What is John Burnet like?

[Newbie]

Hi, i am coming here in september and just found out which halls i will be in. I was just wondering if any currnet students could give me an honest opinion on what it is like to stay in.

[gingerben]

John Burnet (or the atholl as it is known) is without doubt the best hall in this hallowed university. I am about to finish my 1st year here and i can truly say that it has been one of the best, craziest and most fun years in my life. The place has a reputation for having a great hall spirit due to its small size, which some outsiders criticize as cliqueness. But we all know they're just jealous. I'm back in hall next year and me the other few who got back in (peace to those departed) look forward to welcoming you to the unique traditions of the atholl. I promise you will love it here.

[Al]

And if that doesn't put you off, you probably will love it.

[hr]Life is too important to be taken seriously.

[tordenskjold]

Ah yes, John Burnet. Not always flavour of the month on the sinner I must say. Usually the summer months due to the excess of water bombs that were thrown out of it (let's not start that dicussion again please!). I was in JBH last year and all I can say is that I would NEVER want to change that. It was the best experience and introduction to uni life I can imagine. I now live in a flat with three other JBH guys and we have people from hall come round all the time, including the illustrious ginger ben. Being such a small hall it has a unique atmosphere that is hard to describe. All I can say is that it was a great year I spent there and that I enjoy going down once in a while to visit friends and partake of events such as the hall football and toga parties.
On a more serious note, the rooms aren't too bad, the food is pretty horrific (like everywhere else). Just make sure you are in main hall! May see you next year. Enjoy.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Yes, it often seems that a lot of (but not all) people in JBH are happy with it, it's just everyone else that hates it.

[niallo]

John Burnet is, in my experience a great introduction to st andrews life. I'm just finishing my first yr here and I have loved every minute in hall

[Hell Cat Maggie]

[s]Prophet Tenebrae wrote on 17:32, 16th May 2004:
Yes, it often seems that a lot of (but not all) people in JBH are happy with it, it's just everyone else that hates it.


I think you'll find you're horribly mistaken. How embarrasing. I'm from Hamilton which is, although aesthetically pleasing, monumentally dull in comparison to the Atholl.

[rubbermuffin]

I'm fairly sure that when they get the application forms, they look for all the strange and violent people and put them in GBH. I mean JBH.

this is a very general comment of course, and not EVRERYONE in a particular hall is the same - but there are certainly trends

Sallies = posh / rich people

JBH = nutters

Melville = geeks / people who don't
want to be told what to do too much

Uni Hall = the 'popular' ones from school & bitchy types / sociable types

New Hall = Americans and whoever can afford it

Regs = not sure, can anyone fill this gap?

Hamilton = again i haven't had much experience of people from Hamilton


[hr]
'I wish a real rain would come...'

[Paranoid]

All I'll say is that JBH looked like a fab hall for the 2 years I was there, and was so now and again, but biggest problem was I was placed in the Annexe which makes it harder to be around when something spontaneous happens. Hope you make it to main hall as I would have loved to have been in there, but never mind (Flats are so much better regardless in the end!)

[theflirt]

what about DRA??

JBH seems like a fab place, know a few people there and they are all great guys-mainly guys that are there, damn why wasn't i in that hall???

[Jubilee]

And what, pray, is your opinion of McIntosh?

[Mohawk]

i'm in John Burnet, got a pretty rough deal, bad room mate, but i enjoy it here,

food sucks, my tip for you, eat at the union or the raisin.



[hr]
Mohawk

Ents Crew Member

There is No "I" In Ents
http://www.rawxing.org/ents

[Midget]

Saw your room-mate in his window just recently, staring at his own reflection nuff said.

Room mates, one of the prices you pay for a good hall and "cheap" rates.

[tordenskjold]

Mohawk. At least you had a good room. I had that room last year and had a great time. I agree with Midget though, roommates are a key factor. In response to rubbermuffin. It is exactly this kind of attitude (JBH=GBH) that is utter rubbish. Granted one of the rugby teams was called GBH, but I think that the hall is much maligned. Crazy things seem to happen around JBH but I wouldn't say that it is because it is full of nutters. In fact I like to think that it contains a rather eclectic mix of friendly and personable people. To the original poster, if you do get into JBH you will almost certainly make many new and wonderful friends and get to know a great deal of people very quickly. When I first started in JBH I usually just stuck to my roommate and did not partake of such delights as Ferny Castle which is the first social. Even though I did little to integrate with the rest of hall I still bumped into friendly people in town who knew I was in their hall and as a result would come and strike up conversation and make friends. There is a distinct lack of snobbery which makes the Hall so good.
In the end make sure you get into main hall and remember that hall, like university life in general is what you make of it. JBH is a good way to start and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Especially don't listen to the victims of the water bombing episodes of last year!

[Canandrew]

Wow, John Burnet Hall.

I'm just finishing up my first year here, and I'm one of the lucky ones who managed to finaggle his way back in for next year, which is probably an indication of how much I like this place.

Simply put, Atholl is a blast. Coming from another country, not knowing anybody, and being slightly shy, I thought it was going to be a rough transition moving into hall. Within an hour of arriving at JBH I was convinced that this was the place for me. The people, particularly the second, third and fourth years were really inviting, and I just immediately settled in. From the traditions (if anything happens twice, it's a tradition), to the great parties and formal dinners, to the general amount of daily quirky banter (St. Goon's day!), this is a wonderful place to live. Assuming you don't mind a slight level of fun craziness you'll be fine.

As for the other more general stuff, the food is on average, alright. Some stuff is bad (I dread Lasagna night), and some stuff is good (Chicken with Bacon and BBQ sauce night makes me happy). As long as you're not picky, it's more than eatable. Plus, meal-chat is awesome, and you get all the water you could possibly drink. The rooms are, on the whole, nice. I got lucky and landed a single room so I didn't have to deal with the whole roomate thing, but from what I've seen this year there's only been a few bad pairings (Mohawk above really got a bad one for example). For the most part, people seem to get along with their roommates, and quite a lot seem to have really enjoyed the experience.

The computers are alright, although the mice double click automatically, which makes me angry. But you'll learn to deal with that. Laundry machines are expensive, and often full, but you never know, they might change that.

Other things: When it's sunny (as it has been for the last few days) we have a lovely walled garden out back that's perfect for sunbathing/studying and BBQs. The hall itself is situated about four minutes walk away from Tesco and the Union, and about 10 minutes away from pretty much anywhere you could want to go, a few place excluded. Some of the rooms have a great view overlooking the 18th Hole of the Old Course and the beach (which is a very short walk away if you want to play a litle frisbee or Football or something).

There are some really good people in this hall, and probably more so than anywhere else I've seen you get Ex-residents coming back to visit all the time. Like all the time. There were a bunch of guys that I didn't know didn't live in hall until like 3 months in. Considering they've let fewer people back in than usual this year, I'd expect that trend to only increase.

Anyhow, in short, I'd say (and of course I'm biased cause I love this place) that you've lucked out getting into JBH. I'm really looking forward to Fresher's Week this year cause we're going to have a lot of new faces in hall, which is going to be a ton of fun. I'm already excited about this year's Fernie Castle (a night in second week where we rent this big hotel/castle thing, dress up and go out all night as a hall - it's a real bonding experience). In fact, I'm dreading this summer having to go back to Canada and not being able to just chill out in the old Atholl.

Well, hope my rambling has helped a little, and see you next year! I'll be the skinny, hairy Canadian guy singing excerpts from the Top Gun soundtrack.

[makeshiftsanity]

I'm finishing my first year here as an exchange student from Canada. John Burnet has made my year at st. andrews one of the best years i've had at university so far.

The people here are some of the nicest, if not craziest students you're going to meet at st. andrews.

You'll have a great time!

[killjoy]

best hall ever, and i have walked past a few of them in my time. In preperation i reconmend a long summer of hard core debauchery. enjoy!

[Mr Comedy]

Melville = geeks / people who don't
want to be told what to do too much

Nonsense!
Melville is really awesome, and cranks out its fair share of legendary St Andrews characters each year. Although if you rephrased that "People who won'tbe told what to do too much, then you may be getting somewhere.

[Guest]

[s]rubbermuffin wrote on 18:45, 16th May 2004:

Hamilton = again i haven't had much experience of people from Hamilton


[hr]

Hamilton varys year to year, the smallest of all the halls its the people not the building (as one might) suppose, that make this place so grand. Thus if the people are great as its so small people feed of each other greatness and it rises to great heights, and thus lack luster peps make for lack luster hall despite the presence of a few stars.


'I wish a real rain would come...'

[gingerben]

Ah Canandrew. Your post almost made me cry. I love you man. Long live the fellowship and bring on next year's freshers!