Dunelm Road

I thought I’d express a few thoughts on St. John’s College since several people applying to study at Durham have stumbled across my blog.  My perspective is that of a North American postgrad with kids, so if your position is different that could influence your decision in another direction.

Colleges In General
As the third oldest university in England, Durham is one of three universities in England to have colleges; the others are at OxBridge.  Being a little less high-brow than OxBridge, the colleges here serve a more community based role than an educational role, for the most part.  For those North Americans reading this who don’t know the difference of a college from a university, think of Harry Potter at Hogwarts (the university) who was in Griffendor (the college).  At Durham, colleges serve to provide housing, catering, and social activities (intramural teams, etc.), while at OxBridge teaching is also done through the colleges as well.  The college system here at Durham is one of its main selling points to undergrads since it provides a way to have community in a 13,000+ student school.

The Junior Common Room (JCR) is for the undergrads and is the main body of the college. It’s not a room but an organization for student government, sports teams, etc. The Middle Common Room(MCR) is for the postgrads. And the Senior Common Room (SCR) is for faculty, staff, and others who are affiliated with the college.

Like every other N. American, I had no idea about colleges and defaulted to Ustinov, the postgraduate college.  But when I came to visit before school started a current postgrad recommended that I switch from Ustinov to St. John’s.  So I did.  The okay to switch came easily, but the paperwork end took several months as it filtered through several hands.  I didn’t have to do much work for the change, but I did have to send regular emails to see where things stood.  However, a friend who tried to switch colleges after arriving here was stonewalled.  Apparently, there’s money involved for the colleges and switching from Ustinov means they’re loosing money, and other colleges don’t want to be seen as “sheep stealers”.  So it’s good to decide early and put that on your application. 

St. John’s
St. John’s historically was separate from the University but now serves as a normal college for all different students (John’s Hall) but also serves as an Anglican and Methodist seminary (Cranmer Hall).  (Cranmer Hall is an exception to the rule of no teaching in the colleges at Durham since it is a seminary and teaching does go on within Cranmer.)  With St. John’s theological emphasis, it has a pretty decent theological library.  So that is one of the best reasons for theology students to choose John’s. 

Housing for families is better at Ustinov, or let me say it’s almost non-existent at John’s.  They’ve got St. Margaret’s, which works for couples, but not much for kids.  However, we just let (”rented”) a house in town and are very happy with our accommodations with not much difference in price from Ustinov (other than paying for utilities~£90/mo. for water, gas, electric, phone, & DSL).  Keenan House (only 2 yrs old) with Ustinov is about like living in a 3-4 room dorm, functional but not that fancy.  Although, if you live out-of-college, you are much more likely to not live near other students, b/c most regularly (70%+) default to Ustinov and live in their accommodations.  For kids there is virtually no outdoor play space at Ustinov, so we were keen to get a house with a back garden that the boys could use. See my other thoughts on housing at Ustinov.

In the kids area, St. John’s has a creche (a “nursery” for Americans)–Cramner Creche–that gives reduced prices for St. John’s students.  Our 2 yr old has loved it there so far, and the kids get a lot of individual attention because students from the college volunteer there.  As an added bonus, it seems that it’s the cheapest creche in town.  Spaces for under 2 are usually filled quickly but more slots are usually open for 2+. 

Social stuff…Being in a college with undergrads gives you plenty of opportunity to join in their sports and other stuff.  For those looking for an “English” experience, they’re happy to let you row with them.  And in that English vein, they have regular formals which require robes.  So you get the feel of tradition and not just education.  But I don’t do much at all with this aspect.

St. John’s is also a Bailey college, which means that it is right in the center of the city and very near to the Dept of Theology and Religion and the Cathedral.  There are several other Bailey colleges as well: University (in the Castle), St. Chad’s, Hatfield, and a couple of others I can’t remember. This also makes it convenient to hit the library there or attend other events.

Ustinov does seem to cater to international students a bit better than other colleges, at least they are more sensitive to your issues since lots of postgrads are international.  But once you get settled in, that’s not really an issue with any college.  I found John’s to be helpful as any issues arose.  Most of the theology PhD students I met that were in a college outside Ustinov are in St. John’s, so they are not unaware of international issues.  For instance, they helped us out with a place to stay while we were looking for a house to let. (As a side note, we got here in early August–1 month before primary schools started–and it was a great time to come and settle in. Moving wasn’t super difficult, but it’s easier to deal with the transition issues on a slower pace than arriving just before term allows.)

I think all the way around John’s is the best fit for us. Since the libraries in Durham are not that extensive, having one more convenient option with St. John’s would be the main deciding factor for me.  But if you are interested in just showing up from N. America and having a place to live, then Ustinov may be a better choice.