{"id":5650,"date":"2020-05-30T13:48:18","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T13:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=5650"},"modified":"2021-08-17T14:55:34","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T14:55:34","slug":"evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a first year student, sorting out accommodation is straightforward: a place in an Imperial hall of residence is guaranteed in nearly all cases. The situation is different for returning students though. They can\u2019t live in first-year halls unless they find a vacancy (you have to be lucky here) or become a hall senior. Because of that, most returning students decide to live in private accommodation. However, there\u2019s an option to continue living in halls without taking responsibilities of a hall senior or hunting for vacancies in first-year halls. It\u2019s Evelyn Gardens<\/a>, a set of three halls (Willis Jackson, Southwell, Holbein) located just a 15-20 minute walk away from the South Kensington campus.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m one of the students who decided to live there. What was my experience?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Application process<\/h2>\n

The application process wasn\u2019t very hard. I just had to fill in a simple form mostly with my personal details and room preferences. The offer came in in mid-June. My first choice was a 15-20 m2<\/sup> en-suite single, but I didn’t secure one. I didn\u2019t complain though as I got a >20 m2<\/sup> en-suite single instead. Also, because of an error in the offer (a long story involving several e-mails and phone calls), I actually paid a 15-20 m2<\/sup> weekly rate for that room.<\/p>\n

I remember reading a student post saying that you have the same chance of getting a room in Evelyn Gardens as long as you apply before the deadline. It wasn\u2019t the case for me probably. There was no specific deadline and the Imperial website said that applications were considered on a first come, first served basis.<\/p>\n

Move-in<\/h2>\n

The Evelyn Gardens move-in day happened to be on the same date as the move-in day for first-year halls: 28 September 2019. All I had to do then was to come to the reception in Willis Jackson, show my Imperial ID card, sign a few forms, get your keys and voila! Enjoy your new home.<\/p>\n

My room was in the basement. There are no lifts at all in Evelyn Gardens, so there was a bit of struggle going downstairs with a heavy suitcase, but I eventually got to my room. The room itself was pretty nice and huge! Surprisingly, it had a smaller \u201croom\u201d inside, which I quickly turned into storage of various boxes, bags and suitcases \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Kitchen<\/h2>\n

The kitchen didn\u2019t really look different from kitchens in Beit Hall (my first-year hall). The equipment was the same (e.g. a microwave, a kettle and a toaster). There was also one lockable cupboard per room and a few \u201cpublic\u201d ones (which were rapidly privatised). As far as I remember, about 15 people shared a kitchen, but it was very rarely crowded.<\/p>\n

Student experience<\/h2>\n

Coming from Beit Hall, I was surprised how quiet Evelyn Gardens was. I did expect a calmer environment outside, but significant corridor\/kitchen noises coming to my room were rare as well! This was very good news for me, as I tend to study in the hall when I\u2019m not in the Huxley labs.<\/p>\n

Also, there were hardly any hall events. I only remember a welcome meeting on the move-in day and a Christmas event in the beginning of December. However, since I\u2019m not a very sociable person, I didn\u2019t worry too much about that.<\/p>\n

Overall, my experience with Evelyn Gardens was pretty good. Unfortunately, it was cut short by the pandemic. In mid-March, I had to leave London immediately due to my country closing its borders<\/a> and the transition to remote learning made me terminate the accommodation contract.<\/p>\n

As always, stay safe \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a first year student, sorting out accommodation is straightforward: a place in an Imperial hall of residence is guaranteed in nearly all cases. The situation is different for returning students though. They can\u2019t live in first-year halls unless they find a vacancy (you have to be lucky here) or become a hall senior. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,92291,97962],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accommodation","category-uni-life","category-year-2"],"yoast_head":"\nEvelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience - Student blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Evelyn Gardens is a set of Imperial halls of residence for returning (i.e. non-first-year) students. Here's my experience of living there in 2019\/2020.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience - Student blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Evelyn Gardens is a set of Imperial halls of residence for returning (i.e. non-first-year) students. Here's my experience of living there in 2019\/2020.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Student blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-30T13:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-17T14:55:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Max Graczyk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Max Graczyk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Max Graczyk\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5073f277b6a04e4d63527bcf87badc86\"},\"headline\":\"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-30T13:48:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-17T14:55:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"accommodation\",\"Uni Life\",\"Year 2\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\",\"name\":\"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience - Student blogs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-30T13:48:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-17T14:55:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5073f277b6a04e4d63527bcf87badc86\"},\"description\":\"Evelyn Gardens is a set of Imperial halls of residence for returning (i.e. non-first-year) students. Here's my experience of living there in 2019\/2020.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/\",\"name\":\"Student blogs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5073f277b6a04e4d63527bcf87badc86\",\"name\":\"Max Graczyk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2f201341c7a079c88aae17a6cb3aa95588cea871a4181b2e01e5ade0dbe9b3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2f201341c7a079c88aae17a6cb3aa95588cea871a4181b2e01e5ade0dbe9b3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2f201341c7a079c88aae17a6cb3aa95588cea871a4181b2e01e5ade0dbe9b3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Max Graczyk\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/author\/max\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience - Student blogs","description":"Evelyn Gardens is a set of Imperial halls of residence for returning (i.e. non-first-year) students. Here's my experience of living there in 2019\/2020.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience - Student blogs","og_description":"Evelyn Gardens is a set of Imperial halls of residence for returning (i.e. non-first-year) students. Here's my experience of living there in 2019\/2020.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/","og_site_name":"Student blogs","article_published_time":"2020-05-30T13:48:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-17T14:55:34+00:00","author":"Max Graczyk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Max Graczyk","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/"},"author":{"name":"Max Graczyk","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5073f277b6a04e4d63527bcf87badc86"},"headline":"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience","datePublished":"2020-05-30T13:48:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-17T14:55:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/"},"wordCount":610,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["accommodation","Uni Life","Year 2"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/","name":"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience - Student blogs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-30T13:48:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-17T14:55:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5073f277b6a04e4d63527bcf87badc86"},"description":"Evelyn Gardens is a set of Imperial halls of residence for returning (i.e. non-first-year) students. Here's my experience of living there in 2019\/2020.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/05\/30\/evelyn-gardens-my-2020-experience\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Evelyn Gardens: my 2020 experience"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/","name":"Student blogs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5073f277b6a04e4d63527bcf87badc86","name":"Max Graczyk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2f201341c7a079c88aae17a6cb3aa95588cea871a4181b2e01e5ade0dbe9b3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2f201341c7a079c88aae17a6cb3aa95588cea871a4181b2e01e5ade0dbe9b3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2f201341c7a079c88aae17a6cb3aa95588cea871a4181b2e01e5ade0dbe9b3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Max Graczyk"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/author\/max\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1412"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5650"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5660,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650\/revisions\/5660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}