NTU Clifton Campus - New Hall 2013

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TV - There are no aerial sockets in the rooms or kitchen and NO signal from an indoor aerial.

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Student Com, the internet provider here, do a TV Service but DO NOT get it, it's a waste of money and doesn't work or have many channels (use www.TVCatchup.com instead, you will still need a TV Licence to watch live TV but only if your laptop is plugged in)

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There is a cable hole in the desk and the shelves above it

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Ethernet (internet) sockets - You will find a 2 metre Ethernet cable in your room, but this won't reach very far (room is 270cm wide from desk wall to bed wall) so get a cheap Wireless router from ebay and use that as the WiFi they provide is not good. (We have one in our flat and it's much better than Student Com WiFi)

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You may have seen 2 Ethernet sockets in the 360 photos but only ONE works. NONE of the sockets in the kitchen currently work either ("It's for future expansion reasons", they say)

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Bed

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Under bed Storage - You have to lift the mattress up to get to it (dimensions of everything will follow in another post)

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Bed Length - The bed is just about 2m long (6.6 ft) as opposed to 6ft of other beds (Get the right sheets!)

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En Suite - Overall quite good, except the shower head is fixed in place, no turning it, and the shower curtain will be "sucked" towards you as there's not a lot of space in there and the curtain has an awkward placement.

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There is a Toilet Brush provided, along with a waste paper bin in the bedroom.

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There is a mirror here and a full length one behind the wardrobe door.

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The cistern for the toilet is inaccessible (don't bring Bloo blocks)

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It's a wet room, don't bring mats unless they're waterproof

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The towel rack in here is not heated

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No Sound proofing - the walls are great at keeping the sound of your left and right neighbours out, but the doors are NOT, you can hear the sound of slippers on the hallway carpet from in your room.

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This is most evident whilst people above you are having a party, you can hear the music loudly

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If your room is behind the stairwell you will also be able to hear people stomping up and down them in the night

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No Net Curtains - Especially if you're on the ground floor, find a way of putting some up otherwise you will never have the "blackout"style curtains open and the fluorescent lighting can take it's toll.

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RFID Locks - the locks on the blocks, flats, and rooms all use an RFID key fob

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There is a "latch" on the flat doors that people use to keep the door open. DON'T let them do it! People have just walked into one flat in new hall during a party and taken everything from the kitchen

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There is no consistent mobile signal at least on the lower floors, we have to sit by the window to make and recieve a call

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Fun Fact: If left without signal for too long, a mobile phone will stop looking for one completely! In this case, you will go the whole day without realising people are trying to get hold of you!(restart you phone if this happens)

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The weather will be cold most of the time outside but inside the heating is always on (there is a thermostat on the radiators: 3-4 is a good setting)

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Bring Night & Day Nurse - you WILL need it! (I'm not kidding, You WILL!)

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Seriously, you will get a cold in the first term!

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And, no it's not 'flu, it's a cold

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Bring Burn medication/gel/plasters - they take about 3 weeks to heal

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To get to ASDA from NTU Clifton take the 4 or 1 bus to county hall then cross the road and take the 10 to ASDA(it's about 10-15 mins, the same as walking to Morrisons and Iceland in Clifton, no bus there)

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Getting the Academic Year bus pass for £199 is a MUST, it is put on your student card and gives you unlimited travel. (The scanners on the bus will say 99 days left but that will reset to 99 when it gets to 0, for some reason the display system doesn't like numbers longer than 2 digits)

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Look for Morrisons in Clifton on Google street view and around the corner is a farm-foods, Wilkinson etc.

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Don't worry if you don't drink, literally half of my flat doesn't and I imagine it's the same in all flats (the drinkers don't want you to know that!)

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Take lots of photos and videos of the room before you touch anything! There is a damages form (in the back of the blue booklet they give you) that HAS to be filled in and taken to reception within 24 HOURS of your arrival or you may not get your deposit back!

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Any damage done in the stairwell of your block will be divided between all of you (no one will be decent and own up, so don't expect everything back) in the first term alone we had a fire extinguisher stolen and one of the extinguisher's cover glass smashed £5 total each so far.

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The washing machine costs £2.20 and the drier £1, Bring LOTS of 20p coins (or 10p coins but no less)!

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There is a change machine in the library but that's half way across campus and is temperamental with folded notes, spitting them out.

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Also bring Colour Catcher sheets, the machines say don't use them but no one cares.

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The fire detectors measure Carbon monoxide, heat, humidity etc. as well as smoke so they will NOT go off if you leave the en-suite open after a shower or spray deoderent

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You will have a fire drill only once (probably early in the morning), every other time it's the detectors that set it off, remember you WILL have them but it's probably just a severly smoked out kitchen at 4am (Who does toast at 4am?!)

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You WILL be woken up at stupid-o-clock in the morning (about 3-4am) by 'kids' coming back from a night out so good earplugs are ESSENTIAL!

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They are usually drunk out of their brains so being on the ground floor can be nerve-racking, don't leave your window open at night and it'll be fine.

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There are NO LIFTS, some blocks have only automatic doors on the ground floor to accommodate disabled students (e.g. Daybrook), so hauling heavy cases up the many flights of stairs will be tiring.

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There is disabled parking between the blocks and ramps to it if your block is on a different level

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It must use those blue badges but i've never seen anyone check, you shouldn't have to pay for a permit though.

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If you live away from clifton campus you can get a parking permit (from George Elliot building last time) but not if you live on clifton campus and are not disabled

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Of course, they can't stop anyone from bringing a car and parking outside the campus. e.g. in clifton estate.

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The fridges can be amazingly cold, so much so that on full some of your food will freeze

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Fun Fact: If you get the temperature just right the bubbles in fizzy drinks will freeze leaving the drink as a liquid

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There are 6 people in our flat and we have 2 fridge freezers

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The kettle and electric Hob (I thought it was induction but it's not) are really slow. (Get yourself a £25 induction hob off amazon to speed things up )

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The extractor fan in the kitchen turns itself on automatically when an appliance is used in any socket at the worktop.

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Only the light can be turned off manually, and it still makes a noise.

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The kitchen is equipped with:

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Henry Hoover

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Iron

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Dustpan & brush

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Ironing board

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Mop & bucket

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Broom

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Blue recycling bin - emptied week-daily, no cleaner at weekends

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Red waste bin - may not be emptied by cleaner but the colours correspond with the outside bins

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Microwave, toaster, kettle

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We have 1 oven and hob between 6 of us - 8 and 10 person flats will have 2 or more

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Some flats of 8 people may still only have 2 fridge freezers!

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The kitchen door has an alarm on it and cannot be left open for too long before it goes off

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The microwave will not fit large plates, they will fit in the cupboards, but only on their side.

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The drawers in here are centimetres too small for a divider so they are all a mess with cutlery (Dimensions in next post)

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Cleaners come every weekday to empty the bin but will clean properly one morning of the week (for us in Ryton (R-block) it's Friday morning)

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Get a £1 divider from ASDA for the draining board, you will almost certainly get flatmates leaving plates on there for days on end

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You can't have a deep-fat fryer (fire reasons), but if you want a slow cooker you have to sit with it all day 'till it's done. Rice cookers are still fine though, and probably a must have (rice sticks to a pan) unless you have boil in the bag rice (go to Farmfoods or Lidl they're cheaper, rice is rice after all).

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Floor 2 is the "party floor" in all blocks, if you are on that floor be prepared to not get any sleep at all. (I'm not joking it's nearly constant partying at night, their kitchen must be a mess)