I've been accepted into Carlaw Park this year, and I have no idea what to expect.
I know it's relatively new, but what is there?
Is there a 'games room', ie. pool table, table tennis table, pianos, etc?
Is there a main common room to meet people?
Are they 'apartment-like' places with 3-4 bedrooms, and does it feel like an apartment or a proper home?
Are there many activities to unite everyone in the hall, or are people just generally friends with the other few people they share kitchen/bathrooms with?
What age group are the people in this hall generally?
I kinda wish it was catered as well so I didn't have to cook, but I guess I can't really choose considering I applied really late.
It's the University's newest hall – really nice, and in great proximity to a lot of things e.g. City Campus, Britomart, Parnell, the Domain (roughly 20-25mins easy walk to Grafton, 10mins if you go really fast). Its won quite a few awards in regards to its architecture and design actually.
There's no games room per se, just a pool room and a basketball hoop outside. No musical facilities either sorry, but you're more than welcome to play in your room. There's a large main common room/communal area with a kitchen and outdoors patio/BBQ area which is really nice and used quite often during the year for get-togethers and hall events.
There are apartments with 2/3/4 bedrooms. Each apartment comes fully furnished with a lounge, kitchen and bathroom. The apartments are quite big for a university residence so it can definitely feel like home if you make it out to be one
You can deck it out as much or as little as you want. I think you can get a good balance in that sense since I still had that feeling of being away from home and living independently, which is quite nice. Beginning to cook your own meals is an adventure at first, but having a few recipes up your sleeve that you can pull out anytime is great (e.g. lasagne, homemade pizza are good ones).
If it's your first year away, try your best to get along to different hall events and get to know your flatmates well! I think getting to know who you live with, if you don't already, will make it a lot more comfortable. You can request to live with certain people (i.e. friends) before you move in. In my experience it wasn't as hall-y as the traditional first year halls like University Hall and O'Rorke, but since my flatmates and I had already been through that we tended to keep to our own.
Most residents, if not all, will be above first-year, so a lot of second and third-years with a few international and mature students (i.e. PhDs, a few families even). Overall it's a really balanced hall.