First year uni accommodation - is en suite worth the extra cost?

[MotherOfGirls]

Just wondering if I'm being mean suggesting my DD goes for shared facilities....

[fraktion]

Oh definitely apply early!!!! It's well worth being precise about which hall she wants if she has a particular preference.

Everyone I knew out at Five Ways or along Bristol Road was insurance or late getting their form in. I was also around the year they screwed up majorly and had to put people in an Etap hotel. That was a big headache for the support staff but they didn't leave rolls stranded and put a lot if effort into ensuring students got accommodation. Extreme but the result of a problem with one of the older halls as newer ones are going to be less prone to that kind of disaster as well as nice to live in.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the freshers events are organised by the RAs. Some have bigger budgets and better support than others so if that's important to her it's something to consider too.

[LeeCoakley]

So what she should do is make Birmingham her firm now instead of waiting until nearer the deadline and then can we apply for accommodation early? I don't know why we are waiting really, she's had all five offers and interviews.

Can I ask an unrelated question? Her tutor has said that if we want to go through clearing then not to put an insurance. Is this how it works? And if she doesn't make the grade for her Birmingham course how likely is that course going to be available through clearing? Thanks.

[EduCated]

[fraktion]

[BestIsWest]

Ooh I wanted to go to Birmingham. It was so lovely. Twice. Didn't get the grades the first time and then got a PGCE offer from there which I couldn't take up.

[boomting]

Lee her tutor is talking nonsense. If she misses her grades on results day and then decides that she doesn't want to go to her insurance choice then she can ring up her insurance choice and ask to be released into Clearing (I did this... ). But choosing an insurance choice keeps her options open in case there's nothing suitable in Clearing.

[snowy91]

I have just finished uni (well back in june!)....i had shared bathrooms in my 1st year in halls.
was fine :) we had a weird halls lay out which meant we could just walk along the whole corridor into other blocks.....for some reason some blocks had baths others had showers...my block only had baths (1:4) so used next doors showers....i think we had 7 blocks of 8 and i think had about 4 maybe 5 showers (they've sorted it out now and all blocks now have showers!)...i think in a year i had to wait once for a shower and we had cleaners daily who cleaned all communal areas including showers and baths so never an issue with dirt etc.....had the occasional pile of cereal and bottle of beer but that's part of the randomness of halls!

:-) i'd say for 40 a week just go for shared she'll be fine

[TalkinPeace2]

40 rooms per floor basin in each room
Girls toilets, boys toilets : 4 toilets, three showers, three baths in each. We lived.

[MrsHoarder]

Shared is fine. If she's picky send her with a pack of bathroom wipes to swipe the shower and throw in the bin before use. And she could do what I did and time a bath for the days I was in halls just after the cleaner came around.

[pooka]

We had flat of 10 people with 2 baths, 2 showers and 4 loos. Modern student village (glasgow).

Was fine. Actually, was way better than in later years and flat sharing with 5 of us and one bathroom, no separate loo. Had washing machines and tumble dryers in the basement too. Brill!

En-suite really not necessary IMO.

[sicutlilium]

teacherwith2kids aahh, those were the days: one bathroom for the whole of Cloisters, not to mention the Bath House cubicles with no doors. Kids of today don't know they're born etc.

[LeeCoakley]

Thanks boomting!

[MrsBrrrr]

Shared is fine. En suite is an expensive luxury, IMO.

[DandyDan]

I think it's worth going for "en suite". Second and third years you're likely to be living in a shared house with people you know and have arranged to share with - living in a house with a bathroom is very different to the dozens of people you will have to share with in your first year. In your first year you have no idea who will be on your corridor, and tramping across to a shared bathroom is perhaps the last thing you want to be doing. In that first year a bit of privacy for showering/washing/etc might be worth the extra money.

My son's shared bathroom in his first year was filthy and cramped and horrible to use. My daughter's first year at uni was on a corridor with lads who never cleaned anything, and made life a general misery: the thought of her having to share a bathroom as well would have been very depressing to cope with.

Of course people can manage. I lived in uni halls for three years back in the 1980's, and shared bathrooms, but I would have leapt at having an en-suite.

[Scrazy]

I don't think it's worth the extra money. Mine paid just a small amount more for a larger room, it great with plenty of space. There are 4 of them sharing the flat with 2 toilets and 2 separate shower rooms. 2 boys, 2 girls and although she hasn't shared before except with me, she hasn't had any problems at all. She also has a wash basin in her room.

The communal areas get cleaned whereas with en-suite they have to clean their own bathroom.

[Ponders]

it definitely isn't worth the extra that the universities are charging - especially for the many weeks when the student isn't even there

[IShallWearMidnight]

DD1 went for a sink, but not ensuite - she'd viewed the accommodation on open day though, and knew that in those halls, she'd be sharing a shower with a max of 4 other people. Plus she figured that the money sh'ed be saving would fund her shopping habit .

[mumblechum1]

DS has asked for:

1. room with sink
   
2. room without sink
   
3. room with ensuite.
   

This is on the basis that there are no more than 6 people to each flat, and two shared bathrooms between those 6. I agree with the poster upthread that if there are 12 people sharing a bathroom it would be a different matter

[socharlottet]

It depends entirely on the person I think.Look at the poster last week who was horrified that a workman had used her private bathroom! some are more squeamish than others

[Keenoonvino]

I would say definitely not, purely for the social aspect (I know that sounds weird). In our halls (6 years ago!) all the bottom floor had ensuites. It was dead down there. On my floor, everyone's doors were open, in and out of bathrooms, popping into others' rooms. My best friends at uni I me like that. 2 of my good friends now had ensuites in my hall and they said they really missed the social aspect.

[Keenoonvino]

** I met like that