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Otago Halls of Residence

Aestusa said:
Hello,
I'm applying for HSFY for 2016, so this is a bit early. However, i'm going to the open day next week and probably wont have time to visit all the residential colleges, so need to narrow the list down. I was wondering what the reputations of all the colleges were in general, and how the food is (i'm quite a fussy eater). Also, which colleges had the best results last year for HSFY students getting into med? and which colleges are the best for HSFY, as well as fun?
Any opinions would go a long way!(y)
Click to expand...

Hey there! Yep im at Knox this year hahaha :) So far its been great, actually feels like a college the parties are great, Knox ball was fun! The walk however is like 20 min but its great exercise. The rooms are quite old but cozy, they all have heaters. Result wise hmm i still have like 3/4 year left but obvs less people doing HSFY than carrington/st margs but if you put effort in then you can get med/dent. BTW theres so many sports here coz Knox vs Selwyn has been a tradition for many decades :) so theres plently of events for the sport shields/cups (including chess LOL). Gym pree cool as well.

At the end of the day, if you just want to study in a quiet place, theres an massive library closes at 11pm everyday and its usually empty up till the week before exams. (remember Knox is like a castle, it has many sections). Tutorials are great if you wish to attend them (different papers have different tutors). The good thing about the drinking culture is Knox is really far from town, so people usually head out to drink and its surprisingly quiet on Thursdays/Sundays!

If you want more info just reply! :)
 
Thanks for that :) I will pay alot of attention to the extracurricular opportunities and try pick up on the atmospheres when im having a look around!
 
Wow Knox sounds cool, isn't there a shuttle into town? thanks so much for taking the time to reply by the way, it makes a massive difference to me! :)
 
Probably worth me chiming in with my incessant reminder not to stress too much about halls. No matter where you go you'll be with a few hundred 17-20 year old freshers, and all the good and bad that goes with that.

Pick the three that you most like the look of, then more or less just accept whatever they offer you (possible exception of Toroa).
 
Would I be able to find many grad students in the halls as well? Or do you guys recommend flatting (I'm intending to apply for grad med this year)
 
Aestusa said:
Wow Knox sounds cool, isn't there a shuttle into town? thanks so much for taking the time to reply by the way, it makes a massive difference to me! :)
Click to expand...
Shuttles are provided only from uni to Knox and only in Winter months when it gets dark really early. The times are 6:10 pm, 9:10pm and 11:10pm. Idk about the 11pm one but the 6:10pm is for lectures that end at 6pm, 9:10pm is useful for 6pm-9pm labs! Hope that helps.

And yeah what [MENTION=10716]frootloop[/MENTION] said dw so much about the hall you will always find a group of people who are into HSFY and study quite a lot and help each other out. :)
 
Aestusa said:
Thanks for the recommendations, its really helped! i noticed that you didn't mention Knox, Te Rangi Hiroa, or Cumberland college. I was considering those also, is there a reason they wont be so great for HSFY?
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
I mentioned a little bit about Te Rangi in terms of food, what else? - a very new College - every room has ensuites! Only 1st year College who can boast this. Though you pay more to stay there. Smallest College, feels a little bit like a hotel due to dark corridors and lack of people around (because it use to be a hotel!). Great quiet place for study however, though no outdoor areas. Feels a bit antisocial, although it's actually not :)
Knox has gone through a tough patch the last couple of years with a couple of changes of management. Battling a strong drinking culture there that seems to always come back every year due to the high amount of returners they take. Beautiful buildings, stunning location (I don't mind 10-15 minute walks to campus). They have a great competition against Selwyn which I think other Colleges are quite envious of! Gpod study/play balance.
Cumberland is a very busy College. Over 300 students, rooms are a bit decrepit and very small, can be very noisy. On the plus side, they run a great events calendar and the staff are great there. handy location to town, Uni and supermarkets. road-side rooms can be noisy from trucks
It's hard to comment on tutorials because most Colleges' tutors change every 1 or 2 years. But, essentially, things are similar across most the Colleges in this area.
 
Thanks for the inside information ^_^ The open day really helped, and I think I will pick 1-Carrington 2-Aquinas 3-Cumberland (yy)
 
Hey guys :)

I'm considering putting down 1) Carrington 2)Hayward 3)Haven't really chosen. The thing is, I've been told that Hayward will only take first choicers, can anyone confirm this? Apart from that are there any recommendations for third choice? I really don't want to get rejected by all and into Unicol lol. I considered Aquinas, but apparently the people there are kinda weird, no offence to any Aquinas folk out there.

Just in case it's important, my academics are pretty good, not straight A's, but very close. I have quite a few extra curricular activities, but nothing amazing (I ain't in a premier sports team or anything).

Hope to hear from you guys soon
 
Anon23 said:
... I considered Aquinas, but apparently the people there are kinda weird, no offence to any Aquinas folk out there.
Click to expand...

Lol that's a new one! Where did you hear that from? Can't really comment on the rest though as it's been so long since I was at a hall there's probably better people to answer that :)
 
Anon23 said:
I really don't want to get rejected by all and into Unicol lol.
Click to expand...

UniCol really isn't that bad, I was there during HSFY and it was actually kind of nice not having other stressed out people around (c.f. the tense as f**k atmosphere in some of the other colleges around terms tests/results releases). It's quite a cool place to live, lots of activities and really nice rooms if you're in the annexes (which is where most of the HSFYs are put).

Idk, maybe I'm just being nostalgic about it, but the whole looking down on UniCol thing irks me and is largely based on flat-out untrue rumours. Yes it's a bit of a party hall, but it's nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be.
 
I'm in Unicol (in the annexes) this year, and agree that it isn't that bad. I had some serious doubts before coming here (I declined St Mags, thinking I wouldn't go to Otago). But really, if you're dedicated to do well, then you will do that no matter what hall you're in. The results from St Mags and Carrington are probably just correlation - people who will tend to do well are drawn to those halls and so get into med etc.

I would say out of my exam-focused school years, I've done the best and been most productive this semester but been the least stressed. Honestly, I was the type to get quite stressed in high school and studied way too much, and I like having the less intense atmosphere. I certainly don't miss the cycle of going over the whole exam afterwards...the worried wait for results...the comparing results when they came out...bleh.

I guess the only thing would be the tutorials (which I don't think are that great, but I don't go to them and am doing fine) and finding a good group to do internal assessments with (I did most of them myself and facebook'd my high school HSFY buds when I needed help). Well...and the food.

But to live 5 minutes away from lectures in Dunedin weather...it's worth it. Pretty sorry for my Carrington friends who had to slide down their hill.

Wow, I did not intend on writing so much. I swear I'm not being paid for this :p

Note: Probably a lot of stuff that's been said before here but considering how skeptical I was last year thinking about halls...thought I'd join the crowd.
 
I'm trying to decide between Arana and Aquinas for next year. Is there anyone on here that could recommend either one? I'm stuck because I like the location of Arana and the size of it but when I travelled to Dunedin a couple of weeks ago the people at Aquinas were so much nicer. The Head of the College (Morag) sat down with me and we had a chat then she showed me around. It had a really good, friendly atmosphere. Then at Arana, I had a 3rd year show me round, she was late, spoke really fast, pretty much power walked us through the facilities and then bid farewell.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

P.S I am not basing my decision on academics because I don't think it matters where I go as it's up to how hard I work. I just want to feel comfortable and happy :)
 
nicolav1997 said:
I'm trying to decide between Arana and Aquinas for next year. Is there anyone on here that could recommend either one? I'm stuck because I like the location of Arana and the size of it but when I travelled to Dunedin a couple of weeks ago the people at Aquinas were so much nicer. The Head of the College (Morag) sat down with me and we had a chat then she showed me around. It had a really good, friendly atmosphere. Then at Arana, I had a 3rd year show me round, she was late, spoke really fast, pretty much power walked us through the facilities and then bid farewell.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

P.S I am not basing my decision on academics because I don't think it matters where I go as it's up to how hard I work. I just want to feel comfortable and happy :)
Click to expand...

I went to Aquinas... feels like back in the days though. Before they had double glazing in all the rooms. It was fantastic and had a really friendly college atmosphere. The shuttles were also a huge bonus.

Most of the students tend to hang around the hostel during the day (if they aren't at uni) which meant you saw everyone on a fairly regularly. By the end of the year, you know pretty much everyone on a first-name basis. There was also a developing sports culture there too if you were considering that: it's the only hostel with a (small) gymnasium.

I never went to any of the other hostels though, but I'd definitely recommend AQ. Good luck with your decision-making!! :)

-LM
 
Cumberland is really nice actually :D sure they sometimes have loud music during Thursdays (my room getting the worse of it) but they have a great balance between studying and just having fun! :D
 
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KNOX COLLEGE 2015/2016

If you're into sports/activities as well as study, Knox is a great place and it will be great next year. The master this year was changed and he is really nice and listens to your requests if you want anything done. If you don't know yet or havent applied, i suggest Knox (heavily biased haha)

Pros:
  • In-college Gym (really helpful as Unipol is quite far a walk)
  • Library (rarely used by other residents so its super quiet, helpful on those drinking nights/party nights when you need some peace)
  • 2:1 ratio of first-years to second-years, so if you need some mentoring or something, people are helpful. There will be HSFY support next year as a lot of people here did HSFY this year.
  • Tutorials are good if you want to use them and theyre a 30second walk from your room into a big tutorial room.
  • 2 main events, Winter Ball and Fall Ball. and lots of hops ! O-Week is so good as well, lots of 'fun' 'orientation activities' hehe
  • Lastly, looks like a castle !

Cons:
  • ~15 min walk to uni, shuttles only provided in winters (as it gets dark really quick) apart from that you have to walk back and forth, kinda bad when you have 6pm - 9pm labs in first semester (CELS, PHSI).
  • It can get quite loud on some nights. But everyone by 10pm has to go to town if they're intoxicated.. To let other residents get some peace.
  • The main building rooms can be quite small, as it is a very old architectural design. However the new houses are relatively better than other halls, 3 toilets, 2 showers and a kitchen between 9 people.

Good luck and remember, it doesn't matter which hall you pick really, if you are passionate enough for Medicine, you will study hard and get it! :)
 
Thanks for all the insight on helping us decide on which halls to apply for. :)
I got into my first choice! (Knox)
So to anyone who is coming to or returning to Knox next year, I will see you there!
 
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