Accommodation for freshers!

Hi everyone! This blog post is aimed at helping choose first year accommodation on-campus. At Warwick you get to write a short paragraph about yourself and they use this to allocate you to like-minded flatmates. To be honest I don’t really know what I had in common with mine; especially the three who I live with this year but we get on so well and they’re like family to me so it was a great match! My three housemates are like peas in a pod: they all love football, FIFA, squash, are late night owls and study maths (whereas I’d never played FIFA, am an early person, and prefer climbing and running as opposed to football)!

If Warwick is your firm choice, you’re guaranteed accommodation and the application is not on a first come first served basis so don’t worry about rushing it. Think about what accommodation you’d like but really it is only 30 weeks you’ll be there and it is the people more than the place you live that make it; so don’t worry too much- you’ll enjoy wherever you end up! The application form allows you to choose your five top accommodation choices. I chose Sherbourne as my first (where I ended up) and then Arthur Vick, Lakeside, Claycroft and Westwood.

Before choosing accommodation it’s important to consider:

The Cost: Accommodation costs vary greatly (Bluebell is the most expensive and Cryfield the cheapest at half the price)! This price difference is huge so it’s not really worth the extra if you’re happy living wherever and spend little time in your room. It is personal preference and depends on how much money you have available to spend but think carefully as you will have a lot of other financial commitments including: food, socialising, study materials etc. You can also apply for a twin room at Sherbourne or Rootes which lowers the cost. If you’re interested in sharing a room, I’d really recommend Melissa’s blog from last year: https://studentblogs.warwick.ac.uk/french4/entry/the_truth_about/. Last year I was in my accommodation so much less than I thought as I spent all my time studying at the library, free time elsewhere and most of my time at Sherbourne in the kitchen with my housemates. I literally used my room for sleeping and using the bathroom. I’m really happy I chose Sherbourne as it is where I met my friends who I live with now but I would’ve been happy living anywhere and I really think it’s the people who make your year- not the place.

En-suite: When I applied, I really wanted an en-suite and that’s why I chose Sherbourne. However, my friends who lived in shared bathrooms never really had a problem with having to wait as everyone has different schedules and timetables. I guess it once again depends on how much money you are willing to spend and whether you prefer spending roughly £20 extra a week on your own bathroom or on other things. This year in Leamington I share a bathroom and personally I won’t bother having an en-suite again; though it did make me feel more settled in first year as it was a big jump moving away from home.

Let length: There are let lengths of 34 or 39 weeks. With 34 weeks you save 5 weeks of rent but you need to move your stuff out over Easter. I was in a 39 week let length as that was the only option available at Sherbourne. I should have probably chosen somewhere with a 34 week let as you save a lot of money and I went home for the whole of Easter so my room was empty the whole time. However, for international students it may be preferable having a 39 week let (especially if you aren’t going home over Easter). Nevertheless, there are private storage facility companies where you can store your stuff if you need to move out (though you have to pay extra).

Distance from central campus: I love walking so I didn’t mind whether I was far away or close to central campus. I ended up loving the walk from Sherbourne to central campus and it’s only 10 minutes (though my friends from Rootes, Jack Martin etc. only lived a 1 minute walk away). However, if 9am starts really aren’t your thing, you may be better living on central campus.

Quieter living area: If you prefer a quiet living area, you can tick a box saying so on your application form. Also, there are accommodations which are stereotypically noisier than others (Rootes is known as the party block whilst Lakeside and Heronbank appear to be more tranquil). Sherbourne is pretty lively though and it seemed like it’s own little community as everyone is quite far out from the other accommodations. In general, it really depends who you live with though so if a quiet living area is important to you, I’d recommend saying so on your application form.

I hope this helped and wherever you end up staying on campus, I’m sure you’ll love it. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. I also have close friends who lived in Jack Martin, Claycroft and Rootes so if you have any specific questions on those places, feel free to ask!

See you all soon 🙂 x

I’ve added some photos of my Sherbourne room (please ignore the mess) 🙂