Student accommodation

In the 20th century the most common design for student accommodation, also known as a hall of residence, was a single occupation study bedroom with shared bathrooms. For catered accommodation, students eat their meals in a large communal dining facility; while for non-catered accommodation, shared kitchen facilities are available for preparing meals.

These older styles still exist, but more recently constructed student accommodation often has a different design. This could be individual studio apartments with their own bathroom and kitchenette. Another popular choice is an apartment with four or five bedrooms that share a kitchen, lounge, and bathroom.

Investigate which accommodation options are available and at what cost. Try and get your application in as soon as they open, as despite the high costs, spaces are in hot demand. Sometimes universities will offer choices like single gender floors or apartments, alcohol free floors, and other variations.

Sometimes the atmosphere varies a bit from residence to residence, but it isn’t worth worrying too much about. Some students get upset when they don’t get allocated to their first choice when it comes to accommodation, but there are opportunities to make friends in every residence. Also there is nothing to stop you associating with students staying in other residences.

Tip	Apply early because student accommodation is often heavily oversubscribed.

In addition to university run accommodation, there are also private operators of student accommodation. The quality of these can vary wildly so choose carefully.

Catered vs Non-catered

Depending on the university there may be a choice of catered vs non-catered accommodation. Which is best for you depends on a number of factors:

Budget. Non-catered is potentially the cheapest option. But if you have no clue about cooking and instead eat out all the time, then catered may in fact work out cheaper.
Ability to tolerate bad food. Not all halls of residence deliver bad food, but it is common, and sometimes it is very bad. Unfortunately there is no competition resulting in little incentive for improved quality.
Appetite. There are often limits on meal size. This may mean that athletes can’t get enough calories. Weightlifters and bodybuilders who want a lot of protein will also be disappointed. Due to the cost of protein, halls of residence often have restrictions on serving size.

Tip	Try to investigate the quality of the food before opting for a catered option. It could be incredibly bad.

Inadequate facilities

If you are living in a halls of residence where large numbers of students share kitchen and laundry facilities, you will soon find that those facilities are often inadequate. It seems that the designers either badly miscalculate the capacity that is required, or minimise it for cost reasons. More specifically:

Cooking facilities. Far too few cooktops and ovens for the number of students.
Fridge / freezer space. Far too little fridge / freezer space. Some students might like meal prepping which involves preparing large numbers of meals and then freezing them. This is impossible because there just isn’t enough space.
Laundry Facilities. Too few washers and dryers for the number of students. Another problem is that at any given time, half of them seem to be out of order. Since facilities are so limited please set a timer on your phone so your clothes aren’t sitting around when the washing machine or dryer has finished. Leaving your laundry unattended in a machine after it has finished is a good way to frustrate other students.

Making friends

Making friends can take time. Don’t panic if a few weeks go by and you haven’t made any friends yet. This books has a whole chapter on making friends. The good news is that living in university accommodation can be a big advantage.

Tips to make friends

Greet people you see in the hallways.
Spend some time hanging out in common areas, and try making small talk with other students.
Go to the games room and challenge people to a game of table tennis or pool (depending on what is available).
Lookout for any organised activities and get involved.

Understand your contract

The contract with the accommodation provider is legally binding. Some students decide they don’t like the halls or want to move out for some other reasons. Unfortunately, there may be penalties for breaking the contract, at the very least they will have to keep paying for their room until the university finds someone to replace them.

Be considerate of other students

Disagreements can often arise from a lack of consideration toward other students. There are many ways this can occur, but some things to keep in mind include:

Don’t leave a mess in the kitchen or other shared facilities. This means don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink and clean up counters after using them.
Don’t make excessive noise. Walls are often thin, so loud music, loud talking, raucous laughter, or even slamming of doors can all potentially be disturbing your neighbours. This is especially the case late at night.
Don’t share pictures or videos of other students on social media without their permission.

Tip	There are more complaints about noise than any other topic. Be considerate of other students, and keep noise to reasonable levels.

Know the rules

Your halls of residence will have a comprehensive set of rules designed for the safety and comfort of residents. Every year students get in trouble and plead ignorance of the rules, but most rules are common sense, and lack of awareness of the rules won’t be accepted as an excuse. Rules often revolve around things like noise, smoking / vaping, alcohol, cleanliness, and fire safety. It makes sense to familiarise yourself with the rules to avoid future problems.

Open flames are always prohibited in residential accommodation. Forget those scented candles, incense burners, or other fire hazards. Don’t be tempted to tamper with any smoke alarms, you could be fined. Given the large number of residents in close proximity, any fire could be disastrous.

Halls of residence have comprehensive rules around alcohol use. These restrictions are designed to prevent alcohol related harm.

Pets are not allowed. This includes small pets like budgies, goldfish, lizards and so on. Don’t be that person who ignores the rules and tries to keep a pet in their room.

Subletting of rooms is not permitted either. Some students think it is a clever way to make money.

Some students may want to bring electric blankets, heaters, mini-fridges, or other appliances. Generally these are not allowed, but check what the rules are at your specific accommodation.

Tip	Know the rules, because ignorance is no excuse, and there are often fines for violations.

What will be in my room?

A basic bedroom / study will usually come with a bed, desk, chair, drawers, and wardrobe. You will still need to supply your own sheets, blankets, pillows, and duvet (doona). Some universities provide mattress protectors, others require you to supply your own. Universities often have a facility that lets you order a linen pack with the necessary items. It’s convenient, but the items aren’t necessarily the best quality, or at the best price.

Decorating your room

Students are often eager to decorate their room to create a touch of home. Check out what is allowed and not allowed. Any damage to walls or furniture could see you receiving a bill at the end of the lease. Remember everything that you move into your room, will have to be moved out again, so don’t go overboard. If you want to apply posters to walls be careful how you attach them. Blu-tack is usually OK for this purpose.

Get your vaccinations

Illness can race through campus and student accommodation due to crowded conditions. Being up to date with vaccinations can prevent unnecessary illness. If you haven’t already received childhood vaccinations such as measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), varicella (chickenpox), and pertussis (whooping cough) you should strongly consider getting them.

You should also consider meningococcal vaccinations like meningococcal ACWY vaccination and meningococcal B vaccination. In New Zealand if you are intending on living in the halls of residence, these vaccine are currently available at no cost. In Australia you may have already had the ACWY as part of a school based vaccination programme, but if not you should be eligible for a free catch-up vaccination.

Check out what other vaccinations are recommended for your age and living situation and make arrangements to get those which you haven’t already received. Your family doctor should be able to provide you with this information.

Tip	Get recommended vaccinations before moving into student accommodation.

Cleaning

Arrangements for cleaning also vary according to the specific location. Often the university will clean any shared areas, but you are responsible for your own room. There may be regular room inspections to ensure that cleanliness is kept to a reasonable standard.

Travel light

Some students are tempted to bring a huge number of items, but storage is limited, and if you are in a high rise accommodation it can be a real hassle bringing items up and down in a lift.

Tip	It’s preferable to only bring the essentials. Too much stuff can be a hassle to move and store.