Otago Halls of Residence

[zephyrm]

Which ones are you going for?

Ive already applied for Leaders or Tomorrow and Academic Excellence

 

[inflow]

Ive already applied for Leaders or Tomorrow and Academic Excellence

Good luck! I'm sure you will do fine

 

[hibuds]

Good good! Yes I'll see you next year, probably at BBQ tours which you'll hear about in due course Have a cracker of a year and good luck with your exams!

haha @gkat youve sold me. definately putting selwyn as my number one
hopefully ill get in and if you return see you there!
yeah i wanna study hard but also have a good time doing it and selwyn sounds like the perfect place
i was quite worried about the number of hsfy guys at selwyn cause i heard there wasnt many in the past few years? but youve cleared all that up now hahah thanks heaps man

haha sorry @inflow ive always had a soft spot for more traditional colleges but thanks for the info about carry
id really appreciate it if we could talk a bit about the scholarships (i heard you got one?) but still building up to my 10 post thing till i can PM

 

[toothy14]

Greetings everyone! I'm new to this forum.

I've tried to search to see if anyone already asked this question before I post this, but I gave up on searching after reading 50+ pages. It's just too much! So instead, I'm just going to ask for a help. It would be greatly appreciated if someone helps me out on this .

My brother is planning on doing HSFY next year and he is currently looking for a hall to stay. I suggested him to apply for St marg, Carrington and unicol. I did HSFY back in 2009 (I actually cannot remember omg!) and things were a bit different back then. Also, I didn't stay in any of those halls in my first year.

What I have heard from my friends (and according to some posts in this forum) is that St marg and Carrington tend to be quiet, studious hall. I know how stressful it is to study HSFY so I want brother to stay in a quiet environment where he is able to have other fellow HSFYers as his new friends (because my hall was relatively noisy and we did't have many HSFYers). These are the reasons why I believe St marg will be the good option for him.

I feel like such a show off sister if I say this, but my brother is academically strong (NCEA lvl 2 with Excellence, cannot remember how many credits tho), and he was a student leader for the past 3 years, he is an experienced guitarist (he formed his own school band and won Auckland regional band competition and always performs at school events), and he is involved in many sports + social/volunteer works. I personally believe he is a strong applicant for St marg and Carrington.

So my questions are:
-is it a good idea to put Carrington as 2nd pref? I've heard that they don't consider your application if you don't put them as 1st pref.
-What is the chance of my brother being accepted to St marg? I know I have already said that "i believe he is a strong applicant", but as a sister, I am always worried about my little brother and I wanted to get some honest, unbiased and objective opinions of others.


Sorry for a long post and thank you for reading this!
Hope you guys don't mind me asking these kind of questions

Have a good day and feel free to ask me any questions related to Dentistry or any toothy problems!

 

[rustyedges]

Hi there toothy14!

So my questions are:
-is it a good idea to put Carrington as 2nd pref? I've heard that they don't consider your application if you don't put them as 1st pref.
-What is the chance of my brother being accepted to St marg? I know I have already said that "i believe he is a strong applicant", but as a sister, I am always worried about my little brother and I wanted to get some honest, unbiased and objective opinions of others.

Not a good idea to put Carrington as 2nd choice, since it pretty much fills up from first choice applicants, being one of the more popular halls.

It sounds like your brother has a good chance to get into any hall, especially with level 2 excellence.

 

[Cathay]

So my questions are:
-is it a good idea to put Carrington as 2nd pref? I've heard that they don't consider your application if you don't put them as 1st pref.
-What is the chance of my brother being accepted to St marg? I know I have already said that "i believe he is a strong applicant", but as a sister, I am always worried about my little brother and I wanted to get some honest, unbiased and objective opinions of others.

Welcome to MSO!

Sounds like your brother's got fairly good chances of getting into St Margs, but on the off chance, I probably wouldn't put Carrington as 2nd preference - as far as I understand it, they do rounds of offers so if your 1st preference didn't accept you, your application goes to the 2nd preference college in the 2nd round of offers, and the popular colleges (St Margs, Carrington, Arana, and possibly Knox) tend to fill up after the first round of offers so there's usually no places to offer in the second round, which means putting one of them as a second preference essentially wastes the second preference slot. I'd recommend choosing one of St Margs or Carrington, and putting something like Hayward (which has impressively large rooms) or Aquinas second.

Disclaimer: it's been a long time since I was a health sci, so this could be a bit out of date, although judging by rusty's reply things probably hasn't changed too dramatically.

 

[toothy14]

Hello rustyedges and Cathay! Thank you very much for some tips there!
I think I would stay away from Aquinas just because it's a bit far from uni. I know that they do shuttle services but I think keeping everything within walking distance would be better for him.

What is Hayward like? Are they quiet? I am just a bit paranoid about noise levels due to my past traumatic experience. I lived in a rowdy/noisy hall and my room was not soundproof at all. I could literally hear my neighbour coughing in her room and she invited her friends/boyfriend to her room 24/7 for a party/sleepover. It really stressed me out lots so I do not want the same thing to happen to my bro.

Thanks for your reply in advance! Sweet dreams!

 

[stevo140]

Hello rustyedges and Cathay! Thank you very much for some tips there!
I think I would stay away from Aquinas just because it's a bit far from uni. I know that they do shuttle services but I think keeping everything within walking distance would be better for him.

What is Hayward like? Are they quiet? I am just a bit paranoid about noise levels due to my past traumatic experience. I lived in a rowdy/noisy hall and my room was not soundproof at all. I could literally hear my neighbour coughing in her room and she invited her friends/boyfriend to her room 24/7 for a party/sleepover. It really stressed me out lots so I do not want the same thing to happen to my bro.

Thanks for your reply in advance! Sweet dreams!

Post #1454 has all the up-to-date details about first choice Colleges. I, personally, wouldn't put Carrington or Hayward as #2's. for this very reason. If you want a HSFY-dominant community then the only 2 that stand out are Carrington and St Margaret's. If you want quiet then you could add Te Rangi Hiroa to the mix. However all 3 of these Colleges will probably fill up after the first round.

If you want a quiet College close to Uni (that doesn't fill up in the first round) for your #2 & #3 picks then your options are very slim. Toroa would probably be your next best bet. It's hard to know how popular each College will be this year.

My advice:
1. Carrington/St Margaret's
2. Te Rangi Hiroa
3. Toroa

 

[sang9]

Hi guys! I'm new here and I have just read the whole thread which I found really useful. So, now I have finally decided 3 colleges and these are:

1. Arana 2. Knox 3. Studholme.

I'd prefer the colleges which provide quite decent tutorials with not so noisy-atmosphere. What do you guys think of my preference? Have I made right decisions? oh and, I didn't do very well in year 12 but have one excellence and one merit course endorsements. Please feel free to make any suggestions!

Thank you for your advice in advance!

 

[lalalarry]

Hi guys! I'm new here and I have just read the whole thread which I found really useful. So, now I have finally decided 3 colleges and these are:

1. Arana 2. Knox 3. Studholme.

I'd prefer the colleges which provide quite decent tutorials with not so noisy-atmosphere. What do you guys think of my preference? Have I made right decisions? oh and, I didn't do very well in year 12 but have one excellence and one merit course endorsements. Please feel free to make any suggestions!

Thank you for your advice in advance!

Arana did really good tutorials when I went there, though of course it depends on your learning style and what you expect to get out of your tutes.
They have a good balance of having fun and studying which I really appreciated. I was on a really quiet floor so was lucky I suppose but you can request quiet and alcohol free floors if you wish on your application though I will warn you, just because it is a quiet/alcohol free floor, doesn't mean it will stay that way if you know what i mean... people are people and people will have big speakers and drink.
It'lll pretty much be the same wherever you go with the exception of St Margs possibly.

In my experience, if you passed level 2 overall with excellence you're pretty much guaranteed entry so long as your teachers don't hate you and write a nice recommendation and you didn't accidentally type something rude in your personal application. Also being things like head boy/girl, NZ rep in a sport, scholarship winner, dux, proxime and etc. will help you get in but there are also people who didn't do any of those things who still get into Arana.

 

[stevo140]

Hi guys! I'm new here and I have just read the whole thread which I found really useful. So, now I have finally decided 3 colleges and these are:

1. Arana 2. Knox 3. Studholme.

I'd prefer the colleges which provide quite decent tutorials with not so noisy-atmosphere. What do you guys think of my preference? Have I made right decisions? oh and, I didn't do very well in year 12 but have one excellence and one merit course endorsements. Please feel free to make any suggestions!

Hey sang9, welcome to MSO!
I wouldn't choose a College based on tutorials for two reasons:
1. The tutors can change every year
2. One College trialled a non-tutorial system one year and their College's grades didn't change at all. Therefore you could claim that it's all about one's personal work ethic. If you rely on tutorials then you won't achieve your academic goals.

In terms of not-so-noisy atmosphere, Te Rangi Hiroa and St Margarets are what I'd consider to be the "dead quiet" Colleges. The "really noisy" Colleges would probably be Cumberland, Unicol. All the others probably fit into the middle (depending on that year's cohort) but I feel the Colleges on the quieter side would be Carrington, Aquinas and maybe Toroa

Your picks look fine but Arana, depending on where you get placed, could be noisy. If you're on the street side, you'll probably hear the classic "Duck Arana" chant a couple of nights a week... Knox has quite a high drinking culture which may not be what you're after. Studholme should be all good.

 

[inflow]

Arana is LOUD, just so you know

 

[sang9]

Arana did really good tutorials when I went there, though of course it depends on your learning style and what you expect to get out of your tutes.
They have a good balance of having fun and studying which I really appreciated. I was on a really quiet floor so was lucky I suppose but you can request quiet and alcohol free floors if you wish on your application though I will warn you, just because it is a quiet/alcohol free floor, doesn't mean it will stay that way if you know what i mean... people are people and people will have big speakers and drink.
It'lll pretty much be the same wherever you go with the exception of St Margs possibly.

In my experience, if you passed level 2 overall with excellence you're pretty much guaranteed entry so long as your teachers don't hate you and write a nice recommendation and you didn't accidentally type something rude in your personal application. Also being things like head boy/girl, NZ rep in a sport, scholarship winner, dux, proxime and etc. will help you get in but there are also people who didn't do any of those things who still get into Arana.

Hi lalalarry! Thank you so much for your advice
So What is so special about St Magaret's? :unsure:

Hey sang9, welcome to MSO!
I wouldn't choose a College based on tutorials for two reasons:
1. The tutors can change every year
2. One College trialled a non-tutorial system one year and their College's grades didn't change at all. Therefore you could claim that it's all about one's personal work ethic. If you rely on tutorials then you won't achieve your academic goals.

In terms of not-so-noisy atmosphere, Te Rangi Hiroa and St Margarets are what I'd consider to be the "dead quiet" Colleges. The "really noisy" Colleges would probably be Cumberland, Unicol. All the others probably fit into the middle (depending on that year's cohort) but I feel the Colleges on the quieter side would be Carrington, Aquinas and maybe Toroa

Your picks look fine but Arana, depending on where you get placed, could be noisy. If you're on the street side, you'll probably hear the classic "Duck Arana" chant a couple of nights a week... Knox has quite a high drinking culture which may not be what you're after. Studholme should be all good.

Hi Stevo140! Thanks for your tips! and your summary on the first and second round thing was really helpful! ummm so I've made some changes to my choices. It's 1.Carrington 2. Knox 3. Studholme Like lalalarry suggested above I'm thinking of requesting for quiet floor when I do the application for Knox. oh and does Carrington accepts students who did not ace in year 12 and do not have much extracurricular activities(like just ordinary people), too?

Thanks for the reply, inflow! I read your posts and I see that you are in Carrington college now! umm I didn't ace in year 12 and I'm just wondering if Carrington accepts students normal students as well. If you could just answer this! Thanks!

 

[lalalarry]

Hi lalalarry! Thank you so much for your advice
So What is so special about St Magaret's? :unsure:

Probably through its reputation that only people who don't party and study all the time go there so it attracts people who want that sort of lifestyle. Though of course, this is a very broad stereotype and not wholly true (disclaimer)

umm I didn't ace in year 12 and I'm just wondering if Carrington accepts students normal students as well. If you could just answer this! Thanks!

I'm sure you're an extraordinary person who any hall would love to have Carrington like Arana is a first choice hall so is competitive to get in and having good grades and other extra curricular activities sure help. You should know though that all halls and I mean all halls, will accept people who might not have gotten the best grades in their class or whatever.

I knew someone (who studies medicine) who put something like Selwyn as her first choice, didn't get in and in fact, didn't get into any of her 3 choices. So she went on the waiting list for all the halls and then Carrington accepted her because a space opened up.

I hope that cleared some things up for you

 

[stevo140]

Just to clarify what lalalarry is saying - all the Halls have their own criteria and will endeavour to fill up based on that criteria. However what often happens in January is prospective residents opt out (because of changing Universities, scholarships, fail NCEA, finances etc). At that point, some Colleges may need to go to the waiting list and fill up. This is where they may have to lower their initial criteria.

Don't rely on this, but be aware that this does happen. In other words, if you get offered from a College you didn't choose, my advice is to accept it. If you don't accept than your fate is with the gods. You could get picked up by one of your first picks but I wouldn't bank on it.

 

[Puppa101]

I really want to get into Arana but I am really worried I won't get in!

 

[stevo140]

I really want to get into Arana but I am really worried I won't get in!

Don't be worried, IMO 75% of the Colleges are outstanding and the other 25% are solid (but outstanding for some). Arana just has the best reputation as they hold all the conferences for High Schoolers...just remember, whatever College selects you, just go there with a positive attitude and you'll be fine

 

[Puppa101]

Don't be worried, IMO 75% of the Colleges are outstanding and the other 25% are solid (but outstanding for some). Arana just has the best reputation as they hold all the conferences for High Schoolers...just remember, whatever College selects you, just go there with a positive attitude and you'll be fine

Thanks! Don't worry I will try and remain postive no matter what the outcome is but the wait is quite annoying! Is it true that if you have ncea l2 with excellence you have a good chance of being accepted?

 

[lalalarry]

Thanks! Don't worry I will try and remain postive no matter what the outcome is but the wait is quite annoying! Is it true that if you have ncea l2 with excellence you have a good chance of being accepted?

yes

 

[chaucolai]

... when should I start freaking out about receiving acceptance letters or similar?