The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

If I were you I'd leave it for a couple of weeks unil you get a reply from the university. I got my offer on December 6th last year and didn't hear from a college until late January. I rang the admissions office and was told to just wait. :P I expect everything will take longer if you get an offer around that time due to the christmas break - term doesn't even start again until Monday!
I hope you get the college you want but if you don't, remember it's not the end of the world! I was upset about getting reallocated from Castle to Aidan's last year but now I'm here I absolutely love it. You'll love wherever you end up.

I was a bit unsure about being reallocated to St. Aidan's last year but now I'm here I love it.
I'd also applied to a bailey college, looking for somewhere more traditional and more central, but after getting here I've found out that neither of those things really matters. We still have formal dinners but I think the fact that they're a bit more relaxed adds to the atmosphere rather than detracting - the gowns may be a novelty at the start but I expect it wears off pretty quickly! :P I also have ridiculous amounts of fun making costumes for the fancy dress formals, although we do have some in actual formal dress if that is more your kind of thing!
The distance has also never proved to be an issue - as an arts student it only takes me about 20 minutes to get down to Elvet Riverside where most of my lectures and classes are, and if you're a science student you're less than 10 minutes from the science site which is also where the main library is. The centre of town takes about 20-25 minutes which has never been a problem for anyone.
The college itself is so friendly and relaxed that everyone is guaranteed to fit in somewhere. I was a bit worried about it as I'd heard it's the 'party college' and I don't drink, but although there's plenty of people who go out clubbing several times a week I have a whole group of friends who barely drink at all. You're likely to find lots of similarly-minded people living near you too due to the personality questionaire so whatever your kind of thing is there'll always be someone else like you!
Lots of people also seemed to worry about the idea of a lot of shared rooms (it terrified me before I got here!). I'm in a shared room myself and even though me and my roommate are in different social groups we get on perfectly well living together and we've never had an argument about anything or a big problem. It's just something you manage to get used to after a while, even if you imagine that you never ever could! Lots of people I know are best friends with their roommate - they're often very well matched!
If you've got any specific questions about the college feel free to ask!

EDIT: Another advantage of being further away from town is our amazing view over the cathedral! Best view in Durham.

The main thing I know about Aidan's is that all the people I know there are really happy. Nothing is very far from anything in Durham - it's just not that big. Although Aidan's is further out than most of the other hill colleges, it's not that much further. St. Mary's is next door (you walk through their grounds to get most places) and Trevs and Van Mildert are virtually within sight.

It's a very relaxed college - There's quite a bit of fancy dress but the amount of effort people go to varies enormously and no one cares. There's a "party" element (and lots of drinking associated to sports which you'll find everywhere) but if that's not you, it's not a problem and you'll find lots of people like you. They tend to place people in various bits of the building depending on how loud they think you'll be (based on a questionnaire). If you say you're quiet and like to go to bed early, they'll probably put you on a quiet corridor.

The rooms have recently been refurbished so are nice and have mini-fridges but there is a lot of sharing. The shared rooms are big and most people don't find it a problem.

Durham are not keen on people rejecting a college without seeing it. They prefer you to come to the open day (where you stay over in college - around Easter I think) and then if you still hate it, you might stand a better chance of switching. If you check out last year's applicant thread you'll find all sorts of comments around Easter about what people thought of their colleges at the open days.

Hope that helps.

Hi,

I got an offer in the beginning of december and haven't hear off my college choice (university), should I leave it a bit due to the christmas holidays or give them a ring?

I'd wait, I didn't hear for a least a month after getting an offer I think. Although in the mean time, you should have an account on some kind of portal (I've forgotten the exact site) and if you log on to that and look under useful links, the link for the college you get assigned to will appear there when they have accepted you and probably before you recieve a letter.

thanks what do you mean by re allocated?

Hi, is it possible to change your college allocation?

Depends on your reason; e.g. serious physical disability that requires you to live closer to your department versus 'I wanted to be in the Castle...'.

damn! you caught me got st aidens instead.

Aidan's is great : )

Got rejected from Jo Butler and got place in St Cuthbers! Not particularly happy..but it is what it is !! can anyone tell me more about this college?? + Do I decide in what part to live?...cuz I would prefer Parsons Field!

Any info much appreciated...

They'll send you a form nearer the time and you put your preferences in order (shared bathroom self-catered; en-suite self-catered; Bailey catered room, etc).

I think that the Bailey accommodation is usually oversubscribed and Parsons Field undersubscribed, but obviously nobody can predict what will happen each year, it may be that lots of people want self-catered accommodation.

Cuth's is the only other college which offers Freshers self-catered accommodation so it's definitely the best college for you to have been pooled too if self-catering is important to you.

Oh I see, Thanks!! Yepp so far I received only application for the open day ...

+ what happens if I eg share room and want my family or friend(s) to come visit? If I wouldnt have to share, one person can easily stay with me I think but when I share do they have to like pay for accommodation or so? Can you clarify this, because I talk to people who went to diff unis and they find this ridiculous!
thanks