Hopefully a noder will one day find this useful.
Rather than give general
'What you need to know and do when you start
uni' advice, which I'm sure has been
done to death somewhere, I'll
give some specific advice for people starting at
Royal Holloway
University (in the
UK).
Halls of Residence
In your first year you're pretty much
guaranteed a place in halls, so
long as you send in your
application on time. There are however some
things you should know about the halls before choosing which one you'd
like a
room in.
Founders is generally recognised as being the
nicest halls. If
you're considering going to
Royal Holloway you will have seen a photo
of the Founders building (they're very proud of it) and it's a nice
place to have a room. The rooms are large compared to other halls,
with very high
ceilings (meaning you can smoke in non-smoking rooms
without setting off the
alarm). It's on the main
campus, so travel
isn't an issue, and it has a Main Lecture Theatre which you may be
lucky enough to have a morning lecture in (you can
crawl out of bed
and attend the lecture in your
jammies).
Founders has it's downsides though. It's a
listed building, you won't
get a
phone or
network connection in your room .. they're not allowed
to run new wires through the walls. The walls are also very thick,
which means you need a powered
antenna to stand a chance of getting a
useful
TV signal (this can vary from room to room though). And while
the walls are thick, the ceilings and floors aren't.
Expect to be
kept awake every now and again. The
pantrys where you can prepare
food
suck (this is general to all halls) as there is only a
microwave
a
fridge and a
kettle (a
toaster if it works).
Also, the rooms are old, and hence have more
character, but they also
have fewer
mod cons. Your sink will have mould under it, and there
are no
ensuite rooms. The
shower facilities are average, and the
bathrooms have nice large baths. There's no shortage of hot water on
campus either.
Kingswood is also a nice hall to get a room in. It's about a
15 minute walk from the main campus along a
footpath (which is usually
deserted, but it's well lit at night). Kingswood is nicely self
contained, it has its own bar (
Tapas) and
rec room. It also has a
better
community atmosphere than other halls as it's smaller and more
removed from the main campus. The rooms are more modern, it's
possible to get phone connections (except in C-wing) and some rooms
are ensuite (with a kinda funky little
all-in-one pod thing in the
corner).
A regular free
bus service runs from Kingswood to campus, but it's
really not that far to walk. Kingswood also has a small shop 'built
in' to its
reception. They sell
crisps,
chocolate, and
drinks (as
well as other
munchy food) and also
stamps,
phonecards etc. If you
want (or simply don't mind) a room off the main campus, Kingswood is
the only one to consider.
New Halls, or, as they're more widely known,
The
Ghetto. Small
box like rooms, low ceilings, and an endless rabbit
warren of corridors. They are your best option if you're on a
budget,
and they're really not as bad as people make out.
I have to confess I've never been to the
Runnymede halls, but
they are apparently nice .. nicer than the new halls anyway.
Reid Hall is a good one to put as your second choice on the
accomodation form. It's a nice place, good
modern rooms and large
pantrys.
My personal choice for the accomodation form would be Founders,
Reid, Kingswood (in that order).
Campus Bars
The campus bars can be summed up with one sweeping statement: They're shit.
However, like all sweeping statements, this one isn't totally
accurate.
Tommy's is
annexed to the main
Student Union building, and is
usually good for a laugh. One of the
less shit offerings. Music is
provided via a slightly bizarre mix of
MTV and a
jukebox, but maybe
they'll fix that at some point. No
pool tables, and no
pub games of
any sort .. a TV is all you'll get, and it's only showing MTV.
Crosslands is the
laughing stock of the drinking establishment
world. All drinks are served in
plastic cups (even the pints) and all
it has to offer is
harsh lighting and an annoying
fly zapper thingy
that crackles. Bizarrely it's quite popular with certain
cliques.
The Stumble Inn won't win awards for it's name, or for anything
else come to that. It's an okay bar, and the bottled
Tiger beer is
passable. They have '
cocktail' offers which are a cheap (if sickly)
way to get drunk. It's main advantage is that it's below ..
..
Holloways. Although the bar's tiny, pool tables are in
abundance (although they're not the greatest quality) as are
arcade
machines (
silent scope being the house favourite). They've also
recently got a big screen TV in, and they show movies most days. The
pool tables are 60p a game, and the bar always has
change.
There are a few things to know about bars on campus in general. The
beer is
terrible. It's watered down (or at least tastes like it is)
and I have my doubts as to whether they ever clean the lines.
Holloways has at least made up for this by providing plenty of other
things to do. Tommy's is the usual
gathering point for a night out,
but also serves as a good place to have a quiet pint on a
sunday
morning. Perhaps the most
damning thing to be said about the campus
bars is that if they weren't on campus (ie. they were '
real world'
bars) they'd
fold in a few days. You get kinda attached to them
though (apart from Crosslands). A
local's a local, at the end of the
day (whatever that means).
General Advice
Before you go, make sure you have at least 6
passport sized photos of
yourself. You need a photo (sometimes two) for every card they give
you. A
cursory glance through my
wallet shows I have 5 uni cards.
It's a pain, but you need all of them.
Make sure you're there for the first day (and night) the
drunken
'getting-to-know-you' corridor parties are always fun. In the first
few days I was here some second years organised a
treasure hunt, which
may sound revoltingly
twee, but you get to know people. Your
department should also have a social function early on, make sure
you're there.
The
admin at Royal Holloway is terrible, slow and the right hand
hasn't even seen the left hand in well over a year.
Use this to your
advantage.
Don't bother bringing plates and
cutlery, they're easy to steal from
the dining halls .. no one will stop you if you simply put your meal
on a
tray and walk back to your room.
Many places such as the campus shop (think small
supermarket) and
dining halls are staffed by your fellow first years .. get to know
some of them for
five finger discounts.
Don't use the fridges provided for you. Even if you sit and watch the
fridge, your milk will still be stolen. Instead (if it's
practical in
your room) open your window slightly and leave it on the
window sill.
This is
England remember, you'll be starting in
September, when it's
more than cold enough to chill your milk and
other produce.
Your room will be routinely inspected by
cleaning staff. Once a week
they'll come in (
regardless of whether or not you're there) and check
some simple things. Food is not allowed to be kept outside the window
(but is allowed inside); Your
bin must be emptied regularly; No
inflatable furniture (fire hazard); and no
smoking in a non-smoking
room. It is therefore
good practice to keep things
tidy on the
surface. The cleaning staff are not allowed to open drawers or search
your belongings, they can only survey the room to check that you're
meeting the requirements of your
tenants contract. They have a
lenient policy towards
soft drugs, and if they walk in on you smoking
a
joint they'll tut-tut and that's it. It's a good idea to always be
polite and get on with them however, as they can make things
complicated
if they don't like you.
This may only apply to Founders, but I suspect a similar
routine is followed in other Halls.
And that's about it. I'll update this node when I can think of some
more advice and have the time to tidy it up a bit. Think of this as a
working draft. Oh, one last thing. If you get Founders West 245,
drop me a /msg and say hi.