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Uni Accommodation

So hopefully I'll be starting uni this September, but I'm panicking a lot because it'll mean moving away from home and into student accommodation, which is fine, but I'm really bad around new people because i get social anxiety and im just a bit anxious about living with people i wont know, especially if i dont get along with them.
does anyone have any tips for moving into student accommodation and meeting new people?

Reply 1

UoB - Engineering and Physical Sciences

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Moving away can be one of the hardest parts of the first year of your degree for many different reasons. You won't be the only person feeling this way about living in a new place with new people, and there will be support in place to help. I'm a student at the University of Birmingham and moved into student accommodation in 2019. It was a big step but there was so much on offer to help with the process. When we were given our flats, I used an offer holder Facebook group to meet people who were going to be in the same accommodation block as me and then in the same flat. Before I moved in I had found 4/5 of my other flatmates and knew when everyone was moving in, this really helped with knowing what to expect. We talked about things like who was going to bring our toaster or what courses we were doing and I soon felt much better about the people I was going to be living with. Even if you don't manage to find who you'll be living with in advance, everyone will be new and it's still a bit awkward for everyone at the start anyway, it gets better!

There was a whole range of fun activities for us to do on the first weekend and during all of freshers week. We had things like free pizza, ice cream, BBQs, campus tours, introductory meetings with our courses and more, there were lots of opportunities for meeting people and getting to know them better with some structure - this was helpful because it gives you something to do! Lots of things were run by our hall reps, older students whose job it is to make sure people have a smooth transition into accommodation. When you apply for accommodation, you might find that there's a questionnaire you can fill in about yourself. Then when flats are assigned, they can put people together based on things like when you go to bed, if you want an alcohol free flat and other factors that make people more compatible. Even if you aren't super compatible with everyone (it happens), you're all adults and you just learn how to coexist with the people around you. You'll often be pretty busy and not spending that much time in your flat anyway! Your uni will have things in place to help if you're struggling at any point, they will want to make sure you have a good time.

It will be an adjustment, and sometimes it can be a bit scary, but you won't be alone and there will be support if you need it. I'm sure once you've taken some time to settle in you will have a lovely time and I wish you the best of luck!

Jude - 3rd Year Student, University of Birmingham

Reply 2

ageshallnot

1. Leave your door open.
2. Have a supply of tea/coffee, biscuits, snacks to offer fellow students.
3. Say yes to most, if not all, invitations to socialise.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

University of Bradford

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hey! Which course will you be studying? :smile:

It's totally normal and understandable to feeling this way, but the independence will be so rewarding, you'll grow and flourish in confidence and be able to meet a wide variety of people.

I'd recommend when you first arrive to keep your door open, so people can pop in or say hello when they walk past, and hopefully you can do the same with them as well. I think it would be a good idea to make plans with them straight away, to get the nerves out of the way! You could try and plan your first night out with your flatmates, or ask if they'd like to go and explore nearby parks/shops around the university and into the city/town etc. Even offer to make people a cup of tea, just little things that show you're making the effort with them :smile:

I wish you the best of luck with moving into student accommodation and meeting new people, I'm sure you'll get on great with everyone. Your flatmates will also no doubt be nervous about the process too, so it's definitely good to start interacting with them when you all first arrive!

Becky

Uni Accommodation

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