Absolutely torn between St Chads and St Johns, help me!

6

Hi there

I thought I had narrowed down my choices but I can't choose between St Chads and St Johns, I like the small community feel both offer and both are close to where my lectures will take place (Ancient Hist and Archaeology), so I've come here and opened this thread in the hope of narrowing it down. I was wondering which of the two colleges was considered to be more 'Rah'? I've done some research and looked around this site but I've got mixed messages, some saying that both are Rah, some saying that Johns in 'really really rah'.

If anyone is at either of these colleges (I'm sure people are) I would appreciate any advice.

Peace

Reply 1

NickiM

14

Go on which you'd prefer, not a supposed reputation.

I am at Trevs, so not up to date with what John's/Chad's, but look on the college website, look at their facilities, statistics such as whether you have to share. If you can do, why not go up and see them for yourself? I understand you might not be able to do this, but I thought I'd suggest it.

I've been inside Chads once and I did say it did look very nice, but I can't offer you much more advice really.

Also - what societies/activities would you like to join? Check which each college has too. For instance I chose Trevs partly for the fact it had an orchestra and some others didn't.

Links:
1. Chad's College official website: http://www.dur.ac.uk/StChads/
2. John's College official website: http://www.dur.ac.uk/st-johns.college/
3. John's JCR page: http://johnsjcr.org.uk/
4. Chad's JCR page: http://www.dur.ac.uk/StChadsJCR/

Reply 2

sidekick

12

freshlybaked

Hi there

I thought I had narrowed down my choices but I can't choose between St Chads and St Johns, I like the small community feel both offer and both are close to where my lectures will take place (Ancient Hist and Archaeology), so I've come here and opened this thread in the hope of narrowing it down. I was wondering which of the two colleges was considered to be more 'Rah'? I've done some research and looked around this site but I've got mixed messages, some saying that both are Rah, some saying that Johns in 'really really rah'.

If anyone is at either of these colleges (I'm sure people are) I would appreciate any advice.

Peace

Hi! I'm at John's! And first off, PLEASE don't make any decisions based on our JCR website!! lol it's being updated this summer and it's going to be SO much better! If there's ANYTHING you need to know, please feel free to ask me :smile:

I don't know where you read that John's was really rah, but whoever said that has clearly never been to John's - it's like, the least rah of all the colleges!! There is a small contingent of 'rugby boys' but no more than at Chad's, and certainly not many rahs at ALL. not that rahs are bad... :wink:

hehe.

Both are small, community-ish and friendly, and whichever you choose, you've chosen well :biggrin:

Chad's would have been my second choice after John's. The only difference I've been able to discern (and this is mostly what I've observed in the few people I know from Chad's) is that the Chad's atmosphere can be slightly more about the 'banter'... difficult to describe because I don't mean this to big up or put down Chad's in any way... but it's a bit more group focussed, banterous and there's more emphasis on social groups perhaps... whereas John's I think is perhaps a bit less bothered about such things. I don't think either way is better than the other, it just depends on your personality. And of course these things could change depending on who attends each year.

I hope some of that made sense! We're both independent colleges which means we have greater power within the uni (woo) and are very happy next door neighbours :biggrin:

Anything you want to know about John's (or Chad's that I might be able to answer) please just ask!

Reply 3

*buried-in-books*

2

sidekick

Anything you want to know about John's (or Chad's that I might be able to answer) please just ask!

Just the help I need! I am also torn between Chads and johns! What are the bedrooms like at johns? I don't really want to share if thats possible... are they cosy?! I don't mind small and I don't care about ensuite etc but the ones I looked at in York didn't seem very, well, clean... (that sounds very snobby sorry). Is Johns more old-fashioned
than Chads? I like the fact that they are both small.

Also, is the food good at Johns? I am a vegetarian so I was wondering if there was a veggie choice at dinner etc, (and if it is nice!) I've heard that Johns has the best food, and the picture of the dining hall looked nice on the webiste.... (Again, very superficial I know). This may be just rumours though...

What sort of stuff do Johns get up to in Freshers Week? I am not a big party and getting drunk type of person, though I don't mind a but from time to time! Is there other stuff organized? And are Johns involved in the charity fundraising side of Durham (I am a bit of a do-gooder in that sense.) Is any college particually big on that side of things?

Finally, (sorry to ask soooo many questions) how strong is the christian ethos? I am a christian and I thought that other christians might be a friendly bunch, but I'm not a pray-every-5-minutes type of person. That's not meant to sound disrespectful.

Any help and advice gratefully recieved! Thank you! :smile:

I

Reply 4

maybeshescrazy

5

*buried-in-books*

Just the help I need! I am also torn between Chads and johns! What are the bedrooms like at johns? I don't really want to share if thats possible... are they cosy?! I don't mind small and I don't care about ensuite etc but the ones I looked at in York didn't seem very, well, clean... (that sounds very snobby sorry).
I'm sharing and my room is very big - although there are smaller rooms around college, it really varies depending on where you live. Before I arrived I was under the impression that very few first years got to have single rooms, but again, that's proved to be wrong. If you can give a (good) reason why you shouldn't share a room then you're fairly likely to, though about 2/3 of first years share. It really depends on the year. I'd also say it's much more fun to share a room, you have a friend to go places with when you don't know anyone in the first week, and they match you up with people very well.

Is Johns more old-fashioned than Chads? I like the fact that they are both small.

Not really. Some of the building might look older, but I find it has more charm than Chads :P And our bar is much better.

Also, is the food good at Johns? I am a vegetarian so I was wondering if there was a veggie choice at dinner etc, (and if it is nice!) I've heard that Johns has the best food, and the picture of the dining hall looked nice on the webiste.... (Again, very superficial I know). This may be just rumours though...

Johns does have pretty good food, and I have to say, usually the veggie option (always one) looks really good.

What sort of stuff do Johns get up to in Freshers Week? I am not a big party and getting drunk type of person, though I don't mind a but from time to time! Is there other stuff organized? And are Johns involved in the charity fundraising side of Durham (I am a bit of a do-gooder in that sense.) Is any college particually big on that side of things?

I think Johns had one of the better freshers weeks as they managed to organise stuff for us every night which meant people were reluctant to go off to the other university organised freshers stuff, which some of the other colleges left their people to go off to. People did go out most nights, but it wasn't all clubbing/drunkenness (quite a few people left early at all the places because we were so tired!) and there were other amazing things like a barbecue on a boat, poker night, jazz cafe etc.

Finally, (sorry to ask soooo many questions) how strong is the christian ethos? I am a christian and I thought that other christians might be a friendly bunch, but I'm not a pray-every-5-minutes type of person. That's not meant to sound disrespectful.

I'd say it was quite strong due to the links with cranmer etc. but not really religious. Quite a few people go to church, but it's not in-your-face kind of crazy.

Absolutely torn between St Chads and St Johns, help me!

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