#This is not a typical student room. #ThereÆs no such thing. However, it isnÆt unusual. #But when it comes to choosing a university, #housing arrangements differ more than chalk, cheese and chopsticks. #First off, youÆve got to decide do you want to cook for yourself, #or would you rather not spend your first student weeks having your stomach pumped? #Most - but not all - universities provide some halls where meals are laid on as part of the cost #or in pay-as-you eat cafeterias. #But students mostly only live in halls for their first year ... #Sometimes you donÆt live in halls at all... #Or sometimes, you live in throughout your course. #ItÆs hard to make generalisations. Some universities donÆt have halls at all, #they have æcollegesÆ, where students can feel at home even if they donÆt actually live there. #Nationally, most students donÆt live in. #ThereÆs more independence renting a shared house or flat with other students, or staying in a bedsit. #Most universities offer some help finding housing #either in their own halls or privately, #but an increasing number live with their parents while they study. #Or since many students nowadays start their courses much older, they have homes and even families of their own. #With different needs, different availability and different standards, come different costs. #And if, when it comes to accommodation, no university is like another, #when it comes to money, no factor effects student life more deeply. #The next presentation confronts the money monster.
