[Raphael Lopes]

I live about 15 mins away from uni with my parents it'd be such a waste of money, but i feel like i will be missinf out on my freshers year... what do you guys think??

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[didgeridoo12uk]

do a search, this question has been answered millions of times already.

basically yes. you will miss out on fun, your friends probably won't be as close as they otherwise would be, and you won't experience proper independence.

live out for first year at least. then you can make the decision to move back home if you like, but i highly doubt you will regardless of how much debt you're in

[Raphael Lopes]

Thank you for your reply.

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[MissBlueskys]

Are you even able to get into halls living that close? I was a good hour train journey away from one of the universities I applied to and they said I would probably be living too close for halls.

[TheSownRose]

You'll miss out on some good experiences, but you'll also miss out on the flatmate stealing your food experience, the 3AM fire drill experience, the proper heating is too expensive experience, the party going on when you just want to sleep experience...

It's swings and roundabouts - you lose some things, but gain others.

[Big Ern McCracken]

Are all your friends away elsewhere? If so, I'd say its definitely worth moving into halls so you have people to go out and socialise with. If it was me and I still had a lot of mates nearby, I'd probably stay at home. Halls aren't for everyone, and that 15 minute journey from home/not having to pay for accommodation would look very tempting to me personally.

[heidigirl]

Depends on you and what you're like.

I hated halls, living there almost ruined my first year. My flatmates nearly drove me to a nervous breakdown with constant noise, and then acted like I was being moany for not wanting them to scream down the corridor at 3am. There is also the early morning fire alarms (which in the winter in the snow is not fun!), people stealing your food, etc.

Lots of people have a fantastic time with going out though. You need to weigh up what's most important to you. If getting the 'halls experience' is important for you, by all means go for it, but you'll probably still have a pretty great time at uni even if you don't live in halls.

[Raphael Lopes]

Really appreciate all the answers! Thanks a lot!!

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[TheJeebs]

ah, fire alarm drills in the snow. they were amazing in halls, especially when still absolutely wasted from the night before. i developed a system of taking food down with me, made the wait all the better.

and yes, of course you will miss out.

[Luxray]

As someone who has commuted for two years, yes you will miss out on a lot of things but you will still be able to make plenty of friends, develop good friendships and go out at night (I'm sure your friends will say you can crash at theirs if the 15 min journey back home is too tough at night).
Because you are so close to uni I doubt you will miss out on everything if your parents are okay with you going out.

You can still be independent, for someone to say living out is proper independence is incorrect... proper independence isnt living out during uni, people who live in halls get many things done for them such as night outs arranged by staff in halls, have student loans to help cover costs etc. but I do agree that you probably would be more independent if you lived out. Honestly though, who cares?! you have a whole life ahead of you to learn how to be independent.

I think the best thing to do is live out for first year, and commute for the second two years. It is indeed easier to make friends if you live out (but its not that hard to make friends if you commute!). I just think you should have at least one year living out to see what its like and the first year is probably the best time to do it. You'd still save lots of money by staying at home for the second two years.

[jennyslack]

I am moving home for second year because I did not particularly enjoy living in halls and other personal reasons. Personally I think there is a huge advant in living in halls first year. It does make it a lot easier to meet people. However you live a lot closer to your uni than I do. A lot of people's closest friends are through societies and not just who you live with so f you made and effort to join societies and go out and stuff you will still probably make some brilliant friends.

Edit: replace all the "I"s with "my boyfriend". The awkward moment when you accidentally post from your girlfriends Tsr account

[TheJeebs]

(Original post by Luxray)
As someone who has commuted for two years, yes you will miss out on a lot of things but you will still be able to make plenty of friends, develop good friendships and go out at night (I'm sure your friends will say you can crash at theirs if the 15 min journey back home is too tough at night).
Because you are so close to uni I doubt you will miss out on everything if your parents are okay with you going out.

You can still be independent, for someone to say living out is proper independence is incorrect... proper independence isnt living out during uni, people who live in halls get many things done for them such as night outs arranged by staff in halls, have student loans to help cover costs etc. but I do agree that you probably would be more independent if you lived out. Honestly though, who cares?! you have a whole life ahead of you to learn how to be independent.

I think the best thing to do is live out for first year, and commute for the second two years. It is indeed easier to make friends if you live out (but its not that hard to make friends if you commute!). I just think you should have at least one year living out to see what its like and the first year is probably the best time to do it. You'd still save lots of money by staying at home for the second two years.

how exactly is getting a student loan "getting things done" for you? i think it's perfectly reasonable to say that living away from home is more of a proper independence than staying at home is.

[CookieDoughLove]

Uni halls can be way overrated. My experience was, I loved living away from home however I took it for granted that I would have a fabulous experience living in halls. However I was strongly disappointed because I found the majority of my flatmates in both of my years were an absolute nightmare.

I didn't make friends in halls, I made most of mine on my course. The independence is good but don't assume just because you're in halls you'll have an awesome social life and make good buddies, it could well go the other way.

[earlysound]

Social Suicide. You will regret every single moment.

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by earlysound)
Social Suicide. You will regret every single moment.

I don't.

[Luxray]

(Original post by TheJeebs)
how exactly is getting a student loan "getting things done" for you? i think it's perfectly reasonable to say that living away from home is more of a proper independence than staying at home is.

I didnt say it was unreasonable to say living out gives more independence but its it unreasonable to say it actually IS complete 'proper' independence because you rely primarily on loans/grants as opposed to having a job.

Wouldn't you say a person who graduated two years ago and works in Leeds as an accoutant is much more independent than she was before she graduated it? Thats the point I was making so to say living in halls is proper independence isn't true, at least in my opinion. Obviously your free to disagree.

[Inkerman]

(Original post by Raphael Lopes)
Thank you for your reply.

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IMO. It's not worth it. When I look back at my time in university accommodation all I can think about is people stealing my food, people making noise at night preventing me from sleeping, and the rip-off costs involved in everything.

People here are commenting about you missing out on parties etc., since when does not living somewhere prevent you from going to a party? Utter tosh if you ask me.

I had more parties and fun in the time that I was living in private accommodation or even living at home than I did in uni accommodation. Go figure.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, there's no guarantee that you won't end up living with a bunch of total idiots.

EDIT: RE: Miss out? LMAO. Yeah, miss out on getting woke up at 4am in the morning because of some drunk morons with no respect for anything or anyone else. Getting drunk and have fun: cool, making other people's lives difficult: not cool (in fact it's borderline retarded).

Save yourself the trouble, time and expense and either a) live privately with good friends b) live at home.


EDIT: Don't neg me for showing the other side of the coin. OP needs to hear both sides.

[Selym95]

Depends on your intentions of university. You may want to go to strictly study, in that case living at hoke would be beneficial. However, if you want to embrace a new social life and independance then living in halls would be better

[parkyparkinson]

Same situation... Live 40 mins away on a train, boyfriend and few friends back at home, few friends at a uni across town, job that pays okay at home, save money...

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