To ask about your university experience?

[namechange978]

Something I've always been curious about. Didn't attend uni, I'm outside of the UK. I'm not sure if I'm just really underknowledged about this

Specifically for those who lived away from home and used student accommodation...
How many people did you have to live with?
Were you close with the people you lived with?
Does everyone get their own room?
What was the state of the place you had to live in and was it a house/flat?

And also, how many lessons do you have a day on average? Did everyone work part time too?

I have distant friends who've gone to university in the UK so a bit surprised at myself that I don't know anything about university life at all!

I went to Leeds University from 1999. In my first year I lived in a house in the grounds of a Hall of Residence, 24 of us and 2 showers.
We all got along really well.
After that I lived in houseshares with friends, houses were in pretty bad shape but didn't bother me at the time.
I only had 10 teaching hours a week.

OP:

How many people did you have to live with?

In Halls, can't remember. This was my first year. And 30 years ago!

Were you close with the people you lived with?
I shared a house with friends in my second year. They became my second family (and I love my family to bits).

Does everyone get their own room?
Yes, I did (in halls, and in private rented accommodation)

What was the state of the place you had to live in and was it a house/flat?
First year: university halls. Basic, but fine.
Second/third year: Private rental. Again, basic (no heating etc) but fine.

And also, how many lessons do you have a day on average?

8 hours of lectures/tutorials per week, plus a lot of bumming around doing nothing private study.

Did everyone work part time too?

Nobody did. But as I say, this was 30 years ago and we had grants.

I loved uni. It changed my life, and I met lifelong friends. Sadly, I definitely did the wrong course....back to uni I need to go!

With uni fees as they are, I'd advise (feel free to ignore!) to be sure that your degree course will lead to a stable and well paid career.

How many people did you used to share with when you house-shared in private rentals?
@EarthboundMisfit @HildegardVonBlingen

Between 5 and 8 in a house .

@EarthboundMisfit did everyone get a separate room when you houseshared?
Sorry, I'm so nosey, it's just interesting to me as the concept of it seems so crazy, to go and meet new people and then live with them off the bat - I think I slightly regret not having the experience!

I shared with four others in my second year, and five others in my final year, @namechange978 It was just brilliant. I loved home and my parents and dogs and ponies etc, and didn't want to go to university - but it was fab. I still meet up with my house-mates now, 30 years on.

FWIW, I now let out a house to students. Things have changed a bit, as I provide heating, microwave, washing machine, tumble dryer, etc, etc - but I also try to look after them a bit and make sure they are ok as I know this generation of students is a bit less self-sufficient than mine was!

In my first year I was in a student accommodation hall, in a flat of 8. I wasn't close with any of them, and can only remember the name of one person. Own room, shared bathroom and kitchen between us.

2nd and third years I was in shared houses which were OK.

I had lectures all day every day except Wednesday which was half day. I worked in all of my holidays

Studied history 2012-2014

How many people did you have to live with?
In halls we were in flats of 6. We had en-suite rooms which was nice.
Second year I lived in a house share of 7, and the third in a house share of 4.

Were you close with the people you lived with?
Yes, I was lucky and ended up getting on well with my flare mates in halls. I’m still very close to three of the people I loved with.

Does everyone get their own room?
Yes, very few people share a room over here
What was the state of the place you had to live in and was it a house/flat?

And also, how many lessons do you have a day on average?
Very subject dependent. As a history student I had six hours of teaching a week. That was it, and so I was often only in 3 days a week (in third year all my teaching was on the same day so I literally was in uni one day a week)

Did everyone work part time too?
Most people. There were some who didn’t.

Lived in halls for the first year, sort of like a block of flats with corridors of individual rooms and then a couple of shared bathrooms and a shared kitchen on each floor. Some of the other blocks in my halls had en-suite bathrooms for each room, but not mine.

From second year onwards you found a flat with a group of mates. The flats I lived in decent but a bit grubby and ‘studenty’ (owned by landlords who knew they could make good money off students without having to put much effort into maintaining the places at a high standard).

I did an arts subject and I had about 3 hours’ teaching maybe 3-4 days a week (the teaching gradually got less every year, but the assignments got harder and there was more and more reading and self-guided study to do). My friends who did sciences had much busier schedules with lab time etc but much less ‘homework’ than I did.

I started uni in 1991, lived in halls in a self catering flat for 6 in my first year. After that 4 of us got a house.
I'm friends still with 4 or 5 uni friends, and I loved every second. Played rugby, got involved in the student union, scraped a 2:2 (I definitely didn't apply myself to study!) and generally had a ball.
I went to Cardiff.

I was at Uni between 1985 and 1988. I lived in Halls for the whole 3 years and had a full grant. I had roughly 2 lectures/ seminars each day. Best time of my life!

In halls I had a shared room but in each houseshares I had my own. They worked hard in halls to match up people they thought would get along. I do know people it really didn't work out for, but the majority I think make good friends. I was very shy but seemed to come out of my shell on day one.

Oh, missed a couple of questions! Yes, I made close friends in halls and lived with them for the rest of uni. I’m still good friends with all my old flatmates and see them regularly, apart from one who I drifted apart from.

I worked part time in second year and in holidays but not during the year the rest of the time. I was lucky to have help from parents and then lived off my student loan (which I’m still paying off 12 years later!)

Own room, yes, both in the halls and in private accommodation. Halls the first year, then I shared a house with 3 other students. We'd go to the pub/club together now and then, but we weren't close friends.
Everyone had a part time job, either evenings or weekends. I can't really remember how many hours of lectures/tutorials we had. About 20 maybe?

Been to uni undergrad 3 times, always dropped out; i found it to basically be creche for teenagers. I achieved my masters via distance learning through the wonder of modern technology, it was much better. I carried on my job and normal life, just devoting the necessary time to actual study rather than paying through the nose and gathering debt to live this weird boxed off life on campus.

I'm at Leeds uni now!
How many people did you have to live with?

In halls there were 12 of us. Since then I've lived in private rented houses with between 4 and 6 tenants

Were you close with the people you lived with?

Yes for the most part. You do get some weirdos (especially in halls) but most people were/are lovely

Does everyone get their own room?

I actually had to share a room in my first year with another girl on the same course! It was intense and there were some rocky patches but we're very close friends and still living together three years later (but in different rooms!)

What was the state of the place you had to live in and was it a house/flat?
Halls were pretty nice, free washing machine/tumble dryer etc. In a big old house. And breakfast and dinner were provided! Rent was expensive though.
Student houses are generally pretty basic and quite expensive for what you get, not sure if this has always been the case. Currently in a 6 bed house that should really be a 3/4 bed max!

And also, how many lessons do you have a day on average? Did everyone work part time too?
I'm 9-5 or more every day and my course requires a lot of extra study so getting a job would be too much. With everything being so expensive and student loans not covering even the basics, I'd love to be able to get a job but it would definitely compromise my grades

(Also disagree with PPs statement about this generation of students being less self sufficient! We get a hard time and arguably have more to deal with - financial hardship etc)

I lived in halls in my first year in an amazing Victorian listed building, some of my friends literally had turret bedrooms. I didn’t have to share but some people did. The bedrooms on the attic floor were often on two or three levels, and I had proper antique furniture. Three showers and three loos on a corridor shared between around 25 people. And a little kitchenette with a fridge/kettle etc. I didn’t really drink tea then, some people had kettles illegally in their rooms-I had a goldfish illegally instead

Second and third year lived with some of my friends and we’re still close now, 20 years later. Even recently when something major happens in my life they are one of the first people that I let know. We just know each other inside out, and it’s lovely whenever we meet up. Masters year I lived in postgrad halls which were little self catering houses-6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. Now DH lived in his student house round the corner so I spent a lot of time there as they had sofas and a telly all houses were relatively well maintained and comfortable. I bloody loved every single minute and would go back like a flash if I could.

Sorry, @iabvvu, if you took this my post to mean a lack of self-sufficiency generally. I think it's much harder financially to be a student now than it was 30 years ago (I see this from both sides, as I have teenage DC, including one at university, and one who doesn't want to go to university because she can't be bothered getting into debt for no real reason).

My comment was meant only to refer to physical privations. Our shared houses had no central heating, one gas cooker in the kitchen, and that was that. We had to take laundry to a launderette, which meant lugging it a mile in a bin-bag and back again. We got dressed in bed, because it was too cold in winter to get out of bed to do so. We wandered round the house in blankets and sleeping bags, because it was otherwise too cold to move away from the gas fire in the sitting room (we couldn't afford electric heaters, as we were on a meter). And so on.

The student house that I let out is very different. Not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but warm and comfortable!

For more recent answers, I can tell you about my dc if you like ?
I graduated 18months ago and 1 is currently at university (in her 2nd year)

How many people did you have to live with? - in 1st yr, in halls, ds was one of 7 in his flat, dd was one of 8 in hers

Were you close with the people you lived with? ds was - became good friends with 4 of them. Got on fine with another. The other was a bit odd and never mixed, even when they cooked a Christmas dinner together for the flat and a few other things for the whole flat. dd got on with all her, but they weren't the friends she became closest to, and chose to share with the next year.

Does everyone get their own room? At the majority of places, but some Universities still have shared rooms - I know someone who went to St Andrews who shared.

What was the state of the place you had to live in and was it a house/flat? Halls (where most live in first year) tend to be flats in blocks just for students. From 2nd year, the majority of students then share a house - usually one of the living rooms converted into a bedroom. IME (having looked round several Universities for both of them, and also visited dns in other places) the Halls have got nicer and nicer over the years. Some really quite plush ones now with a price to match. Quite difficult to find grotty ones. The shared houses vary more, but, again, overall, seem FAR better than when I, and my peers were at University over 30 yrs ago.

And also, how many lessons do you have a day on average? Did everyone work part time too? This depends massively on the subject. Humanities don't tend to have more than 8 - 10 contact hours across a week. Scientists tend to have considerably more.
Yes, IME, the majority get jobs to earn some money. Some only in holidays, but more in term time too. Far better now with zero hours and more flexible contracts, so can work round other things you do.

Undergraduate

1. There was 8 of us but most other flats in those halls had 6.
2. With 3 of them. Two of the others were fine but had their own social circle, one other one was nice but not my cup of tea and the final one was a racist cow.
3. Yes
4. It was self-catering and up to us to keep it clean. We shared bathrooms, a kitchen and living room. Oddly it ended up 5/3 in the bathrooms as the racist cow was a slob who couldn't tidy up after herself.
5. Half the flat was doing STEM courses so were in uni 9-5, one was older doing a business course, another was doing an arts course so was either in a lot or barely at all, and the other two were doing social sciences so had about 4 hours of lectures and tutorials per week. No one worked that year but in subsequent years some people doing STEM courses managed to fit in work during term time. Those doing social sciences were richer and the one doing the degree in arts hours were just too unpredictable for her to work during term time. We had grants.

Postgraduate

1. Flat of 8 again
2. Nope - we only had a shared kitchen this time
3. Yes. The rooms were large with en suites and internet.
4. We had cleaners who were lovely. So at least half the flat would do their own cleaning every week so they had less work to do.
5. Half the flat doing STEM courses again. Other 3 doing law/business and only one doing an arts course. The only person who worked was a tutor for undergraduates as they were doing a PhD. All the courses apart from the arts one were intensive 80% of the time. The person doing the arts course was a foreign student so did lots of traveling around the UK and Europe.

Loved Uni - came out in the late 80’s when fees were paid and there was a means tested grant ( not repayable ) so people’s parents topped them up or some but not many had jobs - fabulous time - halls of residence for first years in own single room ( learnt to fit two in a single bed lol ) with shared kitchen and bathrooms with prob around six others , second and subsequent years most students house shared at market rent rates . Lectures ran from @ 9 - 5/6 with Wed afternoons off to accommodate sports players . Loved it . As another poster suggested further up the thread worth considering the job prospects and employment options post degree before saddling yourself with debt .

@HildegardVonBlingen I appreciate what you're saying, but a lack of need isn't the same as a lack of ability. If I needed to take my clothes to a laundrette I would be able to, and if the house was cold (which it often is because we can't afford to put the heating on!) I'd know how to warm up. We're still able to do the same things even if we don't need to.

@iadvvu a lack of need isn't the same as a lack of ability. What do you mean by this?

I studied geography in the early 2000s back in NZ.

First year I went into a hall - own room on a floor with about 30 others, had to share two large bathrooms but a reasonable amount of showers and toilets to go round, were a bit rank (not terrible though) but its what you expect in halls, rooms were quite small (basically enough space for a desk, wardrobe and bed). Made 4 really good friends, still close to them today. A lot of restrictions though, couldn't drink past 10pm, no drinking games etc

The hall was catered, if I had my time again I probably would have went self cated. I am a foodie so found the food bland and too many carbs, but it was perfectly edible, some meat options were not exactly great though.

Went flatting 2nd year with friends from school which was fantastic and one other girl (friend of one of the other flatties) who was a bit of PITA but you will get someone like that in every flat. 3rd year I went flatting with a mix, couple of friends I made in 2nd year and a couple of friends from my hall also great. 4th year I went abroad so went flatting with other exchange students, made friends for life there from various parts of the globe.

All flats I went in were very tidy, our first flat had 3 TVs and were also fully furnished. Tbh as long as you do your research and a quick of the mark you will find a reasonable flat. Had friends that lived in a flat with a living room that was too small for a sofa because they took too long to decide...

Because I studied geography I had some labs which were time consuming (3 hours often), but teaching time was only about 10 hours and often you do assessments in labs.