Top 3 Tips for Living Away from Home

As experts in hosting international students, here are three tips for making the most out of this experience.

Each year thousands of our students will start living away from home for their first time. Most of them are international students who have travelled long distances from around the world for top-quality education in London.

Here are three useful advises for those of you who will soon begin to live away from home.

1. 1. Attend orientation week
   You know that feeling of missing the first 15 minutes of a movie and being lost for the rest of it? That’s a similar feeling of missing out the first few weeks before the programme officially begins.

   If you don’t attend induction week you will miss out on a lot of useful and important information. At Middlesex University, we offer first-year international students one international welcome week and a week that’s introductory for every module. Make sure to have your visa ready and all other admissions processes dealt with enough time so you arrive on time for the introductory week. By all means, be there! And don’t forget to use all of the resources the university has for you.

2. 2. Live in halls of residence
   Is it your first time in a new country? Our advice is you rent a place at the university’s halls of residence. At Middlesex University you’re free to stay wherever you want, but we’ve facilitated five halls of residence that are approved by us, safe, and walking distance or a short commute to university and central London. On top of that, all bills are included, plus a weekly cleaner for the common areas and 24/7 security. You’ll be living in an en-suite single bedroom and share the kitchen and living/dining room with the rest of your (usually 4-5) flat mates. These self-catering and self-laundry facilities will make it easier for you to adjust to the newness of living by yourself away from home.
3. 3. Keep in touch with family and friends
   Nowadays it is not hard to keep in touch with home if you’re away from home. From FaceTime, Skype, Whatsapp, social media and the regular ol’ phone call, you will be just a few clicks away from your family and friends.

   Although London might be at least a four hour time difference and even longer hour’s flight from home, keeping in touch with your loved ones will make the distance shorter. Reading weeks and long winter and summer breaks will give you enough time to go back home or host your family’s visit to London. And if you’re feeling a bit blue, our specialized student support team can give you free counselling sessions.

Before you know it, you’ll feel that London is your home away from home, and that’s something that will stay in your heart for as long as you live.