University Of Birmingham Accommodation

RastaManBob

RastaManBob

RastaManBob

Associate
Joined
30 Dec 2003
Posts
2,254
Hi,

Considering going to University of Birmingham next year - Just flicking through the accommodation brochure now and not so sure what's good and what's not... I know there is the a tour this Saturday however also looking for some personal opinions.

Good facilities?
Good location?
Distance from lectures, etc? (Specifically Electronic Engineering).

Any information appreciated.

Many Thanks.

Dan.
 
I'm at Birmingham, though didn't stay in halls, however I know plenty of people that did.

The electrical engineering department is one of the closer departments to the main group of halls on the Vale. (The Vale being the lake area, with halls all around there).

The Vale is certainly the main area to choose, or Tennis Courts, as they're all north of the main campus, and also the main lump of social stuff happens around there. but a short 5 to 10min walk away from Elec Eng.

I'll come back in a sec with some more details, so watch for my edit.

Edit: see post below
 
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I finished Elec Eng at Birmingham in 1999 so I'm a bit out of date but the Tennis Courts are about as close as you can get to the dept (assuming it's still in the same building it's less than a 5 minute walk) and they were quite reasonable accommodation. The Vale is little bit further away and gives you a lot more options.

It's not there any more but I was in Griffin Close. It was an absolute hole and miles away from the Uni. You should be glad they knocked it down.
 
http://www.housing.bham.ac.uk/undergraduate/ug-accomm-map.pdf

Here's a map of the area above.

Elec-Eng is on Pritchatts Road, just to the left of where the clock tower spire is on that illustration.

Go for one of them around there, with the facilities you want, and you should be fine.

Jarratt Hall is pretty much the closest halls you can get to on campus, but that's very close to Mech Eng, and is a 10 minute walk across campus to get to Elec Eng.
 
Heh, wind back the time machine :eek:

When I was there back in 1991...

I was at Manor House in the first year, which is in a great settings but is waaaaay far from the campus (and even further from the city centre), it was nice though just have plenty of money for buses and be prepared to miss a lot of meals because you cba to go back for them (and a lot of early lectures because you'll be waiting for the 'off-peak' bus!).

Then I was in the Maple Bank flats on the Vale for two years, and these were fine and much closer to everything, close to campus and a 45 minute walk into the centre. I was catered and got my food from the High Hall (Now Chamberlain hall, pfft sounds far too posh), the food was rubbish, I'd self cater :)

Overall none of the accomodation I witnessed was really bad, Chamberlain was probably the worst just because it's a crap looking building. The big halls are always a bit hit and miss with how irritating your neighbours are though ;)

So basically,

Manor House: Really nice but miles from everything. (You'll never be short of 'mates' if you have a car).
Flats: Better than halls if you're happy with self catering (avoid the flats near the manor house if you can as if you're going to be that far away, you may as well be in Manor house it's nicer).
Halls on the Vale: Uninspiring but functional.
 
ranarama said:
It's not there any more but I was in Griffin Close. It was an absolute hole and miles away from the Uni. You should be glad they knocked it down.
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Hah, they've gone now have they? They weren't good and there was a massive meningitis outbreak there when I was at Manor :eek:
 
Manor House is a bit too far for most peoples liking I think. My housemate was there in her first year, and it took them ages to get in every day, which is bad when you have 9am lectures every day, and a hangover.
 
Hi,

Vale looks good - Ideally I'd like to go catered... First time away from home for any real duration and considering I can't do a frozen pizza correctly I think anything they can serve me will be the great alternative! Is it Vale where you get vouchers to use in cafes rather than set meal times?

In reality how far is Vale from the likes of the city centre, etc? And how are the rooms in Vale area organised? Will there be much of a community atmosphere or will it be much more quiet? Does Vale have internet access?

Vale seems ideal at the moment - Any other opinions or info?

Any help appreciated - I'd really like to specify where, if I apply, so that I don't get thrown in some random accommodation.

Many Thanks :)

Dan.
 
Anybody? Couldn't make it to the Accommodation open day today though my friend did and, as I requested, found out a lot of info for me and gave me a bit of a low down on a lot of it... But still - Any other advice/opinions?

Anything better than the Vale for the overall appeal?

Which bits should I be looking at on the Vale specifically?

One of my concerns is that as some areas on Vale are the most expensive I do not want to be in living in halls with people which are substancially more well off than myself only as it may mean totally different backgrounds etc... It's not that I don't want to mix with new people but wouldn't want to be an "outsider" to any grounds forming, of course - Having said that I'd still like to go somewhere quite nice... After all it'd be my home for a year!

Any ideas?

Dan.
 
You're naturally going to find a lot of people that are more well off than you, but also the opposite way round too, but if you go for the most expensive halls, you'll have people whos parents can afford it etc, but it's the same with any university.

The Vale isn't too long a walk from the City Centre, half hour max, but I've never done that. There are plenty of bus routes that'll get you into the City Centre, you'll not have to worry too much about getting there. There's also the train station too.

This link is the vale to the other end of Broad Street, the main pubs/clubs area of Birmingham, though not limited to it:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr...52.465527,-1.914368&spn=0.02327,0.058537&om=1

Rooms are generally organised in flats of 6-8 I believe, depends on where you are again, and there's the chance you'll find some people on your course, but depends on how you fill out your accomodation form.

What your flat mates are like however, can range from anything, they may turn out to be your best mates in the world and you end up living with them in a house in Selly Oak the following year, but you may also get a load of idiots that don't match your personality at all. I think it'll depend on how you fill your form out again as to what kind of people you'll be living with, or if it's mixed with girls and guys etc.

You'll probably get on well with a lot of people if you're the kind of person that doesn't mind getting drunk a lot, but remember, your halls aren't going to hold you back. There are so many societies that you can join and make friends with, and the advantages with socieites, everybody has a similar interest, like go karting (me :p) or music societies like RockSoc etc. Then you've got the people on your course, and likely the Elec Eng society will do lots of social events to get everybody knowing each other and all that. Plus you've got sports teams too.

I'm sorry I can't help you with which to choose, but wherever you end up, as long as you go out willing to make new friends and meet new people, and actively you should have a great year.
 
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Hi,

Thanks for the further information.

After looking through the options in greater detail The Vale looks pretty much perfect - Really nice and ideal location.

I set to work looking at the individual areas with The Vale - They look great! Any advice on which specific area with The Vale to be looking at specifically?

Shackleton looks great but very expensive - What kind of people, from your knowledge, do you find in there? People, like myself, prepared to pay the bit more for the extra bit of comfort and such or... People who are loaded and just want the best? Obviously it will be very hard if I'll be living in an appartment with a bunch of people with whom money is no object (Though I'm sure it'd have its advantages ;) ).

If anybody could give me any opinions or recommendations on where, within The Vale, to look it'd be really appreicated.

Many Thanks :)

Dan.
 
The vast, vast majority of people on my course, from all halls and parts of the country, are all cautious of their finances, and I don't think I know anybody here personally that really has all the money in the world and can afford to go out all the time. You'll have the odd few people that have enough cash to avoid having a part time job, or those that go into their overdraft and then pay it back later somehow. I personally saved a lot of cash during my placement year and have lived off that over the past 2 years, so I've been alirght without a job during term time.

Though this is a huuuge generalisation, you'll find those super rich people will go to the likes of Oxbridge, not Birmingham, and you'd be outnumbered by richer people there, wheras I'd say you'll be in the majority where most people will have money, but will need to work a little extra to get more money etc.
 
g0th2000 said:
Overall none of the accomodation I witnessed was really bad, Chamberlain was probably the worst just because it's a crap looking building. The big halls are always a bit hit and miss with how irritating your neighbours are though ;)
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I agree, in terms of quality of accomodation. Chamberlain aka extremely ugly tower block was my first year hall of residence. It did however have a lot of "character", and at times meant things could get pretty wild, as we would have little of no respect for the building. The social aspect was real good. But no internet sucked, as did the general shoddiness of the rooms, which we paid extortionate prices for.

Location wise the Vale is awesome, I don't think anything beats a summer on the Vale, it's beautiful.

Shackleton's a very nice place to be because it's so convinient. The people I know who lived there seemed to like it - and the room interiors are pretty nice. Maple bank I really don't know much about, and Elgar just seems to be for the rich people... probably one of the worst halls of residence as flats have been known to be very antisocial in the past.

Just a small anecdote about Chamberlain tower - we had about 5 fire "evacuations" some caused by actual fires, others caused by pranksters from other halls, or people knocking into the buttons. I don't think any of them were at normal hours. You have no idea how annoying it was to be woken up at 4am by an extremely loud alarm and be forced to evacuate the building via 12 flights of stairs (you're not allowed to use the lifts)... Then wait outside, in the cold for the firemen to arrive to give the "OK". It's quite funny looking back, but I still can't believe some of the stuff that went on in and around that building. :)
 
DaveyD said:
Though this is a huuuge generalisation, you'll find those super rich people will go to the likes of Oxbridge, not Birmingham, and you'd be outnumbered by richer people there, wheras I'd say you'll be in the majority where most people will have money, but will need to work a little extra to get more money etc.
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I assume you're not spent time as a student in Oxford or Cambridge University? I usually find it's those with next to zero knowledge of the place think it's full of rich people. It's weird, from what I can tell the common denominator here (Cambridge) seems to be academic talent, not wealth.
 
w11tho said:
I assume you're not spent time as a student in Oxford or Cambridge University? I usually find it's those with next to zero knowledge of the place think it's full of rich people. It's weird, from what I can tell the common denominator here (Cambridge) seems to be academic talent, not wealth.
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Did say it was a big generalisation :p and was going by what a few people I know who have been have said.
 
DaveyD said:
Did say it was a big generalisation :p and was going by what a few people I know who have been have said.
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Ah, Bobs friends uncles dogs brothers barbers cleaner said? I suppose you put in a small disclaimer - but since I've lived here for the past few years, I just thought I'd shed a little light on the matter.

:)
 
w11tho said:
Ah, Bobs friends uncles dogs brothers barbers cleaner said? I suppose you put in a small disclaimer - but since I've lived here for the past few years, I just thought I'd shed a little light on the matter.

:)
Click to expand...

Yes I know it's a narrow minded comment, and I'll retract it and never say it again ;)
 
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