Physics Applicants 2012

Well this was about subconsciousness and it's dominance, which is quite off-topic. I seem to find the physics ones quite vague really :/

But yeah, i've been down, but the tour guide was terrible so we didn't meet many students. The day was also really badly organised, however the tutors I did meet seemed alright. After cut-short open day, I wasn't told what to do, whether I could look round, so I just sat in the quad for a short while. Didn't really get a good impression Think I might go down again, might have been a one-off or something

I think i'll check out iPlayer to see what i've missed.

Thats sounds just like my open day, it was very unorganised and i felt the same way. Are you choosing between UCL and another uni to be your firm?

Yeah, between UCL and manchester.

Manchester on the other hand have sent tonnes of useful information, including a book on all the course options for physics. Plus a DVD on the open day so you don't forget anything. Was infinitely more helpful and just had such a better atmosphere. When I think about it, the only reasons making me want to go to UCL are the fact its in london (rare oppurtunity), other people are saying its amazing and the fact that it might have been a one off :/

the only bad thing about manchester is that its quite close I guess, and that london is out there haha

Mainly that Durham is too small- one of my teachers recently put it as bluntly as "there's no where to get pissed!" He's got a PhD but said you really need to enjoy your undergrad years. Enjoying means you'll work more (seems odd that more places to drink/enjoy yourself would make you work harder, but I know what me means), since for 2 unis so closely ranked, your mark at the end of it is far more important (and the specific mark too, which some employers/post-grad applications will want to see for each module, not just a 2:1).
Another teacher said Durham was "a lovely...village"

However, the college system is a big draw. It just seems much easier to make loads of friends, plus at Mildert the accommodation is supposed to be really nice, with a good chance they'll put you up for more than just the first year, rather than renting some rubbish house. And, as I said, the advantage of getting away.

The annoying thing about Manchester is quite how much it seems to have advanced recently. It's not just another good physics department- so much world class research has been done there, and so many people regard it on par with Imperial and Oxford. If it were Lancaster, York, Birmingham etc, I'd choose durham in an instant.

I think your best option right now is to have another visit. There are some other unis I regret not applying to, manchester being one of them. Most of my choices were chosen for the wrong reasons and I'm considering reapplying if i get really good grades. I was set on going Imperial but got rejected without interview. But for now im leaning towards UCL to be my firm.

Are these strong choices for physics?

Durham
Manchester
Bristol (Deferred entry)
Birmingham
Warwick (Deferred entry)


I think its the best I can do with my foundation year.

I'm not so bothered about the nightlife-my brother is at Newcastle uni so I could meet up /crash at his house. I've tried comparing the courses but that didn't help either. do you think Manchester has a lot better reputation than Durham? I thought Durham was well respected too.

I still think nightlife is important on the making friends side of things, and being social in general. You will meet some of your best friends as random encounters in clubs from what I can tell. Then again, the college system probably balances this out.

I do reckon the structure of the course at Manchester looks better- every sub-topic of physics has its own module, taught by a lecturer who is good in that field (they're not going to give an "expert" in thermodynamics to first years anywhere, but people that are good at teaching it). For instance, there are modules for "random processes in physics" and "Thermal physics of Bose and Fermi gases". At Durham, everything just seems to be lumped under a general "Physics" and "Maths skills", especially in the early years. However, I did hear that's just because Durham were too lazy to put a fully detailed course on the website, unlike Manchester's really useful "blue book" http://www.physics.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/course-handbook/ with loooadsss of detail.

I think Manchester does have the better reputation for physics, both historically (Rutherford being there, a whole host of physics Nobel Prize winners there etc), and currently (2 current physics nobel prize winners on the staff, very highly rated research output- above oxford and just below Imperial and Cambridge on one scale). However, Durham has the better overall reputation, and is hardly shoddy when it comes to specialising in physics either. It's also got the edge on astrophysics, but this isn't my main interest in physics. I've not heard anything else on it being better for theoretical, but it might be the case.

Edit: O, and another thing, if you're not too confident you'll be making your grades, Manchester said that if your interview went well there's a decent chance they'll let you on if you only just missed out on the grades. Personally this isn't a deciding factor at all, as both offers shouldn't be too much of a stretch to get.

I have offers from bath, bristol, nottingham, sheffield and southampton... hmm not sure which two to choose.

I have my A* now so that side is sorted. I'm not much of a going out person either. are you going to Durham offer holder open day? I can't go but wondered if there might be amazing things mentioned on the day! I'm not into astrophysics either and-apart from the 1 person at Manchester interview-I can't find anyone who can say that Durham is better for theoretical. thanks for your comments-I just keep wondering if I'm missing something glarinly obvious about Durham don't think I've found anyone who has chosen Durham rather than Manchester but there must be some. My only caveat is the numbers at Manchester. 280 is so much bigger than all my other choices. can they really look after everyone/ will it be very impersonal (the high student satisfaction scores make me think it must cope well with so many though)

Rejected from Durham

Deciding between Lancaster, Glasgow and Sheffield.

I think i'm going to firm lancaster but i'm not sure.

Can anyone help me decide?