London School of Economics

London

Official Rosebery thread thing 2011

Hi all,

I'm Rafiel, prez of the committee at Rosebery.

Having seen Gareth's excellent thread on Carr Saunders, and the amount of questions regarding Rosebery, our student committee at Rosebery has also decided to create such a thread which we hope you'll find useful.

You can also ask questions and meet the whole committee (I'm sure they'll help out here too), along with meeting your future Roseberian lovers on our facebook page for your year:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/-LSE-Rosebery-Hall-2011-2012-/177589728956200

Here is a dudey slideshow I found on the LSE website:

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/summerSchools/summerSchool/accommodation/accommodationVideos/roseberryAvenue.aspx

And here is a link to Carr Saunders hall info:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1524492

Some FAQs to follow.

Mad love,

Rafiel xx

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Rafiel

IS ROSEBERY SOCIABLE?

Yes, every year it is one of the most if not the most sociable halls. The layout is also conductive to meeting people, wherever you go outside your room you’ll usually pass a few greetings. It is not unusual for people to go out 3x or more a week, and you will often find yourself going out in groups of 20+ and sometimes as many as 50 or 60 (TigerTiger Blueggrh).

DOES THE SIZE PREVENT IT FROM BEING SOCIABLE?

Not in the slightest. In general everyone knows everyone at Rosebery, but if you want to hideaway in your room there’s still scope for that.

WHAT IS THE AREA AROUND ROSEBERY LIKE?

Rosebery is situated in a truly amazing and vibrant area of London. Islington is known to be a young, trendy area, with numerous bars, cafes and restaurants (most importantly, two spoons’ close by!). Furthermore, we have the world-famous Sadler’s Wells Theatre about a 1 minute walk from Rosebery, and the world-famous Urdang dance school about a 30 second walk in the opposite direction.

Better still, we have the second biggest club in London – Fabric (our secretary lives there) – a 10 minute walk from us, and what is called ‘London’s biggest indie night’ – Propaganda club, also a 10 minute walk from us. That is situated in the O2 Academy, which also hosts many front-line gigs from well-known bands. We're an easy bus away to central areas like Leicester Square and Oxford Circus, but also very close to the trendy areas of Camden Town and Old Street.

A 2 minute walk away also lies Exmouth market, which is supposed to be a very well known market in London and has a range of outdoor cultural food stalls and other random cool stuff. LSE is a 20 minute walk away and you go through the Royal Courts of Justice which is kinda cool.

It’s a relatively safe area in London in general – Boris Johnson lives pretty close (not that that makes it any safer), and we’re fairly central if not a tad east. The area is quite peaceful though compared to most of central London and there's some decent green patches close by like Spa fields.

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH FOOD?

It’s catered for (meals around or under £3), but each floor also has its own kitchen including a fridge, freezer, hob, microwave, kettle, your own kitchen locker, a sink (well duh) and a toaster. The kitchens are pretty small, and in fresher’s week you’ll usually wake up in the morning to find them covered in various adornments of food and other outdoor appliances.

I’VE HEARD STUFF ABOUT THE BATHROOMS – HOW ARE THEY?

The bathroom refurbishments will be complete by the time you arrive (in fact they are more or less complete now). With the current boys’ set, you cannot change the temperature because LSE management thought that would save energy but actually it’s just a dumb idea. For girls though, this won’t be the case (we complained during the refurbs). The girl toilets are really good. The guy toilets are also decent, just that you can’t change the temperature and a couple of other things. You can have lots of fun with the Dyson hand dryers.

WHAT ARE THE ROOMS LIKE?

The rooms are fairly small but quite square shaped, which is great as a lot of people find the narrowness of somewhere like High Holborn a bit anti-social. You get a desk, lamp, internal phone, Ethernet port (there is also wireless which will be upgraded 3x the strength by the time you arrive), bed, and some cupboards and stuff. Oh yeah and a big cork noticeboard to put up to do lists that you’ll never do.

WHAT OTHER FACILITIES?

We have a piano room (just tuned that badboy); a spacious bar area known as the “Tipsy Beaver” which includes a brand new state of the art pool table and a table football table; a large canteen area which is also great for late night parties as it’s open 24 hours a day; a spacious and comfy TV room with Sky, a DVD player and some books & board games that I've never seen anyone use; communal washing machines, dryers and irons.

HOW MUCH IT COST?

Around £100 per week. It is the cheapest halls in LSE, often by a long shot.

DO YOU HAVE A CONDOM MACHINE?

Yeah.

WHAT ARE THE DOWNSIDES OF ROSEBERY?

Probably the facilities. You're paying about half the market rate for similar accommodation in central London, so it's to be expected. In particular, the kitchens are very small (due to be refurbed soon though). Actually I can't think of anything else to complain about. Other than that...I guess other halls in which you pay a lot more for, you get more...for example the rooms at Bankside are perhaps almost twice the size.

The other downside I guess is that at times it can be 'too social' for some people. You are always seeing people and there are always parties going on late at night and through the morning, which often make a lot of noise (there are provisions to stop this but yeah show must go on). So it's probably more difficult to do work than a lot of other halls.

(edited 13 years ago)

London School of Economics

London

Reply 2

haw92

Any idea of how much will the price increase with 5 evening meals included this year?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 3

a&f

What are the postgrads like who live at roseberry? Are there a lot of them?

Reply 4

Rafiel

haw92 - Not sure what you mean by 5 evening meals this year, perhaps you know something I don't; I don't anticipate any changes to catering at Rosebery next year. There may be small price increases in line with inflation but nothing major. The halls will still have a catered canteen and the option to cook yourself in the kitchens during your year.

a&f - the postgrads are just like any other postgrads at LSE. They're pretty cool as far as I've experienced! The committee also has a postgrad representative at Rosebery (not sure if this is the case at other halls) to ensure they get properly represented. The undergrads and postgrads are somewhat separated between two different buildings within Rosebery, but there's still a decent amount of mixing for those who want to, often in the central bar area.

There are between 300-350 students in the halls in total, I think (but don't quote me on this) it's around a 40:60 split between postgrad and undergrad, but there's no definite system.

Reply 5

haw92

Original post by Rafiel

As stated in the website:
"An evening meal service will be provided seven days a week.
IMPORTANT NEWS : Meal payment provision will be changing. All students choosing Rosebery as an accommodation option will be emailed with the change. You will then be given a chance to amend your accommodation choices should you choose."

It's 7 actually. Well alright, if you know anything, do update us here. Thanks!

Reply 6

englica

this may sound like a silly question, but are the toilets in a 'cubicle style' with gaps at the top and bottom of the doors or are they fully enclosed little area/roomthings? And how many people normally share a toilet?

Also, how much of a pain is it to move all your stuff out in between terms?

The ensuite at Bankside is what's making the decision between Bankside and Rosebury hard for me!

Reply 7

a&f

And what's the ratio like at roseberry

Reply 8

Ooo'Yeah

Original post by Rafiel

Thanks for all your help :biggrin:

It's been very useful :smile:

I was just wondering if Rosebery is quite close to shops like Tesco or Sainsburys and whether the noise is quite loud, as in can you hear it from your room coz I'm quite a light sleeper :tongue:

Reply 9

Hollie -

Heya guys!

I'm Hollie and I'm on the Student Committee at Rosebery with Rafie.

Ooo'Yeah: Our nearest shop is Budgens which is around a one minute walk away. For bigger shops, people normally walk into Angel (10 mins away) where there is a large Waitrose, a M&S and a Sainsburys.

Englica: The toilets in the Myddelton Wing are enclosed. The ones in the Rosebery Wing (which have just been redone) have gaps at the top and bottom. Moving stuff out can be a pain for those who live overseas, but each person is able to store one suitcase in the storage room over the holidays.

A&F: What ratio are you referring to? If gender, then I'd say about 50:50. If undergrad to postgrad, I'd echo what Rafie said above.

x

Reply 10

Rafiel

haw92 - Oh right, as I said I wasn't aware. I attended some catering committee meetings a few weeks ago and I was only informed of the possibility of modest price rises in line with increasing world food prices and inflation; with regards to the halls going completely catered or completely not catered, I also vitoed any of those options and opted to keep it a mix. So I'd still maintain the position that I don't think there'll be any dramatic changes in your year. My best guess is that that statement was put there as a temporary provision such that if any dramatic changes were introduced, they could say that they forewarned you; it's probably more to cover their backs. But that's only my opinion. We'll update the facebook page if anything changes.

Englica - The toilets are more 'cubicle style' as you put it, but not completely. I've put some pics up on the facebook group (a link to which is at the top of this page/in my original post). There are one or two disabled toilets as well that are completely enclosed. These new ones do have locks though - both for girls and boys. It's only the boys' showers that don't have locks at present. They're working on a solution for that though.

Yes, it is annoying to move your stuff in and out between terms - with regards to how annoying it is, I guess that depends on the person. There are always some people staying though, so you could ask them if you could leave some stuff with them (you pay to stay in between holidays). Furthermore, we have a storage area where you can store 1 large bag/suitcase over holiday periods.

a&f - if you mean girl/boy ratio, I think it's about equal but I'm not certain.

Ooo'Yeah - no worries mate, glad it's useful. Yeah we're a 2 min walk away from Budgens which closes at 11pm every night, but most people go to the town area which is a 10 min walk where there's a Sainsburys, Iceland, Waitrose etc. There's also a Tesco 10 mins the other way.

The noise can be loud and yes you can hear it from your room at times. There is a curfew though - I think it's 10pm or something where loud noise is not permitted. If you still hear it, you can ring reception from your phone in your room and let them know. A member of Rosebery staff (probably one of the four subwardens always on duty) will then track down the noise and tell them to turn it down.

Or they may start boogying to 'drop it like it's hot' at 3am. Just saying. Not like that happened after the Christmas party...

x

Reply 11

Hollie -

Ooo'Yeah: (Apologies, missed the second question) I guess it depends what you are used to and where your room is within the hall. Rosebery Avenue is a main road and so can be noisy when your window is open. The layout of Rosebery (corridors) means that noise does travel a bit, however I think this is something you get used to. The noise levels aren't as bad as I thought they would be (considering Rosebery is a sociable hall). At 11, the bar closes and people who want to socialise move to the canteen (which is open 24/7 and is pretty soundproof). Hope that helps!

Reply 12

englica

Thanks for your help :smile:

So, those of you already at Rosebury, why should I choose there instead of Bankside? :P

Reply 13

a&f

Original post by englica

Thanks for your help :smile:

So, those of you already at Rosebury, why should I choose there instead of Bankside? :P

I reckon that i've been convinced that roseberry will be better than bankside because:

1. It's more social
2. Much better location (closer to the better clubs and away from the touristy areas)
3. You aren't forced to eat in the canteen as there are at least some cooking facilities
4. It's much cheaper

Reply 14

eivoquraf

Original post by a&f

Exactly this.

Also Bankside is filled with ~~tw@ts~~ rudebois.

Reply 15

Hollie -

Both are great halls. It depends what you are looking for. If you are on a budget, then Rosebery definitely wins. If you are after more luxury, then Bankside.

Reply 16

Kneechuh

I've always been leaning to putting Rosebery as my first choice for halls, due to my priority being the social side of things. The Carr Saunders thread tempted me, but I think this has made up my mind :biggrin:

I'm gonna try and check it out on the open day (19th), but if I get the grades, I hope to be in Rosebery next year :awesome:

Reply 17

candii

Original post by Hollie -

Original post by Rafiel

Hi, I chose Rosebery as my first choice and selected that I wanted a single room but then chose at the bottom that I was flexible for sharing and NOW SEE THE ERROR OF MY WAYS.
Do you think it is likely that I will get a shared room at Rosebery, are they keen to find people to share or are the twin rooms usually oversubscribed so I may not be placed there.

Thanks

Reply 18

a&f

Original post by Rafiel