Experience of shared room in Uni Halls

[KnowtheBand]

DS made a very mast minute decision to go to Uni in Sept and therefore missed the accomodation application deadline.

He has however been offered a place in a twin room. He has 48 hours to accept/decline. I'm thinking take it because otherwise we have 2 weeks to find something in the private rental market 200 miles from home! It's also cheap relative to the alternatives!

However, he is understandably anxious about not having his own space and not knowing who he'll be sharing with. If he finds a student house, he'll be sharing with strangers, but at least he'll have his own room.

He's very introvert and has had some MH issues, although now improving (hence the late decison) so in some ways sharing could be good for him - I could see him staying in his room alone if he can.

Does anyone have any great experiences of sharing at Uni?

I shared a room at uni, I was very shocked and pissed off initially, I'm not a morning person and definitely need my own space. On paper we were very different, we didn't seem to have anything in common at the beginning. It helped that the room was massive. However, we're still friends decades later, I was bridesmaid at her wedding!

OK, so more positives than negatives, thank you

Yes, I'm advising he accepts it and sees if he can go on a list to move if people drop out. I do think having a readymade buddy to leave the room with in the first few days would help him .

DD chose to do share in order to save money. She shared with one girl for three weeks, they didn't have much in common, but got on ok working around sharing. DD got on well with everyone else on her corridor, so she wasn't that fussed. Other girl chose to move out as she wanted to be with others from her old school in another building. University found another girl for her to share with, who ended up being absolutely lovely - she helped me look after DD when DD had an emergency operation while at uni. DD has just done a year abroad, isn't sharing with this girl but is spending her first night back in university city at her place.

DH and I both had shared rooms back many years ago (not with each other - but we met in halls in first year)

I found it absolutely fine. My roommate was lovely, the room was big, and we’re still in contact now. Some of my best friends lived in the shared rooms on our corridor and there was a real sense of community.

DH got on ok with his roommate, who seemed perfectly nice, but he pretty quickly found a group of friends and all socialising happened in their big (shared) room. He only ever slept in his room and he did all studying at the library or the hall common room. He hasn’t kept in touch with him.

Lots of students move around rooms, drop out, move in with boyfriends etc. I’d take the offered accommodation and if he’s not happy he can hopefully move. Halls is definitely less isolating.

My friend had a shared room in the first year of uni but his room mate only lasted 2 weeks so he then had a large room to himself.

I would take it as there will always be people dropping out and even if he doesn’t want to stay in the shared room there might be availability elsewhere after a week or two.

Being in private accommodation and not knowing a soul would be much much harder. Halls are set up to facilitate students with finding their feet in a supportive way.

I’d encourage him to accept the room, and ask to go on a waiting list for a single room. It’s much easier to get help from accommodation officers if you’re already in the system. It usually takes a couple of weeks to work out- friends of mine got places in clearing and were in a short-term dorm set- up for a few days until their rooms were sorted.

Yes! Was at Uni 30 yes ago but my roommate is still one of my best friends🥰. She was my Bridesmaid, is god mother to my children etc etc. Good luck to your son.

One thing to look out for is what the cost of the room is if the other person leaves. At my uni the shared rooms were cheap, but if the other person left you were left paying more than a single room as you had a large room to yourself! Which could be tricky if you've not budgeted the extra cost - so worth reading the T&C's. Noone who I knew who shared minded though, they were more sociable than the new ensuite or studio type blocks.

I would hate a shared room but I would still absolutely get him to accept it. As has been said previously, there will be many drop outs and I am sure they will be running a waiting list for single rooms, he needs to get his name on it.

At my uni some shared a sort of study space but had their own bedrooms. My sister shared at uni and really liked the girls and she's introverted but enjoyed the experience.

I walked into my room at university to find two beds. I didn’t know I was sharing until that point. That was probably a good thing as I’d have worried. Ended up sharing for a second year because we quite liked it and I liked having someone to talk to tbh.

I shared first year. My first roommate got incredibly homesick and left within 3 weeks. My next roommate was pregnant by Christmas and married over the Christmas holidays and moved into married accommodation (they met at Christian Union). By this time I met my best friend on my course. She found her floor really noisy so moved in. We are still best friends 21 years later.

So I say go for it, there’s often quite a bit of movement. If he hates it he can probably move…