Accommodation and Societies!

8 June 2017 by Katie
3 minute read

Hi all,

After doing recent visit days in the department, lots of students were asking about accommodation (halls, in particular) and joining societies – so I thought I’d go over some things and try and ease some worries you may have.

Accommodation

In your first year, you will (probably) live in University accommodation aka ‘halls’.

At York, there are two campuses: West and East.

West is where you will have your Psychology lectures and there are many colleges you could live in on this campus
However, East is only a 5 minute bus ride away (the buses between campuses are free and come every 7/8 minutes) and the colleges on this campus are newer but generally a bit more expensive

James College is very popular with Psych students because it’s right next door to the Psychology block, but some students don’t like this idea as it puts you in a ‘bubble’ where everything is really close and you’re always with the same people, and so they may choose to live further away. Everyone’s preferences are different!

In your second year you may choose to move into a house in town or somewhere around the city with friends you have made in first year. I lived in a private flat in the city centre for some of second year and then moved into a studio flat with Foss Studios student accommodation. Both were lovely but I wanted to live back with a big group of people.

The living area of my second year flat in town!

However, DO NOT FEAR!

If you haven’t met people you think you’d like to share a house with by the end of your first year, or you just prefer the idea of staying in halls, then that is possible! So in my third year, I am now back living in Constantine in a block of returners (no noisy freshers!)

Me outside my college – Constantine, back for third year! Constantine is the newest accommodation block on Campus East.

Societies

When you first arrive at uni lots of people will tell you to join loads of societies and do everything you can! But trust me, you really don’t have to.

I signed up to a million and one societies in Fresher’s Week and joined one. The others have only served to annoy me for 3 years with emails that I forget to unsubscribe to.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if you’re the kind of person who wants to and will join all of these societies, but I just wanted to stress that you don’t have to. And also, not all societies are sports, as people often think!

There is probably a society for nearly everything you could imagine, and it can be a great way to meet people with the same interests as you.

But there are academic opportunities, too. If you’re a nerd (like me) these might appeal to you more than joining a football team;

Course Reps – represent your year group/course and take issues to staff members
Department Reps – represent your entire department, attend staff meetings and work with the university to make positive changes
Marketing Ambassador – represent your department as an ambassador for promoting your course and university

Because I took on all the academic roles I could in my department, I ended up with my face on the front (and inside 3 pages) of the University's welcome book! — Because I took on all the academic roles I could in my department, I ended up with my face on the front (and inside 3 pages) of the University’s welcome book!

These are just a few examples of things you could be involved in, Uni of York love student involvement and representation and will encourage you to get involved wherever possible.

If you have any questions about any of this or anything else to do with Psychology or York then please do comment.

Best of luck with revision!

Katie x

I am currently in my final year studying Psychology at the University of York. In my spare time I like to watch musical theatre and enjoy socialising with friends and family.