Sharing a room university halls

[Accomodationsharing]

DD favourite uni and course is in London. The rooms close to the university are quite expensive but the twin rooms are more affordable. We actually live commuting distance; but happy for DD to do first year in halls.

Has your child shared a room? How have their experience been? Rooms are all en suite.

If you live within commuting distance I think she should give it a go. She can easily go home for a night if she wants a break or move back altogether if it's completely intolerable. I shared in my first year (admittedly a long time ago now) I was a bit apprehensive beforehand, but ended up absolutely loving it. A couple of DDs friends have gone to university in the States and enjoyed the whole dorm vibe there. It could be an amazing experience - and if it's not then it's not the end of the world for your DD as she has options.

I shared and I am a pretty antisocial person! It was fine, we didn’t have much in common but I was hardly ever in the room expect to sleep so we didn’t see each other much. You can always try it and if it doesn’t work out, try and swap or even come home if he has to. Hopefully you won’t have to pay the full year upfront!

Seems like a form of torture to me and I don’t know why the American universities insist on it! They have more than enough space not to share

It if you’re in commuting distance and she can do a mix and come home for space then it’s fine

True. It is 40min door to door.

I would have hated it, but then i had to write an essay a week, had a lot of reading and preferred to write in my room. And have blokes back, and friends round.

In the 60s, my mum shared at York, i think it had only been open two years, no choice re sharing. Let's call her room mate Linda, for that was her name. She had just come from a very strict Catholic school and family. And boy did she discover men. Mum spent most of the first term sleeping in the bath. Linda dropped out at Christmas.

I shared 30 years ago. Knew the girl slightly as from the other school in our town and we were in the same subject but different courses at uni. It worked fine, a largeish room, I was a deep sleeper. Neither of us brought boys back. Nice to have someone to chat to, especially at the start. No pressure to be best friends. We did a few things together but mostly not. We rubbed along quite happily for a year. Probably simpler times then, students sound a lot more demanding now!

True re demanding, a shared bathroom was the norm, now it seeks to be an assault on their human rights!

Shared bathroom doesn’t seem like a problem (I’ve only ever lived somewhere with one bathroom between four) but reading this thread is making me very very glad I didn’t share a room and I don’t think it’s demanding not to want to.

Although, for a difference of four grand…

I turned up day 1 and found out I was sharing! 30 years later we are still close and see each other a couple of times a year. It was brilliant for me.

I shared during an exchange year in the US. My roommate was what cab best described as "a character". We did not really gell and were very different personalities. It did however make me more sociable - any excuse to minimise the time spent in my room. Nonetheless, it was an experience and I think sometimes it's also good to be thrown in a less than ideal situation and learning how to make the best of it.

😂your poor mum sleeping in the bath. I tried that once with jetlag as we were all in a hotel room for a night and didn’t want to disturb everyone

Back in 1993, I shared in my first and third year. First year was ok - a girl came Melanie who was studying English and who was completely normal. I hope she keeps a similar impression of me.

My third year was a completely different story and my roommate and I disliked each other from day 1. She moved out half way through the year.

I got a single room in my 4th year and after that, I got my own flat.

UK universities, unlike US universities, have gradually moved away from shared rooms in halls of residence so sharing a room is very much a minority pursuit these days (and it was never a majority thing in the UK in any event). Sharing won't work for everyone.