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muslims - moving away from home for university?

this is directed at any current / past muslim uni students who moved out of their home to another city for university. I'm a female in year 12. how was the change - did you fit in, was it hard to acclimatise? how did you discuss it with your family beforehand, and what type of support did they give you? what is living in accommodation like + how do you deal with uncomfortable situations + cooking and paying for food etc. I understand this is a lot but I would really appreciate if anyone could provide (some, not all if you can't) answers. thank you sm!

for context: my top choice is Edinburgh. all unis I'm thinking of applying to are at least 3 hours from home (I come from a large diverse city environment).

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

im staying in my home city for uni this year but my family were very supportive of me applying to unis further away and going there - i decided to stay as this uni is much better ranked than the others i got offers from. however the vast majority of my older cousins (all religious and practising) moved out. the one im closest to is a girl and she goes to leeds and she has had a great time so far. her accom was muslim females only which made the food situation much easier so there wasnt the risk of someone using your stuff for non-halal food or anything, she said that they all quickly became very close as none of them would go out partying so they all spent time together. my other family friends say that getting an en-suite room is ideal for wudu and stuff even if youre in a female only flat - also most unis should accommodate you if you request female only or muslims as flatmates for religious reasons youll probably get a mix of girls if you do that as there might not always be enough muslim girls specifically requesting a separated flat.

one other thing is the bad stuff - a lot of people lose touch with their religion and deen at uni as they get caught up with the crowd - my family friend at ucl said its really common especially for muslim girls who may not have had freedom before at home to suddenly do anything and everything they can, or alternatively getting coerced and peer pressured into going out with flatmates 'its only one night' turns to 'its only one drink' very fast so be mindful of your company especially in first year and freshers week when everyones going crazy