
University friends: By chance or by design? - open-source-ux
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46430204
======
thosakwe
I guess this article is just about the UK. I don’t know how it works over
there, but at my school in the US, the residence halls vary pretty widely in
price, and so the factor that _really_ decides where you live is how much you
can afford.

I’m also an RA, and to put this in the nicest way possible, let’s just say
there doesn’t seem to be a housing agenda with the specific goal of creating
diverse communities (IYKYK).

Again, I don’t really know how it works in the UK, but at least at my school,
I’d say it’s definitely “by chance.”

~~~
leetcrew
> at my school in the US, the residence halls vary pretty widely in price

interesting, would you mind sharing what kind of school you went to? I
attended a private liberal arts school and a medium-sized state university and
both charged a flat rate for housing. there was basically a lottery weighted
by seniority and disciplinary record to get into the best dorms.

~~~
thex10
Dorms varied in price like this when I went to MIT about a decade ago. I
presumed it was due to the variation in building age/quality as well as
amenities offered (such as dining hall etc).

~~~
extra88
Harvard College’s housing is pretty variable yet they don’t charge different
rates. I’ve heard of schools having apartments for rent that varied (ones that
have little housing) but never different rates for dorm housing.

------
porphyrogene
A better title would be "A Summary of Responses to Freedom of Information
Requests About Student Housing Policies". There is no survey (scientific or
informal) of students to find how or if these policies affect the friendships
that they form and keep long-term and there is no comparison to whether the
intent of these policies is realized or if students tend to circumvent these
social integration attempts. In fact, there is not a single piece of
information in the article that was contributed by a student (Unless the VP of
NUS, who is quoted once, is a student). I think the title is intended to stoke
irrational fear of institutions controlling lives in unseen and potentially
uncomfortable ways. If you read the news looking for reasons to justify your
xenophobia and/or distrust of education, this headline is exactly what you
hope to see. The only thing to fear here is lazy writing and the author's use
of "freshers".

~~~
deogeo
The 'better' title contains no information on what those housing policies are,
while the original seems quite accurate - the universities explicitly tried to
affect who people socialize with/befriend. Why should the BBC downplay this,
just because they lack a study on whether the attempts were successful?

------
UncleEntity
Seems to me with the giant interweb companies knowing _everything_ about
everyone this would be an area they would excel at.

Group the people who are similar enough, so there won't be excessive drama,
yet from different enough backgrounds so they can expand their horizons.

After the semester I spent in the dorms I'm glad I'm not still in prison due
the one roomate (out of four) who was just incompatible with everyone else
which almost lead to his defenestration on more than one occasion.

~~~
herrosheep
I'm sure what you experienced was nothing like actual prison.

------
janci
In Slovakia and Czech republic it is common to select dorm and room in an
online registration process (click war as we call it). If you want to live
with your friends, you all select the same room. If not, you leave blank space
and some stranger registers to your room. There are well known party dorms,
quiet dorms, close-to-school dorms etc, but students decide where to live and
who to share room with.

------
alexchamberlain
My wife and I met when she moved in 3 doors down at Warwick; I know of a few
other similar relationships, and many relationships formed in the sports
teams.

