Living at home - Does it make university life rubbish?

Hi,

I was thinking of staying at home while going to university. Will it have a bad impact on me? i.e reduces the amount of friend i am able to make. etc Any past experiences or opinion would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 1

kandy666

I lived at home for my undergraduate degree, and am still at home now doing my postgraduate! (I could only afford to do a postgrad because I lived at home).

It doesn't affect you as long as you put yourself out there - join lots of clubs and societies, go to as many socials as possible, make friends on your course as well. Also, it's a real trend now for people to go to their local uni as it's more financially possible than leaving home. (At UEA 40% are home students)

Reply 2

Bill_Gates

Its great living at home, Your clothes cleaned for you, Hot food available all the time, Zero Rent payments :tongue:

Reply 3

nbee

I tried living at uni for about a couple of months, but to be honest I ended up commuting instead and Haven't looked back! Like Bill said above, also like to add in the winter, student accom is soo cold, which I can't tolerate when studying, so coming home to a log burning stove on those cold frosty nights was like heaven! :wink:

Reply 4

Nana_A

I live 2 hours the the Uni, will that be a problem?

Reply 5

nbee

Hmm 2 hours is half an hour longer than mine, but it depends how busy you timetable is. My commute consists of a drive to the boat, boat trip then a bus journey so it's not completely straight forward. Being an engineering student makes my timetable a little busy but I still manage :smile:

so I'm sure unless your a medical student you'll be fine!

Reply 6

nickth

Original post by nbee

Why is student accommodation so cold? You've got me worried now.... :colondollar:

Reply 7

nbee

Original post by nickth

Why is student accommodation so cold? You've got me worried now.... :colondollar:

Hey, well usually you'll find student accomodation is of the lower quality type, i.e. poor insulation, heating units not very efficient or programmed to turn off after every 2 hours on, or in some cases only single glazing. This is down to the expectation that students don't sometimes look after their space so the uni/developers don't spend much on improving the living quality, and students don't generally want to pay much for it either.

Also in private living, students are more often than not on a tight budget so minimise their heating bills by simply not using their boilers so much. Which is a shame if your one of the people who don't mind paying extra for heating, since if the others (only takes one other) won't; it's the case that you'll have to make do.

And finally while at uni there is always the usual gripes about the flat being cold, or returning to a freezing house. So if your lucky you'll get flatmates who don't mind the extra cost of heating just to be comfortable :wink:

.
Hope I haven't worried you to much, it may be me over reacting, but I hate being cold, nothing worse when your trying to study concentrate while feeling cold tbh. :colondollar:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 8

Simone.xox

I've just started and my commute is 20/30 minutes away.
I would advise you join loads of societies, make sure to speak to people, it's currently my mission to speak to at least one new person a lecture/seminar. If your uni isn't too far away and you're happy to live at home then go for it, look at living at home in the sense of "I am saving about £12,000"

Reply 9

janna

I could never of commuted, you have to be pretty motivated.
Late night library sesh, or catch the train home? I know what I would of chosen. Living on campus means you can nip home, then go back out to do whatever - & I never would of set foot on campus on the weekends lol.
Also makes socialising better cos it was always last minute plans for a night out.

Reply 10

ajwalsh09

I wanted to move out into halls but they were all sold out. I absolutely hate that im still at home. I advise you to move out and have the whole uni experience. You only get one opportunity to live in halls and im gutted ive missed it.

Reply 11

Pindar

Original post by Nana_A

Living at home isn't "university life", that's living at home and studying at uni.

You have to be living at uni to experience "university life". Obviously it will be harder to make friends, and just be a harder life generally, you'll just have to put in a lot more effort.