Is it better to stay at home or live on campus ??
Here's a little background info.
I currently have one offer for City university but I'm still waiting for a response from Kings. I was planning on staying at home since these unis are in London and only 30-45 mins away if I travel via the tube.
But recently, I have had this feeling of moving away from home but what's the point if I live in London ?
If I stay at home then I won't be able to experience independence however !!
What's your opinion ?
Is it better to stay at home or live on campus ???
I currently have one offer for City university but I'm still waiting for a response from Kings. I was planning on staying at home since these unis are in London and only 30-45 mins away if I travel via the tube.
But recently, I have had this feeling of moving away from home but what's the point if I live in London ?
If I stay at home then I won't be able to experience independence however !!
What's your opinion ?
Is it better to stay at home or live on campus ???
I think it's good to move out, especially in the first year. This way you're able to make friends easily and you're still able to live at home for years 2 and 3.
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If you can get away with staying home, I'd do that. The amount of money you'll save alone would make it worth it. If you're that close via tube then you really shouldn't have a problem going out and socializing if you want to even though you'll be at home.
Imperial is my firm choice, UCL is my insurance. UCL may be on the other side of London from me, but I'm living at home irrespective of which one I end up at. Living somewhere like London, the accommodation fee would just be a waste of money. And I wouldn't worry about social life, since you'd get to know your way around the area anyway, as well as where your friends live. Plus, you don't have to have Antarctic-style showers every morning, survive off cold pasta and tinned beans, or sleep on a rock hard 4-foot-long bed.
There's advantages and disadvantages of both 
I had friends who comunted to local unis but in the end regretted it. It can be a good way of getting a bit of independence, social life and the experience of halls, but obviously this comes at a financial cost and you may or may not enjoy living with your flat mates
For an overview of pros and cons, here's our megathread: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2405506
you can always leave halls if you don't like em. You'l get replaced by someone else. It's like that at my uni
Original post by Dylann
I think it's good to move out, especially in the first year. This way you're able to make friends easily and you're still able to live at home for years 2 and 3.
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I think that's a good idea actually. Just live in halls for the first year.
I like that. But when I think about it. The halls aren't even close to the uni
Original post by kingoftheting
If you can get away with staying home, I'd do that. The amount of money you'll save alone would make it worth it. If you're that close via tube then you really shouldn't have a problem going out and socializing if you want to even though you'll be at home.
Yeah, I really just want to move out for the experience. Travelling from where I live to the uni isn't any hassle but the cost is !!
That's true...I just feel like if I stay at home then I'll be missing out on more rather than if I lived in halls
Original post by Nuclear Ghost
Imperial is my firm choice, UCL is my insurance. UCL may be on the other side of London from me, but I'm living at home irrespective of which one I end up at. Living somewhere like London, the accommodation fee would just be a waste of money. And I wouldn't worry about social life, since you'd get to know your way around the area anyway, as well as where your friends live. Plus, you don't have to have Antarctic-style showers every morning, survive off cold pasta and tinned beans, or sleep on a rock hard 4-foot-long bed.
I agree with what you're saying. Lol those are my reasons for wanting to stay at home too.....so I can avoid the cold showers
But wouldn't you feel as if you're missing out on the experience of being independent ?
Original post by SilverstarDJ
I had friends who comunted to local unis but in the end regretted it. It can be a good way of getting a bit of independence, social life and the experience of halls, but obviously this comes at a financial cost and you may or may not enjoy living with your flat mates
I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons of living at halls instead of living at home.
I've been told that i'll regret commuting to uni and i've been told that if I don't experience independence then I never will
Original post by Shanzii
I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons of living at halls instead of living at home.
I've been told that i'll regret commuting to uni and i've been told that if I don't experience independence then I never will
I've been told that i'll regret commuting to uni and i've been told that if I don't experience independence then I never will
what about when you move out and get a job/family? lol
Original post by ChickenMadness
what about when you move out and get a job/family? lol
Lol that's true. I'll deal with that when it happens. I've got a part time job so I know the struggle of working.
I'm pretty independent but I just want to move out already
Not so long ago I was in the same boat as you, but I've decided that if I go to a London University, I'll live at home. I really can't justify paying all that money for accommodation (and as you have pointed out, it's not even that close) when I live no more than 40 minutes away. Can anyone give me a really solid reason on why I should live at university accommodation?
Original post by Shanzii
I agree with what you're saying. Lol those are my reasons for wanting to stay at home too.....so I can avoid the cold showers
But wouldn't you feel as if you're missing out on the experience of being independent ?
But wouldn't you feel as if you're missing out on the experience of being independent ?
I'm already independent myself. Living with my family doesn't affect that.
It depends on a variety of different things:
- your social habits
- your financial situation
- your course
- your relationships
If you're a very social person, outside London I'd say try halls for a year, but in London...you might actually find that many of your friends are travelling back from nights out late as well, and having a 40-minute tube journey might not be attractive, but other people may be contending with 20-30 minutes from nights out anyway. It also depends how you socialise - if you like clubbing and parties, you might miss out on those, but only if you let yourself miss out. You won't not be invited just because you live at home, so make the most of the invitations, see if you can crash on someone's floor, and you should still have a lot to do!
London is obviously super-expensive. Yes, you'll get less funding if you live at home, but is £4k and only paying for transport (maybe contributing to bills/food, idk how you'd work it out with your family) better than £7k for everything, where £6k is already wiped out for accommodation? Do you have a job at the moment, and could you still do it if you moved for Uni?
How much contact time will you have? If you're on campus twice a week for a couple of hours, it might not be worthwhile living there, but if you're in 9-5 every day, the commute would feel worse (but then again, you might have a commute anyway, even in first year in Halls). How much of your course will be asssessed by group work? This is something I've found a bit difficult this year, when I'm living at home (1 hour+ away) and I only have group work set once a month or so. It's much more difficult to co-ordinate group work if you live away. But then again, the University has to accommodate mature students with families and other repsonsibilities, and can't expect people to instantly be free all week long to do group work...it just might take a bit of negotiating!
Do you have close friends at home that you would still see? Is there a partner who would be staying local, who you want to be near? I have 2 friends also commuting (to other Unis) living locally, and it's great for us, because we can meet regularly, and I don't just have my Uni friends, but them too. If I just had my family around here, I think I'd feel very different about living at home. My boyfriend lives 3 hours away though, and he'd be closer if I lived at Uni this year. But I'd have less time to see him, because I'd have to work more hours to fund my accommodation!
It's a really difficult decision to make, but it was 100% right for me to live at home this year. I'd already done a year in halls, one in a student house, and one in a solo appartment on a year abroad. At home, you already live with those people and know their habits, however annoying they might be. In halls or a shared house, you could get the loveliest, cleanest people ever, or you could get absolute idiots, and trust me, living with the latter group can be hell! If you can afford it, maybe go for it, and you can always change your mind for later years (or even that year, if your folks are cool!), but for the distance you'd have to travel, I can't see it having a huge impact, further than, "Oh you live at home...are your parents really protective or something?" type questions, which tbh are only asked by rich or judgemental kids (the first group are fine, but a little innocent, I guess).
- your social habits
- your financial situation
- your course
- your relationships
If you're a very social person, outside London I'd say try halls for a year, but in London...you might actually find that many of your friends are travelling back from nights out late as well, and having a 40-minute tube journey might not be attractive, but other people may be contending with 20-30 minutes from nights out anyway. It also depends how you socialise - if you like clubbing and parties, you might miss out on those, but only if you let yourself miss out. You won't not be invited just because you live at home, so make the most of the invitations, see if you can crash on someone's floor, and you should still have a lot to do!
London is obviously super-expensive. Yes, you'll get less funding if you live at home, but is £4k and only paying for transport (maybe contributing to bills/food, idk how you'd work it out with your family) better than £7k for everything, where £6k is already wiped out for accommodation? Do you have a job at the moment, and could you still do it if you moved for Uni?
How much contact time will you have? If you're on campus twice a week for a couple of hours, it might not be worthwhile living there, but if you're in 9-5 every day, the commute would feel worse (but then again, you might have a commute anyway, even in first year in Halls). How much of your course will be asssessed by group work? This is something I've found a bit difficult this year, when I'm living at home (1 hour+ away) and I only have group work set once a month or so. It's much more difficult to co-ordinate group work if you live away. But then again, the University has to accommodate mature students with families and other repsonsibilities, and can't expect people to instantly be free all week long to do group work...it just might take a bit of negotiating!
Do you have close friends at home that you would still see? Is there a partner who would be staying local, who you want to be near? I have 2 friends also commuting (to other Unis) living locally, and it's great for us, because we can meet regularly, and I don't just have my Uni friends, but them too. If I just had my family around here, I think I'd feel very different about living at home. My boyfriend lives 3 hours away though, and he'd be closer if I lived at Uni this year. But I'd have less time to see him, because I'd have to work more hours to fund my accommodation!
It's a really difficult decision to make, but it was 100% right for me to live at home this year. I'd already done a year in halls, one in a student house, and one in a solo appartment on a year abroad. At home, you already live with those people and know their habits, however annoying they might be. In halls or a shared house, you could get the loveliest, cleanest people ever, or you could get absolute idiots, and trust me, living with the latter group can be hell! If you can afford it, maybe go for it, and you can always change your mind for later years (or even that year, if your folks are cool!), but for the distance you'd have to travel, I can't see it having a huge impact, further than, "Oh you live at home...are your parents really protective or something?" type questions, which tbh are only asked by rich or judgemental kids (the first group are fine, but a little innocent, I guess).
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