All decisions are in, so.. where do I live?

I’m actually really embarrassed for having not updated in so long, but the fact of the matter is that I was too anxious waiting for my replies, and once I got them, I was so busy with my trial examinations (some call them mocks) that I didn’t get around to sitting down and writing something.

Well, all the universities have decided and whilst the anxiety of waiting for results has passed, making a decision is proving to be conflicting as well.

At the moment, I’m leaning more heavily towards my London universities but meeting the conditions of my offer may prove to be difficult as well. =/

Queen Mary has a requirement of A*AA.

LSE has a requirement of A*AA.

Nottingham has a requirement of AAA.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a scholarship student under the Central Bank of Malaysia, meaning that they’ll be sponsoring my education abroad providing I meet my requirements. With that being said, the bank also has the final decision as to which universities I’m allowed to place as my firm and insurance choices.

Whilst this takes away some stress over which university to pick, it doesn’t mean that decisions are out of the picture either.

Certain universities require us to pick them as our firm choice before allowing us to choose our accommodation whereas others allow us to apply but will not consider it till we’ve made our decision. LSE belongs to the latter group and in the past few weeks, my friends and I who hold offers to this university have been scrambling to decide which accommodation to pick. For those looking to reside in London, here’s a few things to consider: -

• Intercollegiate or university hall?

- Certain universities have their own private halls, meaning that you’d be living with your fellow university mates. Intercollegiate halls are halls which incorporate a combination of a few universities. For example, King’s College and Queen Mary are both under University of London. Thus, you could be living with people from various universities in the same area.

• Catered?

I’m looking forward to going overseas and living the life of independence, meaning cooking on my own, etc. However, it does seem a little inconvenient and some halls have dining halls with catered meals. You have to decide if you’d rather have not-so-good food and convenience, or a little hassle but more choice.

• En-suite?

How comfortable are you with sharing a toilet with 6 other people?

• Travel?

Would you like to cycle to university? Does your accommodation allow you that privilege? Or would you rather walk.. commute.. take a bus?

Unfortunately, not all of this information can be found at once place, but I found The Student Room extremely helpful. The website of your university would give you some basic information as well, but it really is worth doing extra research to find out a little bit more, rather than just trust the official photograph on the website.

Till next time!