This message would be directed to the most of you who has gone through first year and experienced/-ing the PhD student life...

Would staying in halls be better than living outside of campus as a first year?

i think there is no general answer. coming from abroad and not knowing anyone i was quite happy in my residence hall for my first year. it was pragmatic - no need to worry about furnishing, internet-connection all organized, no hassle with "bills", apply without having to "view", ... - and i was lucky to have great flatmates. also my hall had some nice perks like free DVD rentals which came in handy on lonely evenings, and i think it would be impossible to get a private room in a similar location with similar quality for the same price.
that said, some friends had terrible experiences in their halls. rule of thumb - if a hall, then choose a mainly-postgraduates hall!
any halls also have their downsides. frequent nightly firealarms... bureaucracy... the floorplans can have quite isolating effects... and in my case, halls were definitely not the cheapest way to go.

I lived in halls for my MSc and like Shani I was also lucky to share with good people as well as have good amenities and off course the bonus is no hassel with sorting out any accommodation, heating intenet etc. all sorted. If you are coming for a different country or part of the UK you will probably want to meet new people. If your chosen uni has good halls of residence and an option to live with other pg students then halls might be a good option.

Definately choose a PG hall - my friend was placed in a flat of freshers and she found it very difficult.

I didn't manage to apply in time for residence halls for my first year and ended up living in a flat with undergraduate students. I had quite a hard time because they were either too shy or rude and they didn't ever say hello when they saw me, organizing the cleaning was a disaster... For this year (my 2nd year) I've chosen to live in a residence hall - as Shani has pointed out it's much less hassle and until now I've found it okay (it's a PG only hall, which definitively helps, and quite small, only 15 people or so). The only negative thing are some rules and bureaucray - for example fire alarm tests, visits of the Student Accommodation Office to our rooms to see if everything's clean and tidy, etc.

i live off campus and i really like it though it has its downsides, extra bills etc but i find its somehow nice in the sense that i feel somehow independent. i like the idea of not being on campus coz then i am not reminded of being the student that i am.

Hiya. I stayed in postgrad halls of residences during my first year of PhD life.

Pros
-close to my office
-internet access
-ensuite bedroom (loved that!)
-no bills
-guarnteed room for the whole academic year

Cons
-a VERY lonely experience. Everyone on my corridor were on MScs. I was the only PhD student. It didn't help matters that most of them couldn't really speak much English. (Probably my fault for not meeting more people I guess).
-Could be very noisy. I ended up getting really fed up with noisy neighbours-PhDs are alot to cope with, let alone, inconsiderate people on corridors! (glad to see the back of it!). I suffered from sleep depreviation on more than one occasion!
-very expensive in comparision with offcampus (could be coz of ensuite)
-messy unhygenic students when it came to sharing a kitchen! (im so glad i didn't have to share a bathroom with them!).
-At 26, I felt very old in comparision with everyone else.

cont....

I probably would have preferred living off campus, but the benefits of being so close to my office (lazy, can't be bothered to walk up the v.steep hill), no worries about bills, and having an ensuite room were definite plus points for me. I also ended up meeting some really cool people, I probably wouldn't have met if I lived off campus

from my own experience, the conditions in the student residence hall are much better than the private one but whether you can have a good time depends on how well you get along with your flatmates. i am lucky to have 5 brilliant flatmates from whom I learned a lot and we are on a great term. student Hall is definitely is the best option for the new comers

My friend lived in postgraduate halls of residence during his first year as a clinical psychology trainee. He says it was one of the worst things to do as the halls were always noisy, people kept nicking food from the communal kitchen and he was housed with a group of Chinese students whose English wasn't great and were not intersted in talking to him in any case.

Personally, I spent some time in halls when I started my PhD and thought it was okay, but quite lonely. Its very different from undergrad days when it was a communal built in circle of friends. It was also difficult bringing my (then) girlfriend back (lack of space + quite scuzzy compared to her flat) or inviting friends over.

I too lived in postgrad halls for my first year and it wasn't a great experience. Although the students in the building were generally easy to live with, nearly all were international students mainly from China. Again, nice people, but they had no interest in mixing with anyone but their own type. So overall, it was incredibly difficult to socialise with anyone, due to their poor English and unwillingness to mix. As a result I left the halls after a few months and got a shared private flat. Although this was more hassle in terms of bills, repair work etc.., it's much better in the long run, as you get a chance to meet your flatmates beforehand.
So overall, if you're thinking of halls, make sure you have an idea of the type of people you are going to be living with.

i dont know why you think chinese students are only confined to themselves, i am a chinese, i get along with both my flatmates and my colleagues in office from different countries very well. I really think that part of reason we go abroad to study is to enhance our english and mix into different cultures to get a broader version of the world as well as study.

I am not Chinese, but most of the good friends I made when I was a student were from Taiwan and China. There are a number of factors to getting on well with people you live with, age, gender, ethnicity, abilty to show interest in others as well and off course personality and chemistry.