self-catered or catered???? help please

Hi, i know ive left this extremely late but im really stuck on choosing either self-catered or catered for my accomodation. As it will be my first year, i first thought catered but then again I don't know. Is the food any good? I heard they rip you off real badly in catered, is this true? When I looked at the prices for catered, :eek:

£5000 a year but self-catered had similar prices too but they let you stay during the holidays. Which one is actually better value for your money? Also I don't know how to cook so if i did choose self-catered I may just end up buying ready meals but i will try to learn during the summer. Also I'm not the most social person in the world so will being in catered help or not and I heard that it's hard to meet people during self-catered because you usually eat by yourself and stuck with the same housemates while in catered most first years are at the same place when eating. Do most first years choose catered over self-catered? Any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry for rambling on. Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

GYinWL

9

I would choose self-catered if I were you. The food in the catered halls are supposed to be shockingly bad. Don't worry if you can't cook, you'll learn to cook once you get there, no big deal. in terms of the social thing, it's not that much of an advantage socially if you are in catered halls as when you're in self-catered halls, you'll be sharing a kitchen with the rest of your housemates anyway and you'll be sepending plenty of time in the kitchen just hanging out or eating...

Reply 2

BeckySparrow

id vote for self catered as well, just because if youre picky then the catered food wont be for you, and added bonus is you can eat your meals at whatever time you want if youre self catered :redface:

definitely wouldnt worry about social aspect, try and get in touch with a few people going there beforehand (on facebook or on here) and make sure you go to the freshers events, join a society, talk to people on your course etc...you wont be disadvantaged.

Reply 3

vicki_lee

i still havent deicded on my nottingham accommodation either! lol i really love cooking but its the caterd halls that are all in big group closer to campus. so do they have the better social life?

Reply 4

blone_bomb

I would say catered is definatly better socially. Eating 3 meals a day with people is really great and queues are great for meating people in the first few days. It also means your not stuck with your flatmates but you have a whole hall to get friends from, although you are still most likely to be friends with the people who live near you. Catered also works out cheaper overall as you dont have to pay for holidays. Halls also have an atmosphere you dont find elsewhere and your a maximum of 15/20 mins from your lectures. of If your picky about food though i would say dont go for catered. Catered is better socially but if you put in some effort and you want self-catered youl be fine.

Reply 5

GYinWL

9

I don't see what all the fuss is about the social aspect of picking catered or self-catered. I was in a self-catered accommodation when I was studying in Bristol last year and I had absolutely no problems making friends with my flatmates and making friends in other flats. As I said in my first post, you're all going to have to eat sometime, therefore the kitchen will have to be used. Everyone socialises in the kitchen, it's not as if you go into your kitchen and see a flatmate and not say anything! Besides, if you feel that you don't like your flatmates, you're going to make friends with people on your course anyway so it's not as if you're going to be a social outcast because you don't like the people who were put into your flat...

The best part about the self-catered accommodation at Nottingham is that you'll be able to keep anything in your room over the holidays whereas everyone in catered accommodation will have to pack everything up when they go home over Christmas / Easter.

Reply 6

eugenius 8

OP

19

Screw it, I think I'm going to go for catered as im not fussy about food, too lazy to cook and will probably help me socialise a lot more. Thanks for the replies :smile:

and does anyone know if most first year maths students go for catered or not? thanks

Reply 7

GYinWL

9

No idea about that sorry...

Reply 8

eugenius 8

OP

19

Thats ok geoff yin. Does anyone know if it's possible to change from catered to self-catered and vice versa during like the first week? thanks

Reply 9

GYinWL

9

Ugh you can call me Geoff lol!

Reply 10

Sarah_V

5

We didn't get the choice! First yr vet students, and I'm assuming everyone else on SB have to get 5 meals a week...not that I'm complaining. That's 5 proper meals I wouldn't eat otherwise!

Reply 11

LisaPizza

You'll be able to transfer from catered to self catered but highly unlikely the other way as most of it is taken. Some people do do it though. I do maths btw if you want to ask me anything.

Reply 12

sweetcherry

geoff_yin

I don't see what all the fuss is about the social aspect of picking catered or self-catered. I was in a self-catered accommodation when I was studying in Bristol last year and I had absolutely no problems making friends with my flatmates and making friends in other flats. As I said in my first post, you're all going to have to eat sometime, therefore the kitchen will have to be used. Everyone socialises in the kitchen, it's not as if you go into your kitchen and see a flatmate and not say anything! Besides, if you feel that you don't like your flatmates, you're going to make friends with people on your course anyway so it's not as if you're going to be a social outcast because you don't like the people who were put into your flat...

The best part about the self-catered accommodation at Nottingham is that you'll be able to keep anything in your room over the holidays whereas everyone in catered accommodation will have to pack everything up when they go home over Christmas / Easter.

I totally agree... with catered you would be 'forced' to meet a lot of new people, but hey, it doesn't mean that you would 'like' most of them. You'd most prob end up making the most friends from your course/halls/social activities so don't really see how the eptimom of your life would really evolve around canteen time.. I've chosen self-catered... I socialize when i want to socialize, not when i'm forced to... and I generally get hungry at the strangest times ever.. so self-catered makes much more sense in my opinion!

Reply 13

Viktory

LisaPizza

You'll be able to transfer from catered to self catered but highly unlikely the other way as most of it is taken. Some people do do it though. I do maths btw if you want to ask me anything.

OT, I see you are at SPC, I'm going there if I get accepted to the uni. What's it like? and the neighbourhood? heard it's a bit rough.

self-catered or catered???? help please

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