DD offered shared accom at uni

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Anyone have any experience of this? DD got a place through clearing and they guarantee accom for 1st years but she has been offered the last choice on her list which is a shared room, and is understandably very dubious about this. It's also catered and has no en suite which she also didn't want but was totally prepared to live with that but sharing is something she wasn't really prepared for! Thanks

I was in the same situation and it was the best experience ever. My housemates from first year are still my best friends 20 years later. Being catered gave a sense of community that other halls lacked. As did shared bathrooms etc. I was upset about it when I found out but settled a lot quicker and was much less lonely than if I'd been in another hall

How much does she want to do the course at that particular uni? Could she take a gap year and work/travel and go to uni with some savings and then get first dibs on the accommodation instead?

It can often be when uni's have over offered places, and large rooms are turned into shared rooms instead. Whether she enjoys it or not will depend on the person, there aren't many people I would want to share a room with though!

She doesn't have to stay in halls my DD didn't want to and we found a studio flat which was £25 a month cheaper than halls. It was in a lovely area, close to shops and walking distance to uni.

My first year room mate (38 years ago ) is godmother to my kids and still my best friend.

I had to share for part of our first year and we didn't get on. It was awkward but manageable.

It might be that if she doesn't get on with her roommate, they can switch with another for the other terms. Maybe she could ask how they match people for the rooms and/or ask them what happens if people don't get on, then she could put her kind at ease. We were given the addresses of our roommates before we arrived, which was helpful.

Mind not kind!

Mner has a good point, and lots of people drop out of uni in the first term so she could probably get her own room later on.

It really does depend on the person she'll be sharing with. Dd had a bad experience abroad sharing but it was just bad lucK. Other people skared and got on very well.

If she doesn't want to take the gamble I'd encourage her to take a gap year.

Are you sure it's shared as in 2 beds in the same room and not 2 bedrooms with a communal living/study room?

Thought shared rooms was only in Ameruca, I just can't see how it could work with studying and sleeping at different times. The snoring , the lack of privacy it sounds awful.

Noooo.

God no, there is no way I'd be doing that.

If she's quiet and she ends up with a party animal it'd be hell.
If she's a party animal and ends up with someone quiet it'd be hell.
Same goes for one being tidy, one being messy.

I loved the people I shared a flat with in my first year. Would I share a room with any of them? God no.

I really really wouldn't be even considering sharing a room in first year.

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When I went to medical school (in London, 1994!) all first years had to share rooms. Honestly it was fine - my roomate and I were house mates all the way through university - and she was one of my bridesmaids many years later :)

I can only think of one pairing that didn't work out - the vast majority ended up sticking together for years.

Not sure how the more pampered yoof of today would cope though ... my daughter finds the idea horrific

Is this UCL/ one of the London unis? I studied there and remember seeing shared rooms in some of the old buildings.

If London - take it, the costs elsewhere will be much higher anywhere nearly as central.

Elsewhere - depends how strongly she feels about it / whether there are other options. Can she take the room for a term initially?

Loads and loads of halls have shared rooms as they have had to fit more students into the halls of residence over the years.

Most of my uni friends who shared found it manageable.

I would second the suggestion to look into studio flats in the area if your daughter really is concerned about sharing. But if she doesn't live in halls she will need to make a big effort to make sure she is included in the social scene which is handed to you on a plate in halls, and easy to end up on the outer if you're not one of the gang.

DS2's friend shared at Imperial last year. I didn't hear anything about it being a problem.

Been looking at prospectuses with DS3 recently - I'm sure I saw one with shared rooms. Maybe Bristol?

There wasn't an option not to share in the first year (unless for specific medical conditions) at my undergrad college, so I shared. It wasn't what I'd have chosen, and I suspect that we were the two leftovers at the end of the matching as everyone else had things in common with their roommate whereas I had written loads on my form and she had written almost nothing. Having said that, it had no impact on my studies and we mostly politely ignored each other or made small talk for the first few weeks and then got separate friends and only ever met at bedtime. We did end up sharing a house in the second year rush to find groups to live with and are still in touch.

Catering is a good option in the first year - one fewer thing to organise, and complaining/going out for a pizza afterwards is something to bond over.

I too would be very worried, but my friend's dd (who has just graduated) was in shared rooms in halls in her first year, and had a great time - this is even with her dd being very 'un-studenty' in that she was an early to bed / early to get up' person. So it can work.
A friend of ds's (who got his place through clearing) found a room in a shared house with some 2nd years, and got on great - much cheaper than halls too - so might that be an option ? Contact the university accommodation officer or local agents.

I was in shared - nearly 30 years later she's still my best friend xx

Thanks all. It's at royal holloway. I will give them a call in the morning and see what her options might be from here. I'd like to persuade her to try it but I think I will struggle. We live within a commutable distance (just) but that really takes all the fun out of it. I can see her chucking in the towel over this!

I had three friends at uni, all in london, who all had to share rooms. One loved it, got on really well with their roomate and was sad to leave. One had a roomate who dropped out after a few months so ended up with this massive room all to herself for the rest of the term (it was lush, in one of those really old buildings with a balcony) My third friend had a pretty awful (but very funny for me) time in which his roomate fell out with him to the extent that he built a wall out of furniture across the centre of the room and they never said a word to each other again!! In all cases though they found their own accomodation for the second year. I think living in halls gets old pretty quickly weather you are sharing a room or not! Im sure she will make friends and be able to find a flat share after a while. The time will fly by however much she ends up liking or disliking her roomate. Just try to relax her about it and remind her that its only for a short while in the grand scheme of things!

There were shared rooms in my halls when I was at Uni. By Christmas, those that didn't want to share anymore, for whatever reason, had been able to move to single rooms that became available due to drop outs so if she could put up with it short term, she could put her name down for any single rooms that become available.

Catered halls were fab in my day. Yes, the food was a bit shit a lot of the time but at least you were assured of 2 meals a day, even after you'd blown all your student loan in the union on books. In my experience, it was a real social event and we often spent a couple of hours over dinner just chatting and catching up with different friends coming and going with no petty squabbles over whose turn it was to do the dishes etc to worry about.

Shared bathroom facilities back in my day too and, again, it was rarely an issue. each room has its own vanity are with sink and toilets, showers and baths were shared and there was a communal kitchen and lounge. No different really than when you go on to house or flat share in subsequent years - it's rare that student houses would all have ensuite facilities.

Honestly, catered halls was the best year of my life and helped me to establish a wide circle of friends from all faculties. Oneoif my best friends to this day is someone I met in my first week in halls.

Two girls shared in the part of the halls my dd was in last year. They had both got last minute places to do a very desirable course that they would have not wanted to turn down. I think they got offered separate rooms somewhere else eventually but decided to stick with the group of people they had got to know

I can see her chucking in the towel over this!

If sharing a room for a term will cause her to give up, she may not be ready for university. As others have said, generally, by the end of the Michaelmas term, single rooms are freed up as some students drop out or transfer.

Alternatively, she could take a gap year, earn some money, and work out if university is really what she wants.