To think these university facilities are shockingly shite?

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Before you all start I know it's not my battle to fight and DD is accepting of the facilities but, hey, I've just been deserted by a child and I'm allowed some leeway to be disgruntled.

Moved DD2 to university recently to her dream course, that's all wonderful.

She didn't get any of her 3 accommodation choices and has ended up in a very old (30+ years?) block which is actually materially better than we expected.

BUT there's 15 girls (university doesn't mix sexes ffs) across 2 floors sharing 2 showers 2 loos. Meh that's sort of bearable. Even though you have to buy your own loo roll.

The kitchen is obviously a converted bedroom. So you can imagine the size of it .

There's 6 cupboards (2 of them wall so very shallow). And 3 drawers. So there's not even a cupboard shelf each.

There's one fridge freezer.

One undercounter fridge and three undercounter freezers.

Not even half a fridge shelf each.

Plenty of freezer space though.

2 free-standing cookers which is probably manageable.

No table. Obviously. As the room is a student bedroom.

There's a breakfast bar tucked in between
Bedrooms in the corridor with room for two people to sit at. But there's only one stool .

No common room or any communal space in the building. Nowhere to bond with flatmates really.

If she'd just have been allocated the same block but two flats across there would have been 8 to a large kitchen with a fecken table . This was the block open in applicants day and I counted 5 cupboards in that so still under resourced but definitely doable in comparison.

She's happy and doesn't want to swap as people are all lovely which is the Main Thing and I'm so relieved she's content - i don't want to interfere or achieve anything. And she's 18 - she'll adapt as hundreds of students have in this Halls before her.

Just want my AIBU to be:

AIBU to think these facilities are fecken pants?

That sounds rubbish. Especially the lack of communal/social spaces.

I hope it's a lot cheaper!

Is it a catered halls?

I would hate it now, but I had worse 30 years ago.

And in spite of my encouraging DD1 to choose the brand new en suite room in a new build with massive kitchens, a bar and a gym, she's gone yet again for a Victorian room with massive high ceilings, shared bathrooms and a tiny kitchen with no table. She's really happy and says having more room in a building with lovely views is more important than what I regard as basic comfort! It won't hurt them.

Sounds similar to my DD's halls except she's in a flat of 7, the kitchen is tiny and no common area, not even a breakfast bar. Self catering. Nearest common area is 7-8 mins walk away

Yeah, that sounds crappy, @ChaosTrulyReigns - a lot like my halls, which have now been demolished since I left (20 years ago 😱) precisely because they were so crap.

It does make a difference as to whether it's catered halls though, as @FlibbertigibbetArmadillo said - I'm hoping they are! At least if they're catered, the kitchen will be used for snacking rather than full-on cooking.

We had one undercounted fridge between 6 of us and we paid a bloody fortune for our posh flats! Luckily we had en suite but I think in general student flats are just shite

@FlibbertigibbetArmadillo nope but I reckon it was years ago. There's a common room a couple of hundred yahs away that I reckon could have served the purpose previously.

I've suggested that to her and she's pointed out it takes organisation to get people there - nothing like just chilling in the kitchen with those milling around the flat.

May I invite you over to the freshers thread?
here

It's rubbish especially when they're paying through the nose for it too

I'm most shocked at the 2 toilets and 2 showers between 15 girls! Bloody hell! I can imagine it must be mayhem in the mornings.

Can you buy her a small fridge for her room? I know it doesn’t make the facilities better but at least she would have space for milk etc

@RedPandaFluffy older daughter rubbish allocation of halls at her university (different one) have now been demolished
she successfully swapped though to much better Halls as her hers was socially draining - full of introverts with pot noodles behind closed doors. Exactly what DD2's block is ideal for

@SmallPinkBear dropping one off on weds!

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49823183
This takes the biscuit for inadequate student accommodation. WTF were the hall wardens and cleaners doing while a student lay dead in his room for TWO months.

@ALongHardWinter I was aghast at that - but I think it's not out the realms of normal ratios?

Dd1's second accommodation was 20 (mixed sex - progressive, huh?) to 4 loos and 3 showers. So not too disimilar.

Shockingly shite might be my favourite phrase of the day!

Does the uni have a canteen/cafe to eat hot meals there ?

I don't know - it sounds miles better than what I had in the 90s. Kitchen was just a galley kitchen with no seating whatsoever, one small fridge, no freezer. I understand that times have moved on since then, but I don't think it does any harm for young people to 'rough it' for a bit at university.

Some of the university accommodation I hear colleagues talking about their DC moving into has better facilities than my house now - and certainly miles better than the house I rented after university.

There's a risk in becoming too accustomed to luxury, too soon - it's all well and good if they leave university and walk into a well-paid job, but if they don't, they'll have a shock to the system at a much worse time in their lives for getting used to it (or risk overspending).

I remember having more or less exactly the same in the Eighties - in fact I think we had one fridge and no freezer and no communal area so sometimes we'd have ' corridor parties' ha! It was catered though.

Yes it does sound a bit poor. Ds is in a basic ensuite with bath but no shower. He shares a kitchen with 3 others and n there there's a table, 2 fridges, microwave and a freezer! Then there's a utility cupboard with iron , hoover etc It's lovely.

That does sound a bit rubbish. In my catered halls, there were 12 of us across 3 floors in my block. Each floor had a loo and there were 2 floors with showers (so maybe 6 ish). The kitchen area sounds a bit bigger but not a lot. I reckon like others have said, it used to be catered so isn’t really geared up that well to self-catering.

You may not like the accommodation not being mixed but after 21 years in higher education and dealing with pastoral issues. I can unfortunately say there were some serious issues with mixed sex accommodation sometimes.

The lack of communal space is bad though.

My DS has 12 in his house with 2 loos and 2 showers. Kitchen not too bad - a bit larger than your DD, but i'm sure it will be fine. I'm assuming it's fine for my D'S but that would require him keeping in touch

If the students are anything like those I shared with, they’ll live on pot noodle, cereal bars, chips and sauce, and lunch in the refectory at college.
I think the most I ever saw cooked was a stir fry.
We kept all our food under our beds or it got pinched.

YANBU but I do think it doesn't do young people any harm to live in less than desirable accommodation for a bit. It's character-building. However, given how much students are charged for their halls these days they do have a right to have basic facilities, particularly a communal area which is so important to facilitate bonding.

On the subject of shared loos, I always wonder what happens if there's an outbreak of D&V (which there's potentially more of a likelihood of being in shared student digs).

"No common room or any communal space in the building. Nowhere to bond with flatmates really."

Yes I agree that's bad - what's the rationale for flats rather than old-fashioned corridors if you're not going to have communal space in the flat? I wonder if it's to encourage the students to use the bigger communal space 100 yds away to mix with others rather than huddle in flats. In which case - why have flats?!! But suspect that is not the reason, and it's to do with costs of floorspace.

The lack of communal space is a bit shite really, but it's only, what, nine months of the year.

I think in my day there were 16 of of sharing 2 loos and 2 showers, tiny kitchen but there was a table and largish area with a few chairs.

Liking the people who she's sharing with is absolutely the Main Thing. My friend's dd had to move accommodation because all the other girls she was sharing with had long, loud karaoke parties in the kitchen every night. My friend's dd is quite shy and, crucially, an artist and musician so couldn't really cope.