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The Big 'Recommend Me A College' Thread

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Reply 1260
Original post by Undisclosed 15
Can someone recommend a college please?

Wants:
To not share a room
To have an en suite
To be near shops
To be near lectures (I am going to study Law)
Not fully catered

I would prefer the college to be modern and informal but this is criteria is less important than the 5 aforementioned.

Going by https://www.dur.ac.uk/undergraduate/accommodation/choosing/ Butler, John Snow and Stephenson are appropriate options I think but I don't know if they are close to the law lectures.

Any help?


John Snow and Stephenson are on Queen's campus in Stockton, so you won't be going there if you're studying Law. Butler is the only completely self catered college in Durham City, but it's also the furthest from pretty much everything. Having said that, nothing in Durham is that far from anywhere else. It's just under 1 Mile to the Palatine centre, where your Law lectures should be. Just under 1.5 Miles to the centre of town.

Another college to have a look at might be Cuth's. Cuth's has two sites, one on the Bailey and one just across the river. The one across the river has single rooms only, is either completely self catered or partially catered, the majority of rooms are en-suite and it's pretty good location wise. Much closer to everything than Butler is.
Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham
Visit website
(Original post by Undisclosed 15)
Can someone recommend a college please?

Wants:
To not share a room
To have an en suite
To be near shops
To be near lectures (I am going to study Law)
Not fully catered

I would prefer the college to be modern and informal but this is criteria is less important than the 5 aforementioned.

Going by https://www.dur.ac.uk/undergraduate/...tion/choosing/ Butler, John Snow and Stephenson are appropriate options I think but I don't know if they are close to the law lectures.

Any help?


John Snow and Stephenson are on Queen's campus in Stockton, so you won't be going there if you're studying Law. Butler is the only completely self catered college in Durham City, but it's also the furthest from pretty much everything. Having said that, nothing in Durham is that far from anywhere else. It's just under 1 Mile to the Palatine centre, where your Law lectures should be. Just under 1.5 Miles to the centre of town.

Another college to have a look at might be Cuth's. Cuth's has two sites, one on the Bailey and one just across the river. The one across the river has single rooms only, is either completely self catered or partially catered, the majority of rooms are en-suite and it's pretty good location wise. Much closer to everything than Butler is.


9% of first year rooms are shared at Cuth's and only 20% are en-suite so isn't it unlikely that I will be able to get a single en-suite?

Also, I definitely don't want to share a room so the 9% figure is concerning.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 1262
Original post by Undisclosed 15
9% of first year rooms are shared at Cuth's and only 20% are en-suite so isn't it unlikely that I will be able to get a single en-suite?

Also, I definitely don't want to share a room so the 9% figure is concerning.


9% is pretty low. Usually in accommodation forms there's a little section asking if you'd be willing to share. If you're clear that you don't want to, it's quite unlikely that you will. Also, the rooms in the accommodation site I mentioned are all single. So I doubt it would be much of a worry. Cuth's site also says that the majority of rooms are en-suite at that location, hence it's likely that you will get an en-suite room. But not certain.
Original post by NJam
9% is pretty low. Usually in accommodation forms there's a little section asking if you'd be willing to share. If you're clear that you don't want to, it's quite unlikely that you will. Also, the rooms in the accommodation site I mentioned are all single. So I doubt it would be much of a worry. Cuth's site also says that the majority of rooms are en-suite at that location, hence it's likely that you will get an en-suite room. But not certain.


Can you choose what site you want to live on?
Reply 1264
Original post by Undisclosed 15
Can you choose what site you want to live on?


From the Cuth's site:

4. Will I get my first choice?
We try very hard to give first year students their first or second choice. If you don’t get your first choice, we will try to match as many of your requests as possible, for example type of meal package, residence period, single room etc.


That implies that you get a choice, and whilst it is not guaranteed, they do their best :smile:.
Hi there :smile: I'm thinking of applying to do a BSc Psychology in Durham City. Can anyone recommend me colleges which would be worth considering location wise for Psychology? Thank you!
Original post by notebooker
Hi there :smile: I'm thinking of applying to do a BSc Psychology in Durham City. Can anyone recommend me colleges which would be worth considering location wise for Psychology? Thank you!


Given the size of Durham, most colleges are worth considering (aside from the Queen's ones, of course!) The hill colleges may be better for you though if you're looking for somewhere close by. Grey and Mary's are the closest, but none of the others are more than a 10-15 minute walk away!
Hi, can someone recommend me a college please:
-catered
-fairly close to science site/town centre
-close to a food shop/cafe/Tesco/supermarket etc
-quite diverse/multicultural
-not very traditional

I'm thinking it might be St Cuthbert/St Aidan's/Van Mildert/Collingwood...suggestions? :smile:

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Reply 1268
Original post by BP_Tranquility
Hi, can someone recommend me a college please:
-catered
-fairly close to science site/town centre
-close to a food shop/cafe/Tesco/supermarket etc
-quite diverse/multicultural
-not very traditional

I'm thinking it might be St Cuthbert/St Aidan's/Van Mildert/Collingwood...suggestions? :smile:

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Those sound about right. I'd probably say Cuth's (the Bailey site) is the best match.
Hi! I am applying to Law at Durham, could someone please suggest me a college?
International student, traditional ones preferred, not too far away from Law Faculty, would prefer single rooms than en suite.
I'm thinking about St Mary's, St Chad's and St John's. How are they like?
Thanks!
(edited 9 years ago)
Hello,
I'm applying this year for Geography 2015, but am stuck on which college...
My criteria is..
-preferably old
-hopefully single / ensuite
-near the castle/cathedral/old part of town
and I'd like one you can pay for meals on a pay-as-you-go bases, or with a meal card? I'm not sure if these exist but I wouldn't want 3 meals a day all week, but neither would I not want any!
-I'd also like a good JCR
Thank you :smile:
Original post by Underc0verEmily
Hello,
I'm applying this year for Geography 2015, but am stuck on which college...
My criteria is..
-preferably old
-hopefully single / ensuite
-near the castle/cathedral/old part of town
and I'd like one you can pay for meals on a pay-as-you-go bases, or with a meal card? I'm not sure if these exist but I wouldn't want 3 meals a day all week, but neither would I not want any!
-I'd also like a good JCR
Thank you :smile:


I think the one which would probably fit your criteria best is Cuth's. It has two sites - one on the Bailey and one at Parson's Field, which is close to the town centre, and offers a part-catered option (where you get a certain number of meals per week and can cook the rest yourself). If you chose this, you'd be in Parson's Field, which isn't old in itself, but I believe all the rooms are single and most are ensuite. The old part can still be fulfilled in the Bailey site of the college, where you'd have your meals and the main college bar is. It's about a 5/10 minute walk away :smile:
could anyone tell me what hatfield is like?
This may be an odd one, but what's it like going to a college that doesn't have its own shop? I'm big on connivance so I'm thinking of ignoring anywhere that doesn't have its own shop, would I be mad to do this? Do the people in colleges without their own shops have to go into town to get what they need?

EDIT: Also, can someone point me to the Riverside Bar and Cafe? I'm struggling to find it on a map and I'm placing such a high value of Cafe's that I've almost rejected some colleges entirely because of the fact that they neither have a cafe or seem to not be near one.

EDIT 2: On closer inspection, it seems that all the info about cafes cannot be found as the Yum servers seem to be down for maintenance (not that that stops the Google Cache), given that I'm planning to study maths, it seems best that I try to pick the college closest to the Palatine Centre, which I think would be Hatfield but I remember not liking there, anyone got any recommendations?

EDIT 3: Anyone know where I can get more info on the Palatine Centre? All I can see any lack of is a shop, other than that it seems to have everything I'd want.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by lolaccoiunt
This may be an odd one, but what's it like going to a college that doesn't have its own shop? I'm big on connivance so I'm thinking of ignoring anywhere that doesn't have its own shop, would I be mad to do this? Do the people in colleges without their own shops have to go into town to get what they need?

EDIT: Also, can someone point me to the Riverside Bar and Cafe? I'm struggling to find it on a map and I'm placing such a high value of Cafe's that I've almost rejected some colleges entirely because of the fact that they neither have a cafe or seem to not be near one.

EDIT 2: On closer inspection, it seems that all the info about cafes cannot be found as the Yum servers seem to be down for maintenance (not that that stops the Google Cache), given that I'm planning to study maths, it seems best that I try to pick the college closest to the Palatine Centre, which I think would be Hatfield but I remember not liking there, anyone got any recommendations?

EDIT 3: Anyone know where I can get more info on the Palatine Centre? All I can see any lack of is a shop, other than that it seems to have everything I'd want.


I'm at Butler myself, where we do have both a small shop (but rather expensive - good for emergencies only!) and a very good café/bar which serves a decent selection of food. I used it very little myself in first year; I'd just go into town between lectures and do my shopping then for the most part.

If you're looking for ones close to the Palatine Centre, you'd probably want a Hill college. Closest ones would be Grey and Mary's, though I'm not sure what they're like on shop provisions; as they're all catered colleges, it's unlikely that they'd have such a provision outside a basic tuck shop (which I know some colleges have) and their toastie bars.

The Palatine Centre has a reasonable Yum café (more provisions than a lot of the other ones!) The Riverside Café is in the DSU building (Dunelm House) , though I have a feeling the Palatine Centre one does more (at least, they offer a few cooked meals and such).
Original post by Helioghost
Originally posted 21/08/2012

Right, on this forum we're constantly being asked by people to recommend them a college, since even with the huge amount of information available on the FAQ, wiki, Durham University website, and whole rest of the internet, it's still not the same as getting up-to-date information straight from current students.

So if you want to ask about colleges, this is the place! I'll also be merging similar threads into here to tidy up the forum.


Hi!
I'm applying to Durham for Biomedical science and was wondering which college anyone would recommend?
I went to the Durham Open Day and liked Castle and Butler, but I didn't really like St.Cuth's. But I'm open to any other suggestions!
Our school deadline for UCAS is Friday so the sooner the response the better :smile:
Thanks!!
Original post by sophiewillcox
Hi!
I'm applying to Durham for Biomedical science and was wondering which college anyone would recommend?
I went to the Durham Open Day and liked Castle and Butler, but I didn't really like St.Cuth's. But I'm open to any other suggestions!
Our school deadline for UCAS is Friday so the sooner the response the better :smile:
Thanks!!


The best place to start is probably this quiz on the Durham website. You haven't said what it is that you're necessarily looking for in a college, so that should be a good place to start, either in giving you some recommendations or a few things you might want to consider in making your choice :smile:
Hi,
I'm about to confirm college choice (school's deadline this Friday so want to get it done asap):
Criteria:
-catered
-fairly close to science site/town centre
-close to a food shop/cafe/Tesco/supermarket etc
-very diverse/multicultural
-not very traditional

Need to choose between: St Cuthbert/St Aidan's/Van Mildert/Collingwood...suggestions?


One person has suggested St Cuthbert so far but would be interested in hearing other suggestions.

I'm applying for physics+astronomy.

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(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by BP_Tranquility
Hi,
I'm about to confirm college choice (school's deadline this Friday so want to get it done asap):
Criteria:
-catered
-fairly close to science site/town centre
-close to a food shop/cafe/Tesco/supermarket etc
-very diverse/multicultural
-not very traditional

Need to choose between: St Cuthbert/St Aidan's/Van Mildert/Collingwood...suggestions?


One person has suggested St Cuthbert so far but would be interested in hearing other suggestions.

I'm applying for physics+astronomy.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Posted from TSR Mobile


Collingwood is very large and non traditional, as well as about 10-15 mins by foot to the science site (the atmosphere is very much like a large public school and has many many amenities) and is catered with a huge common room and many societies (I visited them on an Open Day). St Cuthberts, St Aidan and Van Mildert, I don't really know about but I am pretty sure they're all more traditional than Collingwood. I think you must have taken this quiz?
Original post by Underc0verEmily
Hello,
I'm applying this year for Geography 2015, but am stuck on which college...
My criteria is..
-preferably old
-hopefully single / ensuite
-near the castle/cathedral/old part of town
and I'd like one you can pay for meals on a pay-as-you-go bases, or with a meal card? I'm not sure if these exist but I wouldn't want 3 meals a day all week, but neither would I not want any!
-I'd also like a good JCR
Thank you :smile:


I visited St John's and St Chad's which were extremely lovely, sort of quirky in the way that they were set up (mismatched town houses with different corridors, small stairs and so on...it was so cosy!) but they were all fully catered. St Cuthbert's is partly catered, and I popped into that one too, which was also great. Some of these are really special because they've got this garden that extends in the back to a beautiful view of the river. Any of these would be great!
(edited 9 years ago)

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