Gaming and University
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Heyhey! Being a student in the UK myself (I'm in Southampton and I'm a 3rd year on a 4 year course) I went through the same thoughts you've been through. My advice is leave it in the first year; concentrate on creating friendships and mostly getting used to living on your own and adjusting to uni. Only being able to play my 360 in the holidays made me enjoy my games even more but if you do find it too difficult then you can always bring it up after the holidays!
However.. One thing I will say is that in halls because of the set up, if you bring a 360 (and by extension a tv) you'll need to buy your own tv licence (so just over £100). As for insurance as long as your room is locked your home insurance should cover it up to a point (they usually cover breakage and entry so lock your door when you go lectures etc!) but with all your instruments you may want to get your own.. Endsleigh is the usual student coverage but be prepared to pay a fair amount (try getting the rentals to get it for you =P). I've never had anything stolen. My neighbours last year had a wii just picked up and taken out of their front room but they left the back door unlocked and open and weren't in so not surprising in a way!
I ended up bringing my 360 in my 2nd year (and this year) and stuck it in the front room with my tv, it's definitely not as valuable as say your laptop (with your dissertation on it!), as for a tv don't go nuts! Oh if you want a good social game I picked up a copy of sonic and sega racing (the clone of mario kart) which is good fun and doesn't have to take up 5 hours at a time (unlike FFXIII which I blame entirely for my lack of work over easter!)
Sorry I've gone on a bit but I thought it might help =)
Oh and to the guy who said musicians do no work.. I do mathematics at one of the top science uni's in the UK.. We had 4 bits of coursework a week in the first year alone.. And still I feel a lot of the musicians I know did more work than us.. That plus the stress and extra curricular stuff they put on.. Sorry I feel I should stick up for them =P
Anyways! I hope you enjoy uni! =)
However.. One thing I will say is that in halls because of the set up, if you bring a 360 (and by extension a tv) you'll need to buy your own tv licence (so just over £100). As for insurance as long as your room is locked your home insurance should cover it up to a point (they usually cover breakage and entry so lock your door when you go lectures etc!) but with all your instruments you may want to get your own.. Endsleigh is the usual student coverage but be prepared to pay a fair amount (try getting the rentals to get it for you =P). I've never had anything stolen. My neighbours last year had a wii just picked up and taken out of their front room but they left the back door unlocked and open and weren't in so not surprising in a way!
I ended up bringing my 360 in my 2nd year (and this year) and stuck it in the front room with my tv, it's definitely not as valuable as say your laptop (with your dissertation on it!), as for a tv don't go nuts! Oh if you want a good social game I picked up a copy of sonic and sega racing (the clone of mario kart) which is good fun and doesn't have to take up 5 hours at a time (unlike FFXIII which I blame entirely for my lack of work over easter!)
Sorry I've gone on a bit but I thought it might help =)
Oh and to the guy who said musicians do no work.. I do mathematics at one of the top science uni's in the UK.. We had 4 bits of coursework a week in the first year alone.. And still I feel a lot of the musicians I know did more work than us.. That plus the stress and extra curricular stuff they put on.. Sorry I feel I should stick up for them =P
Anyways! I hope you enjoy uni! =)
Do you have to hide it? I'm a college right now, and we just made sure all us roommates understood that when no one is here, the door gets locked. Nothing's been stolen yet.lorrdmatt said:Thats a good point, I hadn't thought of that. My TV is a big fat old one. I could probably get a decent flatscreen TV secondhand for less than £100.Thaius said:
Any ideas how I could hide it though?
I guess it all depends on how switched on my flatmates are then.Thaius said:Do you have to hide it? I'm a college right now, and we just made sure all us roommates understood that when no one is here, the door gets locked. Nothing's been stolen yet.lorrdmatt said:Thats a good point, I hadn't thought of that. My TV is a big fat old one. I could probably get a decent flatscreen TV secondhand for less than £100.Thaius said:
Any ideas how I could hide it though?
My recommendation, not only for this but in general when it comes to roommates (or flatmates, I guess... we don't call it a "flat" in the US, heh): meet with all of them early on, like as soon as you have them all together. Talk about the things that you each need and desire, and make sure all of you try to accommodate each others' needs. Knowing and respecting your roommates is key to living in a dorm, and as long as you make it clear that you want the door locked, it should happen. Unless they're douchebags.lorrdmatt said:I guess it all depends on how switched on my flatmates are then.Thaius said:Do you have to hide it? I'm a college right now, and we just made sure all us roommates understood that when no one is here, the door gets locked. Nothing's been stolen yet.lorrdmatt said:Thats a good point, I hadn't thought of that. My TV is a big fat old one. I could probably get a decent flatscreen TV secondhand for less than £100.Thaius said:
Any ideas how I could hide it though?
Take what you want to uni, your mates will probably love you when in need of a gamers night or something. Just make sure you have good insurance. I have my xbox here at uni and its going down really popular when friends are really tired/broke from all the going out but still feel sociable.
I went to Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario, Canada) and had several people on my floor in residence with LCDs, gaming PCs, Xbox 360s (We would actually system link and play 4v4 Halo 3 with floormates). No one got anything stolen and we even lent out games and such to certain people. It's up to you though, just saying my personal experience. The way I see it though is that you're all in the same boat : you're students, you're not particularly rich, and you each have your own stuff that you don't want stolen. Why steal someone else's?
Thanks! I didn't really use timetables, but something that really helped was putting a big whiteboard on my wall where I could write down my assignments and due dates. Having that constant reminder staring me in the face usually kept me in line lollorrdmatt said:First of all congrats on the good gradesDreadfulSorry said:
That's not to say I didn't have to do a few all-nighters to finish assignments, but I at least got them done.
Mine didn't change at all. I still play Disgaea a few hours at most a day, or I play something else in it's place instead. I just finish my homework as soon as class is over, and then i have all the time I need for games and reading and stuff.
The room I was in had a lock, as did our apartment. Lock your room when you're not in it (and when you're asleep) and you should have no problems at all.
If your room isn't secure, that's really rather an issue in my mind.
If your room isn't secure, that's really rather an issue in my mind.
Whiteboards! brilliant idea, I hadn't thought of thatDreadfulSorry said:Thanks! I didn't really use timetables, but something that really helped was putting a big whiteboard on my wall where I could write down my assignments and due dates. Having that constant reminder staring me in the face usually kept me in line lollorrdmatt said: