Help! Stuck on three colleges, apply tonight!

I am a geography student, i have a posh voice but a poor background so i would like somewhere non judgey.
WOuld like a genuinley friendly atmosphere, good academic ethic and decent accomadation.
My choices are
Collingwood
University
St Aidens

Does the competiveness of a university affect how likely i am to get in?

Reply 1

pianofluteftw

I'm at Aidan's and can say that it is definitely non-judge-y! It is known for being the college with the widest variety of students from all backgrounds and has a reputation for being informal, inclusive and friendly! It has nice, large, modern rooms, although there is a higher chance you'd have to share a room at Aidan's than most other colleges (although most people find it's actually fine and usually really enjoy it as they very carefully match people up based on the results of a questionnaire they send out once people have confirmed their offers. Sharing a room is also cheaper now). It is non gowned and has really amazing formals which are usually fancy dress so not pretentious at all!

Collingwood is also nice, it is one of the largest colleges so you get a whole variety of people. I've heard it's friendly, again with modern rooms. Having a large college means there are more people to meet, however some people want a smaller college where they can get to know everyone. I think in general it is much the same in terms of formality as Aidan's - I've heard good things about it!

University is definitely way more formal, although that doesn't necessarily mean everyone is super posh or rich, as with any other college there are other people from lots of different backgrounds. However it does have a reputation for being a bit snooty and it is true there are more 'public school types' than at other places although mostly this isn't a problem. It is a castle though which is pretty cool (although it's unlikely that freshers actually get to live in the castle itself) and it has a reputation for throwing spectacular events (although these do come at a higher price!).

Each college has a good atmosphere and decent rooms though. And nowhere is any more academic than anywhere else as there is no teaching done in college - each college is therefore filled randomly with people from all subjects who all work different amounts and achieve different things! Nowhere will hinder your academic progress though :smile:

You are also way less likely to get into University as it is massively oversubscribed, although in the scenario that you applied, got an offer from Durham but didn't get a place in University college, you're guaranteed a place at a different college. This is because it's your department that gives you an offer (admissions to the university itself has nothing to do with the college, unlike at Oxbridge), it's only after receiving an offer that they allocate you a college.

So the competitiveness of the college does not effect your chances of getting into Durham (the geography dept. decides that) although it does effect how likely it is you'll get into that college (ie. basically only determines where you end up living). As a university as a whole though Durham is competitive, so yes, lots of people apply who don't get an offer as happens at any university.

Hope this helps! :smile:

(edited 9 years ago)

Durham University

Durham

Visit website

Reply 2

JustHoping

Definitley!! Wow that was definitley what i was looking for :smile:

Also what do you think of Van Mildert? Im leaning towards St Aidens right now :smile:

Reply 3

pianofluteftw

Van Mildert is also a really good college. It's right next to Aidan's and very much has a similar sort of friendly atmosphere in fact Mildert and Aidan's quite often do joint events. In my opinion, Aidan's initially (during freshers week) is probably easiest to make friends as people pretty much all live in one massive building so you get to know people really quickly. At other colleges where sometimes people are separated by building or floors (in Van Mildert it's arranged in large 'flats' of corridors each with about 10-15 people) I think people have a tendency to stay with the people that live around them initially who might not turn out to be people you actually want to be best friends with!

However saying all this, you are almost certain to love wherever you end up. There are a few differences in styles of college and slight differences in atmosphere but it's the people that make a place, and they change year on year but always with a good mix of different people! :smile:

Help! Stuck on three colleges, apply tonight!

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