Definitely don't give up hope. I'm nearly at the end of my second year now, and it has been SO much better than the first year. Your accomodation sounds like it's going to be great, and don't worry about the work load- as long as you get organised straight away by setting out specific times for study, you'll have plenty of time to go out and do stuff. You'll also feel much more at home- by the second year you should have much more of a routine and will know a lot of faces at uni and feel comfortable in your surroundings. You'll see all the new faces arriving and laugh when you remember what you were like when you first started.