To ask if it’s a mature student would definitely be unhappy in halls

[Worriedmother666]

Person in question is 26.

It depends on the maturity level of the mature student. There’s plenty of adults who still act like teenagers so they would have no problem fitting in.

It's luck of the draw for the housemates they get, and what their personality is like - do they want to get their head down? Or are they happy to drink and mix with housemates etc? Could go either way, but the noise might be tricky in the early hours if they get a party animal bunch.

I lived in halls aged 18, and then again for a 15 month period when I was 24-25. Everyone in my university hals when I was 18 was also 18-19, and most of them were annoying and immature, but that was OK because I was the same age and it was just exciting to be out in the big wide world and mixing with so many other people. I made lots of friends, and ignored the ones I didn't get on with. That seemed to be the way of things.

When I was 24 I went back into education, and ended up living in a very unusual and remote hall of residence with other people aged from 18-30. Most of us were in the 23-26 age bracket though, and had already held down careers and in some cases mortgages, and had long term relationships on the go. Without exception, the most irritating people to be around were the 18 year olds. They had no boundaries when it came to personal space, noise, entitlement, and even cleanliness in the shared bathrooms. Due to the nature of the halls, it was not possible to live anywhere else at all for the duration of the course, but the matron took pity on some of the older female students and managed to get us housed in a separate area of the halls to the younger blokes, which was a bit of a saving grace really. She was fab, was our matron. Even if her dog did raid the laundry room and eat your knickers if you didn't supervise your washing!

I certainly would not voluntarily want to go back to living with teenagers away from home for the first time if I'd already seen a bit more of life.

I had a student of around 25 years old living with me when I was in halls. There were 7 of us sharing the flat, him and six 18 year olds.

He used to get wound up with us on occasion, mainly over housework and general immaturity, but it wasn't an awful lot more than the rest of us would get annoyed with each other.

I reckon he'd probably say the benefits outweighed the downsides. He had a good laugh, he got to meet lots of people, whereas a lot of the other mature students on my course had their own clique and stuck to that.

I'm still in touch with him now, whereas I'm not with anyone else from that first year house. He still talks to a few of the others from that house as well, so we can't have annoyed him that much!

The first time I went uni my flat mate had just turned 26. She had split up from her long term boyfriend and decided to throw caution to the wind, pursue the career she’d always wanted and have fun. We had the best time and 12 years later we’re still friends, keep in touch and visit each other. We were all 18-19. However, we weren’t idiots, we were from similar backgrounds, respected eachothers boundaries and were quite mature ourselves so obviously that made a difference. She loved it though and now has a very successful career

Would I live among 18 year olds as a 26-year old? No.

Would I live in halls as a 26-year old if the university in question has a floor/building set aside for mature or postgrad students or groups mature students together in some other way? Yes.

Depends on the person and who they end up near.
I knew people older who loved it, and people younger who found it a struggle.

Depends on the person, I hated halls at age 18! I made friends with a 25 year old when I was in halls, she found it OK but she did go home every weekend so missed out on the noisiest nights.

My halls went to extraordinary lengths to put together well suited people.

We were part of three flats linked by a staircase, and each flat of six were incredibly close in lifestyles.

I think it's less bother to make sensible arrangements in the first place rather than deal with the fallout.

My halls at uni were stuffed full of kids who'd been at boarding school and they treated it as more of the same, except matron or whoever wasn't there to moderate their behaviour so it was just constant noise and total lack of consideration for others. And of course cleaning was something that happened to other people. I found it difficult to stomach at 18, there's no way I could have lived there as a 26 year old.

If there's an option to share with other mature students that might be the way to go.

No, totally depends on the person. A good friend within our 'gang' in halls was 24. And a few of us were between 19-20 anyway because of gap years.

Also don't forget that year in halls is actually three terms - less than 9 months. As a way to get to know folk, it's hard to better it, and for a lot of mature students I think they'd see the benefit of having that as more than outweighing the elements of getting irritated by stuff.

But - totally depends on the person.

Totally depends on the individual and who they're put with, which you can be in control of. I was 23 when I went to live in halls and I hated it. I never left my room or used the communal areas because it was disgusting how my flat mates lived, always mouldy food everywhere, they'd cook and just walk away and leave the mess. They all seemed perfectly happy to shove someone else's dirty pan to one side to make their own food. I couldn't open the fridge due to the overwhelming smell of gone off food. I also wanted to do well and spent lots of time studying where as they were literally 24/7 drinking and having parties. I was happy to join in and go out at times but sometimes I really needed to escape it.
My second year I stayed in a house with some friends on my course and I loved second and third year with them, they were slightly younger than me but it didn't matter as they were quite mature.
I don't regret doing it, as I did have some good times but I was also happy to disappear for late night library sessions when I needed the peace, and I had friends I could go out for dinner with to save me from pot noodle overload because I refused to step foot in the kitchen.

I was in halls at 26. I loved it. not everyone was 18..The girls I shared with were..but it was fine ..loved my time at university.

Hmm.. I finished my first degree mid 20s. I would have put up with this for a year if it meant a real financial saving or if there was an area for mature students but at that age can't say I would fancy sharing facilities with a whole corridor. I wouldn't have felt unsafe or too bothered by the noise. One of these new, self contained blocks would have been fine but are pretty extortionate compared to a studio or flatshare in most cities.

I was in halls just slightly younger than that and loved it.

I lived in halls at 18 and hated it. When I did a post-grad lots of my friends were in halls in their late 20s and it was fine! (I didn't get a place, so ended up in a house share instead). They were in rooms with en-suites with shared kitchen facilities, rather than catered, and I think that's a better set-up anyway. The university accommodation people do try to group students by age I think, my friends certainly weren't in with 18 year olds in their flats!

I think a 26 year old would hate it in halls full of school leavers. But most universities house students by age group.
Many universities also have accommodation blocks which are only for over 21 year olds.

I was 27 when I started uni and I stayed in halls played by more mature and postgrad students. No way would I have lived with teenagers. I had a brilliant time and I was still one of the oldest but only by a few years. My friends from halls are among my best friends now!!

My uni had halls targeted to mature students. They were technically called “quiet” halls and were not age restricted and one even allowed junior faculty. The key was opting in to very strict rules of conduct.

Did you post about this before, @Worriedmother666? Is this your nephew?

I shared a room in halls in 1st year with a mature student and she seemed to hate it. I think she was about 30 and didn't enjoy living with a house of 20 18-19 year olds who stayed up half the night getting pissed. Don't blame her, really. We just thought she was grumpy and boring.

The 26 yo that stays in my sisters halls has just had a mental breakdown so I would think not. But then again some people that age get on better with younger people of uni age than people closer to their own.

I am going back a while now, but I knew a 25 year old living in halls, he was really popular and fitted in perfectly. I think the 25/26 year old will be able to judge for themselves.

@Ellpellwood

Depends. I went to a university with "colleges" and my college had 6 buildings. One of those was reserved for postgrads, 21 and up. There was also a whole college for mature students.

Me too! I was 28 and I loved being in halls. I was with slightly older students mostly or students who had requested being housed with older students. I made my absolute best friends there. It was wonderful.

Having worked in a university student accommodation office and been a mature student, I think most would find it less enjoyable at 26.

I regularly had miserable 20-22 year olds coming to me in first year complaining about how immature the 18 and 19 year olds were and how they couldn’t wait to leave and this was the age group I most frequently had to reallocate.

18-26 IS a massive age gap for most at those ages. When I was at uni as a mature student aged 25 I was slap bang in the middle of the age groups and had several students the exact same age as me on the course, there’s no way I would have dated an 18 year...I saw it as a horrific prospect! Likewise I wouldn’t have been interested in the 30 or 40 somethings on my course romantically and actually we did all mainly tend to socialise and have closer friendships with those closer to our own ages.

Now I’m in my mid 30s I have friends in their 20s to 50s! Very different to living in halls with people though. Especially people experiencing adulthood and living away from parents for the first time.

I’d advise a flat share with other mature students or postgraduates, or what I did (rented a studio!).