Van Mildert VS St Hild and St Bede

I'm applying to Durham to study chemistry in the next few weeks. I went to the open day and stayed in Van Mildert for two nights. It won me over and I've now fallen in love with Durham. I was able to see most of the colleges on my trip and decided that the Hill colleges would suit me best. I didn't have a chance to look around The College of St Hild and St Bede. After reading about it's facilities I was wondering what it was like and ultimately which one would be best for me!

Reply 1

angus_mcfisher

If you think Van Mildert is for you then I think you should go for it, regardless of whether you think it could be greener on the other side as you will love both, but if you felt a connection with Van Mildert then stick with it.

Thats my lack-of-sleep-induced answer!

Reply 2

shadybean

It's brilliant! I'm biased. I love Hild Bede, but it tends to get a bad rep for being, 1)Elitist and 2)Out of the way. It's neither. i'm an ordinary state school kid, and there aren't any people I can think of that see me as anything other than one of them. And, we're 5 mins from the town centre, which is a hell of a lot closer than Mildert is. HB is huge aswell. As for the major pros of Mildert, I'm sure someone else will tell you.

p.s. As for the inlove with Durham thing, I know where you're coming from

Reply 3

GenesRock

OP

The thing I really like about HB is it's location from the station and town centre. I know one of the appeals of Durham is living in a fairly small beautiful town which is 20 minutes away from the large Newcastle. HB is very far from the science department, how are the bus services? Can I easily get from VM to the station by bus? Do many people from Durham go to Newcastle on night outs?

Reply 4

shadybean

The beauty of Durham is, no matter where you are in the city, its probably less than 20 mins to anywhere else. You can get a bus from VM into town, which stops at the bus station on North Road, about 2 minutes from the station. But for the sake of waiting for the bus and the saving of money, the only transport i've honestly used is the train.

There are a few of us that go out in Newcastle. Monday and Friday nights are ever popular, however with Firdays there is no milk train which can be a problem for some. Weekday morning however, the half 2 train is a godsend, and gets you back into Durham when the buses don't run, so the trip to VM would be a walk or taxi.

And if you really think HB is a long way from Science, its only 15 mins. I did it hungover at a run in 6 last year so as to not miss a tutorial. And it was cancelled. Bummer.

Reply 5

Jelkin

17

It is definitely too late for me to write my Hild Bede Enthusiasm Rant. I love it there. However, that isn't to say that you should definitely go there. It's really to do with what you want out of a college. I'll write stuff about HB tomorrow, when I'm less tired.

Shadybean: did you know that HB actually has the highest proportion of privately educated students of all the colleges? Hatfield isn't the "rah" college, IT'S HILD BEDE

[Not that that really matters ... ]

Reply 6

shadybean

Jelkin

It is definitely too late for me to write my Hild Bede Enthusiasm Rant. I love it there. However, that isn't to say that you should definitely go there. It's really to do with what you want out of a college. I'll write stuff about HB tomorrow, when I'm less tired.

Shadybean: did you know that HB actually has the highest proportion of privately educated students of all the colleges? Hatfield isn't the "rah" college, IT'S HILD BEDE

[Not that that really matters ... ]

Err, yes I did. I'm there. And I know who you are. Muahahahahaha!

my enthusiasm for HB hides that fact behind the many curtained curtain of "Hild Bede is huge and therefore you can find people that aren't rahs"

Reply 7

Jelkin

17

Wtf?!?!? Who are you? :eek:

Yeah, it's true, there are a lot of people who aren't rahs (though I remember at the end of the year feeling that they were everywhere. To be fair, though, for most of the year I didn't really get what people were on about and thought it was unfair to dismiss someone as a "rah" without knowing them. When I did realise it was quite a shock). Anyway, private school doesn't equal rah; my boyfriend was privately schooled but he isn't one!

Reply 8

ssmoose

13

I'd go for Mildert.

Reply 9

jazznaz

1

Mildert all the way.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/vm.jcr/index.php?p=apps/10reasons

There's all the explanation you need. :smile:

Reply 10

arkbar

12

To be fair, at least 3 of those apply to all Durham colleges. I'd still say Mildert because of the lack of rahs, good music scene, bar and the fact that we have baby ducklings.

Reply 11

Jelkin

17

"baby ducklings"? Are they some sort of human-duck hybrid???? :eek:

Reply 12

GenesRock

OP

Van Mildert all the way! I'm applying there for my first choice, now I just need to get in :smile:

Reply 13

arkbar

12

They're a magical tautology, we steal freshers from Butler and, using our state school roughness, merge them with our duck population.

Reply 14

Danny_777

16

Mildert all the way!!

Reply 15

shadybean

Would this be a good time to point out the obvious flaw - the biggest rah I know is from VM. However, he's also one of the nicest people I know. Interesting concept, a nice rah :-S

Reply 16

arkbar

12

To be fair, being nicknamed 'the comp on the swamp' by certain other colleges is pretty accurate :p:

Reply 17

Itchynscratchy

10

LukeVano

I went to the open day and stayed in Van Mildert for two nights. It won me over and I've now fallen in love with Durham.

That Open day was bloody brilliant if I do say so myself.

Reply 18

Danny_777

16

Yup. Van Mildert sounds pretty crap and looks like a comprehensive from the 1960s.

However, it's what inside that counts and is the reason I chose it. Awesome bar, awesome accomodation, awesome grounds, 100% single rooms, awesome people, tennis courts, RECORDING STUDIO and practice rooms, tons of events - 48 hour panto, cabaret etc., jam nights, Manic Mildert Mondays, huge student involvement/team spirit, the list goes on.

And I really liked the idea of going to a fancy college that's close to the Law faculty like Hatfield, Castle or HB... So Mildert had better be bloody good!!

Reply 19

shadybean

To be honest, wherever you go you love. I don't know anyone that wishes they were at a different college

Van Mildert VS St Hild and St Bede

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