Would you be concerned or is this ok ? 12 undergrads placed with 200 post grads in halls ?

[IsthisOK12]

Can anyone make sense of this ?will it be ok ?

DD has been put into halls 15 mins from her campus but it's with 200 postngrads and I wonder what others think of this ?

The halls themslves have not got good reviews and I wonder if is it a safeguarding risk and or will she have a normal undergraduate first year experinece ?

Would you leave it or try and change it ?

Yes how did you know

Really ?
I'm asking what other parents feel and think and some more helpful and kind posters have responded with useful and helpful information that's allayed some of my fears.

Are you sure there's only 12 of them?

Bristol do mix undergrads and postgrads in some accommodation, but never within flats iyswim

I've acknowledged it might change her experience - for better or worse.
I understand that it isn't what you expected.
I get that she is worried about making friends fast.

I just object against using the words "safeguarding risk" here - overuse of the word means it is taken less seriously when used correctly.

Can she ask to be put on the waiting list in case someone cancels in the undergraduate halls?

Yes she called to ask and that's what they said. 12.

It’s not a safeguarding risk. Besides some undergrads might be older than postgrads.

I am wondering OP if your DD has got the wrong end of the stick

She may be in a flat of 12 in accommodation that also has PG students...but there might be under grad flats in there iyswim

Having lived in halls, I’d say she’d be more at risk from immature 18 year olds out in the real world for the first time, probably can’t handle alcohol etc than 23 year old post grads that just want to finish their qualifications and get a job and that probably have girlfriends etc.

the only thing I’d be worried about is not making many friends as there’s fewer people going through the same experience as her and just all round sounds more boring!

• other undergrad flats in there

Sorry posted too soon

A massive, massive safeguarding risk. Undergraduate males always behave impeccably around women. If they stay on to be postgraduates, however, the rampant beast in them is unleashed on day one of the autumn term. I know this because my DD has only been groped once at university, and it was by a postgraduate.

You do realise that when your DD leaves home as an adult, she will have to look out for herself because you won't be there? What exactly are you fearful of, and are you transmitting this fear to her? Why do you think safeguarding has anything to do with it, unless you want the university to confirm all the postgraduates have had enhanced DBS checks.

I can understand why your DD is disappointed OP but it may not be the problem that she and you are imagining.
There's no guarantee that she'll hit it off with the people she's living with wherever she's placed anyway and she might actually appreciate having a bit of an escape from all the other first years. My DC all made friends from their courses and societies rather than halls and my DS2 in particular found his rather messy and rowdy 1st year flatmates a bit of a pain. Not that there's any guarantee that postgrads will be super civilised of course but they're likely to have got a bit of experience of living independently at least. A flat full of 1st years who've never lived away from home before does have plus points but it has downsides too!
I wouldn't assume all the postgrads will have friends already either. My DS1 went into in halls for his MSc specifically because he changed University and didn't know anybody. If he had stayed at his undergraduate University he would have had people to share a flat with. From what he's said, the majority of other postgrads in his halls were also newcomers rather than groups of established friends, so I'd hazard a guess that there will be plenty of young people in your DD's hall who are also new to the University and keen to make friends. And in all likelihood most of of them will only be a few years older than her - they're not that different.
Yes, it will be a bit different to what she was expecting and I do get why she feels upset now, but I suspect it won't be as bad as she fears. In fact it might even turn out to be an advantage in some ways.

It's not a safeguarding risk. Of course not. She's an adult. Why is it dangerous for her to live in the same building as others a few years older? That's bizarre.

It may not be as fun for her though. I lived with 3rd year students when I was 17 and they were not as into partying and were kind of over the whole student experience. In that they were very used to it. So they didn't want to hang out with me much. But she's going to have loads of friends from her course/cohort anyway so I wouldn't worry too much.

I've not mentioned this to her ,I'm.asking on here
I'm not transmitting any fears to her.

Best to be around older, more experienced students because they’ll know the dealers selling good quality shit,

As a post grad we had a bunch of Freshers in our post grad halls and it absolutely did my head in as the fresher's just wanted to party to 5am and I was doing a really intense course. It's a stupid mixture for that reason

Postgrads are just as likely to be new to the university and not know anyone as new undergrads.

@MrsAvocet that's really helpful thank you 😘

I’m assuming the freshers will all be grouped together in one flat as opposed to being placed individually in postgrad flats? Should be less of an issue if so? I can see why you’re disappointed re the experience though.

I see you said it’s Bristol - which hall? Is it one of the ones in Clifton (I forget the names now - I went to Bristol uni in the not too distant past). If its the one in Clifton I’m thinking of, then it’s quite close to another proper undergrad halls (I will say Manor Hall, but I might be thinking of the wrong one) and my friends in the postgrad hall found lots of friends there.

ditto what someone else said about undergrads - I can think of a great deal more unpleasant and predatory behaviour I received from fellow undergrads than from postgrads or other older people.

Also won't the post grads already have set friend groups etc ?

No - lecturer here - if they did their undergrad at the same uni they will be sharing with friends. Everyone in halls will be new to the Uni.

I can understand her and your disappointment but think that it could work out well.

There will be a few other undergrads there for her first friends while they're all finding their feet. She'll make friends on her course and by joining societies that she's interested in. If she wants to take part in undergrad social activities, then she'll still get the opportunity.

But then she can go back to the relative calm of her halls. Postgraduate students are more likely to be focused on studying than freshers are. If she's studying late because she's got an overdue essay or she's trying to have an early night then she's far less likely to be disturbed by partying than she would be in an undergrad hall.

OP I think you've had unfair schtick on this

No, postgrads are not scary folk, but I totally get both you and her were expecting she would be predominantly in UG accommodation, partially for socialising/general encounters etc

Seriously tho, I do think it might be worth your DD calling again to check she's understood correctly the numbers

Far more likely it's a flat of 12, and not just 12 imo

I think you are right from a friendship point and I wouldn't be thrilled by this
But it would be insane to raise safeguarding as a concern. Some of the fresher's could easily be 20 if they were held back a year (as many parents of summer babies try and do) then had a gap year. There were quite a few 20 year olds in my fresher's intake as they had had a couple of gap years or tried a year at uni elsewhere before changing and starting again

If your daughter is so desperately young for her age that safeguarding is a real concern then I would suggest she needs at least one gap year

@Comeondoreen thanks.
Can you tell me where all the student socialising takes place ? .does it happen at Clifton ?

If there are post grads who're in the same faculty or have done the same or a similar course, it's an opportunity to get to know more mature students as well her own peer groups.

@Movingthroughit as far as I can tell it's a block of acxmd and within that block housing 200 post grads there are 12 under grads hopefully all in the same flat