Hi - just thought I'd chip in! I'm a first year at Chad's and remember when I was prepping for the open day!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!
R.E. College buildings/accommodation. Chad's is on the Bailey and owns 7 buildings along it. They're all close together - from Saddler Street past Hatfield. They all hold a mixture of freshers, 3rd years and 4th years. Each has a kitchen/communal space. The Main College building holds the JCR, bar, dining room, libraries etc. Each house (including MC) has roughly the same number of students living in. My friends all live in different buildings and it's great - we generally hop to each others' rooms before heading to the Quad or bar in the evenings.
As for sharing - personally I don't share, but all my friends do. About 70% of first-years share a room, no matter which house they're in. Sharing is fab - you'll always have someone to chat to, go down to meals with etc. Yeah, you may not end up being being best friends, but it's so rare that people don't get along and if they don't - College will always help out one way or another. It's barely been an issue in my year.
I, and most of my year, adore Chad's. It's a very tight-knit and friendly community. I love the fact that the housing is mixed between years, so it's easy to make friends across the whole undergrad community. The JCR Exec work seriously hard in Chad's and the set up of the JCR system means that you'll always have a voice in how college runs. The college family system and Welfare Team is fab and provides so much support.
Socially, we have loads going on. There's bops, termly megaformals and balls, debates, talent shows, societies and of course, Chad's Day. The bar is lovely and I spend at least 3 evenings there or in the Quad.
The honest bit: If you want anonymity, Chad's isn't for you. You get to know all of your year at least by name by this point in the year, which may put some people off. However, people are respectful of your business and there's no maliciousness.
There's a lot to cover, so I've only gone over what was brought up in this thread. Again, if you'd like to know more about Chad's or Durham please don't hesitate to ask.