Living at Home VS Living in university accomodation

This poll is closed

Would you live at home or go away?

Away 83%

Home17%

Total votes: 6

Could any university students please help us out. WE (year 13 students) most likely will be stating university next year so do you have any advice.

Thanks

Reply 1

scapestudentliving

This is a very open ended question and hopefully I can offer some advice.

When looking for accommodation you have many different options. The university you are applying for may have their own student halls which are usually shared en suite rooms and are very reasonably priced. With these though there is a specific criteria that you will need to fit in order to be entitled to these rooms. This can be based on earnings or your location. I know that Queen Mary University of London do not allow students that live within the M25 to stay in their halls.
University halls though are perfect for first years as they are conveniently located to your Uni and encourage you to interact with other students. You should look into this and apply as soon as possible, as they usually have a very high demand.

Private accommodation is also another option. This is usually more expensive than university halls but can offer a lot more value for money. Our private accommodation offers all inclusive rents, on site gym, 24 hour reception, communal and private study rooms, communal kitchen and other designed facilities. You also have more of a choice with private accommodation depending on what your budget will allow and can ask to be allocated with your friends.

Flat or House Shares could also be an option for you guys as this will cut the cost per week. You will however have additional charges to pay including bills as these are not usually included.

There are a number of accommodation listing websites that will be able to offer you further information on accommodation in the area you are looking to book.

Things you should remember are;

Always check for hidden costs and ensure you have read your contract
Check the area you are looking to live in and make sure that you are comfortable here
If it looks to good to be true - it probably is and there is something you are not being told!
Check that they secure their deposits through a third party such as the DPS
Often student finance alone does not cover all of your accommodation and other costs. You should work out a budget before booking and make sure that you stick to it. You do not wish to be tied into something you cannot afford.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

Good luck with your search!

- Ellie

Reply 2

megga9272

I'd go for it and move into student accommodation!
Im currently in my first year of nursing and I stayed at home while studying and you seriously miss out on so much.
I am hoping to change programmes for sept'14 and am looking at moving into halls. Its the only way to get a proper uni experience and it is a once in a lifetime thing.
If you hate it, you could always move back home for your second and third year but I would advise you to go for it!
I didn't realise quite how much I would regret staying at home.

Reply 3

Origami Bullets

Have you read this thread? http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2405506

Reply 4

jelly1000

Original post by ganjasaurus.

Could any university students please help us out. WE (year 13 students) most likely will be stating university next year so do you have any advice.

Thanks

Personally I would advise moving out where possible at least for first year. Yes it is more expensive but you have an instant pool of people to hang out with at first (and for the rest of the year if you become friends), its convenient and you can go out without worrying about how you are going to get home or upsetting the parents. Oh not to mention the convenience, especially if like at my uni most of the halls are on campus. However as Scape has pointed out some unis do exclude those who live near from university owned halls.

Reply 5

jonathanemptage

I would say definitely move out especially if your journey will be over 30 minuets long Because any longer than that will impact your social life You will see a lot of people saying commuting is cheaper while that may be true in some cases it is not universal true if your journey is over an hour your looking at £20 centre to centre and thats with a rail card you will see people commuting 2 2.5 hours to uni on this forum or people that used to travel that far which is dumb especially seeing as your time tables can be very different from your A-levels at school or collage you were probadly used to finishing at about 3:30 pm at uni lectures can finish at 8 or 9 at night I had one at 8pm the days can also be very long starting at 9 finishing at 7 or 8 is not fun (means you'll have to get used to missing the Simpsons).

Now these long days are hard and tiring I'mean would you really want a long commute after spending 10 to 11 hour day at uni I know I wouldn't fancy it lucidly I lived in halls. halls also aid your social life the first night your guided by the angles ( basically second years who volunteer to help students settle in) to some of the bigger clubs usually walk about or some other large chain where you'l probably hang out with your hall mates and meet other students. (quite coincidentally I met a guy who I went to school with who then quite by chance chose the same collage and evidentially uni as me). It's worth mentioning Sports clubs and soc's meet at night often have a weekly social and then do their activity on another night so you'll want to be down for that also if you represent the uni in a sport you'' have club practise which also funnily enough takes place at night so you'll wan to be down for that not to mention random night out with hall mates course mates just random mates you may have met and sometimes halls parties or movie nights birthdays etc etc so halls will help the social life .

Money of course is a consideration but halls can be very cheap I know the cheapest (and by reputation most social) at my uni were £60 per week this included broad band electricity and water ensuite was a little more but then it was ensuite and included these things as well. I mentioned travel cost above in my first year I was in 3 days a week while that doesn't seem a lot you also need to study which is usually 2 hours for each contact hour recommended it should work out to 35 hours a week study including scheduled sessions. those 3 days it would have cost me 1 hour and £20 to get to uni thats £60 per week which is the same as the cheap halls if I was in 5 days (it can happen) it would be £100 so more than ensuite halls.

so in conclusion go in to halls not only will it improve your social life but you may find it's actually cheaper.