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?!

Thanks @clary - I haven't actually looked at it properly - DD was organising everything and we were helping her with her budget - her halls are over 8k a year - and DH tells me he's paid up until January, so hopefully we are covered for the Christmas holidays anyway.

If she's paying £8k+ it will be a 39-week contract so she leaves her stuff over Christmas and Easter (obv bring home important things!)

This is interesting and different to the other posts saying that catering is a very anonymous experience. Is Broadgate park self catering? Derby is just the name of one of the catered halls isn’t it? A bit confused.

In terms of availability, I can give you our experience of going through clearing this year. My son applied on results day for ensuite and was allocated Nottingham Two. He regretted this decision after a few days (before we accepted the offer) and so contacted the accommodation team and was able to get on campus catered. There is a Nottingham accommodation thread running at the momemt where we were discussing all this so it might be worth a read.
I know that the halls my son has been allocated were sold out months ago but I assume someone dropped out and there were definitely spaces on campus.
The only thing I would say is that the remaining accommodation all seemed to be the expensive type £8,000. If you are looking for something closer to £5,000 then you might find it more difficult at a later stage.
He arrived Friday and loves it so far and is very happy to be on campus but of course very early days

DS is at Nottingham and opted for self-catered halls in his first year, at Broadgate Park. It's literally across the road from campus and closer to some depts than some of the catered halls. It's also at the Beeston end of campus, so handy for shops, pubs, cinema etc.

He chose self-catering because he wanted flexibility in what and when he ate, and to have more disposable income (basically the chance to eat very cheaply to spend more on nights out). He couldn't really cook when he went but seems to manage fine, he and his friends tend to cook together a lot of the time.

He made friends easily, not particularly with his flat, although they got on fine, but a neighbouring one, and is now living in a house with his fellow ex Broadgate mates. It's horses for courses really, he wouldn't have liked set meal times with limited choice, but that suits some DC.

Dd was in Rutland last year, where they only pay for 31 weeks. Clearing out the room at Christmas and Easter was a bit of a pain but worth it for the £1500 plus saved!

She found it very sociable and found lots of friends via meals, and also made friends from her course who were walking back from lectures to neighbouring halls. You can eat in any of the halls for lunch or evening meal I believe, so she often ate with friends from a different hall. She did say there was a bit of a posh white vibe, but then she's also found the university as a whole quite lacking in diversity - unfortunately I think this is true of a lot of the RG universities.

The food in the evenings isn't amazing in catered (but my dd is also fussy), but there's a nice range of places available to use the lunch card at. She didn't regret living on campus and being 'in the thick of it'.

DS was in catered at Nottingham last year. He is very introverted as well. On the whole food wise he enjoyed it but he is very prudent and made sure he got up and went for all meals including breakfast before lectures. Socially though he didn't make many friends. We thought we were doing the right thing by choosing somewhere that would force him to be more social and meet people but it had the opposite affect as it was totally overwhelming for him. He ended up joining lots of societies and is now sharing with boys from his course.

Such useful feedback thank you.

@crazycrofter the posh white vibe bothers us a bit tbh and is why some unis have been completely ruled out. I was wondering if this was more of a thing with catered at Nottingham as all the ppl we know who go there (and aren’t posh white) are self catered.

@UsherBobble it can go either way can’t it? I see that. Glad your DS has made friends in his course.

I think catered accommodation does tend to attract those with a bit more money, it's definitely more expensive than cooking for yourself, and most DC will need enough money to get food elsewhere if they are busy / asleep during the set meal time. DS's room was ~£70 per week cheaper than the equivalent in Cripps / Derby / L+W etc - he spent a lot less than that on food and never paid twice iykwim.

It really can go both ways, yes! If you do choose catered though I would advise to be one of the first to move in so she is there when the friend groups start forming.

Interesting and good point - is there any choice in this though or are you just given a slot?

DD moved into the Almera on Friday (s/c, shared bathroom - just under £6k for 40+ weeks) and it's got a very diverse ethnic mix!

She'd been offered catered on campus but didn't want that. She's confident and sociable and 3 days in she's really enjoying it. And she's not posh!

Town of Derby. There is literally UoN accommodation over towards/in Derby. Cheap. They get bussed in !

Yeah they can be lonely & anon in a cafeteria.

@Panicmode1 my dd started in l&w this weekend too…. She got a free hoodie this morning at the free brunch! Mealtimes seem to be fairly sociable now (dd is also quiet @Nottscatering but others are now making the effort to speak to her I sense). Food seems to be good.

I think that is pretty unusual tho tbh (not saying it wasn;t offered to your DS). AFAIK Derby {ahem} city based accomm is mainly offered to medical students who are studying at the medical school in Derby.

Hello! I've just had the " I got a free hoodie today" text. That and a picture of 9 of them in a club last night, so I think she's settling happily. So relieved as she has anxiety issues and was very upset about her bf going elsewhere for uni, so I was worried about her, but seems I needn't have been! Hope your DD is happy too....mine has a 9am 'meet the tutor' tomorrow....can't remember when she last saw that early in the morning 🤣

Ds1 did year 1 of Notts at Rutland (which is basically the cheapest of all catered because you need to evacuate each holiday). Best thing he ever did. Said it was fabulous. The sense of community. Saying that he eats anything, and is incredibly content with inner confidence, so would never have struggled.

At least consider all the options. Or there is a very good self catering Notts thread currently running?

Broadgate isn't out of it at all! Very lively flats for 5-9 people there. DS stayed there last year and recommends it.

DD is at Brum. Was in self catered Appt with 4 others in halls. Was brilliant for her and £90/week so good value.

Thanks for the heads up about the other thread which has some really interesting reading on it. I had clocked it a few days ago but it’s moved on a bit since I last read it.

@Wallywobbles is your DD enjoying Brum? Why did she pick there? Must confess I loved the campus!

She wanted to read law and French law and get her licence (French degree) in French so she could finish her studies and practice in France. She has both nationalities and we live in France. Choices not huge. She didn't get good enough grades for Kings and we both liked our visit to the Bham campus. It's so much better than you could imagine.

She is really happy there. Teaching is good. Flat mates good from the start. Uni put them in flats so no choices but that was a blessing for those from abroad.

That sounds wonderful 😊

So pleased to hear about the teaching as well. We got a better feeling about the teaching for DDs department at Nottingham vs Birmingham but will probe a bit further at offer holder days.