Surviving University: Choosing Your Accommodation

Life in halls is amazing. You'll meet some incredible people, many of whom will probably become your closest friends, and even housemates for the years ahead. You'll learn drinking games you'd never imagined before, share plenty of weird and wonderful moments, and become closely acquainted with the cleaners, security, maintenance staff and regular fire drills... It's an unmissable way to start university, and although I'm looking forward to moving into a house where all of the hobs work, I will miss my 'house' and the 42-odd people I live with, two of whom I will still be living with next year!

I chose my halls for three reasons. Firstly, I wanted my own bathroom, which narrowed it down to 'Ensuite Premium' and 'Ensuite'; secondly, I couldn't afford Ensuite Premium; and thirdly, I'd read about accommodation choices on the student room and seen lots of positive comments. All halls have reputations attached to them, and every university has one accommodation type which has a reputation for parties! The word that came up most often in describing the Village, (the name of my halls), was community, and it was a good description. There's a kind of family connection between Village residents - and a friendly rivalry between the houses!

As a general rule, you can't go wrong with university accommodation. Most universities seem to have renovated their accommodation or built new blocks in the last ten years, and standards are high. Even if you end up in somewhere 'a bit scabby', you'll be sharing that experience with a group of bright and lively people who make the experience enjoyable!

Price is obviously the most important factor, but look at other things too. Flat size, location and facilities are important. Catered halls will save you the hassle of cooking for yourself, but will restrict you to rigid meal times, including very early dinners. Self-catered allows you more flexibility, and even if you're not a natural cook (like me!) I would definitely recommend self-catered over catered if you have the choice. 

Location is the other big factor. At my uni, halls are located on three sites. Most of the accommodation is on campus. These lucky people can roll out of bed 15 minutes before their lectures, and still have time to shower. My halls, the 'Village', is down the road, about 8-10 minutes walk from the centre of campus. Although further away from the uni, we're nearer to Tesco's and the Co-op, and we have our own stream and park area hidden at the back of the village. Plus we have our own laundrette! The third location is a good half hour's bus ride away, in the city. The smallest hall group, it's generally acknowledged to be the worst accommodation offered by the uni. If the accommodation is good enough, the distance might not matter so much, but it does distance you socially from other students.

Some things you should consider:

- Where are the halls? 

- Will I be able to park my car (if you have one... not likely) or store my bike?

- Are there any bus routes nearby, and is there a bus route to the university?

- Are there any shops nearby?

The best way to choose your accommodation is to visit the university and talk to existing students, but if you can't get there, go online! Many universities offer 'online tours' of accommodation or comparison charts, and the Student Room is quite good for consulting current students. 

The Confusing Bits!

Private Halls: There are some companies, like UNITE, who own private halls in various cities, especially London. As a general rule these halls are more luxurious and more expensive. They may house students from a mixture of universities. If you can, go for university-owned halls rather than private halls: the university will offer you more protection and support, for a lower cost. If something goes wrong and you can't pay your accommodation fees, the university will see you as a student first, tenant second: to a private hall company, you are a tenant first. 

Contract length: Residence contracts are usually 38, 40, or 52 weeks in duration. As an undergraduate, you will only need the shorter length (except students on health courses). Avoid contracts which requite you to move out at Christmas/Easter (although these are rare). 

Bills: Water, gas, and electricity will all be included with your rent in university-owned properties. Normally internet will also be provided. Not all halls have wi-fi - I'm using a data cable right now - but you'll adjust to that soon enough! In private accommodation, bills are almost always paid separately. 

Insurance: This is not usually covered; it may be offered with your accommodation offer as an optional extra. Endsleigh advertise as a student insurance company, but their rates are actually quite high - it's cheaper to get contents insurance with the company your parents use at home. Your current insurance plan may already partially cover you! Do insure things though, especially electrical gadgetry and musical instruments; if something is stolen from your university room, the university is not obliged to pay for replacements. 

University accommodation is usually allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so don't delay on getting your application in and accepting your room offer!

Blog on living in halls coming soon...

J.R

Surviving University - Budgeting

Today's post may be one of my most thrilling yet - it's on budgeting and finance...

I'll start by summing up the basics, all though you probably already know this.

Whilst you are at university, your expenditure will fall into three areas:

• Tuition fees
• Accommodation fees
• Living costs

For UK students, studying in the UK, there are three types of loan; it works differently for EU and International students. Scottish students studying in Scotland don't pay tuition fees, either.

• Tuition Fee Loan - This is paid directly to your university, and you don't have to worry about it. 
• Maintenance Loan - This is paid to you at the start of your term, and the amount you receive depends on your household income and whether you are living at home/away. Students in London receive a higher loan.
• Maintenance Grant - This is a sum of money given to students with a lower household income. A full table showing how much money you can receive can be found here.

For more information on loans and fees, this link will take you to the Government website. 

Repayment

All loans have to be repaid, but not at once! You only pay back:

• When your income is over £21,000 - and if your income drops below this, you stop repaying (until it goes up again!)
• With interest, but this depends on how much you are earning
• Monthly; the repayment rate is 9% of the portion of your income ABOVE £21,000 - so if you earn £25,000 pa, you pay back £30 a month. 
• and if you get stupidly rich, you're free to pay it all off at any time, of course...
• For a maximum of 30 years - after this, any outstanding debt is written off. 

It sounds like a lot of money, and a lot of debt, and this is worth considering when deciding if university is for you, or if you are going to take our a loan. However, the repayment scheme means that your university debt will never place you in an untenable financial position - if you can't pay, you don't pay! 

Budgeting

Looking after your finances at university isn't too difficult if you're organised, and keep track of what you're spending. Here are some tips for staying in control!

• Don't leave your student finance form until the last minute!
• Keep a budgeting spreadsheet. Make a note of what you spend, and how much you have left. Set yourself a weekly budget - mine is £80 - and try to stick to it. 
• Don't include any hypothetical jobs in your predictions - until you have a job, don't plan to spend the money from it...
• Don't divide your loan by 52 and spend that much each week. Set a weekly budget which will leave you some money left, if you can. This will be your fund for unexpected expenses, holidays, and savings. 
• Set up an online banking account! This allows you to check your balance, manage your accounts and transfer money from your bedroom. Talk to your bank if you don't have one.
• Debit cards are better than credit cards - you can't withdraw money you don't have on a debit card!
• Look into student accounts. You do not need to have one - I don't - but they do include things like an overdraft and included NUS extra membership, which you may want. Each bank/building society will offer a different deal, so check out more than one. ISA accounts offer good amounts of interest for long-term saving, and other accounts offer shorter term savings accounts: it is probably worth having a saving and a 'spending' account, if you haven't got these already. 
• Decide if you need an overdraft. This is a system which allows you to temporarily get out more money than you have in your account, without being charged extra. You do not need to have one, especially if you are careful not to overspend, but it's better to have one set up than to spend 20p over and face £20 fines. This may be useful to people who are paying larger sums from their main account, like accommodation fees, and so are likely to have lower sums in their account at any given time. 

Living within your means...

Everyone will have different financial circumstances, so the important thing is to make the decisions that are right for you. The best thing is to get into good habits. Doing big shops for longer life food, like pasta and rice, will save you money; top-up style shopping at the nearest Tesco's looks cheap, but the 'good' deals may tempt you into buying things you don't need, and buying more often than you need to. Stick to your shopping list! If you don't trust yourself, get cash out and leave your card at home...

One of the most important things about university is the social side, and it is worth investing money in the experience. Sports memberships, day trips and evenings out are, in my opinion, good uses of money - you are meant to live at university, not just survive. However, you can have just as good a time watching a movie in someone's room or messing around in the local park, so be creative! Bring and share picnics/meals are cheap and fun, and it's well worth exploring the parks and free places in your area. Look for student deals, films at odd times of day - you are a student, normal sleeping/eating hours are not obligatory - and society social events, which are often free or subsidised by the union. Having a good time doesn't have to be expensive!

Above all, don't worry. ALL universities offer support services, who will be on hand to help you through any problems you may have, answer your queries, or even offer emergency loans. Money can be stressful, but with a little planning and discipline, you will be fine! 

J.R. x

Surviving University - The long summer...

The long summer between the end of school and university can be a tense and scary time. For years people have been promising you that this will be the best summer ever, and that you'll have the time of your life at university. But you can't relax. How can you, with results looming over your head? Without being sure about where you're going next? 

During my long summer last year, I swung between wild confidence and complete panic. I'd convince myself that I was brilliant and had my place sorted, but a few days later I'd be counting marks in my head, trying to work out whether that one bad exam would stop me going to university. I googled gap year plans, considered applying for a different subject - something I thought might be a safer bet - and even occasionally tried to convince myself that I didn't want to go to university, although I never quite believed it...

Over the next few blogs, I'm going to try and tackle some more practical issues about starting university. But how do you go about preparing with months to go, and all that uncertainty? 

Exam Season

The best thing you can do is try not to focus on university. Concentrate on your A-Levels and the last two years of study; these exams are about bringing together all the hard work and effort you've put in over the last two years, and if you've got this far, you're certainly capable of succeeding. Put away your prospectuses: worrying about whether you've done enough to get the right grades will not help you revise! It's hard, but you have to concentrate on the moment now. Make sure you have a cut-off point before you go to sleep. Stop revising, don't think about work, and let your brain let off steam. I recommend watching Horrible Histories.

After Exams & the summer

Take down all your revision stuff and put everything work related somewhere you can't see it! Do something completely different. 

This is a really good time to go and see friends and do interesting things. It gets harder to keep up with people at university; do daft things like doctor who marathon sleepovers, read all the books you've been meaning to read for the last year, and enjoy being an adult with no responsibilities. Unless you have a job, in which case enjoy being an adult with no responsibilities in the evening...

When it comes to preparing for University, don't worry about starting to prepare instantly. I recommend buying things in August, or even after results in September - just don't leave it until the last week before you leave home! Lots of supermarkets and shops do 'off to university' discounts on things like kettles and bed linen. The majority of universities don't send out any pre-reading until after results, if they send any at all (My pre-reading was one poem!), so don't worry about having to swot up on course material. If you're desperate to study, that's fine, but seriously, it's okay to take a break and spend your days watching YouTube videos and eating Starbursts. 

Remember: almost everyone gets into university! 

Don't worry about 'what if I don't get in' or 'what if something awful happens and UCAS messes up or I fail everything' etc

You will not fail everything. If you worked hard, you will probably get what you realistically thought you were going to get, and it will look pretty much like your predicted grades.

UCAS is usually pretty reliable, but even if they did mess up, your university will always know what is going on. They're very helpful. If you have any worries, you can always email the admissions tutor, who are more than willing to reassure you and let you know what is going on!

Even if you don't get into your top choice university, or something goes really wrong, remember: this is not the end of your academic journey, but it might just be the start! There are a thousand and one ways to go on, and ending up at an unexpected university might turn out to be a blessing in disguise!

Finally, don't stress too much about grades and numbers. Working out percentages and grade boundaries might have been useful a few months ago, but when the exams are over, try not to think about them. If you must think about your work, don't think about grades - think about the quality of the work you created. When examiners look at your work, they don't see marks or numbers (unless you're doing maths, ha ha), and they won't be marking you as if you're a postgraduate, and can't make any mistakes or leave anything out! Examiners look for what is good, not what is bad. And universities are the same! If you've got an offer, than that university wants you. And they will do everything they can to make sure you get that place!

Don't worry too much about predicted grades either. Schools make out that they're everything because they want you to be safe, but they're more like an approximation. Without revealing my grades, my offer for my course was YYY, and I achieved XYZ, with the Y in the subject I'm now studying. Although I'd dropped one grade below the offer, I was still given a place on my course, and it hasn't made any difference! Work for your predicted grades or higher, but seriously, don't worry about having one bad exam or a question or two you couldn't answer. At the end of the day, you are student who is good enough that they made you an offer, and for most universities (excepting medicine/Oxbridge etc), dropping one grade might not be an issue. 

Remember: you are a brilliant, talented student. And you really deserve this break - don't waste it worrying. For the moment, all that future stuff will sort itself out: concentrate on the moment, get your exams done, and then just - stop. 

Have a great summer!

J.R.

Surviving University - Making the Choice (Guest Blog)

• The first blog post on Life at University is guest-written by Amy Cunningham, who is a first-year psychology student at the University of East London. 

  
  

  Living and studying in London, sounds fun right? Experience the best nightlife ever right? Live in the countries capital and see all it has to offer sounds like the best time anyone could ever have!

  I am here to warn you about choosing the right university for you. I after not going to visit (because it automatically sounded like the best choice I could make) started out on my venture at the University of East London studying Psychology Extended (BSc) a 4 year course.

  After my first few months in London I knew it wasn't for me, yeah London's great for a day out but the hassle of living there isn't great. I've been stuck on a cramped tube far too many times for my liking which leads me to my first point, getting round London is a pain! It takes me an hour to get to work and double the time for me to get to Euston than it does for me to get from Euston to Milton Keynes! I also have to add the traumatic night bus that you have to get after a night out or its a £70-£100 taxi ride! Not to add the £11 for a single vodka and lemonade needless to say I don't go out in London much! I once had to endure a 4 hour (no that's not a typo) bus home from a gig in Brixton which I have to say was one of the most horrific experiences of my life!

  Ahh the dreaded finding a house in second year, now before my friends and I decided that staying in London was a definite no we had a look around, some of the houses were quite cheap if you wanted to live in an awful rat infested dump with one of the highest crime rates I've ever seen! We did find some nice apartments in a relatively safe area close to campus and were nice and modern, but would cost around £1,300-£1,500 a month not including bills for a three bed room apartment. Looks like that would be the loan gone sooner rather than later! London would be a nice place to live if you could afford to live in central, a girl I worked with and her boyfriend rented a room near oxford street shared bathroom and kitchen no living room and they paid £1000 a month for what was pretty much a room!

  The course... well I don't even know where to start with this one! So considering I have A-Level English one would think that I knew how to write sentences and paragraphs, evidently not. I done 6 modules this year and 2 of them were about how to use punctuation, sentence structure and how to write paragraphs. A lecture that sticks out was the one on how to use power point, highlight of my year I'd have to say! Another 2 of the modules pretty much taught A-Level psychology maybe bringing one or two different studies to learn but nothing majorly different! Another module was doing debates which were alright but still nothing amazing! And the final module we conducted our own experiment which I'd say was the only module I remotely enjoyed except the lecture side of it was A-Level research methods zzz!

  Your university choice, do have a look at how good (or bad in my case) your university is. A girl that lived in my halls had a guest speaker a few weeks ago whose advice was to write on your CV that she attended Royal Docks Business School not UEL so they'll actually look at her application rather than throw it in the bin. Yes I know a degree is a degree and everyone studies the same for it blah blah blah! But let's be honest, nobody wants to waste £24,000 in university fees alone and 3 or more years of their life to not get the best possible job at the end of it!

  These are all factors you should look at before going to university, I know you go to study and all that but lets be honest everyone needs a good night out where they can get absolutely mortal and not worry about a 2 hour bus journey home! Look at how far your are away from town and if it's easy to get around... not everyone has £70 for a taxi! This is not just for nights out but you'll want to be reasonably close to go out for dinner (because cooking sucks) or to just go out and about in general! Also being close to a supermarket helps (you'll thank me for this) carrying a million bags of shopping for half an hour is not fun! Also have a little look at the house prices (don't forget bills!) because lets face it halls is fun for a while but when it gets to your second/third year and you have a lot of deadlines your not going to want a load of noisy first years disrupting you! Make sure your course absolutely blows your mind! I am so excited about my new course in Southampton it's unreal! University is not compulsory and if your not going to enjoy it your not going to do well and trust me when I say there's no one there to push you to do the work you'll just get kicked off the module, full stop. You're going to be investing a lot of time and money into these next 3 years of your life make sure your not going to waste it by going to an undervalued university, were all doing this because we want to have a career in our chosen subject, make sure you have the best opportunity to do that! Finally, just have fun this is going to be one of the best experiences of your life, enjoy it!

Surviving University - Introduction

I sat my last exam on Friday, finishing my first year at university. It's been an incredible year, filled with ups and downs, opportunities, friends, and work. This summer I'll be volunteering, going on holiday with friends, and looking for a job - plenty to keep me busy!

I've learnt so much this year. With the help of my family, friends, and the people around me, I've got through the challenges of leaving home and living independently, and I'd like to share some of the advice I was given and the things I've discovered. Schools give plenty of advice about student finance and predicted grades, but not much else - and those little things like how to use a washing machine or what to pack matter too! 

Over the next few days, or weeks, I'm going to write a series of blog posts dealing with some of those little things. Possible topics might include:

• Budgeting
• What to pack
• Choosing accommodation
• Socialising, clubbing, and living in residences - things to do and things to avoid!
• Easy meals, shopping for food and cooking advice
• Grades and Clearing
• How university works: credits, choosing modules, Erasmus, and other baffling terms

I hope that this will be helpful to someone, especially those of my friends who are sitting A-Levels at the moment and preparing to go to university in September. At the end of the day, if you have done the best you can, you don't need to worry about any of these things; just enjoy your summer, and try not to worry too much about it - or do what I did, which involved thinking of endless alternative plans for the situation in which I failed to get into university... 

If you have any suggestions, questions, or good/bad advice which you would like to share, please leave a comment or tweet me @corybantically ! For instance, if you went through clearing and could offer a blog post on the process and experience, that would be great - I'd love to have some guest-written blogs!

Until next time (which might not be too long!),

J.R. xxx