How bad are international/mature students?
Hi all. Yesterday i was assigned a university hall that is known for having international and mature students. I have heard this is a very bad thing, particularly living with mature students.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
I'm having the same issue tbh, when I went to see universities and saw the Chinese students they always stick to their own groups, I'm not sure about other internationals though
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Original post by BirdIsWord
Hi all. Yesterday i was assigned a university hall that is known for having international and mature students. I have heard this is a very bad thing, particularly living with mature students.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
Hello
I'm pretty shocked by what I'm reading to be honest, I don't know where you have heard these things but they don't have a strong truth within them - especially with mature students.
With international students, it all depends. For example, I know some of the students that did stick to their own groups because thats where they felt comfortable but they still spoke to people in their halls and course and at the same time we made a friend from Germany that we still see today and he comes and visits - it all depends. I've never known students to be anything like you have said.
Mature students, they are literally you but a bit older. All the mature students I've made friends with a good fun and good to have a laugh with - again, I don't see why they are bad?
I can understand that the post is out of paranoia and it's just another one of those things that you are thinking as you are working your way up to university but do not go through these pre-built views always their, they are negative and will sap the fun from the experience.
Go with an open mind, be social and have fun! If you a social, they will more than likely be social back - it's just being human at the end of the day.
Best of luck
Original post by BirdIsWord
Hi all. Yesterday i was assigned a university hall that is known for having international and mature students. I have heard this is a very bad thing, particularly living with mature students.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
It depends on where they are from I suppose. Most of them group together etc so making friends might be tough! Its weirdly strange some international students cannot even speak English. I met two last year from china I couldn't get a word out of them... yet they were on the 2nd year of there masters degree.
Original post by urbanlocations
Chinese? Enjoy that. My accommodation staff said they are the most unhygienic people there is. Most of them expect room service to come in and clean!
ahahaha¬
ahahaha¬
really? I didn't expect that. I haven't spotted any Chinese people in my accommodation so far....I don't have anything against them but it can be annoying that they don't socialise with other people...then again it is their choice
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I personally have managed to make friends with international students from all corners of the globe, although it cannot be doubted that certain groups do have a preference for sticking with their own (and not just Chinese students, in my experience).
Personally, I would prefer to live in a highly international-based accommodation, at least then there is less chance of them throwing parties and waking you up at 1am and throwing up in the kitchen/corridor etc.
Personally, I would prefer to live in a highly international-based accommodation, at least then there is less chance of them throwing parties and waking you up at 1am and throwing up in the kitchen/corridor etc.
Original post by urbanlocations
Chinese? Enjoy that. My accommodation staff said they are the most unhygienic people there is. Most of them expect room service to come in and clean!
ahahaha¬
ahahaha¬
Bruh seriously?
Original post by BirdIsWord
Hi all. Yesterday i was assigned a university hall that is known for having international and mature students. I have heard this is a very bad thing, particularly living with mature students.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
Are the rumours true? Will the chinese international students just stick to their own groups? Will my flat be really dull because of these mature and international students? Has anyone had good experiences with international/mature students?
Honestly i'd just much rather be with fellow first year UK students because i haven't heard anything positive about these guys.
Please don't view this post as ignorance. View it as sheer paranoia. I will be studying at the UoManchester by the way.
Well those rumours are more true than false tbh. I think that is the whole central Asia thing - they do like to stick to their own people and don't tend to mingle with other cultures or traditions. That's just the way they are.
But other remember other international cultures aren't like that. International could mean anyone from Belgium to USA. So, you never know and ofc the USA are very nice and often love to party over in the UK 'cause they aren't of a legal age in USA. How dull your flatmates will be will depend on them so one can really answer that question.
I haven't experienced international students, but what I've heard it can become very isolating because they often join and hang out with people from their own backgrounds. But, saying this, there's home students who have experience a dull or unpleasant first year/hall experience because their home students were very antisocial or not very forthcoming. Uni halls is generally a hit or miss thing really.
But remember, it's not an end to all things if you don't get on with your fellow flatmates. Just be civil and remember to get to know your neighbours and blockmates. It's important to understand you can be just as close to them as others are to their flatemates.
I can't speak for international students, but I'll be a mature student when I start in October. I'm 20, so only two years older than the standard first year. We're just like you 
Original post by BirdIsWord
Bruh seriously?
Yeah we have around 30/40 percent Chinese where I live... according to the cleaners when they do room inspections theirs loads of bin bags inside the flat with fly's all over.
BUT like any student.... I had a guy last year he was asian and he was so scruffy.
A lot of students are just bad tbh.
I was an erasmus student in Ireland, and I was living in university accommodation with one postgrad student who was 28 and vietnamese. an other irish, 30, and one american girl, and two other were younger irish. Well, first off, I like to think of myself as not boring just because I'm an international student. My american roommate and I did a lot of activities with one of our irish roommates, so no, we were not just keeping to ourselves. Also, there were like 30 vietnamese on my floor, and my vietnamese roommate was always hanging out with them and speaking vietnamese while we couldn't understand, so yeah sometimes you can be unlucky and meet rude people, but other than that my roommate was nice, we would eat together or have a quick chat, but she was always with her friends otherwise. Honestly, it all depends, I learned a lot from my older irish roommate , as I did from my american roommate and other younger irish roommate. And not all " mature" students are boring lol, I'm 22 ( I don't even know why it's considered mature lol, I'm basically a baby) and about to start a postgrad degree in the UK and I'm SOO looking forward to start freshers week and do all the parties and stuff ( although in my country, where I did my undergrad, there's absolutely NO student life, so maybe that's why I'm happy to finally do the whole student life stuff , maybe some postgrads won't be as enthusiastic)
European, Latin American, and African internationals are usually fine. South Asians vary. South East Asians tend to be pretty awesome. East Asians tend to stick to themselves a bit more but if you can make friends with them it's often very rewarding although for the Chinese students it's a good idea to read up on the etiquette for talking about politics (long story short: Don't). Americans are often a pain though, pray you don't get a religious one.
In more multicultural cities the differences tend to be smaller so at Manchester I'd imagine you'd be ok, plus the reputations for halls can be somewhat outdated compared to how they actually are at the time.
In more multicultural cities the differences tend to be smaller so at Manchester I'd imagine you'd be ok, plus the reputations for halls can be somewhat outdated compared to how they actually are at the time.
I was a mature undergrad in halls (32 in 1st year) and I will admit most of the international students in my flat didn't mix and would only speak to each other in their 1st language, I think they stuck together because they were quite quiet and the UK/American/Canadian/Aussie students tended to be quite loud and partied a lot, so it was more of a culture clash... on quiet nights I had some really nice chats with them, it just took a little while for them to feel relaxed.
In terms of mature students, if you want the honest answer I had more of a problem with 18/19 year old 1st years having a problem with my age rather than the other way round, they assumed I would be boring as I was 'old' they soon clicked that although I wasn't out downing shots every night I did go out frequently to bars/clubs/gigs and didn't stay at home knitting. I get why, I was closer to the age of their parents or teachers, people perceived to be in positions of 'authority' not someone they saw as a peer, but once they got to know me it was fine
The best advice I can give you is don't make assumptions about your flat mates, get to know them for who they are as people rather than making decisions about them based on their age or where they are from
In terms of mature students, if you want the honest answer I had more of a problem with 18/19 year old 1st years having a problem with my age rather than the other way round, they assumed I would be boring as I was 'old'
they soon clicked that although I wasn't out downing shots every night I did go out frequently to bars/clubs/gigs and didn't stay at home knitting. I get why, I was closer to the age of their parents or teachers, people perceived to be in positions of 'authority' not someone they saw as a peer, but once they got to know me it was fine The best advice I can give you is don't make assumptions about your flat mates, get to know them for who they are as people rather than making decisions about them based on their age or where they are from
Original post by Clur.M.
I was a mature undergrad in halls (32 in 1st year) and I will admit most of the international students in my flat didn't mix and would only speak to each other in their 1st language, I think they stuck together because they were quite quiet and the UK/American/Canadian/Aussie students tended to be quite loud and partied a lot, so it was more of a culture clash... on quiet nights I had some really nice chats with them, it just took a little while for them to feel relaxed.
In terms of mature students, if you want the honest answer I had more of a problem with 18/19 year old 1st years having a problem with my age rather than the other way round, they assumed I would be boring as I was 'old' they soon clicked that although I wasn't out downing shots every night I did go out frequently to bars/clubs/gigs and didn't stay at home knitting. I get why, I was closer to the age of their parents or teachers, people perceived to be in positions of 'authority' not someone they saw as a peer, but once they got to know me it was fine
The best advice I can give you is don't make assumptions about your flat mates, get to know them for who they are as people rather than making decisions about them based on their age or where they are from
In terms of mature students, if you want the honest answer I had more of a problem with 18/19 year old 1st years having a problem with my age rather than the other way round, they assumed I would be boring as I was 'old'
they soon clicked that although I wasn't out downing shots every night I did go out frequently to bars/clubs/gigs and didn't stay at home knitting. I get why, I was closer to the age of their parents or teachers, people perceived to be in positions of 'authority' not someone they saw as a peer, but once they got to know me it was fine The best advice I can give you is don't make assumptions about your flat mates, get to know them for who they are as people rather than making decisions about them based on their age or where they are from
Ah i see, thanks. Ill try to go in with an open mind, of course.
But ive actually been having dreams where I get to uni and my flatmates are just as ive been expecting..
I am from the EU and I am planning to study in the UK.
I definitely don't want to stick with other people speaking my language, after all, if I wanted fellow students speaking the same language as me I would just stay home.
It might be that those things are especially an issue with eg Chinese people - but I just wanted to clarify that not all international students want to stick to other internationals.
I definitely don't want to stick with other people speaking my language, after all, if I wanted fellow students speaking the same language as me I would just stay home.
It might be that those things are especially an issue with eg Chinese people - but I just wanted to clarify that not all international students want to stick to other internationals.
Original post by urbanlocations
Chinese? Enjoy that. My accommodation staff said they are the most unhygienic people there is. Most of them expect room service to come in and clean!
ahahaha¬
ahahaha¬
Wtf is this?
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