University!

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

Zomg, zomg, zomg, it's getting scary!
So, having received my A-level results and getting a place confirmed at Bangor University, I'm having to start getting prepared for going away. My accommodation confirmation came through today; I got my second choice, which fortunately has all the amenities I wanted, such as en-suite bathroom and it's self-catered (meaning I have a kitchen to share with the other seven people in my corridor, rather than having to go to queue outside a stupid hall every evening at some ridiculously early time).
My parents have started buying me things, such as crockery and towels and bathroom mats and the like xD. Now I've got a tonnage of forms to fill in and send off plus an accommodation deposit to ensure I get the room.


Soo, other people already at Uni can post their experiences here, or tips for new undergraduates who will be leaving very shortly! If you're about to start Uni, then share with us your fears/hopes and we can all be scared together xD. Or, if you're a few years off yet, then tell us what you hope to study, or if you even plan on going to Uni at all.

[RAND_AL'THOR]

Ah, University. I remember the summer leading up to my first semester a Uni. Went directly into University the semester after graduating high school.

It did take me a while to adjust to life on campus, especially having to share a room. But it was easy enough for me to adjust. I guess the thing that took the most adjusting was the spacing of classes. Some semesters I would have most of my classes in the morning, with some scattered along the afternoon, but the main difference between University and high school was that all of my classes were not one right after the other, in a straight line from 8:20AM to 3:00PM. Sometimes I'd have as little as a fifteen-minute break between classes, sometimes I'd have as much as three hours between one class and the next.

What really has helped, though, is meeting people and finding new friends. Especially the two closest friends I've met within the past year.

University definitely is a big change, and a major step forward. University is a chance to adjust to what life is like in the "real world": setting your own schedule, motivating yourself to be on time for things, complete all work, etc.[/color]

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

Your High School day started at 8:20? I was barely out of the house by that time O.o. Then again, I usually was late .
Ah, see, over here, we don't have to share rooms. I'm not quite sure why you do that in America. They seem to treat you like children, in some regards. So I'll have my own private room and bathroom so that will be nice.

[RAND_AL'THOR]

Well, I do have my own room at University this semester. Took long enough, but I finally do.

Treat us like children? How do you mean? [/color]

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

Shared rooms (you can't be trusted on your own!) being catered for, alcohol purchase illegal until 21 and so on. Are there halls at your Uni that come with kitchens, or does everyone have to buy food? Oh, and are there mixed-sex halls at your Uni, or is it all split according to gender? There are some female-only corridors in some of the halls at Bangor, but all others are mixed. I don't think it's necessarily balanced, though. You could have like, five guys and three girls to a corridor, or vice-versa and so on.

[RAND_AL'THOR]

At my Uni, there are residential halls that are all female, others all male, but the one I'm living at right now is co-ed by suite. There are two halls on campus that are co-ed by floor, though.

There is one residential hall that has kitchens in each room, meaning that if you live in that room you can't have a meal plan. Besides that, if you live in a residential hall, you're required to have a meal plan.[/color]

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

See there are only a few halls that are catered, and I think those are the older ones. The majority of halls here are self-catered. You share a kitchen with the other seven people down your corridor and you can cook for yourself or cook together or whatever. Means you have a lot more freedom in terms of what you eat and when you eat. The students in catered accommodation have to eat when the food is ready, and have to queue up for ages to get a place, which means they have to turn up even earlier. I just don't like the idea of having a set eating time. I like to eat when I'm hungry. And midnight snacks are good xD. Also, they said that if you're the sort who's likely to go out and eat in the town in the evenings, there's no point in having catered accommodation 'cos it'll be a waste of money.
Still, I do like the idea of the occasional smart-dress dinner party in a huge hall full of people. But I still think it's all a bit childish, really. Reminds me of school dinners at primary school and the like.

[Otzlowe]

Aug 28, 2008 14:21:20 GMT Surreptitious Cardboard Box said:

Shared rooms (you can't be trusted on your own!) being catered for, alcohol purchase illegal until 21 and so on. Are there halls at your Uni that come with kitchens, or does everyone have to buy food? Oh, and are there mixed-sex halls at your Uni, or is it all split according to gender? There are some female-only corridors in some of the halls at Bangor, but all others are mixed. I don't think it's necessarily balanced, though. You could have like, five guys and three girls to a corridor, or vice-versa and so on.

The sharing of rooms isn't because the students can't be trusted. It's because there simply isn't room. Lots of colleges with dorms have lots of students, and big campuses besides. Giving everyone their own room would only take up more of the space that we haven't got to give them.

Being catered for doesn't exist everywhere. In fact, a lot of schools don't even have dorms, and you have to rent an apartment, and take care of your own food.

The purchasing of alcohol being illegal is because America has had a particularly bad run with the stuff, after all the prohibition and whatnot. Besides, alcohol doesn't denote an adult. You don't have to drink the stuff to be like an adult. Most kids in High School fooshing sneak the stuff, and get drunk off of it every. single. time. In my eyes, it's much more of a childish thing than an adult thing. (Since I know all of three people who even enjoy the taste of the shit. They're just in it to sit around like drunken sods.)
The drinking age is how it is because it's expected that by that point people will have, hopefully, matured enough not to be idiotic about it. (Not that that happens much) It's not really about them being adults. It's that the stuff is lethal in the wrong hands, and our culture is all for under-age drinking. If we lowered the age, I can only imagine the first couple months of adjustment while people get drunk off their asses, and there are a multitude of alcohol-related deaths. Sure, maybe it'll help in the future... but it sure won't help the generation who gets to be around for the change. Same deal with the whole, "Make drugs legal!" argument. It might make it less popular of a thing for people to do, but for the first while... people are going to be doing loads of the crap.


Besides, the Unis here don't baby us in class any more than they'd do for you guys. The living spaces just aren't necessarily the best. Personally, I'd love to live with someone else. Growing up as a twin, I feel pretty lonely when I spend loads of time by myself.

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

Okay, this wasn't supposed to be a thread about teh drinkingz, so I'm gonna steer it back on-course by announcing that today my mummy purchased some kitchen utensils for me. And a laundry basket. I don't remember much of what the utensils were, so don't ask. Oh and also a large suitcase for some clothes haulage, although I'm thinking that not all of my clothes will fit in there .

[Otzlowe]

Aug 29, 2008 22:10:31 GMT Surreptitious Cardboard Box said:

Okay, this wasn't supposed to be a thread about teh drinkingz, so I'm gonna steer it back on-course by announcing that today my mummy purchased some kitchen utensils for me. And a laundry basket. I don't remember much of what the utensils were, so don't ask. Oh and also a large suitcase for some clothes haulage, although I'm thinking that not all of my clothes will fit in there .

My post was longer than that. It was on topic too, because you said that you felt that our Unis treat us like kids. I disagreed, and I particularly disagree with the alcohol thing, considering that that doesn't even have anything to do with Universities.

-_-

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

Okay, I'll rephrase: I didn't want it to become a debate about alcohol, because that's not what I made my comment for.
I think it does have something to do with University. Average Uni student will be there from the age of 18 to 21. In America, that means they can legally buy alcohol only in their LAST YEAR O.o.
Having gone through the whole University enrolment stuff for this past year, I've noticed how many people and institutions that have various roles in the process have - amongst other things - advertised the number of pubs and clubs and bars and the like that are accessible from the University (whichever it may be). Unless you can't drink it for religious purposes, or you're allergic to it or something, I don't see how any University student could not have some sort of alcohol-related experience in the whole of their three years there, whether it's just sipping wine in the kitchen with your corridor mates late at night in your first week as you get to know each other, or going on some mad pub-crawl on a night on the town. Alcohol means socialising, and over here certainly, socialising is advertised as a key part of the University experience just as much as studying or living away from home is. I mean, that's what University is supposed to be: an experience. Anyone who plans on going to University simply for an extended education is painfully misinformed. You meet people and have a good time and make the most of it, because - let's face it - not everyone gets that opportunity.
THUS, the reason I perceived that as 'America treating University students as children' is because although they are legally adults, they're not allowed to do what adults are supposed to do: go out and enjoy themselves and be free. I know binge-drinking is awful, and believe me, we have just as much of a problem with it over here as you do (we're the WORST in Europe when it comes to alcohol, and like you, I COMPLETELY agree that lowering the age would not work now, because of the attitude that has become ingrained in our society; if we were to lower it to 16 years of age like they have in, say, France or Italy, we would have more f**king teenagers puking their guts out on the streets because they're too young and immature to hold their drink. I also agree that this would not work if say class C drugs were to become legal, just as you mentioned - though this is another conversation) but I really just find it weird that other countries (and I'm only naming America because it's the only one I know of in this category - if I knew of others, I would not even talk about America: I would gladly voice my bemusement at the laws of, say, OtherCountryLand) have laws that limit the experiences of University students so, when University is supposed to be one of the HUGEST, most life-changing experiences in anyone's life.
This is not about irresponsible kids. Really, it's unfortunate that you have had a bad run with the stuff; the reason you perceive it as "much more of a childish thing than an adult thing" is because of the huge number of clearly idiotic plebs that you know that DO swipe alcohol, drink until they're pissed out of their skulls, and then - presumably - wreak havoc wherever they may be. However this doesn't mean that drinking alcohol is a childish thing. That's pretty much like saying that hooded sweaters are CHAV CLOTHING because chavs are seen wearing them, even though it is perfectly clear to anybody who has eyes that are NOT clogged with shit, that just as many people who are NOT chavs also wear hooded sweaters.

However, I don't want to continue down that route. Proboards has some ghey rule about discussion of alcohol and I don't want to be seen promoting the stuff (if anything, I would say I have majorly condemned idiotic drunk kids, but whatev), because y'know mass crowds of 12 year olds have been known to raid off-licenses with pitchforks after seeing Jack Daniel's whiskey ads before PG-rated films in the cinema and who KNOWS what they could do after reading this @_@. I just wanted to clarify my point and explain why I perceive it that way.

AS FOR THE OTHER THINGS: okay, I totally get your point about there not being enough space in the halls for everybody to have a room to themselves, and thus they have to share with a dorm-mate. However, there is at least one simple solution to this problem, and possibly actually two.
1. It seems to me, from hearing about Mike's University experiences over the years, that he has been living in Halls the entire time he has been at his University. This is odd. I know that when my dad went to Nottingham University, he was living in the same hall for the entire three years. However, I don't believe most, if any, Universities in this country do that nowadays. I think practically all Universities can guarantee first year students a room in their halls. Occasionally, second year students will opt to then spend their second year in the halls again. However, the MAJORITY of second year students, and pretty much ALL third year students don't live in halls. They instead group together with a few friends and rent a house in the area, whether it be in the city/town that the University is in, or if the main University campus is just outside of a city or town, then well, in that town (and of course there will be regular public transport links to the Uni anyway). There is always enough housing (somehow) because various companies or what-have-you own property which they rent only to students, at a slightly reduced price or something, so there will be whole roads, at times, that are in lived in by students. The University helps you to make the choices and provides all the information you would require, so it's not as though you're thrown into the deep end and told to "find a house! quick! before they all go!", and the whole point of this of course is that it prepares you for eventually having to go out and buying/renting a house or apartment of your own, when you're finally ready to leave home. In halls, you pay for 'the room' that basically incorporates all the bills. When you and your friends rent a house in the town, you have to learn about paying for bills, and budgeting (e.g. turn down the heating to save money, so take more quilts to ensure you don't get cold, etc.) and it's more like being 'a real adult' rather than someone who is obviously a Uni student and in some ways, having everything made very simple for them when they live in the halls. This is closer to being like adults. Hence 'treated like children' comment in that regard also. However, you have clarified for me that some students in the US do live in apartments, but I still find it a little odd that so many people live in halls the entire time.
So my question is: do Universities in the US do this, have they tried it, have they even considered it? I'm not sure why it isn't done (if it isn't). If it was, then there would be enough rooms in the halls for all the first year students to have their own room and not have to share with people they don't get on well with (as seems to be the case with the majority of people that Mike has been lumped with over the past four years). I can see your point about getting lonely but it's not as though you're all on your own in some bleak building. You have people living RIGHT next door to you. You make meals together and you can watch films together in your rooms if you want, hell you can bonk like rabbits if you get REAL lonely; you're just not sleeping in the same room (although if you're bonking, sleeping in the same room might also enter the equation, I guess). The benefit? If you hate the people down your corridor (which must be the most awkward arrangement ever, considering they'll most likely be the people you spend most of your time with) then at least you don't have to share your living space with them, whether it be the bathroom (imagine - your OWN shower, and you don't have to bang on the door when they spend too long pampering themselves in the morning) or fighting over the placing of imaginary line in the middle of the room, or simply getting kept awake by their band practising at 3am as I seem to recall Mike once having to put up with.
2. I find it a little odd that in a country as large as America, Universities are unable to build larger campuses so that students can have individual rooms in the halls. However, I prefer method no. 1, so oh well.

Do you know what the average number of students per University is over there? It would be interesting to know.

And thanks for letting me know that there is also the self-catering option. I wonder what the circumstances regarding that are.

[RAND_AL'THOR]

tl;dr

I'm excited about finally starting my fall semester on Tuesday. Missed the second week because of problems with my financial aid paperwork, but that's finally all sorted out.

My University has self-catering. There are two cafeterias around campus, and a food court in the University Center building. Dodson cafeteria is open throughout the day, so you can go eat there whenever you want. Brown Cafeteria is only open in the evenings, though. The food court is open throughout the day.

[Surreptitious Cardboard Box]

This Financial Aid thing doesn't sound very reliable. Either that or you have the worst of luck or something, because it seems to me that you've had problems with it EVERY year, which must be so annoying.
So have you been at Uni, but not having lessons or something? When did you go back?

[RAND_AL'THOR]

Aug 31, 2008 22:57:05 GMT Surreptitious Cardboard Box said:

This Financial Aid thing doesn't sound very reliable. Either that or you have the worst of luck or something, because it seems to me that you've had problems with it EVERY year, which must be so annoying.
So have you been at Uni, but not having lessons or something? When did you go back?

Yep, every fall semester there are problems with paperwork. And I'm not to blame, my mom and I go over everything in extensive detail, making absolute certain there's nothing missing, messed-up, or whatever. But it never fails.

This will be the third week of classes. I attended the first week, but last week my classes were canceled, so I was here at home. I'm returning to Uni later today.

[Richard El Britannia]

tl;dr

Rude much? I'm sorry, but if you were having a conversation with someone, would you be like "No, you are talking to much. I'm not listening now."

I don't mean to come off as a prick, but that just made me rather annoyed. Sophie didn't really deserve that. It's like ... someone spends sometime writing out a post - and at that length, usually a decent one - and people can't even be arsed to read it, just comes across as lazy and rude.