I drove down to Canberra on friday from sydney & went to the ANU open day on saturday - it seemed pretty sweet.
Awesome
glad you had fun.
Do people usually learn over time...or should you be pretty well-equipped with cooking skills beforehand I'm thinking of catered for first year & then maybe
Blacksunset will probably agree with me on this - you will pick it up if you're
keen to learn. Tbh cooking isn't really that tough, and you can make some pretty simple meals. Alot of students are known for doing one massive cookup on the weekend, and putting them in little plastic tubs in the freezer - just defrost one every night and mix it with rice etc. If you can, start cooking with your parents now, even if you're just looking over their shoulder, you'll pick up way more 'easy recipies' there than reading a book.
Also, are bruce & burgmann pretty similar to ursies or johns in terms of rooms, common rooms, food etc?
yes, pretty much. Food is apparently worse at burgmann, but i dunno - i think they're all pretty much the same (despite the debate that goes on here lol)
The only downside, is ursies common room closes at 12 every night. So if you're having a party, and it hits midnight, you get kicked out. Subsequently, ursies have the nicest common room lol.
Also, what's the go with putting johns as first preference? Is it just bcos the competition for places there are really high? Should I even bother putting johns as a lower preference?
yeah, alot of people want to get into johns. Hence, johns only interviews people who put johns as their first preference. Is competition high? It's just playing your cards right.... pm me and i'll give you simple instructions on how to get into johns... or any college that has an interview.
Should I really take into consideration the prices/costs of internet, other facilities, etc? of course! things like washing machines can add up! i think UL charges $3 a load! for washing, which can really add up, especially if you're using a dryer. Everywhere else is free.... except i think B&G that charges $1? (blacksunset?)
Costs of internet - see faq... its mostly covered there.
Price of college - it depends on what you can afford. BTW people say 'oh i'm going to save money by going to self-catered' - and then they eat out many times a week, and it costs them more than going to a catered college. The opposite case with catered colleges - they eat out, costing them heaps
So you just got to think about what you would like/afford. Have you ever lived in a dormatory or similar before?
Or are all the colleges pretty similar..and the facilities available are worthy of their costs?
i think they are.... on the most part - except UL, which is just wayy to expensive. btw - don't look negativly at the colleges on daley road, just because they are older than UL. They all have a great social community, and have been taking new residents for years (so all the social events/pastoral care is organised etc. The newer colleges are made for profit, and are having many teething (sp) issues with residents.
any questions - feel free to give me a buzz.