Single sex or mixed university accommodation?

[Ineedcoffeenow]

DD has a choice between single or mixed sex accommodation when she starts university in September. She’s very unsure about what she wants. I was wondering what other people’s children have done? What have their experiences been of either option?

my dcs of both sexes chose mixed. DDs had been to a single sex school so enjoyed making friends with boys, DS has two sisters so didn’t think twice about being mates with girls.

What is it that she is worried about?

Fwiw my dd went to an all girls school so was adamant she wanted mixed!!

DD had a flat with 3 of each. The boys diffused a lot of the situations that I think could have been bitchy with all girls!

Unless you have religious or other specific reasons for wanting single sex, she should go for mixed.

I would say mixed.

When my oldest went, she was put in a ‘flat’ with even numbers of boys and girls.

However, my youngest has applied to Aberystwyth and there, you choose a specific room. So I’m quite worried that she could end up in a ‘flat’ or just boys because there is no allocation by the university itself.

Most people choosing single sex will do so for religious reasons. In flat based accommodation, this might have the potential to limit social opportunities. DS was assigned to a single-sex corridor in a large block, even though neither he nor anyone else he spoke to, had requested it; presumably one of the couple of students who did not interact with anyone had asked to be on one. They were a bit disappointed but it all worked out ok. They made friends with the girls floor above them and he’s still sharing a house in his fourth year with 3 of the boys and 4 of the girls. Kitchen in their halls was a state, though!

All mine chose mixed.
Just like normal society really.
One of my dds was allocated an all girls' flat, but they soon "merged" with the all boys' flat above them and that helped.

Mine both had mixed for the first year, which all worked fine and they made good friends of both sexes. They are both in single sex houses with friends now though!

Does the uni give any guidance on single-sex vs mixed-sex? For example Lancaster University accommodation page says "Note that very few UK students choose to live in single-gender accommodation so these areas are largely made up of international students."

As such the social experience in single-sex accommodation at Lancaster would likely be very different to that of e.g. Durham where a larger (minority) of the accommodation is single-sex.

Mixed! That’s how I met my husband ha!

No but I’d definitely prefer mixed because it can balance out the interactions. All girls can lead to lots of fall outs and perceived bitchiness and all men can lead to idiot behaviour and peer pressure.

Mixed accommodation allows for a more natural balance. Blokes tend not to take sides in fall outs and girls are good for confiding in.

Mixed! That’s how I met my husband ha!

No but I’d definitely prefer mixed because it can balance out the interactions. All girls can lead to lots of fall outs and perceived bitchiness and all men can lead to idiot behaviour and peer pressure.

Mixed accommodation allows for a more natural balance. Blokes tend not to take sides in fall outs and girls are good for confiding in.

If you've got an ensuite bathroom and a cleaner for the communal areas, most of the disadvantages to living with a teenage boy have been mitigated already.

Mixed for the first two years, all girls from the second year flat for the third year but they fell out and ended up split into two groups.

Could be because it was the second year together but I think the consensus was that the lads helped hide a lot of the issues that caused the split in the third year.

Ds was in mixed halls and is for his second year. Worked well.

I met my husband in halls too. After being at an all girls school no way was I choosing single sex 😂

Mixed unless she's got some reason not to. Single sex is usually party pooper central and means if she gets a boyfriend he won't ever be able to stay over (or possibly visit, depending on the rules).

Many thanks for the replies. Mixed was never an option when I was at university so I’d never thought about the advantages/disadvantages. I think she’s going to go for mixed—all of her friends have.

My DDs at Aber.

She shares a PJM house with three guys and one girl. She gets on fine with them but has made her closest friends elsewhere.

Its such a friendly uni - DD was bumping into people she knew in town within a few weeks.

I'm not sure they actually fill out all the rooms so she should be able to request a move if really unlucky.

DM me if there's any questions youd like me to ask her.

No guidance, but at the open day they said that they have a balance between male and female in a mixed flat. One of the applicants had been in accommodation at another uni where it was just him and the rest female. The person doing the tour said that they would not allow that to happen.

My DD didn’t have a choice but it was catered so didn’t have to deal with a shared kitchen! She did a month abroad sharing with 14 others in a mixed flat and swore she would never share with boys again. She didn’t think some of the girls were much better but she has to share with someone! She’s got a house with four girls next year.

H, I’ve got so many questions!

My daughter made the mistake of opting for single sex in her first year. She quickly realised that the mixed sex halls were more fun.

Wish I'd had the choice for single sex. Didn't know you could.

I was in single sex. For some reason I never had to step over puddles of vomit and was never kept awake by drunken carousing in the way that my acquaintances in mixed sex blocks did. It's not a prison, you are allowed to socialise with people in other buildings. It wasn't just the men that caused the trouble but the kinds of women who might be more likely to make trouble tended to choose the mixed sex options.

Choice of single-sex? Is there a choice of single-race too?