All About Overseas Education
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Sharing my kids’ experiences:
1. If it’s a hall with a common fridge, food in the fridge faces almost like 100% chance of being stolen / eaten / drunk (I heard of the thief drink directly from the milk carton and put the carton back) ,never mind the students maybe from law, medicine, etc faculty.
2. Though external electrical appliances are usually prohibited from use in the rooms (for fear of power outage), students like my kids will still have their mini rice cooker, small humidifier, etc in their room (from what I know, usually a basic electric kettle is provided in each room). There maybe random checking of rooms but such checking will be announced and so these kids will hide their ‘illegal’ appliances on that day else will be confiscated. Very light cooking in the room (no pan fried etc).
3. If want to replace the basic electric kettle with a filtered electric kettle (‘illegal’), then buy from there and not here (coz not all filters are the same. Different countries use different types of filter as water hardness maybe different in each country and so the filters are made differently).
4. Usually can forget about using the common kitchen (dirty, messy, etc).
5. Nowadays they have those 1-pound shops there that sell things similar to Daiso. With the current exchange rate, it’s cheaper than Singapore Daiso. So, dont really have to buy many things over (but mini multi-purpose cooker maybe necessary coz not easy to get one there). -
For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?
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cherrygal:
For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?
It depends on the university. Some make it mandatory for students to live in a hall for the first year. Some may allow the student to live out even in the first year. I don't think any university makes it mandatory for more than the first year as there are usually fewer rooms available than students who would like to live in. Unless the parent owns a flat which the student can live in, renting outside is usually more expensive than living in university-owned accommodation. -
Thanks slmkhoo!
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cherrygal:
For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?
For first year, ideally to stay in the dorm and to have catered food coz the kid is still new to the environment (catered food looks interesting for the first 2-3 months, after that just wanna eat plain white rice). So, better to know a few more kakis and be familiarized with the environment and then head out to outside flats in the second year with those like-minded (unless dont mind to rent a studio to stay alone).
External accommodation (housing + own cooking) is generally cheaper as compared to dorm + catered meals. -
hercules:
External accommodation (housing + own cooking) is generally cheaper as compared to dorm + catered meals.
Sorry - I gave wrong info! I always thought living out would be more expensive. I haven't looked at the figures recently. If cost is not a major concern, and you can stand the food, living in a hall with catered food is much more convenient, though. When I was a student, I lived in all 3 years as I liked having meals provided (so I only cooked only when I felt like it), and not having to clean my room. -
cherrygal:
For UK uni, izzit a requirement to stay in the hall or can parents rent a room / an apartment for the kid near the uni?
I suppose it depends on whether you're on scholarship or not? If on govt scholarship, you may have to work out the costs and discuss with the agency sponsoring you to see if that's allowable? It's unlikely scholars will stay outside of campus. Maybe some scholars may want to stay in their parents' own UK property, but that's really not prudent of them to do so, cos scholars are not supposed to appear too extravagant (that includes what they post on their social media platforms that gives people the impression they play all day long). Safety is probably another genuine concern of their future employer, as some scholars could already be a staff of the sponsoring agency and on their payroll? There's also a lower chance of the sponsored student colluding with housing agents (over rental or undertable referral fee benefits) as halls come with fixed and transparent rates.
Otherwise, any non-scholars can feel free to find their own accommodation outside from year one. Most people won't do that in year one as they are still feeling their way around and making friends of various nationalities. It's pretty fun to socialise with international students as you get to learn how more about their culture, cuisines, history, language, etc. They come from everywhere, from different ends of the world, seriously. From crazy rich Asians to royalty from Arab countries or African kingdoms...
Postgrads will tend to put up somewhere off-campus, as they are mostly mature adults with spouses (and/or children). Spouses can do grocery shopping for them as well as all the household chores.
Accessibility to the college library is also another major consideration. If your course doesn't require you to visit the library or laboratory for hours, I guess it's ok to pick an apartment that's not within walking distance from the college. Maybe nowadays, there's digital library and they don't need to hole up in the library to do research. It's convenient to stay near the library and photocopier (in the old days) during winter. -
hercules:
Sharing my kids' experiences:
1. If it's a hall with a common fridge, food in the fridge faces almost like 100% chance of being stolen / eaten / drunk (I heard of the thief drink directly from the milk carton and put the carton back) ,never mind the students maybe from law, medicine, etc faculty.
Some halls' kitchen cabinets come with locks. But the stuff in the fridge get nicked by inconsiderate neighbours. Indeed, small petty items like eggs, milk, juices, butter, bread, cheese may be eaten by some hungry ghosts from another floor. Condiments, cooking oil and sometimes your rice cooker gets 'borrowed' without your permission too. I was not very particular about such small 'thefts', as I shared my food with others all the time.
2. Though external electrical appliances are usually prohibited from use in the rooms (for fear of power outage), students like my kids will still have their mini rice cooker, small humidifier, etc in their room (from what I know, usually a basic electric kettle is provided in each room). There maybe random checking of rooms but such checking will be announced and so these kids will hide their 'illegal' appliances on that day else will be confiscated. Very light cooking in the room (no pan fried etc).
Can hide a mini electric kettle (Sona or Tefal) in the cupboard. But if you have a serviced hall, i.e. cleaner who comes by on alternate days, then better be vigilant. Actually, cleaners are quite bochap and hall masters are not that strict lah. I replaced their frumpy Laura Ashley-ish curtains and decorated the walls with my hip posters, but I restored them to the original state after vacating the room. Some US universities' dorms allow students to paint their room walls, but they need them to restore property to its original state before returning it to the college.
3. If want to replace the basic electric kettle with a filtered electric kettle ('illegal'), then buy from there and not here (coz not all filters are the same. Different countries use different types of filter as water hardness maybe different in each country and so the filters are made differently).
Yes, good advice. The UK plug is different. I bought a mini fan for summer, a hairdryer, a tv and CD player. But I took along my laptop and printer from Singapore. Gotta use adaptor.
4. Usually can forget about using the common kitchen (dirty, messy, etc).
Students don't prepare lunch. They eat in college's cafeteria or dining halls (if any). For the more affordable students, they drive or walk out to dine in town. Colleges in London are nestled within densely populated residential/commercial estates and tourist attractions, so there are a lot of eateries, pubs and salad bars to grab a quick cheap bite in between lectures/tutorials. Catered buffet like you said gets a little boring after a year or two.
5. Nowadays they have those 1-pound shops there that sell things similar to Daiso. With the current exchange rate, it's cheaper than Singapore Daiso. So, dont really have to buy many things over (but mini multi-purpose cooker maybe necessary coz not easy to get one there).
Yes, the seniors will take them to value shops to buy duvet, pillow, bedlinen set, laundry basket/bag, pail, etc. -
Elder boy told me Sg and UK uses the same 3-pin power plug.
Are electrical appliances sold in Sg commonly 2-pin or 3-pin power plug?
Hm, I should go Courts/Best Denki to check them out
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slmkhoo:
I didn't like the film that developed on the top of a cup of tea,...
What about cooking rice with tap water?
Does the hard water leave a weird taste in cooked rice and in boiled soup?
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