Student Houses vs. Halls

im sorry to be starting a new thread for this, it's just that i get the feeling that the official "university accomodation" thread is only really looked at by ppl starting at bristol in 2007...

this is basically directed at those who lived in a student house in their first yr or are there at the moment...

do u feel like u missed out on anything by not living in a hall in your 1st yr? do u think u made less freinds because of it? or your yr wasnt as fun as u would have liked it?

im thinking about either hawthorns or winkworth. anyone there at the moment?

thanks in advance :smile:

and sorry again for starting a new thread! please don't kill me! *hides*

Reply 1

oblivious

13

Halls all the way, I wouldn't have met as many great people if I was in a student house in my opinion.

Reply 2

abood

they said something about this on the actual student houses website (can't be bothered to link...just click on 'S' in the bristol index). If you click the individual houses you'll find people posted their opinions. obviously they're mostly positive since they're on the bloody site...but from what I gather its not TOO bad unless you find it difficult making friends spontaneously.

Reply 3

Marinus

what about that Orbital thing ? Is it a really good society/organisation ?

Reply 4

andy5788

14

From what I can tell Orbital made a real effort for the first term/term and a half and then it slipped off.. But I'm in halls so I'm not 100%.

And for the record Winkworth has a fantastic location...

Reply 5

GYinWL

9

I lived in Winkworth House last year and it was great! You get to meet plenty of people as there are seven people in your flat, and 3 other flats in your block! It took 15 minutes to get into Uni but you have to trek up Park Street everytime which is a massive steep hill if you don't know, which is not too good... On the plus side, it's all downhill on the way home AND you're right next to the city centre where the clubs and bars are.

Orbital did a great job organising events too.

The biggest factor for me choosing Winkworth was that every room is en-suite, which is awesome!

Reply 6

kvithani

OP

geoff_yin

I lived in Winkworth House last year and it was great! You get to meet plenty of people as there are seven people in your flat, and 3 other flats in your block! It took 15 minutes to get into Uni but you have to trek up Park Street everytime which is a massive steep hill if you don't know, which is not too good... On the plus side, it's all downhill on the way home AND you're right next to the city centre where the clubs and bars are.

Orbital did a great job organising events too.

The biggest factor for me choosing Winkworth was that every room is en-suite, which is awesome!

thanks soo much for posting!...so if u could choose again, would u go for a hall? or winkworth?...and yeah the en-suite-ness is veryyy tempting lol! :biggrin:

Reply 7

Wowbagger

student houses are fine, no hall bar admittedly but most of them are in the centre next to uni so there's millions of other places to go to - Winkworth has pubs either side of it. You're gonna make friends anywhere so you should be picking a hall on location and facilities. There was no way I was walking 45 minutes to uni every day and I didn't think there was much of a chance of getting into Goldney (plus its mostly not en suite) so Winkworth was a great choice. There are a couple of student houses with only 8 or so people in which you may want to try and avoid but those houses were really sociable last year having loads of really good parties :smile:

Geoff's also exaggerating, if you're an engineer like me and him it only takes 5 minutes to get to uni if you power walk up park street and then you get to rub all the stoke bishop kids noses in the fact that you got up 20 mins ago and they've been up since half 7.
But yeah if you're worried about making friends, don't; Hawthorns and Winkworth will be absolutely fine (although I did have a bit of a weirdo in the room opposite me :P )
I can't vouch for orbital this year but it was good last year.

PS one thing about the Hawthorns, on a few uni websites it's advertised as being en-suite but actually not many of the rooms are so if you want that be careful.

Reply 8

andy5788

14

To be fair 45 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration. You can get down there in half an hour walking at a comfortable pace....

But I must admit when I found out where Winkworth was I was more than a little jealous...

Reply 9

kvithani

OP

guys thanks so much! u really helped clear up my concerns!

the sb walk sounds ok-ish...especially as 2000 or so ppl do it everyday...but im doing dentistry...9-5 lectures monday to friday...im not too keen on doing the sb walk 5 days a week hehe!

and thanks for the info about hawthorns...i was actually thinking of putting it down cos it said it was 50/50 ensuite and non-ensuite!...i thought it would be kinda cool to get one of those large ensuite rooms (even if they are a bit more expensive)...but if there arent many ensuites then i wont risk it...

Reply 10

andy5788

14

Durdham's all ensuite. Is at Stoke Bishop though. And the rooms are nice and big and comfy, as are the kitchens, well the easy-chairs aren't but nm...

Reply 11

kvithani

OP

i wish i had the power to pick it up n put it in clifton!

Reply 12

HappyH

The distance really isn't a big problem. You get used to it and often don't notice quite how far it is. Also, most of the first years are over there, so you will hardly be alone.

If it was too far, I wouldn't be returning to Durdham next year...

Reply 13

andy5788

14

^^ You're coming back here next year are you? Least we won't have too many morning lectures next year! lol.

And no the distance really aint a problem, if you're that bothered get yourself a bike, can get down there in like 10 mins...

Reply 14

stepheh

12

HappyH

The distance really isn't a big problem. You get used to it and often don't notice quite how far it is. Also, most of the first years are over there, so you will hardly be alone.

If it was too far, I wouldn't be returning to Durdham next year...