Edinburgh Uni accommodation - any to avoid?

[ButtonsandZips]

DD is choosing her Edinburgh Uni accommodation. She is not a party animal so somewhere quiet but not isolated. It seems difficult to judge between places. Does anyone have any advice? Particular where to avoid!

DD was happy in Pollock but…there’s definitely a party loving, boarding school contingent. That said, it’s a huge site so probably possible to avoid/depends on who is on your corridor.

My daughter was in Robertsons Close. In my opinion it was filthy, her room was tiny, and I know some of the flats had trouble with mice. It was also very noisy. She dropped out of uni after the first semester though (she had a mental health crisis), and they were good about not charging for the remainder of the year, although she was registered with the uni as being disabled (she's autistic).

Pollock is known for being expensive for the boarding school set.
DD didn’t get any of her choices but ended up in yugo brae which she enjoyed.

Pollock mostly seems expensive as catered. We are looking at self-catering. Mice seems to be mentioned in many halls. A couple mention poor WiFi - those reviews tend to be older so I hoped that has been fixed!

My DD would also say avoid Pollock. She was a RA there in 2nd year and found it too noisy (plus didn't love the food). Her BF loved Pollock. Kinkcaid or anywhere else on the Cowgate will be lively as near clubs. Warrender Park or other near the Meadows will be quieter. DD loved Salisbury Court. It's big plus she was in a 10 person flat but the design meant it was still quiet. DD says avoid New Arthur Place (unless refurbished) plus they have no common room (you need to go to nearby halls) so less social (not a big deal though if you've made friends via course or clubs). I'd make a short list and walk around the area they are in to get a better idea.

Nicholson South College St was on the list until we did street view - reviews say quiet if you have a room facing the court-yard but I presume it is the luck of the draw if you get that or a room just above/overlooking the entrance to a pub.

There are a couple of self-catered pollock halls on the list. We figured out to avoid Kincaid. Salisbury Court seems very pricey.

When did she apply?

There are self catering flats within the Pollock site, like Fraser Court. Avoid the ones on Cowgate , at top of RM and near Pleasance if she wants quieter locations. What and where is her department based? You list five preferences but are often allocated others anyway.

And join the Parents of Students at Edinburgh University facebook group where you can get specific advice. There are walkthrough videos of accommodation on youtube. Dd was in Holland House and yes there were ex public schools types who gravitated together but she met a bunch of international students and moved room to share with them. Catering quality was ok but variable.

My DD had heard about mice in Warrender Crescent but that will apply to many Edinburgh tenements. Maintenance good if they get into flat and those in the walls didn't bother DDs friends. DD never saw a single mouse inside when she stayed in halls near Meadows for 18 months. Agree Salisbury £££ (DD was an RA there so only paid 25%). DD has stayed in Fraser Court for RA training. Liked it didn't have the Pollock vibe.

WiFi issue has been fixed. Halls used to use a different system but switched to main uni one.

I'm not sure why, but there are a LOT of mice in Edinburgh. Maybe partly because so little of the housing stock is detached houses, and partly because it's cold? (I previously lived in a southern English city with pretty similar housing and there was nothing like the same problem.) Even the recently-built and well maintained and -cleaned office building where I work has a regular mouse problem. I have concluded that in practice you must assume there will be mice around, even if you don't see them - in your home, even if there are no mice living in the part where you live, there will be mice in the building and from time to time one will wander round your place to decide whether to move in. Your task is to make sure that mouse decides your part of the building is a terrible place to live. To do this the main thing is to not feed them, remembering that they need only tiny amounts of food - crumbs on a work surface is plenty.

So concretely, to support a student child who will live in Edinburgh, I'd be thinking about getting some really nice clip-top boxes and other convenient mouse-proof containers for food - never leave a bag of anything (flour, sugar, biscuits, nuts...) outside such a container. Then also make sure student's cleaning capabilities are up to scratch - don't leave it to the accommodation's cleaners, have a cloth and a bottle of Flash or similar and establish the habit of wiping a surface both before and after preparing food on it as a matter of course. Both of these things are easily established as way of life, and they do work!

Agree, unfortunately it is very common in both uni and private accommodation, When they live out and have to use communal waste facilities rats are prevalent too. The bin strike a few years back fuelled it. Dd has developed a level of tolerance(bleurgh ) and every so often they trap the resident mouse in the flat and take it on a trip to Holyrood!

When I was at uni (not Edinburgh) I remember one society kept a running total of mice kills in member accommodation that term. Good point about mice-safe food storage boxes!

Then also make sure student's cleaning capabilities are up to scratch

Sadly, it is almost inevitable that there will be at least one student who has no acquaintance with the idea of cleaning in each flat. Perhaps that might explain the mice problem.

Silverfish has been an issue for dd’s halls, she was totally freaked out!

Choices in. In the end, after spend hours agonising on the choice, two of her choices weren’t even listed on the application page and another two were chosen at short notice. Also it seems pretty common not to get any of your actual choices so we shall see what we shall see. Mice, silverfish, rats and all!

Good luck. Mine got one of her 5 (heard quickly as she had unconditional).

I think the rodent problem will come down to how old the city housing is, so lots of shared pipes and allows them access to different areas. Its a beautiful city, but yes, grubby in areas!

Mice are almost inevitable in Edinburgh.

I stayed in Pollock circa 2006 and the pros were:

1. Catered - the food was reasonable too. You could take a roll and some fruit at breakfast so it could do your lunch too.
2. Cleaners - we got bins emptied daily, bathroom cleaned and sheets changed weekly.
3. Social atmosphere - even if you don't click with your neighbours you'll meet your people somewhere. If you want to swap your room they'll try their best to make it happen

Cons

• Some very, posh, rowdy types who liked to poke fun at the locals or 'povos'
• expensive 🫰

My friends in shared flats had a mixed bag, but they were almost always filthy.

Conditional so we will find out in August. She has visited her sibling in halls so well aware of the state of uni student flats. We will be prepared to give her room a ‘once over’ when she arrives. After that if it is mucky as least it is her own muck! Flip flops for the shower and if necessary keep kitchen stuff in a box in her room (things like biscuits definitely keep in your room unless you have a lockable cupboard in your kitchen).

And a spare supply of toilet roll in your room too.

My DD was in Riego her first year. Good flat, and excellent location.

I think the "posh" bit of Pollock is the new building with the en-suites (forget its name), that's where the rich boarding-school crowd hang out. The rest of the halls from my dd's experience was a mix of personalities/backgrounds and everyone blended brilliantly. Expensive is because it's catered, so it all depends if you want that or not. There's no advantage to applying early, the accommodation won't be allocated until after results day

Check the rules about applying. Four years ago they only allocated after you were firm unconditional ie after results day but did it in order you'd submitted the accommodation form so someone firming in March would be before someone firming in June (might have changed).