There were always ever only two certainties for students going to Fresher’s Week in the UK: firstly that you’d meet someone who you'd then spend the rest of your university career trying to shake-off and secondly that you'd have a hangover at some point. A really, really bad one.
But now the full impact of tuition fees is being felt – and with news today that some unis are so oversubscribed since the Government raised the cap on admissions by 30,000 this year that students are having to share single rooms with bunk beds – what does Fresher's Week look like today?
As Fresher's Weeks (fortnight? Month?) draw to a close at universities all over the country and students emerge, bleary eyed and full of flu, to face the fact that they might have to actually start doing some work now, we decided to head to King's College London and Camberwell Arts College and St Mary's University to find out what the morning after the night before looks like when you're 18, away from home for the first time, and have just sampled your first Jagerbomb?
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Clue: sure there are still mega-hangovers. But also a lot of new money worries.
'I come from quite a small town in Devon, so moving away to come to London was insanely exciting – I've wanted to live here my whole life. Inevitably, with all that pressure, Fresher's Week was bound to be a bit of a disappointment,' 18-year-old Claire Edwards, who’s studying Philosophy at Saint Mary’s University, tells The Debrief. ‘I had a good time, but it's bittersweet because a lot of my friends went to the same university (Leeds) and posted a lot of pictures of their nights out online and it's difficult not to feel a bit jealous or isolated.’
Inevitably, with all that pressure, Fresher's Week was bound to be a bit of a disappointment
But for others, Fresher's Week has entirely lived up to its expectations – and heady ones at that. ‘I ended up at some house party, I have no idea where it was, luckily I was with friends and nothing bad happened but it was like being in an episode of Skins,’ 19 year-old Art and Design student George Spark-Hall tells The Debrief. ‘There were so many people and everyone was completely wasted and I think the police were called. I had a great time!’
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George believes this is down, in no small part, to the people she’s met – and plenty of bonding opportunities during pre drinks in halls. ‘I found that just getting very drunk with friends back at halls was really the solution. The prospect of having to put yourself out there and meet new people was really daunting and pretty awkward to begin with, but once you put alcohol in the mix it just becomes funny and everyone in my halls is luckily really nice. I admit that I was really nervous, but it was all fine in the end.’
‘I guess the most daunting thing was not getting on with the people in my halls,’ agrees Savannah Grieve, an 18-year-old Art student. ‘You don’t want to end up going back on your own after a night out, you need people living in the same area to back with. Luckily, everyone I’ve met has been really like-minded and a lot of fun, which makes the whole process of being away from home for the first time much easier.’
The thing is with uni is that you are confronted with a lot of people from all over the world and that means a lot of wealth, which I have really never seen before.
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And for some students, like Dennis Corrigan, an 18-year-old Drawing student at Camberwell, the whole Fresher’s thing didn't hold much appeal. ‘I only ended up going out, like, twice to see Trim, D Double E and Jammer,’ he explains. ‘A lot of the other events didn’t really look appealing to me.’
It's certainly true that now the cost of going to university is higher than ever before, money is more of a consideration than it ever was before – and all those nights out don't come cheap. ‘I can tell already that money worries will be one of my biggest stresses going forward so I'm really trying to take that into account,’ adds Claire. ‘It's not like how it used to be – not only is uni more expensive but it's also harder to find part-time work to top up your loan. For now, I'm sort of ignoring the problem but I know I'm going to have to deal with it soon enough.’
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‘The thing is with uni is that you are confronted with a lot of people from all over the world and that means a lot of wealth, which I have really never seen before. My first week was full of bad choices,’ remembers Kat Peirce, a 20-year-old English Literature student at King's College London. ‘I went to horribly expensive places where freshers were herded in and out like cattle. I could get three Jagers or three trebles for a fiver back in Newcastle and suddenly I was being charged £15 for a vodka and coke! I ended up leaving most places within about two hours and drinking tea in my room with the girls on my corridor.’ With prices like that, it’s no huge surprise that the vast majority of people we spoke to had their best nights drinking with their friends in their halls – not that the hangovers were any easier.
But the fact of the matter is that, for many of the students, this will be their first time going out and getting wrecked without the risk of being rumbled by their parents. So is that terrifying prospect, or an amazing one? ‘I ended up speaking to my family every night,’ Dennis admits. ‘They just hope I’m keeping busy and enjoying myself.’
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‘My mum’s been phoning every day, which is really nice to be honest,’ adds Claire. She just wants to check in with me and has been reminding me about cleaning my sheets and stuff like that. I’ve already shrunk my favourite dress, so I’m not great at washing. They also sent a big shop because I've never been a massive cook, so that was really appreciated.
And those inevitable hangovers? ‘I’d love to say I’ve got a fantastic hangover cure,’ Savannah says. ‘But the truth is the only food I ever seem to have is bread so I just eat toast.’ Sad times. Esther, an 18-year-old Art student, has come up with a slightly more unusual option of ‘sleeping and banana custard’. Each to their own.
Along with how best to deal with that feeling of doom you get when you've been downing £1 shots until 5am – your first term at uni is where you'll start to pick up all the life lessons that will see you in good stead for the next three years. 'It's just a whirlwind because you are for the first time given absolute precedence over everything you do,' explains Kat. 'Even trivial shit like what you eat for each meal, which seems tiny but it's so exciting going on that journey. You're basically living with a bunch of young people from all over the place, with no rules and a whole city to explore – it's very exciting.’
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Follow Sophie on Twitter @SophieCullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.