Live at home or in halls - the big decision!

[Igrow]

DD has just received an unconditional offer to the university of her choice so naturally we are all delighted.

Uni is 20 minutes away on the train or a 20-30 minute easy drive, plenty of parking outside. Uni halls are opposite the campus so very convenient too. Campus is city centre surrounded by shops bars and restaurants.

DD ideally would like to stay in the halls, it’s £125 a week. Train fares and or parking would be about £30 a week.

DD has her own lovely room at home and a study, we all get on fine.

So, does she live at home and travel in daily potentially missing out on the independence, the social side of things, being able to stay with friends, what about freshers week??

We have a household income of over 60k so she is eligible for the smallest maintenance loan. We are happy to top up that to pay for the rest of her halls plus food and essentials books clothes etc. We have said though that if she lives out she would have to get a PT job to help pay for her social life. If she lives at home then her maintenance grant won’t really be needed and so there won’t be any pressure to get a pT job at all.

So....what is everyone else doing? Any thoughts or advice on the best way to go?

How many people on various threads have reported that their current first years, wherever they are logging in to lectures etc from, have no real idea who their course mates are, let alone formed enough of a relationship with them to be able to arrange groups for sharing a flat next year? Quite a few. Even for live, interactive sessions, people won't put their cameras on and / or there are no breakout groups and / or they just don't appear to have the gumption to try to get in touch with each other somehow. Admittedly, some also report that their DC are sharing university accommodation with people who never come out of their rooms, but at least there is always the option of knocking on their doors and trying to make friends with them.

Aiming to live at home for first year, then move out into a flat with others in second year may just backfire, unfortunately, if we are not back to some semblance of the normal learning experience by the new academic year.

DD never shared a house at university with class mates. Always mats from halls. Medics and vets end uo sharingdue to logistics but others tend to blend. A house full of geographers would be unusual for example. So meeting people via a hall is very important in my view. My niece has done just that last term and is staying with those people now they are house hunting. Not a single one from the course. She does not really know them.

@PresentingPercy

Honestly *@JunoTurner* she cannot leave it be. I get sick of it. It’s relentless as you are picking up. It’s a valid observation from me as a mum. It’s just as valid as people posting about their own experiences which could well be 20 years ago or a lot more. It’s about give and take and not calling people out all the time. Who is to say one opinion is more valid than another?

Sorry just seen this. It’s unfortunate you feel Needmoresleep has persisted in doing that despite your name change.

Hmmm! True though! It’s like stalking.

Just seen this? It’s over a week old. So two of you are following my every word now? Have you got nothing better to do? Grow up!

Following your every word?

Er, it came up in my notifications as you tagged me. I looked at all of them earlier to clear the backlog and saw I hadn’t seen this or responded to your reply to me. So I came on to do so. I’m polite like that.

Another way of looking at it is “this thread is only just over a week old”. It’s hardly like we’re taking about a year old tag/post. HTH.