Old University - Only Catered Halls and Shared Rooms

[BathshebaKnickerStickers]

One of the options for my DD (other than staying at home and going to our local - good - university) is a very, very old university where you pretty much, esp as a 1st year need to live in halls.

problem 1 is my daughter has ARFID (diagnosed) so, while she may be able to eat something most days, there would be a LOT of cheese baguettes which seems like a waste of what looks like a good menu.

problem 2 is that due to the nature and age of the accommodation, the vast majority of 1st years need to share a room with a complete stranger. Hat just strikes me as a safeguarding nightmare. My DD is quite shy and has spent 15 years sharing a bedroom with her younger sister. My sister shared a room in 1st year and it was not without problems (and that was 1985) and I shared with a stranger for 3 weeks in 1988. There is also not much difference in the fees for a shared room and the single rooms accessible in later years.

The course and the location would be perfect for her but the catering and the shared rooms sound like they really wouldn’t be suitable for her.

What uni is it?

Shared rooms would be an issue for my kids.

Re catering- it's worth checking what the payment system is and what other facilities there are. If it's PAYG and there are other facilities, it may not matter.

Durham?

All the colleges definitely have some single rooms, and people with medical needs are first in line for them. No idea on the catering I’m afraid!

Shared rooms would have been a dealbreaker for me. Not interested. There must be other places!

It’s St Andrews. Small town etc would be perfect for her and the course is fab in the 3 main courses for her so whichever course she chooses it would be fabulous.

The food would make her very anxious l though it does seem very buffet style so she would find something but it may be very monotonous.

She would be terrified of sharing a room with a total stranger…!

I think it would be fine if you were coming from boarding school but not a normal high school.

I'd bloody hate to have to share, I'd speak to the university and see what other options there are.

I expect the catering will be ok, again worth checking. It is a bloody long way from most of the UK though!

There are plenty of halls in St Andrews which are not catered and which don't involve shared rooms. Would she not be better in one of those and getting her own food? Is it University Hall she is looking at? I think that's the only one that has shared rooms.

4 years ago at an open day someone asked for stats on sharing and getting your preference on catering options. It didn't seem too bad although I remember self catering not so easy to get. They might have updated figures.

Accommodation tours were very positive about sharing but I guess they don't trot out folk who despise their roommate. DD didn't get an offer and doesnt know anyone who shared

Get your daughter to confirm with admissions whether she is likely to get special treatment for her medical condition before she wastes an option.

She could book private halls for 1st year if its a deal breaker but it might be difficult timing wise as it books early and offers are generally late.

Speak to the university and see what they can do re accommodation

also, see if your daughter can get a fridge/microwave/kettle - I managed fine with that at a v old fashioned university a couple of decades ago (there was also a shared kitchen on site but I preferred to cook in my room)

There are self catering standard rooms but not very many.

As far as catered halls - you don’t actually apply for a specific hall - you apply for accommodation and are allocated.

The website says the majority of Entrant Students are expected to share

Honestly there are plenty of non sharing rooms. I live in St Andrews. All the newer halls are single rooms. I was in a single room in 1980 when I attended.

When you apply for accommodation you select the type rather than the specific hall, so you put it in in preference order. At that stage you also get asked about special needs, and you get asked about interests and eg sleep habits, hobbies, music preferences. Her chances of being allocated unsuitable accommodation are reasonably slim.

I’ve watched too much Married At First Sight and I need a highly trained committee if they are finding her a Roommate At First Sight…!

Agree with others there are lot's of non sharing options, I have had 2 go through and both got their preferences.
If your DD is offered a place she ranks her accommodation preferences eg single ensuite self catered etc.
In my experience it is mostly the North American students who opt for shared rooms as that's what they are used to and more likely to get an older hall.
There are far more spaces in David Russell which offer single accommodation with the option of catered or not, as does Agnes Blackdder Hall. Perhaps it would be worth looking at those hall web pages it might reassure you and your dd.

There are lots of options where you don't have to share rooms. Go on to the St. Andrews accommodation pages and look at the self-catered en suite and self-catered shared bathrooms.
Agnes Blackadder for example is mainly single rooms. Andrew Melville also only has a couple of shared rooms.
Fife Park - single rooms.
You can put down your preference for room type as self-catered ensuite and then self-catered shared bathroom so that solves the catering issue. You can also state that she has a condition which means catered halls is not an appropriate option - that then excludes places likes Sallies and Regs where the majority of the shared rooms are.

I was in a shared room in halls having never shared before. It wasn't great but it was ok. Most people tolerated their room mates, a few people became BFFs and a few hated each other. Some people swopped round after a few weeks. I wouldn't choose it, but it may not be awful if allocated..it did help a bit with not hiding away for the first few weeks..my room mate was very confident, I was not..she was part of the cool crowd. I was not l... we were very very different but she was kind to me when it was all new and difficult for a introverted socially inept geek 😁

@Didiplanthis - oh you sound very similar to my GeekyGirl…!!!!!

I eat a lot of cheese baguettes too 😆

There is self catered available, if you have supporting information this should mean she gets her choice

I read that as the majority are shared, if you’re in catered halls. Therefore I would take it that self-catered halls are not typically shared, nor are the en-suite rooms?

Me too, that's what it says.

There will be plenty of students who want catered as it's much easier and presumably the shared rooms are much cheaper so there will be people who will be opting for that for financial reasons.

@GladysHeeler - to be fair when I looked at it the shared rooms aren’t amazingly cheaper. I suspect that is maybe a St Andrew’s thing because they have limited space and a world wide market but the price of a shared room isn’t drastically cheaper than a single room (we are normal parents who will be helping with student loans to pay accommodation so I did look)

I think the plan is to take the GeekyGirl to an open day and highlight her issues (she has other issues with processing too). I want to show her the option of being away from home as well as the option of being at home

Also TBF I would actually prefer her in catered halls because of her ARFID. In self catered halls we will probably be back to the conversations that chocolate cake is not a meal. At least in catered halls the cheese baguette, some raspberries and strawberries at least have a chance of appearing for a meal. Genuinely if she was left to feed herself I know deep down it would be cake and chocolate

I shared a room for two years at uni and quite enjoyed it but I was always out and about so didn't spend hours on end with my roommates which I think helped!

@BathshebaKnickerStickers we have a similar situation - Dd with adhd and arfid. She is looking at a lot of the old unis but in some cases the need to have some flexibility over food will mean choosing newer halls which have better kitchens or are self catered, rather than the old ones with more character and history. A diagnosis means that you can request a little more control over what you get allocated. We will be asking for a single room and also asking for self catered, although the ideal is a catered college where you pay by the meal and have access to a kitchen so you can choose. Arfid makes things so tricky and I do worry that DD is going to find it tricky socially as well because of it. You

Has your daughter firmed an offer from St Andrews? And have you spoken to the university about your daughters condition?

I ask as a friend of mines daughter is there at the moment. She has a medical condition which affects her eating. The university has been very accommodating and she got a place self catered halls as this best suits her condition.