Durham or Bristol? LGBT?

Hi, I'm trying to choose between Durham and Bristol. I'm from Argentina and I don't have the chance to travel and see the cities nor the universities. I want to study engineering and as I've seen in some rankings, Bristol seems to be better but I just don't feel it. For me Durham is much more suitable. Durham seems a kind of place where i'd like to live, quiet, where i can focus and study. But from the videos in youtube and stuff they don't seem to have a great engineering course. They look like a drama uni and I'm not interested in that.
Also, I'm lesbian and some posts in this site say that Durham doesn't have great LGBT places. I don't care that much about this but it's also important.
Finally, I don't really know if either of them are the best. I want to study electronic engineering in a castle like place that still has a good engineering department and i'm not sure they're good enough

Reply 1

smileypotato

Full disclaimer - I go to Durham. I did visit Bristol though when I was looking at unis, but didn't apply to it in the end.

Durham is definitely a lovely pretty city - very nice to be in. From what I know of Bristol, it's also nice and a far bigger city, so you might want to think about what you'd prefer in terms of size. Durham is fairly small - you can walk to most places you'd need to in about twenty minutes/half an hour, which I really like because it's so convenient, but if you would prefer a busy bustling city (more like London) then I'd think Bristol would be more like that. Not that Durham is dull or empty, but it is smaller. You're right about Durham being a good place to focus in - I've found it so - but that doesn't mean people don't go out for the night to clubs etc, if that's something you're interested in.

I don't know a lot about LGBT stuff in Durham - there's a weekly event in a bar that's for LGBT+ people, and Durham does have its own LGBT+ society, but I don't think it has that much more. My college also has a LGBT group which I go to sometimes, which I like because I'm not a drinking person so the bar events don't suit me. Most other colleges also have LGBT groups as part of the welfare team, who can offer support etc. We did have our own Durham Pride last week for the second year in a row, which was fab - but I don't know how it compares to what Bristol has.

In terms of being castle-like, Durham has its own castle. As far as I know, Bristol does too, but from what I've seen when I've been to Bristol, it's far more modern than Durham, so you definitely get the castle feel more in Durham. But that shouldn't be a reason on its own to pick a place to study :smile:

In terms of finding what uni is the best - it's good to look to compare subject league tables (try the Guardian, the Complete University Guide or the Telegraph), but generally I'd say that once you're there, any degree is going to be hard and need work and so any degree will be "good". I wouldn't put too much weight on the league tables, especially because they often vary quite a lot. It might be worth thinking about what aspects of studying engineering are most important to you, and then compare that to what the courses are like at different universities. If you have questions, you can always get in touch by email with the admissions departments - even though you can't visit them, they're always really happy to talk to people and can sometimes even put you in touch with current students.