Otago Halls of Residence

[Rey]

Halls aren't the best place to study in no matter where you live I suppose. Though different colleges will have different standards.

I suggest picking one close to the uni library or a quiet location that is open late night.

 

[Zion]

So after wasting hours of my time reading through the 62 pages of info on the residential colleges on this forum, I still can't come to a decent conclusion about a couple of things.
1) Is Arana a good place to study? How rowdy would it be on a scale of 1-10 (1 being St. Margs, 10 being Unicol)? I put it down as first preference because of the distance to HSFY lectures.
2) Same questions about Cumberland. If it's not that great, what would be a better/closer to lectures option? Keeping in mind 3rd choice was Unicol.

I did read everything here, but most people have conflicting answers, so I'd really appreciate a final answer on this.

I did so much research on this I feel like I've already gone to Otago Arana is a good Hall, its number of students who got in Med last year was the highest of all if I'm not mistaken. But that could be temporary. If you like it, you should apply for it.

I don't have any comments on Cumberland (from my research), only that I think it was an ok place, some good some bad. And I don't think you should worry about the rowdiness, there are no Halls with absolute silence, maybe except for St Margarets (or so I heard).

 

[DeGraet]

Yeah I pretty much figured that out from my research too. Anyway it's too late to make a change to my application.

 

[Ramza]

Arana is Very loud (but every hall is), they got quite a few in this year but not as many as carrington.

- Its the ratio of Successful entrants into medicine / Aggregate of HSFY Students.
- Considering that there are more people who get into med at st margarets with how many students they
have attending (less than 1/3 would be health sci). I.e Arana/carrington/cumby have a lot more health sci
students than st margarets.

A hall should really be only for making mates and friends in first year.

You will get into medicine regardless of which hall you are at, based on how hard you are willing to work.

 

[Hueyen22]

Hi, do anybody have any idea about what is the difference between "transfer" and "complete app", because when i checked my account this morning, it says "transfer". But I thought i have complete the application :huh: (the online part), or are there other things that I have to include in my application?

 

[musica209]

Hi, do anybody have any idea about what is the difference between "transfer" and "complete app", because when i checked my account this morning, it says "transfer". But I thought i have complete the application :huh: (the online part), or are there other things that I have to include in my application?

Mine's the step after 'transfer', and I didn't have to do anything for it to get to the 'Completed App' stage. I'm pretty sure 'Transfer' means your application is complete, but it's just on the way to the hall?

 

[rustyedges]

I believe transfer means the application is on the move; being sent to the halls from the accommodation office. So while you have completed the form it still has to reach the college. Mine is still saying incomplete, so hopefully the awaited references haven't been lost in the mail. Does anyone know when we find out what hall we're in?

 

[dnzlcuz]

What is the cost of living in Otago?

 

[DeGraet]

I believe transfer means the application is on the move; being sent to the halls from the accommodation office. So while you have completed the form it still has to reach the college. Mine is still saying incomplete, so hopefully the awaited references haven't been lost in the mail. Does anyone know when we find out what hall we're in?

On the Otago uni website it says that they will begin managing a waiting list on the 8th of October, so I'm guessing it'll probably be by the 8th.

 

[DeGraet]

Arana is Very loud (but every hall is), they got quite a few in this year but not as many as carrington.

- Its the ratio of Successful entrants into medicine / Aggregate of HSFY Students.
- Considering that there are more people who get into med at st margarets with how many students they
have attending (less than 1/3 would be health sci). I.e Arana/carrington/cumby have a lot more health sci
students than st margarets.

A hall should really be only for making mates and friends in first year.

You will get into medicine regardless of which hall you are at, based on how hard you are willing to work.

Thanks for writing the important stuff in bold, made a huge difference to the way I was reading it. I get the first thing you said about the halls being only for making mates in the first year, as you so gracefully put it. But then again the type of people in those halls would be important in the whole making mates/or as they are commonly known friends.

As for the second thing that you said about how hard you are willing to work; to my understanding (which is very limited) that would apply only to academics and not UMAT since from my knowledge it's hard to prepare for it. But then again that's my limited knowledge of it.

I do humbly apologize for getting slightly off topic, and dragging this out more than it needed to be dragged out.

 

[Cathay]

As for the second thin you said about how hard you are willing to work; to my understanding (which is very limited) that would apply only to academics and not UMAT since from my knowledge it's hard to prepare for. But then again that's my limited knowledge of it.

Here at Otago, the importance of UMAT is... lower. If you're willing to work hard, it is easily possible to get the kind of grades that make your performance in UMAT irrelevant.

Let's look at it like this: with a 90th percentile UMAT, one still needs 87% HSFY average to get in, and with a 30th percentile UMT, one needs a 95% HSFY average to get in. This is an approximation, but it shows the importance of academics - good academics compensate for bad UMAT, good UMAT does not compensate for bad academics - it merely gives a little more margin for error in your HSFY marks.

Since most of your HSFY marks come from final exams, it'd be fair to say that a good UMAT does not compensate for bad academics, it simply allows a bigger safety margin on your exam performance.

 

[skyglow1]

Thanks for writing the important stuff in bold, made a huge difference to the way I was reading it. I get the first thing you said about the halls being only for making mates in the first year, as you so gracefully put it. But then again the type of people in those halls would be important in the whole making mates/or as they are commonly known friends.

As for the second thing that you said about how hard you are willing to work; to my understanding (which is very limited) that would apply only to academics and not UMAT since from my knowledge it's hard to prepare for it. But then again that's my limited knowledge of it.

I do humbly apologize for getting slightly off topic, and dragging this out more than it needed to be dragged out.

Well I'd like to drop a comment and say that it's obviously a bit more complicated than how hard you work. There are people that work seriously hard and didn't get in. But there's tons of stuff in various Otago threads already so I won't repeat it.

 

[Sam]

As for the second thing that you said about how hard you are willing to work; to my understanding (which is very limited) that would apply only to academics and not UMAT since from my knowledge it's hard to prepare for it. But then again that's my limited knowledge of it.

Good grades will compensate any level of horrible UMAT, so in the end grades are really the most important thing by far.

 

[DeGraet]

Not wanting to come off as rude/arrogant, but I'm pretty sure this thread is about the halls of residence, hence the title, and not entry/commitment requirements guys. Thanks for the clarifications though.

 

[DeGraet]

So how's the food at the halls? What do they give for breakfast? Is it the same everyday? CAn you make scrambled eggs for yourself in the morning if you had a ridiculously high protein diet?

One more thing I forgot, how far are Cumberland and Unicol from the gym, and central library?

Damn forgot to ask the same for Arana, sorry for the multiple posts.

 

[greenglacier]

sorry for the multiple posts.

For future reference there's an edit button at the bottom right of all of your posts

 

[DeGraet]

For future reference there's an edit button at the bottom right of all of your posts

Duly noted.

 

[earth]

Hello, may I know which are the halls which have more dental students? I understand some people say St Margaret's, are there any others? Thank you

 

[Ramza]

Hello, may I know which are the halls which have more dental students? I understand some people say St Margaret's, are there any others? Thank you

In my years I was at st margarets - THe first year there were 5 In my second year there were 4. But are you asking how many people get in? or how many students that return to a hall do dentistry?

 

[earth]

In my years I was at st margarets - THe first year there were 5 In my second year there were 4. But are you asking how many people get in? or how many students that return to a hall do dentistry?

Thank you for the reply! I was asking which hall had the most number of students that returned to do dentistry, as I hope to do dentistry if possible and would like to know more friends and coursemates.

On the other hand, do senior students (students in their 2nd year and above) return to the residential colleges or do most choose their own accommodation (e.g. flatting etc)?