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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Bristol university accommodations

85 replies

happyhebe · 27/05/2017 08:42

We're going to be applying for accommodation at the Uni of Bristol for DS next week, any tips please?

He's not sure whether to go for catered or self catered or even which hall to go for. He's sociable but also likes a quiet environment to work in.

TIA.

OP posts:

LondonMumsy · 28/05/2017 21:23

Very good point bojorojo - even if she did go catered, she would end up being too difficult and want to eat her own food. Not that sociable if she's eating her own food whilst everyone is in the dining hall. If only DD wasn't fussy...

Rosieposy4 · 29/05/2017 17:18

And that is why ds says how rich many of the students in Bristol are " the savvy student buys a few waitrose ready meals"
No savvy student buys any ready meals, they bulk buy lentils and spices and make their own dinner.

Needmoresleep · 29/05/2017 17:27

Rosie

bojorojo · 29/05/2017 19:22

The odd take out from Waitrose is hardly a rich kid option!!! Have you seen the price of the sports facilities at the university? I really don't think the average student who is short of time and not a lentil eater will bat an eyelid at the occasional ready meal with a salad! It is hardly lobster and Krug! Lentil eaters are possibly not typical of Bristol students though and quite difficult to prepare in the kitchenettes at the catered halls to which I was referring. Your DS is obviously a bit out of step Rosie, in more ways than one! Is he jealous or just a class warrior?

Rosieposy4 · 29/05/2017 20:09

He is not at all out of step, what a ludicrous thing to suggest. He has loads of friends, any time i have been to any of his houses there has been one or more students making similar type food to my description.
Ready meals are a total waste of money and over processed anyway.
Most certainly not jealous, just a subject of discussion about some over indulged kids whose life skills are so poor they can't cook.

elizabethleicester · 29/05/2017 20:13

, just a subject of discussion about some over indulged kids whose life skills are so poor they can't cook.

Quite. By university age they should all be able to cook, my 13 year can do a roast dinner, fajitas, lasagna and spaghetti bolognese without help. It's hardly rocket science.

bojorojo · 29/05/2017 20:17

Oh my God! Richer young people cannot cook now? How do they manage? Get a live in housekeeper? You are really being ridiculous now!

May I just reiterate - the catered halls do not have full kitchens. They have a microwave and a toaster. Therefore cooking lentil stew or a roast dinner is out of the question. Young people who are out playing sport or miss meals for other reasons need, occasionally, a quick meal. If is not a life style, but ready meals help when you are pushed for time and the Waitrose is near the university so it gets used.

I deeply resent your class based sniping. My DD has a Leiths Certificate - so you know what you can do with your lentils!!! Anyone for a fruit pavlova or fruit cake? Home made of course!

Rosieposy4 · 29/05/2017 20:20

Bojo, it is not class based sniping, for the record, as if it bloody matters, we have privately educated all 4 dc from reception onwards, DH and I are both professionals and we live in a large house with land and horses. It has bugger all to do with class.

JanetBrown2015 · 30/05/2017 08:40

Yes, we know the catered halls don't have proper kitchens. one of my sons yesterday said he still prefers the idea of catered (but they are pretty busy revising although I still hope they will apply this week).

Let us not have a lentil war. One of my sons is vegan and we all know there are an awful lot of posh vegans (even "Deliciously" Ella is almost vegan) and an awful lot of students who eat well.

bojorojo · 30/05/2017 13:37

Exactly, Janet. Everyone makes their own choices. There is no good or bad choice.

LondonMumsy · 31/05/2017 13:34

Anyone's DC made up their mind? I know the deadline isn't for almost two months - just interested as DD is still torn over catered (apparently easier to make friends) or self catered (where she will actually eat because she's fussy!!)

blueskyinmarch · 31/05/2017 14:21

I bought the deadline for Bristol to be guaranteed a place in halls was much earlier than that?

blueskyinmarch · 31/05/2017 14:21

Thought.

LordTrash · 31/05/2017 14:27

I know my experience will be deeply out of date, but I was in one of the catered Clifton halls years ago, and I always felt a bit sorry for the crowds hanging about outside the Union at chucking out time to get the bus back to Stoke Bishop when we could just nip home in three minutes flat. You could go back to your room to drop stuff off/pick it up between lectures. Plenty of shops on the doorstep. Location, location, location for me, every time.

The vegetarian food was atrocious though. A whole baked onion sitting in a pool of packet cheese sauce springs to mind. I imagine it must have improved by now.

Ontopofthesunset · 31/05/2017 14:37

To reiterate, the point about the ready meals is that if you've had to miss dinner in your catered halls because you're in a play or something, and you've only got a microwave and a toaster, a 3for2 ready meal from the Co-op is more filling than a bowl of cereal or a couple of slices of toast. It doesn't matter if you can cook - there are no cooking facilities. And if you're rehearsing 3 nights a week you need to eat something and you don't want to eat toast every night. If DS had known how many meals he would have to miss he wouldn't have chosen catered.

aginghippy · 31/05/2017 14:58

bluesky Bristol guarantee an offer of accommodation for all first years who apply by 31st July.

London My dd made up her mind a few weeks ago, after talking it over with a friend of a friend who is in her second year there. She definitely wants self catered. She is a vegetarian (who eats lentils ) enjoys good food, and reckons her own cooking will be much better than what she could get in catered halls.

Her other main criterion is to be somewhere with other state-educated people. I know some on this thread think the state/private thing shouldn't be an issue, but she thinks she would be more comfortable in that environment.

bojorojo · 31/05/2017 15:15

Will she choose her job based on that divide as well, aginghippy? Isn't University a time to experience new things and shed your prejudices? Would you agree to her saying she didn't want to be in accommodation with black people? Or gay people? As Bristol has a very high number of privately educated students, spending three years avoiding them is just ridiculous. Why are they so awful? What do they do that means anyone would try and avoid them to be comfortable? Around me the grammar school parents are more snobby than the private parents. So are state grammar school students on the avoid list too?

The union has been done up at Bristol but it's not the social scene that it is at other universities. It was supposed to be doing a leavers' ball a few years ago. DD was on the committee and they wimped out despite huge support from students. DD said they are an embarrassment!

LondonMumsy · 31/05/2017 15:41

IMO, DD should go for self catered because of how fussy she is and would end up not eating at the dinner table with friends because she would have takeaways or ready meals, so takes away the point of being catered.
But DD is concerned because a fair few people she knows (day school and boarding schools friends) are going for Wills and Churchill because of the formal dinners they have on Fridays. DD isn't concerned that her friends will be there and she'll miss out, she's worried that she will miss out on the formal atmosphere that she very much likes.
DD will enjoy herself regardless (as long as he gets an en suite ) but she overthinks unnecessarily

aginghippy · 31/05/2017 15:44

You would have to ask her those questions bojo only she is not on this thread. It's her decision, not mine. I haven't agreed to anything. As it happens, I have a different opinion on the state/private thing and have expressed it to her in a supportive way.

Also, you seem to be assuming that she is white. I never said that.

blueskyinmarch · 31/05/2017 15:50

Ah yes so it is. I am being a numpty.

blueskyinmarch · 31/05/2017 15:52

Can I point out that my DD didn't choose Badock as her first choice. In fact almost none of her friends did. Don't let your DD think they will get their first or even second choice of halls because the ones like Wills, Churchill and Goldney are massively over subscribed.

blueskyinmarch · 31/05/2017 15:55

Oh and also my DD went to a private school but her friends are all from a vast range of schools, cities, families etc. They seemed to have gelled because of the way they think and what their priorities are in life rather than their backgrounds.

aginghippy · 31/05/2017 15:56

Very true bluesky they don't really choose, they are only expressing a preference.

LondonMumsy · 31/05/2017 16:05

DD is considering Durdham because it's under subscribed, in Stoke Bishop, self catered and all rooms have en suite. But she's now complaining because it's now as 'Dead-ham' and apparently very boring.. (didn't realise that was possible)

catslife · 31/05/2017 17:18

Obviously everyone is different and choices will depend on the amount of contact time, whether you need the library and what the course is. It wasn't full of vets, medics or engineers!
Many departments at Bristol university e.g. medical school, engineering and the Sciences have their own libraries which students use instead of the main library. Some halls of residence have a small library and facilities such as music practice rooms etc.
In catered halls it may be possible to order a late meal if you will be back late from sporting fixtures or orchestra practice etc but wouldn't recommend for fussy eaters.
OP the newer city centre halls may look closer to the uni, but they are at the bottom of quite steep hills (googlemaps doesn't reveal this) so the walk isn't as easy as it looks.

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