Otago Halls of Residence

[acbard9]

I actually don't know anyone who has gone to CityCol, sorry! Although, I hope, for your sake, that they see these posts . It might be good to see if they have a Facebook page, and track 'em down there.

EtA: It looks like your 2018 cohort already has a FB page!
http://www.facebook.com/groups/1269937576445215/

 

[tomleegolf]

Could someone please tell me about City College? I also got none of my preferences, first one being Carrington, however, my friend who applied at the same time with similar grades did get in! Not sure why I didn't get any of my choices, but was only offered City. I was advised to accept in case I did not get into anything else. Do you get good support at City and what kind of reputation has it got?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Hey there, I stayed at City college this year and enjoyed it immensely. It is true that most of the people there may not have got the best grades in high school but that doesn't mean much at uni. There were students at CC this year who were gettng straight A+s and doing well in HSFY so its definitely down to the individual.

I found the RAs very supportive and also all the staff are lovely. There are tutorials held every week for all the major papers. Its definitely much better than flatting in my opinion, especially for first year. I would recommend accepting the offer.

I'll be running the PHSI191 tutorials at CC next year so I might see you there!

 

[Stuart]

Hi,

You should not worry too much about which hall you get into. It's all the same in terms of getting into medicine or dentistry. tomleegolf is the prime example - unbeatable grades all through out. If you have what it takes, you will get there.

 

[stevo140]

Hey there, I stayed at City college this year and enjoyed it immensely. It is true that most of the people there may not have got the best grades in high school but that doesn't mean much at uni. There were students at CC this year who were gettng straight A+s and doing well in HSFY so its definitely down to the individual.

I found the RAs very supportive and also all the staff are lovely. There are tutorials held every week for all the major papers. Its definitely much better than flatting in my opinion, especially for first year. I would recommend accepting the offer.

I'll be running the PHSI191 tutorials at CC next year so I might see you there!

City College has just changed to full University ownership this summer (and will be changing its name also!). You will get even better support at City College next year as a result as the University of Otago has a duty of pastoral and academic care to all residents that is unparalleled in NZ. Great location, good staff, good facilities - you can't go wrong there. And as the others have said, if it's about getting into Med then the onus is 99% on you!

 

[Raski]

Thank you all for your replies, your feedback is much appreciated. Like you say, the onus is totally on me and I'm up for the hard graft! Just good to get a bit of feedback on where I will be going.

 

[Raski]

I actually don't know anyone who has gone to CityCol, sorry! Although, I hope, for your sake, that they see these posts . It might be good to see if they have a Facebook page, and track 'em down there.

EtA: It looks like your 2018 cohort already has a FB page!
Log into Facebook | Facebook

Thanks for the link acbard9, I hadn't seen that one!

 

[Mandem]

I'm at City col haha but I'm pretty sure no-one is interested in applying here. It's pretty decent, the best thing about it is that it's right next to Fatty Lane haha. We have 2 bathrooms (each with shower/toilet) for each 5/6 bedroom apartment

How far is city col from the uni?

 

[Clav]

How far is city col from the uni?

about 5-10 minutes walk from the main campus.

 

[Mandem]

I had my own shower and toilet at Arana!

What was your experience at Arana like?

 

[tomleegolf]

How far is city col from the uni?

Its an 8 minute walk to St Davs, another 2 mins to Castle lecture theaters. I mastered the art of arriving at my lectures on the dot

 

[Sassysep]

First thing every uni student learns hahah

 

[Stuart]

Its an 8 minute walk to St Davs, another 2 mins to Castle lecture theaters. I mastered the art of arriving at my lectures on the dot

Hi,

What is the secrete? There is always a good number of students who don't master the art of arriving at the right time and disturb the lectures.

 

[Sibsy]

Would totally recommend Cumby as second or third, not usually a first pick hall, but great all the same

I went to Cumby this year and about half of the people there were second and third choice, so it's very safe as a second pick! We also had heaps of events and things to take part in so there is also a really good chance to fit some balance into your life, and also get that study in

 

[rikki1915]

Hi there,

I got accepted into Aquinas College. My family and I have to fly to campus on the Friday next year rather than on the Saturday of Parents' Weekend due to the flights being too expensive. I've been told that to stay an extra night would be $40 but they haven't got back to me about whether it includes food or is only for the accommodation. Can someone please tell me if they know anything about this? Really need to know asap so that I can book my accommodation for the night before.

 

[rustyedges]

Hi there,

I got accepted into Aquinas College. My family and I have to fly to campus on the Friday next year rather than on the Saturday of Parents' Weekend due to the flights being too expensive. I've been told that to stay an extra night would be $40 but they haven't got back to me about whether it includes food or is only for the accommodation. Can someone please tell me if they know anything about this? Really need to know asap so that I can book my accommodation for the night before.

Hey there,

I think you'd have to email them to find out, and they probably wont reply until at least Monday I'm afraid. But I would assume that they wont be including food, since they kitchens probably wont be up and running yet.

 

[Stuart]

Hi,

Do they normally provide meals for the Parents' Weekend?

 

[frootloop]

To some of the earlier posters, I understand the angst about not getting any of your preferences - imagine how I felt being shipped off to UniCol - but please, try to read at least a few of the previous 90+ pages of this thread. You'll feel much better seeing others in your position making it work, and most of your questions will have been answered.

And I'll throw in my usual panic-dampener: York can get into medicine from any hall - or without even going to a hall. From this point on, it's down to you.

[offtopic] I hope we have at least as many people stay on and discuss HSFY itself as we have talking about halls of residence haha, last year's HSFY thread was pretty quiet[/offtopic]

 

[Anxious Dreamer]

Hey there, I know this post doesn't really fit into the theme of this thread, but I'm hoping someone here can help.

I will be 17 until October of my first year of HSYF and am very worried that it's going to be a big deal. Were any of you 17 when you started uni? What was your experience like? Is it a big deal at O Week? Do you miss out on much? Are bars e.c.t. in Dunners really strict with drinking age or is it not really a big deal?

I know it sounds really stupid, but it will really help set my mind at ease if I know what to expect. Thanks

 

[loach]

Hey there, I know this post doesn't really fit into the theme of this thread, but I'm hoping someone here can help.

I will be 17 until October of my first year of HSYF and am very worried that it's going to be a big deal. Were any of you 17 when you started uni? What was your experience like? Is it a big deal at O Week? Do you miss out on much? Are bars e.c.t. in Dunners really strict with drinking age or is it not really a big deal?

I know it sounds really stupid, but it will really help set my mind at ease if I know what to expect. Thanks

Hey man, I was 17 for a decent part of HSFY this year and it barely factored into my experience. O week has tons of alcohol free events; I'm 98% sure even the ones with alcohol involved allow 17 year olds to go, you just can't buy drinks (obv). The bars are very strict about carding people, but if you really want to get into that scene, there are flat parties going on some weekends. I don't know how it works in every hall, but in mine those who were under 18 were all together on one floor with the people who wanted to be alcohol free (there weren't enough people to have an actual alcohol free floor), but I know of people who just drank with their friends on other floors.

TLDR; don't worry about it, there'll be loads of people in the same situation (maybe not until october, but still) and you can easily have a great O week and HSFY experience.

 

[apollos]

Personally wasn’t 17 (but nor was I a drinker), but want to reiterate the above that bard are SUPER strict. We tried to go to one for just pizza with a friend who was 17 at the time and they just told him he wasn’t allowed in the establishment due to his age. But yeah, don’t worry! You don’t need the alcohol to have a great year and can still partake in the final HSFY Friday of you want (I assume)!