) and there will RAs on site organising events. Over half of next year's freshers won't be living in Pollock - you're not going to be left out. And I promise - having lived both in Pollock and self-catered, both are good socially and the social experience you have in either depends on the effort that you put in.

mexicanwalkingfish

That's exactly what I'm worried about - the majority of freshers are in Pollock Halls and consequently that's where all the parties will be!

Absolute nonsense. As said, the majority of freshers are NOT in Pollock. If you think the best parties are in Pollock ... well, you're entitled to your opinion.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 845

ECONMATHSMATHSMATH

Hi everyone!
I have just received my CAS letter and i am applying for VISA today.
However, the billing costs do not include accomodation, therefore I am asking you is it possible to get an accomodation(I applied on the 18-th of August)+

Reply 846

nearlyheadlessian

OP

15

Original post by ECONMATHSMATHSMATH

Hi everyone!
I have just received my CAS letter and i am applying for VISA today.
However, the billing costs do not include accomodation, therefore I am asking you is it possible to get an accomodation(I applied on the 18-th of August)+

No. You have officially missed the cut off. You can obviously apply anyway, but it isn't guaranteed.

Reply 847

HeatherM

Original post by ECONMATHSMATHSMATH

Hi everyone!
I have just received my CAS letter and i am applying for VISA today.
However, the billing costs do not include accomodation, therefore I am asking you is it possible to get an accomodation(I applied on the 18-th of August)+

Original post by nearlyheadlessian

No. You have officially missed the cut off. You can obviously apply anyway, but it isn't guaranteed.

i wouldn't hold my breath for accommodation. I am "guaranteed" accommodation and i applied in April, but they're so oversubscribed that i am still waiting... I would suggest you have a back up option.

Good Luck though :smile:

Heather x

Reply 848

oxymoronic

19

Original post by Quick-use

I can cook; I guess I'd just find catered much more convenient. I'm really worried about the social aspects. I know that for Beaverbank there's only 6 persons per floor whereas at Pollock Halls the number is much larger. Also, Pollock Halls has several other buildings right next to it so there's plenty of social aspects there. It's much closer to the university itself as well and I just don't want to feel left out. :frown:

Original post by mexicanwalkingfish

That's exactly what I'm worried about - the majority of freshers are in Pollock Halls and consequently that's where all the parties will be!

As has been said, this is a complete myth which has been bouncing around about Pollock halls for years and years. About 50% of first years live in Pollock, everyone else lives elsewhere. Now Edinburgh has all of these other accommodation buildings like Beaverbank I'd guess that only the minority of first year students live at Pollock.

When you go to open days you're sold this idea that Pollock is the centre of the social universe because this is what accommodation services want you to believe - Pollock has the most expensive accommodation so they want lots of people to be very excited about paying for it. I also held this belief and was terrified about starting Edinburgh because I didn't want and couldn't afford catered accommodation at Pollock but I was so worried about the fact that Pollock appeared to be the only place I'd make friends. I remember moving to Edinburgh and just being really worried about not living in Pollock (and thinking I lived MILES from there) and I was really upset when I got allocated accommodation because it wasn't anywhere I'd even heard of before but honestly, all of that goes out of the window within about 24 hours of arriving. I probably went to Pollock about 4 times in the entire of 1st year and whilst I did have friends who lived there, they much preferred coming to my flat where we could eat what we wanted when we wanted.

The parties are certainly not all in Pollock. For one Pollock has much stricter security and the presence of residence assistants (older students) who will get annoyed at you for making too much noise. In flats, on the other hand, you can essentially do what you want as you want... all of the people from Pollock came to parties where I lived, not the other way around.

I guess the benefit of Pollock is for the minute when you arrive you have a ready made set of people who live on your corridor so if you wanted you could do absolutely everything with these people. In reality, the majority of people don't and you'll find that where ever you live, you don't actually know the majority of people around you beyond being able to nod your head at them. There are people who live in Pollock and live in the Pollock bubble, yes, but these are honestly in the minority but these are the vocal people you'll get at open days talking about how fantastic their life at Pollock was because someone who only thought their year was "okay/average" is hardly going to be picked to stand at an open day and advertise the university accommodation to prospective students. It's like how everyone you meet at open days has had an absolutely brilliant time on their course - these are the people the universities WANT you to meet.

I was quite rare in that my closest friends from first year were actually my flatmates and two of them are still some of my best friends now six years later, however, all of my other best friends came from societies and my course. These are the people I lived with in later years and are still best friends with now. There's always a finite number of people that you can ever be really good friends with in life - yes, the number of people you "know" to say hi to might be higher if you live in halls (I've done both, I lived in halls on my year abroad) but you don't actually have a relationship with any more people living in halls as you do with people when you live in flats. In Pollock you'll find that people get to the end of 1st year then never see or speak to the majority of people they "know" again because they're not immediately there to go and eat dinner with and the relationship wasn't that strong that they'd go out of their way to see each other. In flats, on the other hand, you'll filter out these people earlier on because you don't "need" these surplus random people to eat dinner with each evening so therefore you'll still have a similar number of core friends as the people who live in Pollock.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 849

bubbles008

Got my accommodation. Anyone else in Kitchener House? Or know what it's like?

Reply 850

AlGreen

Anyone know what the internet in Darroch court is like? Are halls capped with a download limit and how are the speeds generally?

Much appreciated!

Reply 851

eprysehawkins

Can someone also help, THe "KeyCom" Services are only available in certain halls? Does that mean there is only internet access in Certain halls? Is there internet access in all rooms?

Reply 852

eprysehawkins

Original post by AlGreen

Anyone know what the internet in Darroch court is like? Are halls capped with a download limit and how are the speeds generally?

Much appreciated!

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/accommodation-services/current-students/facilities/it-coms/keycom/services

"The standard broadband internet download speed for the 2012/13 academic year is 24 Mbps. This standard service is included in your rent."

"In all properties there will be the option to upgrade to a higher broadband speed.
This upgraded internet package is available at additional cost paid directly to Keycom"

Does that help at all?

Reply 853

oxymoronic

19

Original post by eprysehawkins

Can someone also help, THe "KeyCom" Services are only available in certain halls? Does that mean there is only internet access in Certain halls? Is there internet access in all rooms?

All accommodation has access to the internet. Not everywhere has wifi (as far as I'm aware, but I could be wrong as these things change quickly) but every room has an Ethernet port for internet access. You just need to buy a wire either in advance or in freshers week. They're about £2. Every room also has a phone and you can phone any internal number within the university for free which is quite useful although we primarily used our phones within the flat for arranging tea drinking sessions.

Reply 854

oxymoronic

19

Original post by mexicanwalkingfish

You and Nearlyheadlessian need to take a chill-pill, you both come across as a bit aggressive and not very sympathetic to new undergrads without accommodation! I realise catered accommodation costs more, but that is because 14 meals a week are provided and the catered accommodation I am now in is only £6 more a week than self-catered accommodation in Beaverbank. And I was joking about the parties, I don't even like parties...

How does telling you not to worry because Pollock Halls aren't the be all and end all of life at Edinburgh constitute to being aggressive?

One of the reasons I initially started posting on TSR as a student rather than as an applicant was due to all of the confusion about Pollock being the centre of a social life. As I said in my extensive reply to you, I remember being very upset about the fact that I'd have no friends because I wasn't living in Pollock/couldn't afford it and I started posting on TSR to explain to people that even though those worries are really common, it's not the reality.

If we were really such horrible and unsympathetic individuals do you really think we'd have spent a lot of time year on year to ensure that Edinburgh applicants are some of the best catered for students on TSR when it comes to the amount of information and support we provide?

As far as I'm aware you're not without accommodation so I'm not sure where that point has come from. What we were addressing were your points that you felt that the majority of freshers are in Pollock Halls and that is where all of the parties will be which are very very common concerns for freshers coming to Edinburgh and we get numerous questions about this every single year which the current/ex students answer constantly. If you were joking about the parties aspect then fair enough but from your post it didn't seem apparent or clear that you were joking about it given this is such a common worry for new Edinburgh students so next time it'd be helpful if you gave a bit of clarity in your post to prevent other people from wasting their time trying to help address your concerns.

Reply 855

AlGreen

Original post by eprysehawkins

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/accommodation-services/current-students/facilities/it-coms/keycom/services

"The standard broadband internet download speed for the 2012/13 academic year is 24 Mbps. This standard service is included in your rent."

"In all properties there will be the option to upgrade to a higher broadband speed.
This upgraded internet package is available at additional cost paid directly to Keycom"

Does that help at all?

Thanks that link was helpful, said everything

• Unlimited monthly time online
• No fixed download cap¹
• No line rental charges
• 24 Mb/s download and upload
• Disconnection from your login after 6 hours of
inactivity

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 856

eprysehawkins

Original post by oxymoronic

All accommodation has access to the internet. Not everywhere has wifi (as far as I'm aware, but I could be wrong as these things change quickly) but every room has an Ethernet port for internet access. You just need to buy a wire either in advance or in freshers week. They're about £2. Every room also has a phone and you can phone any internal number within the university for free which is quite useful although we primarily used our phones within the flat for arranging tea drinking sessions.

Thanks! My Mind is eased.

Reply 857

dizzeedollee

1

Could someone please tell me how many TV licenses we need per flat?

I'm staying at McDonald Road so there'll be between 3 - 5 people in a flat. If I want to watch TV in the kitchen/living room and streamed live on my laptop in my bedroom do I need one or two licenses? And does one license cover everyone in the flat or just one person? There's so much conflicting information on the website, I read somewhere that one license covers everyone in the flat but I just spoke to someone at their customer services and she said everyone in the flat needs to buy one. Hence I am a bit confused.

Reply 858

FreyaAmy:)

does anybody know about the £250 rent prepayment/deposit when accepting an offer of accomodation? and who pays it? sounds silly I know, I'm just getting really confused as it says on the site that sponsoring institutions will cover the fee (I've heard student finance be referred to as a sponsoring institution) and seeing as they're the ones who really will be paying all of my rent thanks to the maintenance allowance... I don't mind either way, just want to make sure to have the money in my bank ready before I accept the offer if I need to foot the cash! .... any help would be appreciated!

Reply 859

nearlyheadlessian

OP

15

Original post by FreyaAmy:)

does anybody know about the £250 rent prepayment/deposit when accepting an offer of accomodation? and who pays it? sounds silly I know, I'm just getting really confused as it says on the site that sponsoring institutions will cover the fee (I've heard student finance be referred to as a sponsoring institution) and seeing as they're the ones who really will be paying all of my rent thanks to the maintenance allowance... I don't mind either way, just want to make sure to have the money in my bank ready before I accept the offer if I need to foot the cash! .... any help would be appreciated!

You pay the £250. By sponsoring institutions it means other organisations (generally abroad) who explicitly cover all living costs/all rent. You're welcome to spend your student loan on anything you want - it doesn't have to be rent.

University of Edinburgh Accommodation Thread for Entry 2012/13

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