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Durham University

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Dissatisfied with allocated College

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Reply 20

Helioghost

Original post by Saint Death

Ah, that sounds quite complicated indeed! I will probably do that; I don't see any harm in being involved. Which college do you belong to, by the way? I think the college as a whole is fascinating though, even if I don't agree with some of the policies :tongue:

I'm at Trevs; fully catered, a little traditional, very musical, independent JCR, Hill college.

Durham University

Durham

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Reply 21

Saint Death

Ah, I see. Do you like it? What kind of formal events do Hill colleges have?

Reply 22

Helioghost

Original post by Saint Death

Ah, I see. Do you like it? What kind of formal events do Hill colleges have?

Depends on the college! It's really varied.

Trevs has fortnightly formal dinners - suits/dresses and gowns, courses are served, wine is consumed in worrying amounts. Plus annual Summer Ball (black tie), Informal Ball (fancy dress), DUCK formal (fancy dress), Handover formal (speeches), End-of-session formal (more speeches), and irregular Livers Out formals (no gowns?) and MCR formals (port and cheese).

Aidan's has things it calls "formals", but it's a complete misnomer because they're almost always big fancy dress events.

Then Mary's, Grey, and Mildert, at least, have regular formals similar to Trevs, I think.

Reply 23

Saint Death

That sounds great actually. I'm not sure if my allocated school, Collingwood, has gown formals too lol. I heard it was one of the more casual colleges so that might be saddening a bit :wink:

Reply 24

thisisaweirdbus

Original post by dionysos4

I originally applied for University College but got allocated Van Mildert instead. I was clearly informed that I would be allocated to a similar College which is certainly not the case. I would like to know if I am stuck with this horrendous arrangement. If not, who can I talk to so that I may alter my allocation to a more traditional College (perhaps Senior tutors).

Hi.

I'm currently a first year student at Van Mildert, and I love it here, it's a brilliant college, different to Castle, yes, but definitely not worse. :smile:

What kind of things are you most worried about not liking if you do come to Van Mildert? Feel free to PM me if you have questions, I think Mildert's fantastic, and I'd be very happy to help you. :smile:

Reply 25

happy_giggles

Hi guys,
I'm in a similar situation in that I got allocated to Van Mildert, which wouldn't be my first choice. I emailed a few times to ask about changing and most were ignored, apart from one reply to say the email had been forwarded to whoever deals with the requests and I'd hear soon.
I did visit the college and enjoyed my stay but i would prefer a smaller more traditional and formal college, but I know how busy all the tutors etc are. Is it worth sending another email just to see if anything can change now the results are out and my place confirmed?
Thanks :smile:

Reply 26

aesir22

I think you can only change colleges for medical reasons? Otherwise everyone would be swapping

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Reply 27

evening sunrise

Each college also has a quota for each subject.

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Reply 28

Blargh1

I've just had the dreaded allocation email. I've beem sent to Grey.

I would love someone from Grey to come on here or PM me some more info but it just seems so awful.

I really can't see any positives with it. It appears an ugly place, with nothing remarkable about it. The 3 listed reasons for going on their page are "good community", "good facilities" "all round excellence" - so pretty much like every other college/accommodation in the whole entire world.

You get none of the Durham feel, none of the advantages of living in a big city, and the few amenities Durham does have are a 20 minute walk away.

I really had my heart set on Durham but this has dampened my feelings towards it a lot.

Reply 29

Quagers

You get none of the Durham feel, none of the advantages of living in a big city, and the few amenities Durham does have are a 20 minute walk away.

This reads strongly like you have never visited Durham (which is not a big city!), you realise this is Grey not JB don't you? Grey is literally 30sec from the science site and probably 5min max to the student union, it is the closest to town of all the hill colleges.

Can I ask which college you applied for? Grey's buildings are mainly modern, the rooms are for the most part pretty nice and the view down of the Cathedral from the top of college is one of my favourite in Durham.

As long as you go in with an open mind 99% of people end up loving their college.

Reply 30

Blargh1

Original post by Quagers

I have been to Durham yes, it is far away and says as much on its own page. My subject is based on Elvet Riverside so that's a 20 minute walk.

I applied to one of the central colleges. You're right that the rooms are ok, it just seems utterly average in everyway. If it were a halls of residence within a wider university (or bigger city) then it wouldn't be a problem.

Reply 31

goodmorningworld

Original post by Blargh1

I'm not a Durham student or allocated Grey but I'll just share my experiences of the college from a summer school I attended there in July - I really liked it.

Sure, location wise it isn't the best but the community should be good if the way the student ambassadors talked about it is anything to go by (obviously they will be positive but they did seem to really mean it!) and I've heard that most people end up loving their college. The dining room is really nice, and the room I stayed in for the residential was good; a lot better than others I've had while at university residential trips. The bar was nice too and it had a lovely feel to it as a place. Know it probably doesn't make you feel any better, just thought I'd share my experience in case no-one else replies! :smile:

Reply 32

Quagers

Original post by Blargh1

I have been to Durham yes, it is far away and says as much on its own page. My subject is based on Elvet Riverside so that's a 20 minute walk.

Google maps has it at 0.6miles and 11min door to door and google tends to use granny zimmer frame speed for calculating walking times, 20mins is what I used to leave for exams in Elvet and I was always one of the first there. Plus since I assume this is a BA given you are in Elvet you will spend more time in the library than in lectures which is about 1min away (and thats probably an overestimate.)