College switch in second year!

I will be starting my first year at Durham university this October, and was randomly allocated to Van Mildert, just wanted to know does anyone know of people who made a switch to a different college in their second year?

Can Mildert is not my preference at all, and I do plan on staying more closer to the campus in my second year.

Or if it is even possible?

Reply 1

Durham Students

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

I will be starting my first year at Durham university this October, and was randomly allocated to Van Mildert, just wanted to know does anyone know of people who made a switch to a different college in their second year?
Can Mildert is not my preference at all, and I do plan on staying more closer to the campus in my second year.
Or if it is even possible?

Hi there

As far as I am aware, college swaps do not happen unless the college cannot accommodate your medical needs.

I can understand that not getting your preferred college can seem like a dealbreaker, but trust me when I say that everyone ends up liking their college. There are good things about every college and Van Mildert has just as much to offer from its beautiful gardens, the pond, the ducks to the biggest dining hall. They hold formals quite often and even though I'm from South, I attended their ball this summer and also their college day (and neither of my own college's) which were really fun!

Ultimately it's really important to understand that college is not the be-all-end-all of your Durham experience - you'll be living there in first year and after that, everyone moves out into private shared housing. Plus it's really the people at the college that really matter because that's who you'll be friends with - the building and surroundings won't be with you forever - and you'll find great people at every college!

I'm unsure what you mean by being closer to campus - Van Mildert is just a 10 minute walk away from the science site where most of the subjects except Arts & Humanities (A&H) ones are taught. The A&H faculty on Elvet Riverside is also just about 20 minutes walk away so Van Mildert is very much close to both of these.

We have recently launched a student-led podcast that delves deeper into college life and we've talked about being "adopted" into another college which you might be interested to know about. You can watch the episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lha7lNv1Z0g&t=464s :smile:

-Himieka

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

In theory it is possible for a good reason.

However, I have never heard of anyone doing this; I don't know of anyone who doesn't love their college, even if it was not their first preference. I promise you: after a few weeks it will feel like home.