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 ?

Bristol has no campus so socialising will be all over the place, as will all the undergrad halls.

How is she feeling about it?

I do understand and I’m not going to judge you for wanting reassurance. It’s worrying when they go off to university.
I hope that she has a great time.

I was only 21-22 when I was a postgrad and many of those who were around me were within 5 years of that. They’ll be fine.

Why would it be a safeguarding risk? She’s an adult…

OP, please, please leave your daughter to find all this out for herself. You cannot control what happens once she's gone. My DD did a year abroad and hated it. She was in a run-down, poorly lit hall in a run-down, poorly lit area of the city. She had arranged the accommodation unseen herself. She had an hour's bus ride to the University. The bus driver tried to get her to go out with him. The other students were unfriendly. Hearing her in tears on the phone was awful. But she graduated, did another year's study and is now in her first job. She's found her own way.

It's heart-rending when our DC leave home but we have to let them go.

So being around 200 naive idiots likely to try getting drunk, having sex, doing drugs and getting their first taste of freedom is actually more of a risk than being around slightly older students who have proven they can knuckle down and do the work and probably know how to balance uni and social life better.

Postgrads living in halls will have potentially just moved to the city as well, so they’ll be brand new. In my halls some people were 17 (Scotland) and some were nearly 20 after a gap year or 2. We all got along fine.

Also I’m currently a second year university undergrad again OP and I’m 31. I was 22 when I was a postgrad.

Uni isn’t school. Theres no way of knowing the age of people in each year.

That’s not true. I was in the halls of my same university as a postgrad because all my friends had graduated and left lol.

I think if the 12 undergrads are all in one or two flats together, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. If she feels strongly about it she could contact the uni and ask to go on the waiting list for another hall though. The truth is though she may get on amazingly well or not well at all with flatmates and hall mates whoever, and however old,they are.

It’s adults sharing with adults. I’d be more concerned it’ll be boring for her; postgrads probably won’t be partying like freshers.

Your DD will mostly be mixing with the students who share her kitchen, a very small group. The 200 students are not going to be in the same place at the same time if that helps you to feel a bit better?

Flats of 4 and 7 undergrads doesn't know which one

Are all the undergrads going to be in together eg in one flat? If so then it’s much better than if they are all spread out throughout the building(s).

which uni is it ?

Presumably your DD is 18 and therefore a grown woman?! Why on earth would she be in any more danger than being in halls with a bunch of randy 18 year old lads away from home for the first time. Cut the apron strings, let her enjoy the uni/halls experience whatever that entails.

Sorry I can see I missed some posts when I was drafting mine. You have answered both my questions.

I doubt they'll mix the undergrads and post grads in the same flats, so the 12 of them will probably be sharing 1 or 2 flats, so they'll be "living" with people of the same age, i.e. sharing kitchens and communal space within the flat(s) with people of the same age, etc.. The fact that there are older students in other parts of the building is irrelevant really. When my DS was at Uni, the "older" students were on the upper floors and the new ones were on the lower floors -they barely met, except when passing on the stairs.

I don't know if this is a joke post-there seem to have been a few joshing about helicopter parents and infantilising adults-but safeguarding in this sense would generally mean children or vulnerable adults (and a post-grad 21 year old would be just as likely to be that as a near 19 year old),

Honestly I think the other 17/18 year old freshers are much more of a risk than the postgraduate students who are older and likely to be more focused on their studies and less on having a good time. I am sure your daughter will be fine.

If the postgrads are in halls it is quite likely (admittedly depending on the uni) that they are new to that university themselves and will no be in preset friendship groups (those ones are more likely to be living together)
Halls are where you live. You’ve no guarantee of friendships there. You make friends with people on your course, the societies you join, the friends of the friends you make,

So I've studied at a couple of uni's and also worked in a student facing role at a university. I don't totally get the safeguarding risk you mention. Everyone is an adult and undergrads can be of any age anyway. I had a 26 year old undergrad in my halls in first year who was older than a lot of postgrads when they start. In my experience postgrads are just doing their best to stay on top of studying so probably won't socialise too much with the undergrads anyway. As an undergrad I didn't come into contact with many postgrads so maybe her living with them for a year might encourage into studying for longer when she graduates as she might understand what it's like a bit better?

The thing I would say, the halls being 15 mins away from campus would worry me a little a bit. Please ensure that, if she is wanting to have the typical freshers experience, you chat to her about how to get home safely on nights out etc. I would also say, my fresher halls weren't very nice and I was miserable and coming home a lot which did stop me from getting fully into uni life and studying. So if she thinks she might not like the halls, you could give changing them a go because where you live can have a big impact on your enjoyment at uni.

One of the undergrads in my flat in halls was in his forties. Level of study is no indication of age.

Cut the strings OP and please stop the hyperbolic language. Shocked? Really?

It’s called not enough housing and finding places for everyone. You are aware that (shock horror) some kids don’t actually stay on halls, some live at home and commute, some live in shared house with (shock horror) people they don’t know.

@IsthisOK12

Your dd will find her friends in different places, not just halls, her course for a start, plus any clubs she joins.
My son made friends all over the place, he didnt share accommodation in years 2 and 3 with anyone he was in halls with.
He is going back into halls as a post grad. He will be busy on his course and working as will most post grads.

How is it a safeguarding risk to put an adult in with a hall with slightly older adults?

Have eighteen year olds really become so infantalised these days.

This is a Mummy problem not a daughter safeguarding risk.