University of St Andrews

This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

New Hall and David Russel

What are the positive/negative aspects of both?

New Hall rooms look nice on the website - reasonably big and a good shape with a proper ensuite - but I'm worried about the idea of having twelve rooms per flat and no commumnal area.

David Russel doesn't look like it has one either...do you end up sitting in your room the whole time or at the breakfast bar thing?

Thanks :smile:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Dalimyr

I can't really speak for New Hall (only been in there once, and that was just as far as the foyer)...in DRA the kitchen is actually a kitchen/lounge combination, with stools at the 'bar' and a sofa on the other side of the room :smile:

University of St Andrews

Reply 2

cookums

New hall's coffee shop and foyer basically act as commumnal area, most in-hall events are held within the coffee shop, such as the halloween party we had.

Reply 3

Steeeeevo

well compared, DRA rooms are much bigger, better furnished and have nicer and bigger bath rooms than New Hall, but as it is about 10 mins further away from town I suppose that’s how they justify the equivalent prices for the two. Socialising wise each flat of 5 rooms has a reasonably big kitchen / living area to socialise with your flatmates (who you will end up becoming very good friends with) as well as holding parties (which seem to happen every other week), as well as the facilities building on site with a bar (only serves after 7, but open all day with university wireless internet) a games room, a bistro (open until 7 then closed to any access) and a TV room with sky and a projector TV (and a shop, but its not exactly the best place to socialise :wink:

!), from what I've seen (I don’t know all about New Hall's facilities) New Hall has a café (unsure of opening times), a smaller TV room with sky, and a games room for socialising and there are usualy people hanging arround in the foyer, however there has always been people in them whenever I've been to New Hall, which is not always true for DRA's shared facilities where you can sometimes find the open bar or TV room to yourself. Err, I’ve gone to a bit of a blank there, anything else you want to ask about DRA (where I live) or comparisons to New Hall I’ll be happy to answer.

Reply 4

Parrotman

New Hall has been good fun so far, good aspects have to be that the rooms are a good size, even in the shared rooms. The ensuite bathrooms on the first floor do have a tendency to flood apparently though.... The kitchens are also well equipped considering New Hall is going all catered next year. (Rumours floating around about that). As for a social life, the foyer and tv room always has someone there, even in revision times.

DRA is relatively far out of time, but I believe there is a regular bus service. Then again it's only a 10-15 minute walk anyway. I haven't actually seen any of their rooms but apparently they are bigger than New Hall rooms. A few friends I have in DRA are loving it though.

If you can cope self catered then i'd recommend DRA, otherwise go for New Hall. Each have their positives and negatives, so best would be to try and take a look at both of them.

Reply 5

Autumn Child

Steeeeevo

they've done a good job of the photo of New Hall on the uni site then, and a not so good job for DRA (they don't seem to show the living area bit) :P

from what you and others have just said, DRA sound's like a much better place to be for first years.

did you just leave it to chance where you were put, or did you scrawl a little plea somewhere on your form? :p:

Reply 6

Steeeeevo

nah, but if you apply on time and apply for catered ensuite your virtually guaranteed New Hall, self-catered ensuite - DRA, I havent heard of anyone other than people who applied late who this wasnt the case for.

Oh and on the virtual tour, the photos of the David Russell Kitchen/Diner is the living area, there is a seating area behind the camera on the first 1 and a from the kitchen on the other. And for comparison of rooms the David Russell photos do not show the space where the bed is (double as in new hall), it takes up about half the room so the rooms are effectively slightly less than double what the photos show, in new hall however, other than a wardrobe built into the wall at the very foot of your bed and a desk (which the photographer must be at least sitting on / at to get that photo) what you see is what you get.

EDIT, Ive just noticed, in the New Hall bedroom, the desk has been moved behind the bed, so that photo is taken from the corner of the room.

Reply 7

Lou_

What are Fife Park and Albany Park like?

The prices for them are relatively cheap compared to the rest.

Also what accomm is closest and which is furthest awat from town?
Are they all in walking distance from the main uni buildings?

Reply 8

Parrotman

Fife parks just a little further than DRA, and Albany parks a similar distance into town just on the other side of town. Not sure about the quality of the buildings though.

They have done a pretty good job of the photo actually for New Hall as the rooms look bigger than they actually are. Mind you the slidey door cupboards are always good fun. A lot of people I know have created more floorspace for themself by shifting around the bed, but it doesn't make much of a difference in the shared rooms.

Reply 9

Dalimyr

Lou_

What are Fife Park and Albany Park like?

There'll inevitably be someone who comes on here and decides to rant about how they stay in New Hall or DRA or something (i.e. one of the most expensive halls) and that Fife Park/Albany Park are utter crap. Don't listen to them :smile:

Fife Park gives you the bare essentials - a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen. You don't get all the luxuries from other halls (like the sofas in DRA). It's nothing fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, but it's perfectly fine for living in if you can put up with the travel (which you'd have to do from quite a few halls, including DRA, anyway). Most of the people in Fife Park are very friendly, too - the one great advantage is that because all of the bratty rich kids want to live in the expensive halls, they avoid FP/AP like the plague :biggrin:

Also what accomm is closest and which is furthest awat from town?

Fife Park and Albany Park are definitely farthest from town, but Fife Park is right beside DRA...in any case, it takes about 15 minutes max to get to the centre of Market Street from either hall.
A couple of halls, such as McIntosh, are right in town (McIntosh is fairly close to the union).

Are they all in walking distance from the main uni buildings?

Everything is within about 20-25 minutes' walking distance. If you're doing a sciencey subject then you'd want to go for Fife Park, DRA, Andrew Melville or New Hall, as all the science buildings are together on the North Haugh on the west of town (as are all the halls I just mentioned). Fife Park's about a 5-10 minute walk away, and I've biked it in as little as 3 minutes.

If you're doing an arty subject, they're mostly in town (though some lectures for them take place in the North Haugh)...you'd preferably want to go for somewhere like McIntosh or Sallies for them :smile:

I'd advise against Albany Park if you're not up for long walks, in case you end up getting several lectures over on the North Haugh, though the exercise can definitely do wonders :wink:

Reply 10

Lou_

Thank you for all that info! You're a star! :biggrin:

(will rep you once I can.. tomorrow)

Is it quite common to get a shared room even if you specify you want a single? Does anyone share? What's it like?

Reply 11

Parrotman

I share and it's pretty awesome compared to what I thought it would be like! My roomate is with his friends across the room playing on his PS2 at the moment actually...

It's pretty much an instant friend at the start which is always good. Luckily me and my roomate co-ordinate showers quite well as his lectures in the morning are about 2 hours before mine. Some people have had bad experiences with their roomate, but they've requested to move out and they've been put in their own room here. At least so far after a semester I can say i've really enjoyed it, but whether i've been lucky or not I don't know.

Reply 12

cookums

I have a roommate as well and wasn't expecting one. Its fine though, i achtually find it quite an advantage, as parrot said its an instant friend (in most cases). Shower co-ordination also occurs for me as well, and other friends i know that share do so as well.

Reply 13

Solid_L

I live in DRA, basically I'd be repeating what Steveo said, but I wouldn't want to move into new hall personally.

All comes to all, if you want a bit of independence and a close nit group of friends DRA is the best for you: basically because you're left fending for yourself a little more in terms of cleaning up and cooking: and you tend to be in blocks of 5 so you can get closer to a smaller group of people if you get me. That doesn't mean you won't get to know other flats! The social life in DRA really is second to none.

New hall is if you want to be cooked for (and cleaned for?) a bit more. As you have corridors of more people you'd probably be a little less closed off than DRA - probably hang around in bigger groups if you get what I mean.

The rooms in DRA are definately bigger and better than new hall - no arguements can be made there: we also have double beds in DRA, rooms are bigger, site is amazing (except the ponds just don't seem to be developed) and it really is like a hotel - but you do have a greater distance.

As for sharing rooms: it is rare to share rooms in DRA (I only know of 2 people who are sharing, with each other, but there room is apparently huge). But it just doesn't seem to happen. People do say their room mate is nice: but personally I prefer to pick my company to I spend the night with :smile:

Reply 14

Dalimyr

Solid_L

except the ponds just don't seem to be developed

That was a new feature added in at the beginning of last year (I think)...in case you haven't noticed yet, it has a slight habit of overflowing during heavy rainfall. If you put any plants down near it, they'd be washed away if it started raining for a few days on end :biggrin:

Reply 15

Steeeeevo

Dalimyr

I think it looks good when its 'overflowing', it just looks like a glorified puddle otherwise. (Oh yeah, and the double rooms are pretty big so space wouldnt be an issue there, but I was in an empy one [unfilled room but for some reason was not locked so I had a mooch about in it :biggrin:

], so I dont know what the chances of you actually being put in one in DRA are)

Reply 16

Cbear92

Hey guys, I was looking at the list of stuff you get in your room in dra, is it true it comes with a tv? Was just wanting to know because i was thinking of bringing one for a ps3, though ive heard its strictly no online with resnet, i DO enjoy the occasional single player game!

Reply 17

jimsmit

Cbear92

I brought a ps3 with me last year and tried plugging it into the tv provided but all i got was a black and white picture. Also the tv is high up on a bracket so its difficult to look up that high comfortably. I'd definately recommend bringing your own tv especially if its HD. There's no internet as you say though which is a real pain in the neck.

Reply 18

Cbear92

hey, thanks for the brutal truth haha. was the port you plugged it into a scart? and was the ps3 set up for a scart connection if so? also what kind of size was the tv? cheers :smile:

Reply 19

jimsmit

Cbear92

hey, thanks for the brutal truth haha. was the port you plugged it into a scart? and was the ps3 set up for a scart connection if so? also what kind of size was the tv? cheers :smile:

No problem, yeah it was with the scart cable. Yep, I reset the ps3 display settings to default and tried to muck about with it but it didn't change it. TV was maybe 16-17 inches - not very big at all.