Catered Vs Self Catered

sockospice

nearlyrich wrote:

Hope the OP has got fixed up, my daugter's friend is going to Manchester Met and they are saying most of the accommodation is full, I think it's people getting in before the fees go up next year.

ManMet has very little by way of halls anyway. Has she tried the student village (?studentvillage.co.uk)? If she hasn't found anywhere yet, manchesterstudenthomes.co.uk is useful.

nearlyrich

Thanks he is fixed up, he was at an open day yesterday and they were saying that there isn't much accommodation left.
My son lived in the student village last year, it was half empty, now it's almost full apparantly.

I agree that these places distort the prices, you pay for 38 or 40 weeks even if you don't need the room for that long.

A lot of new students don't realise that they pay up front for at least a term, it's a really expensive time.....

Kaz_Pike

I just want to say, I went self-catered and although I admit, i spent a lot on food...what can I say, I LOVE food...I swear I spent less than some of my friends in catered. Most of them either got tired of the meals in catered, or they just didn't like the food, so had to spend more by buying other food for temselves.

kittiwoz

I think self catered halls are best. You've got to learn to cook for yourself some time and halls are a pretty good environment to do it because you can get lots of friendly support. I was in halls with a Chinese girl who was keenly teaching herself to cook and often used to dish out a little of whatever she was making to whoever was around.

If anyone is going into halls in Manchester then Chandos and Wright Robinson are the best ones. Big rooms, well equipped kitchen/common room, free phone service between rooms, cheap broadband with file sharing network, sinks in bedrooms and some of the cheapest halls available. Never did figure out why and didn't like to ask in case they hadn't noticed or something! Shared bathrooms but enough facilities to never have to queue and cleaned regularly by someone else. Best value city-centre appartments you'll ever see! Chandos is better than Wright Rob because all the office/pastoral type stuff is in there so if you live in Wright Rob and you lock yourself out or you want the remote for the telly room or the pool balls (the kitchens on each floor have a small TV but there is another big common room downstairs with a big telly and DVD player) you have to go to reception in Chandos for it but both halls are really good. Another thing I liked is that because they are on a floor system rather than a flat system once you are in the building (key card) you can wander onto any floor and go visiting so it is more sociable. Next best is probably the Grosvenor group.

spl2nh

Although I have never and would never go catered due to the cost I have to mention that at my last uni I was having lunch in the canteen one day and there were two students eating left over food off peoples trays. It makes me wonder that for some parents just to know that their child has the option of a cooked meal a day will be a great stress relief.

rygon

I went self catered and im glad. The food in doncaster college was pitiful, even the cooks didnt like serving it out (but the company they worked for used budget food) a lot of it was fried and unhealthy.

I found that getting into a group of 3 or 4 ppl and taking it in turns cooking each night helped..after all if your cooking for yourself you may as well add a bit more for others. Buy all your food in bulk makes it cheaper.

I also found making food from scratch to be much healthier, tastier and cheaper. Spag bol was my favourite (mince meat, couple of garlic cloves, tinned toms, tom puree, 1/2 cup of red wine and rosemary with cheese on top) all the ingredients can be stored for a long time so no waste in chucking gone off food etc and is much better than a jar of sauce (and takes just as long to cook..about 20-30mins)

eclipse

I'd definitely go for self catered. Not least because loads of halls's catering packages don't feed you over the weekend... hmmm - helpful! Self catered is cheaper, more useful in the longterm (you're going to have to learn to cook at some point), more sociable (cooking together can be great fun) etc etc etc. Plus if you go home for a week, or you're ill, or you miss a meal, at least you won't be paying through the nose for a service you're not receiving.

sockospice

kittiwoz wrote:

I think self catered halls are best. You've got to learn to cook for yourself some time and halls are a pretty good environment to do it because you can get lots of friendly support. I was in halls with a Chinese girl who was keenly teaching herself to cook and often used to dish out a little of whatever she was making to whoever was around.

If anyone is going into halls in Manchester then Chandos and Wright Robinson are the best ones. Big rooms, well equipped kitchen/common room, free phone service between rooms, cheap broadband with file sharing network, sinks in bedrooms and some of the cheapest halls available. Never did figure out why and didn't like to ask in case they hadn't noticed or something! Shared bathrooms but enough facilities to never have to queue and cleaned regularly by someone else. Best value city-centre appartments you'll ever see! Chandos is better than Wright Rob because all the office/pastoral type stuff is in there so if you live in Wright Rob and you lock yourself out or you want the remote for the telly room or the pool balls (the kitchens on each floor have a small TV but there is another big common room downstairs with a big telly and DVD player) you have to go to reception in Chandos for it but both halls are really good. Another thing I liked is that because they are on a floor system rather than a flat system once you are in the building (key card) you can wander onto any floor and go visiting so it is more sociable. Next best is probably the Grosvenor group.

I lived in Chandos when I was at Manchester Uni. It's a good place to stay, near piccadilly station, great staff, good facilities. Grovenor always had a bad reputation when I was at uni (about 4 years ago, but it was cheap and cheerful)

lissy-doll2007

my advice is to always go catered!!... why? the social side - in catered halls outside of freshers week there is an oppertunity to meet people every day, be bold say hi. in self catered you are ususally in a flat of less than 10 people and there is some risk of only ever going out with them. don't do it!! Catered all the way... even tho it may b awful its hot and paid for - you will not starve in catered halls

No_Future

joe13 wrote: »

My daughter starts her first year next week. She is going into halls, but we were not given a choice, all rooms are en-suite and it is all self catered.

My query is the cost, we seem to be paying more for self catered than other people in this thread are paying for catered. We are paying £3,550 per year, they say this is £74.00 per week - but that is assuming that the students us e the halls for 48 weeks a year. As the acedemic year lasts less than 40 weeks this works out to £90.00 per week.

I am staggered at this cost. Is it much cheaper during the second and third year to rent a shared house/flat?

£3550 is not bad. Mine will be either £4250 or £5550 depending on where I am allocated. The fact that the student loan is about £3000 odd is very worrying. Where I am going to make up this shortfall plus living expenses I am not sure...

I will go catered, at least for first year - fixed cost, saves time, easier to budget. Some weekend meals are not included so I can still cook a bit. I can cook and have years and years ahead of me to cook more...I'd rather spend my limited time at uni studying or socializing than shopping, cooking and cleaning!