Durham Uni - PS and which college to pick?

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DD wants to apply for Durham for IR.

Have seen on the website you can submit a different personal statement. Has anyone done this? Her PS is quite academic and I don't know if Durham wants more personal information.

Also colleges - DD wants to be catered (which unfortunately rules out St Mary's) and wants somewhere where people are keen to party and socialise but are not too 'rah'. Oh, and she needs an en-suite for health reasons.

TIA X (how stressful is this UCAS business!)

DD has just started at Durham this term - St Aidan’s in a single room but shared bathroom. She did an open application ie. didn’t specify a particular college but is very happy with Aidan’s. She expressed a preference for a single room which she got although in retrospect, sharing may not have been a bad thing for DD as she’s very quiet and not great at mixing with new people. I know they used to have a system of sharing just for one term then asking for volunteers to share for next 2 terms. Not sure if this still happens in any of the colleges?

Don’t knock it until you’be tried it! In the USA sharing is normal and they have some of the best universities in the world, not to mention the most expensive!

If you have never done it then it is hard to imagine the benefits, but there are many and they far outweigh the disadvantages. So long as the college has the option to change if it really isn’t working, then people should not be too precious and dismiss it out of hand, passing up the chance to study at one of Britain’s best universities.

I went to Van Mildert which I don't think has any shared rooms left? There are about 100 shared rooms but many go to finalists. It was the college with the most down-to-earth students in my experience. On my corridor of 9 there were 2 private school students.

Speaking as another alumni, the Bailey colleges tended to attract ex-boarders and specific degree types (Castle for music, Hatfield for sports, St Johns for philosophy..) whilst the Hill colleges were more open and eclectic. I frequently ended up on pub crawls around all of them! If sharing really is a huge concern (I shared for the first year, with no trouble), then it's possible to rent privately and arrange to eat in halls. I did this occasionally at weekends in second and third year as my college liked to have the older students in, to foster a good community.

Sorry, meant to say 100 en-sute rooms!

I think with the new random allocation system now in place the old images of many colleges are possibly redundant..

Sorry guys have just noticed there are more replies! Sadly sharing for DD will never be possible - she has inflammatory bowel disease.

So will definitely make sure she doesn't apply somewhere where they don't have en-suites! She likes the look of St Mary's.

My DC is at St Johns , he has a single ensuite because of disability. I have found them very helpful in dealing with health needs and providing suitable accommodation. It was a much easier adaption to uni life than we expected as the staff and students have been kind and supportive. I would highly recommend St Johns

Oh that sounds great. I'll look at St Johns

Don't be put off by the religious nature suggested on the web site, it's not like that at all when you are there unless you want to be but it is a community. It's catered so students do seem to mix across the college.

Christmas - my DD has now submitted her second personal statement to Durham. She's boards away and must be easy to do as she did it herself with no help. I do know they require it within three days of acknowledgement of the application, which came within 48 hours.

Not sure what Durham are looking for, but her first was very academic, so sure the second one will be. I did read somewhere they're particularly interested in extracurricular connections to sport and music. DD is on a music scholarship, so very easy to slip this in for her.

Durham's substitute personal statement is intended for Oxbridge applicants who want to make a more 'rounded' personal statement for Durham. It's also for those who are choosing a different course at Durham from their other choices. It's entirely optional and putting a substitute one in does mean that the original won't be seen. Six of my seven uni aged DC applied to Durham and this thing was available for the last three who also wrote 'academic' personal statements for UCAS. None of those three ever did a substitute one, on the basis that Durham makes a big thing of liking academic stuff in the personal statement! Durham's big thing is to as similar to Oxbridge as possible so it's rather curious. I think it only makes sense to use it for a different course myself. It does of course flag up that you're applying for Oxbridge not that I reckon that makes any difference, but some people seems to overthink that a bit.

Ifonly4 - if your DD is musical, make sure she applies for the Durham Vice Chancellor's Scholarship- it really is worth it!

There's quite a few students/ parents of students on the Facebook uni group What I wish I knew about university.

m.facebook.com/groups/488235648182391

Might be worth asking there too

janinlondon - thanks for letting me know about the scholarship. Knowing DD she's probably already found out about it, as she was determined to get herself a music scholarship at a private school for sixth form. Decided not to pursue it as a career, but still very passionate about it.

You're welcome. It is fairly substantial - makes a big difference!