Collingwood and Van Mildert

My daughter and I went to the offer holders day on Wednesday. She had originally got Hatfield at the top of her list but didn’t warm to it. We also saw Collingwood, Grey and St Mary’s. Of all of those she preferred Collingwood, even though it’s not gowned. I realise Collingwood is the second most popular college.
In terms of ranking the colleges it doesn’t make sense to me to have all the popular colleges at the top of your list but to prioritise your top choice (Collingwood) and then have colleges that are less popular but equally that you would be happy in.
Ate there any current students who could advise how Van Mildert compares to Collingwood? They seem to have a lot of similarities? Both catered, not gowned, on the hill, large and quite a sporty vibe? The bar at Van Mildert looks good also. Would you say a sensible second option to Collingwood? Why is it not more popular ? It does seem as though a lot of students are allocated there because their first choice wasn’t available.
We didn’t get chance to look at Van Mildert or Trevelyan which also looks like a good alternative.

Hiya,
I'm Cuths so unfortunately I can't give firsthand experience but I have heard that there are differences in the facilities at Collingwood compared to Van Mildert were better (like sports, music, theatre, etc), but I'm not sure if that is what makes it more popular or whether there is truth to it. Van Mildert is definitely a lot more underrated (and they have a lake with ducks) 🙂
Our students have published a few blogs on Van Mildert, Trevs and Collingwood and what life is like there, perhaps they can provide a bit more insight?
Life at Mildert – The Durham Student
Life at Trevs – The Durham Student
Life at Collingwood – The Durham Student
Hope this helps!
-Ghala