uni while living at home

I live quite near london, which is where i want to attend University, for this reason I will probably stay living at home.

can I still have a good uni social experience, even if i stay home for the whole course of just the first year

I’m not gonna lie to you living at home for uni you will miss out Don’t get me wrong CardiffUni Rep 2 and University of Kent have both given some really good advice which should be payed attention to by all prospective students wether considering living at home or not. so I guess your now asking what will I miss out on?

1/ Halls life let me elaborate here because saying halls life is pretty vague. You're missing out on the camaraderie because you're all really in the same boat most students never having live away from home before. Then there are things like Video game tournaments think things like SSB, Mario Kart, FIFA and things like that. You might have movie nights then going out as group is fun even if you don’t drink you might still have fun at clubs. I did then there is a whole load of other mad things that might happen. one of the halls at my uni put a waterslide down their corridor my brother and his mates did some chair jousting so you know things like that.

2/ Your time table university is designed with halls and student’s accommodation in mind to give you an idea in my second year I had a nine (yes nine) hour break people say oh I can study in the library in my breaks and while that’s true you won’t be able to do nine hours it’s just not possible. I also had 2 11 hour days on the trot some times and I really wouldn’t want to travel after that it’s really trying also in that nine hour break it was kind of nice to be able to retreat to my halls in that time.

3/ Societies and games if you join a sports club you’ll of course be expected to attend practice and stuff as well as away attend games the university will often (well ok it usually the students who will drive the mini bus) happily deliver you back to you halls or accommodation in the local area but that if you have again in lets say Liverpool University from The University of London that’a total of about 8 hours travel without delays ($4 hours there 4 hours back) then you’ll need all the things like changing the game and celebrations at the end then you get back to the uni knackered and you then have to trudge to the station to get home nah mate it’s much better to stay in halls for that.

4/ Academic work you might only have 3 days scheduled a week but i was always popping in for some reason or other it might seem like oh I’m only in for 3 days a week but that can an will turn into 4 or 5 days during projects hand in periods or group work you’ll be staying late for group work and coming in on days you don’t need to your mates won’t thank you running off for the train.

I suspect your doing this to try and save a bit of money and I get that but you get less loan if your living at home and those trips like for sports team training and stuff can mount up my young persons rail card didn’t work on peak or at the weekend so those journeys can add up I’d do an excellent spread sheet costing everything :
How much the train will cost you each month.
How much the cheapest halls will cost each month.
How much the mid range halls will cost each month.
How much the most expensive halls will cost each month.
How much the food will cost each month. (thats food at uni and travelling or a cheap food shop. There are tricks to that if you want to know them.).
How much you’ll save or pay with each option.

I did this when i was considering wether to stay in halls or not (I was very close to my university too (well ok an hour doable but staying in halls was easier I worked out the cheapest halls I would save £900 a year and the kid range about £320 a year (I went for this) I know there is this perception “I’ll stay at home and save money on rent.” While you might not have to pay rent the trains could cost more and money isn’t everything you learn so much more than just your degree at uni and halls are big part of that> I know they are expensive but the experience is priceless at least do it for the first year if you don’t like it it’s only 1 year and you can move back home for second year also it’s not a prison you can visit them any time you like also if you want to leave and commute after a few weeks (it can take a few weeks 3-6) it’s very easy to find a replacement tenant after i left my first university I had to pay 1 month rent and then someone else snapped up my old room just like that.

Tbh I am now thinking about moving out. Originally I didn't plan to because of travel (but after working out potential costs (bus, train and tube) + hours spent commuting (at least 1.5hours to nearest uni), but also because of health issues (mainly mental) but recently my mental health has improved quite a bit, and I want the full experience. Guess I'll see how things work out in the next few months then decide

I'm also anxious about stuff getting stolen, specifically phone and clothes. Is that common?

Not really I’ve only had my phone stolen once and that was at home not in uni clothes never get stolen the most common thing that gets stolen is food from the kitchen and that is easily fixed just buy two of what gets stolen say you put laxatives in one and put a note on the fridge “to whoever keeps nicking my food I’ve put laxatives in”item” do you feel lucky” just don’t eat the one you put the laxatives in.

I’m not gonna lie to you living at home for uni you will miss out Don’t get me wrong CardiffUni Rep 2 and University of Kent have both given some really good advice which should be payed attention to by all prospective students wether considering living at home or not. so I guess your now asking what will I miss out on?

1/ Halls life let me elaborate here because saying halls life is pretty vague. You're missing out on the camaraderie because you're all really in the same boat most students never having live away from home before. Then there are things like Video game tournaments think things like SSB, Mario Kart, FIFA and things like that. You might have movie nights then going out as group is fun even if you don’t drink you might still have fun at clubs. I did then there is a whole load of other mad things that might happen. one of the halls at my uni put a waterslide down their corridor my brother and his mates did some chair jousting so you know things like that.

2/ Your time table university is designed with halls and student’s accommodation in mind to give you an idea in my second year I had a nine (yes nine) hour break people say oh I can study in the library in my breaks and while that’s true you won’t be able to do nine hours it’s just not possible. I also had 2 11 hour days on the trot some times and I really wouldn’t want to travel after that it’s really trying also in that nine hour break it was kind of nice to be able to retreat to my halls in that time.

3/ Societies and games if you join a sports club you’ll of course be expected to attend practice and stuff as well as away attend games the university will often (well ok it usually the students who will drive the mini bus) happily deliver you back to you halls or accommodation in the local area but that if you have again in lets say Liverpool University from The University of London that’a total of about 8 hours travel without delays ($4 hours there 4 hours back) then you’ll need all the things like changing the game and celebrations at the end then you get back to the uni knackered and you then have to trudge to the station to get home nah mate it’s much better to stay in halls for that.

4/ Academic work you might only have 3 days scheduled a week but i was always popping in for some reason or other it might seem like oh I’m only in for 3 days a week but that can an will turn into 4 or 5 days during projects hand in periods or group work you’ll be staying late for group work and coming in on days you don’t need to your mates won’t thank you running off for the train.

I suspect your doing this to try and save a bit of money and I get that but you get less loan if your living at home and those trips like for sports team training and stuff can mount up my young persons rail card didn’t work on peak or at the weekend so those journeys can add up I’d do an excellent spread sheet costing everything :
How much the train will cost you each month.
How much the cheapest halls will cost each month.
How much the mid range halls will cost each month.
How much the most expensive halls will cost each month.
How much the food will cost each month. (thats food at uni and travelling or a cheap food shop. There are tricks to that if you want to know them.).
How much you’ll save or pay with each option.

I did this when i was considering wether to stay in halls or not (I was very close to my university too (well ok an hour doable but staying in halls was easier I worked out the cheapest halls I would save £900 a year and the kid range about £320 a year (I went for this) I know there is this perception “I’ll stay at home and save money on rent.” While you might not have to pay rent the trains could cost more and money isn’t everything you learn so much more than just your degree at uni and halls are big part of that> I know they are expensive but the experience is priceless at least do it for the first year if you don’t like it it’s only 1 year and you can move back home for second year also it’s not a prison you can visit them any time you like also if you want to leave and commute after a few weeks (it can take a few weeks 3-6) it’s very easy to find a replacement tenant after i left my first university I had to pay 1 month rent and then someone else snapped up my old room just like that.

I lived at home, I am currently in my third year and still commute into university.
A lot of people say if you don’t live in you miss out but really thats completely up to you.

If you commute as long as you put in the effort you will make good friendships and have a really enjoyable time while you are at university.
If you decide living at home just isn’t for you, well why not try make good friends in first year and move out with them for second year.

TBF mate you totally do miss out I’m glad it worked out for you and I don’t deny you can enjoy it while commuting but I say to you “You don’t know man you weren’t there”. I had to commute for a couple of weeks in my final year (I had trouble finding a place to live) and I really noticed hoW much you miss out on by commuting.

Commuting in your final year is utterly different. Id suggest the problem lies with your effort levels rather than the actual commuting.

My drive is less than 20 minutes- financially speaking it would be stupid to live in the city, I have the same commute time as my friends who live in housing in the city, so really not missing out anymore than they are. I go to the same events, and spend the same amount of time in socials and on campus.

As I said it was in my final year I had to commute for a couple of weeks and there was nothing wrong with my effort I still went climbing (yeah i know it was essentially only twice but still but it just felt different trudging to the train station then sitting on a train for an hour rather than bouncing back to my halls and devouring a pizza.

Couple weeks is nothing in comparison.
Id suggest you just didn’t put the effort in

Well after 2 weeks i found place so I was able to reembrace the many social benefits of living in student accommodation from that point on of course the train times and lack there of probably had an impact.

I agree train times, strikes and schedules make a huge difference. But those who have other transport which is more reliable such as a car it tends not to be much of an issue.

I live quite near london, which is where i want to attend University, for this reason I will probably stay living at home.

can I still have a good uni social experience, even if i stay home for the whole course of just the first year