astor college, frances gardner or schafer house?

was just after some more info about the residences listed above and wandered if anyone who has lived/is living in these residences can tell me more about them. the accomodation booklet and website don't seem to have much info in them. was hoping for answers to the following q's:

which one is the best for undergraduates? (i.e. has the largest first-year population)
are the rooms in astor college all single rooms?
which one has the best facilities (i.e. computer data points etc etc)
which would you recommend? alternatively, are there any other decent self-catering residences that you would recommend.

thanks for your help!

Reply 1

nikki

9

I thought you don't get a choice in which you stay in...

All of them except for one (but I don't remember which) claim to have computer data points though.

Reply 2

n3mesis

you definetly cannot choose the accomodation you want, but they will try to give you the one that best fits your 1st choice options. UHm some of my friends say the ons up in Camden are in a bad area but again sociably they are fine.

I lived up in schafer house which was nice and my room had a computer point.

Reply 3

kay4

OP

ok sorry guys...i could have sworn that the first time i looked through the form there was a preferred residence bit but obviously not lol.

i definitely need a single room (possibly en suite) residence within close proximity to UCL (i.e. no more than 10/15 mins walk), and must be self-catered. how can i maximise my chances of securing such a residence by filling in the form in a particular way??

any help would be much appreciated.

Reply 4

n3mesis

Mybe you could choose only the ones thAT FIT YOUR CRITERIA!

Reply 5

ba_ba1

10

kay4

ok sorry guys...i could have sworn that the first time i looked through the form there was a preferred residence bit but obviously not lol.

i definitely need a single room (possibly en suite) residence within close proximity to UCL (i.e. no more than 10/15 mins walk), and must be self-catered. how can i maximise my chances of securing such a residence by filling in the form in a particular way??

any help would be much appreciated.

well schafer and astor are decent and close to uni (astor being a bit closer). FG is further out (about 15-20 mins walk), but its ensuite. FG definately have the nicest rooms. Schafer has pretty decent rooms but in general, the halls are quite antisocial since the rooms are split into flats of 5 (or sometimes 3) rather than having corridors.

Reply 6

Bape

2

I live in north london so i can get to ucl quite easily within an hour, but would like to spend the first year in halls, but cant really justify spending all that money if im going to live almost as far, so am going to apply for halls as close to the uni as possible. Are these very popular, so giving me a low chance of getting them? I think i read somewhere that its quite likely people 19 and under may have to share, is that correct? Also, is hall allocation done on a first come first serve bais, so should i apply early or could i give a bit of time to chew over my decision for my insurance.

Reply 7

tetedupet

11

Bape

but cant really justify spending all that money if im going to live almost as far,

all accommodation is within like, 30/20min walk

Bape

so am going to apply for halls as close to the uni as possible.

you can't apply for specific UCL halls, only intercollegiate halls, and there's no guarentee you will get your choice; you specify a price range you are prepared to pay

Bape

I think i read somewhere that its quite likely people 19 and under may have to share, is that correct?

yes

Bape

Also, is hall allocation done on a first come first serve bais

no

Reply 8

nikki

9

n3mesis

Mybe you could choose only the ones thAT FIT YOUR CRITERIA!

Maybe you should stop making comments about things you know nothing about. If you had looked at the UCL accommodation form, you would know that you can only choose self-catered or catered, a maximum price and one of the criteria e.g. single room, en suite, proximity.

Bape

I live in north london so i can get to ucl quite easily within an hour, but would like to spend the first year in halls, but cant really justify spending all that money if im going to live almost as far, so am going to apply for halls as close to the uni as possible. Are these very popular, so giving me a low chance of getting them? I think i read somewhere that its quite likely people 19 and under may have to share, is that correct? Also, is hall allocation done on a first come first serve bais, so should i apply early or could i give a bit of time to chew over my decision for my insurance.

I think you can still apply for accommodation but then decide to not take it (someone correct me if I'm wrong) so you could just decide to stay at home if you're offered something that you think is too far away.

I don't think there's really a perfect set of options for the form, it'll all depend on what people put on their forms this year. At least when you don't get to choose your own accommodation, you don't pick somewhere and then find that you would have preferred somewhere else, you can just blame whoever decided which accommodation you got! :wink:

Reply 9

Sopharama

You can always apply, then decide you don't want to take it. You can move out any time within the first term without breaking the contract.
Definitely don't get to choose, sorry mate. Camden Halls are v rough, but there are advantages ie not living right on campus, cool area, more people in one hall. It's not really a bad area - it's scary at first but the worst I've had are several rastas trying to chat me up...I've come back in the middle of the night several times and I'v never been scared, mainly cause it's always so busy. The halls are a bit up the road, but there's always the bus.
Most of the halls are within max 10 mins from uni. Ifor, Max Rayne and the Lodge are 40 mins, but the buses are good, especially if you're lazy like me. And one's the 29, which is free unless a conducter guy gets on in which case you're screwed if you're not by an oyster card machiney thing. But that's another story.
Main advice: Whatever you do, DON'T tick the box that says "If the only place we can offer you is shared, would you take it?", unless you really don't mind/want to pay next to nothing. Everyone who ticked that last year got but in a double, regardless of putting that the single most important thing was a single room. I'm alright though, I scared my roomie away within a month.
Applying early probably helps too.
You can only choose between intercollegiate, pot luck which ucl ones you get into. Though I have a friend at Nutford House who says it's great.
And to the guy/girl who says they NEED a single, ensuite, self-catered room close to uni? Better put your prices high, mate. You're at uni in the middle of London - you don't really get to choose that much...

Reply 10

james1989

Hi,
With regards to pricing, is £150 a reasonable amount for a limit?
Regards James

Reply 11

nikki

9

james1989

Hi,
With regards to pricing, is £150 a reasonable amount for a limit?
Regards James

I seem to recall that the highest prices in last year's accommodation booklet for self-catering were £130 per week. The prices apparently go up every year, so that's probably more or less ok. When you apply for accommodation, just look in the booklet to see which are the highest price and make sure you've put down a figure that's higher.

Reply 12

Sopharama

£150's plenty...I doubt many people will put down that much so you get a pretty nice place for that...Though if your paying it by yourself out your loan, with no other support, then be prepared to be very skint for the year....

Reply 13

rraze

6

why does everyone hate shared rooms? It's not like it's literally a double bed. Am I right in thinking it's just two minirooms in one big room?

Reply 14

tetedupet

11

rraze

why does everyone hate shared rooms? It's not like it's literally a double bed. Am I right in thinking it's just two minirooms in one big room?

I assume it's one room with twin beds

Reply 15

dcarsten

Does anyone out there know if some of these residences are only for undergraduates or only for graduates?
I'm coming over from the United States for a graduate programme in September so I'll be living in a student residence. However it doesn't say anywhere whether any of these residences are specifically for graduates or undergrads....or if all of them are mixed.
My brother is over there right now living in Langdon Close and he seems to think some of the halls don't have any grad students.
Does anyone know anything about this?

Reply 16

PsychNick

8

rraze

why does everyone hate shared rooms? It's not like it's literally a double bed. Am I right in thinking it's just two minirooms in one big room?

No-one wants a shared room in case you don't get on with your room-mate. We're all likeable, nice people (ahem) but sometimes peeps just conflict. Also, imagine you're sharing with someone who comes in shouting at 5am when you've got an exam the next day or something, or vice versa if you're living with a stick in the mud who won't let you play music. And, you've only just met this person, there's a level of trust that you've got to instantly establish with a complete stranger!

I put my absolute maximum on the accomodation form by the way as £120 - i hope to obviously pay a bit less than that.

Reply 17

n3mesis

tetedupet

I assume it's one room with twin beds[/QUOT

Yep its one rom with two bed in it. :eek:

Reply 18

ba_ba1

10

dcarsten

Does anyone out there know if some of these residences are only for undergraduates or only for graduates?
I'm coming over from the United States for a graduate programme in September so I'll be living in a student residence. However it doesn't say anywhere whether any of these residences are specifically for graduates or undergrads....or if all of them are mixed.
My brother is over there right now living in Langdon Close and he seems to think some of the halls don't have any grad students.
Does anyone know anything about this?

all i know is that schafer have a separate block in the building for grad students and 2nd/3rd years.

Reply 19

janesmith

from my experience all the accommodation has its ups and downs
some are close, some are far
some have 6 people in a flat, some have 400 people in a building
all are easy to get to after a night out
some are so close to the court and rocket whilst others are near more london pubs and bars

but theres no point in selecting where to live. it may have changed but before even if you gave your preferences they put you anywhere. u said u want to share and they give u single, they dont look at your interests. so wherever you end up make the most of it cos theres a reason why you were put there. a lot of the accommodation is getting refurbished and to be honest ive seen a fare share of uni accom and ucl is actually one of the nicest

astor college, frances gardner or schafer house?

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