The things I wish people had told me before starting uni

Hi, in your opinion what is the sound volume like with having roommates?
and what is Freshers Week like?
I have a disability and loud noises/combination of loud noises can affect me really bad; anxiety etc.

PS: I love this thread, I've been wondering I should commute or live of campus and this has helped me with my decission.

Not Op, but I had a flatmate who liked to play disney songs full blast for a couple of hours a day myself but it will honestly vary from person to person. I had earplugs and noise cancelling headphones to get me through it as i don't like loud noises much myself.

Thanks, I'm the same with loud noises. I hope if I do decide that to move to Uni Halls, I don't get noisy roommate

Thanks, I'm the same with loud noises. I hope if I do decide that to move to Uni Halls, I don't get noisy roommate

Hi, in your opinion what is the sound volume like with having roommates?
and what is Freshers Week like?
I have a disability and loud noises/combination of loud noises can affect me really bad; anxiety etc.

PS: I love this thread, I've been wondering I should commute or live of campus and this has helped me with my decission.

Not really guaranteed tbh. Everyone in my flat ticked 'quiet' but it's now one of the nosiest flats and I hate it.

Oh wow we didn't have that option. We had mixed or single gender and what halls we wanted to live in.

God damn. What uni is this? Hertfordshire? There's no other uni i know with a campus full of druggies i hear it's mainly London unis with this problem actually

Starting to think about going to uni is such an exciting time; choosing whether to stay in halls or commute, talking to possible future course mates, visits around your new city and uni etc. Soon enough you'll have moved into halls, your family will have helped you to unpack and left and now you're sat in your box room on an extremely uncomfortable single bed (double if you're lucky.) If you're one of the sociable ones like me you will venture into the living area or start knocking on your flatmates doors to see if anyone is in. These first few weeks or even months are a magical blur, you have this all new sense of freedom which you didn't have before, new friends for life and a love of partying.

Soon the dreaded assignments start piling up and the amount of lecture and seminar notes you need to catch up on becomes unbearable because you were too hungover to attend. All the dark nights you spend in your room alone catching up on work that you missed or that you didn't understand. Or the times when no one wants to do anything and are just sat in their rooms so you go back to yours feeling pretty bored and lonely, no one ever mentions these things when applying for uni. Everyone expects uni to be one big sociable party and to some extent the first couple of months are but soon you'll run out of money and have assignments and exams that you need to think about. You may be sat here now thinking ''it doesn't matter it's only first year'' and while you're right your grades don't count (well for some courses they do) but it doesn't mean they aren't important. The first year provides knowledge that you will need to use in second and third year so it's better to learn it now than next year when everyone else is talking about it in a seminar and you have no idea what they're talking about!

Sex! Everyone's doing it and it's all that everyone ever talks about! Uni is a place where no one cares if you're a virgin or not they aren't going to judge you for it and in fact they will make it their aim to get you laid at some point in the first year. Casual sex is something that is quite big but it doesn't mean that you have to take part in it. I know a few people who have come to uni having never kissed anyone and now they're sleeping with a different boy every week and saying how they've lost themselves. If you want to have sex with someone then do it, sex is fun but don't do it just because you feel like you have to because everyone else is... Do it because you want to.

Everyone on campus seems to be doing some kind of drug or illegal high. Once again don't feel pressured into doing it. Drugs aren't cool.

The friends you made in freshers week that you thought were for life turned out not be (although in some cases this doesn't happen.) In the midst of freshers when everyone is looking around trying to find their new BFF you meet her/him they seem nice and friendly and you seem to have a lot in common. In the first few weeks it's like you're joined at the hip but soon once you've made more friends you will realise that they weren't as great as when you first met them and their personality kinda grates on you but it's okay to feel that way because hopefully they'll feel the same way about you.

When joining uni everyone expects to love their flatmates, this barely happens. Your flatmates are just a group of students who all wanted the same accommodation as you and wanted a mixed or single gender flat. It is very rare that you and your flatmates will be best friends but of course this happens too. You'll have stupid arguments about who used Ben's pan and who's turn it is to take the bin out. I'm not saying label all your food (although one of my flatmates did that!) but there will be times when someone steals some of your milk or a bit of your cheese because as a student these are seen as an essential!

I hope that I haven't put you off moving into halls entirely but please just think of everything before deciding. There will be many lonely nights (like this one I'm having right now) where you'll be sat in your room probably avoiding your flatmates like the plague. But in the long run all this will be worth it once you have graduated and are hopefully getting a well paid job that you love. If you have any questions please feel free to either inbox me or comment on here and I will reply ASAP

You went to university to party.
You ran out of money and realised you needed to work.
You're now complaining about it.

I'm looking at loads at the moment (St Andrews, UCL, Kings, Queen Mary, Bath, Southampton, Middlesex and more). Also I'm a re-sit so I have a few more months before I have to decide. However, I like to plan ahead.

I'm looking at loads at the moment (St Andrews, UCL, Kings, Queen Mary, Bath, Southampton, Middlesex and more).