What’s the vibe with catered accom at UoN?

[Nottscatering]

DD went to the open day at Uni of Nottingham recently and it made a v favourable impression, especially the department.

The sticking point is the accommodation. Can’t help but feel they are out of things a bit if they opt for self catering eg Broadgate. But also a bit bothered about catered as DD is quite introverted. Her worst nightmare would be to be surrounded by students who all know each other and are ultra confident and expect her to be too.

She really wants to make friends and have a good social life but isn’t good at initiating conversations. She thought catered may be good as it would force her to be with others, even if it is massively outside her comfort zone to start with. She’s v sociable once she knows people but takes a while to warm up!

Is there a “type” of person that generally goes for catered at UoN?

Other place she’s interested in is Birmingham but that’s the usual SC set up so weighing up pros and cons.

I know with Notts you have to firm to be in with a chance of securing preferred accommodation in the bunfight in the spring. How often do people get their first choice and is it as hideous as I’ve read?!

My son is at catered - just started - at a different university. He's quite quiet and he reckons catered is a really good low key way to make friends. Meals are by their nature sociable and it's easy to start a conversation over lunch, or sit next to someone who seems nice, but equally you can just put your head down and eat.

I was in catered halls at uni and it was good - you had to go down to eat at 6pm and everyone else as there - just sit with someone from your corridor and chat to them or the others on the table. It's pretty sociable.

Trouble is that it is £££, some of the halls would cost most of the loan, which IMO makes it unreasonable unless parents are prepared to pay way beyond the loan top-up as their contribution (or maybe DC has a full loan and a serious job outside their studies?). But that may be you OP as you've not mentioned price as a factor.

Sorry to clarify - I wasn't at UoN, my perspective was just catered halls in general

I was at broadgate in the late 90s (I think they demolished it & started again though or I really wouldn’t recommend it!). I chose it as I was very fussy about food.

I was in a flat with 5 other girls, which was perfect for me to get to know people. The whole block (of 6 flats) was really sociable as well, they were single sex flats but the blocks had all male & all female flats.

I think the catered halls were more sociable (Broadgate didn’t have its own bar, or if it did it must have been rubbish!), but I didn’t struggle for friends or social life.

I have 2 DCs at Nottingham, and both were happy in catered halls in their first year. Both made 'hall' friends (one carried on living with them in a shared house for years 2 & 3. Their friends were made in the dinner hall, rather than the people who happened to be on their floor. Both were happy with the food, and some of the catered halls got free gym membership included.

DR was put off Nottingham because all the halls in the campus were catered. She is a vegetarian and an excellent cook. She didn't want to spend the best part of a year eating indifferent food.

Not did I want to pay for breakfasts that she would never eat.

One of my DC went to UoN and stayed in catered hall thinking it would be a good way to meet people and avoid having to cook for themselves(!)
. However the reality was that they couldn’t get out of bed in time for breakfast so just had cereal in their room (they have a mini fridge in each room) and rarely went to an evening meal because they were served way too early in the evening, often at the same time as eg sports practice or late lectures. With a degree in hindsight they said that they would have preferred the traditional “flat” set up where there’s some social space to mingle (catered hall was in the old style corridor set up so more difficult to just bump into others) and to be able to eat at times more convenient to personal schedule/ convenience. At UoN this means very slightly off campus

DD is less bothered about catering for herself - she’s not super fussy about food but is quite lazy! It’s more the vibe - @clary you make a good point that perhaps it’s only the well off that can afford catered? I think DD would like to mix with a wider variety rather than just one socioeconomic group. Perhaps it’s not a thing as some are working to supplement their incomes?

I do like the idea @TriceratopsRocks makes about meeting a wider variety of pp whilst you eat rather than just those on your corridor. Just worried that DD doesn’t have the nerve to strike up a conversation/sit next to someone she doesn’t know.

@SlipperyLizard thats the nub of it with Nottingham - halls are the most sociable. Whereas with other unis it’s all self catered so no choice.

The other one we are visiting is Lancaster - that has the collegiate thing but not sure how that works in terms of making friends etc as there seems to be catered and self catered.

One DD has just started at Nottingham and went for catered. There's quite a price range. She's paying for single, shared bathroom and pantry, 31 weeks a year. It's about the smell cost as bigger bed, sc at broadgate has a 44 (or something like that) weeks' contract iirc. Rooms not massive and kitchens bijou.
My dd didn't know anyone and is friendly but not especially confident. She has made a couple of friends since arriving yesterday. As catered is the choice for on campus it's bound to attract a mix of students I think. The price of the accommodation might be a determiner. It was her firm choice and she chose accommodation in the spring. Some had already sold out by the second day when she got around to looking.

Other child went to Birmingham. There's a meal plan option for certain halls there. It's not too different to Nottingham catered really - some meals in hall and some credits in cafes around the departments . Mine self catered in v cheap accommodation ( 2020 grade mess about) that's since been modernised and now not so cheap apparently

However the reality was that they couldn’t get out of bed in time for breakfast so just had cereal in their room (they have a mini fridge in each room) and rarely went to an evening meal because they were served way too early in the evening, often at the same time as eg sports practice or late lectures

Yes, DD would have just had cereal every morning. She went to Newcastle in the end and one of her friends always had to dash off after late lectures to get back to her hall in time for the evening meal.

DD used to regularly get together with friends from her course for bring and share meals which she wouldn't have been able to do in catered halls.

Waves @Tickledtrout - I dropped my DD off at Nottingham yesterday - also in catered, and sounds as though she has a similar room set up (wonder if they are in the same hall (L&W?))

It's obviously far too early to say whether it will pay off, but DD loved the university and the course and isn't the world's greatest cook, and although I think that there may be evenings when it is too early for her (she's hoping to play netball), I am sure she will make it work. She happily pottered off to brunch yesterday as we left and I had a message to say she'd had her first meal and 9 of them were off out!

DS1 went catered at Notts a couple of years ago. The food itself was very average, but he found he did get to most meals and it was a nice bonding experience in the early days. The daily lunch card was a great idea and very flexible.
Made the whole process a bit less daunting. He loves Notts. Living in a house now as a third year with his original hall-mates. No regrets on the catering thing at all.

Did your DD get first choice of halls? Was it a bunfight?

@Tickledtrout thats really helpful info thank you

HI @Nottscatering - she did, yes, even though she was quite laid back about applying for it and I was worried the popular choices would go quickly.

The 'vibe' yesterday was really lovely - the campus is so green, and the students we met seemed really open and friendly. She is quite anxious, but as soon as we arrived and she had introduced herself to a couple of people, her shoulders dropped and she was off.

Ahh that’s good to hear. We loved the attitude of everyone we spoke to at the open day - it seemed welcoming, open, warm and supportive.

Don’t think my DD would introduce herself to people though - she would hope others would!

I did catering at Notts (Jubilee) in 2000s
Absolutely loved it
Always someone u know there and so many funny moments!
Went with people on corridor
Im very sociable and it was great seeing people / all the gossip / dramas!

I was quite surprised too! They had little door hangers with a space for your name, that you could hang outside your room, which said "Happy to chat" or something so she just went and knocked on the doors that had them on -and then a couple of other students came and introduced themselves whilst we were making her bed. I haven't heard from her since getting a '9 of us are going out later' text about 3 hours after dropping her off yesterday morning, so hopefully all is well!

👋@Panicmode1 Rutland, so close . Glad to hear it seems to be going well for your dd too.
I think there are plusses and negatives wherever you go. This DD isn't especially fussy with food, a bit disorganised and liked the idea of gym membership included. Proximity to department too. We knew we'd be around to collect ( and clear room) each holiday. So on balance, she's opted for catered with the expectation she'll end up with a few 'on toast' self-made meals along the way.

They had little door hangers with a space for your name, that you could hang outside your room, which said "Happy to chat" or something

That's a brilliant idea.

@Tickledtrout do they have to clear their rooms each holiday?! DD thought they wouldn't have to - it's bad enough having to do that with DS at Cambridge who is only 1.5 hours away....!

May our DDs continue to settle well!

@Panicmode1 you can pay extra to NOT clear out in hols, totally worth the investment!

I'm not sure what OP is asking.
fwiw, DS is going back (2nd yr) to Broadgate park tomorrow.
He got the type of rooms he wanted both yrs (he did not want to be in Derby).

tbf, he's made no friend in accommodation.

The fierce competition is for en suite rooms, from what I can tell.
imho, catering is very anonymous experience, not how people make friends. She'd be better off going to Freshers week & making herself choose 3 societies & forcing herself to attend at least 3 sessions of each Soc ... to find some people she'd like to know not necessarily on her course.

Ah I see, thank you!! Definitely will look in to this - don't want to schlep up and down the M1 more than we have to!

Both of mine did have to completely clear their rooms at Christmas and Easter. One time we were still taking things to car and came back to find paint pot, ladder and tools in the room! It was a bit of a pain, but the upside was less rent to pay.

Most will not - if the contract is for 39 weeks. The 31-week contract means a payment of just under £7k by the looks of it.

I still maintain the the majority of UoN campus halls are quite exclusive; a fee of about £8k (or more) which is standard apart from the shorter let leaves the student on a max loan (or lower loan plus parental top-up to full figure) with about £450 per term, or about £35 pw, for lunch, toiletries, books, societies and GOING OUT. That's not a lot tbh, hence my deduction of extra parental support.

I hope I am wrong; but I know that DS, at another uni with a lot of catered halls, (tho a good few SC) was panicking about being offered a catered hall as it basically meant he would not have been able to go.