[Silent--ly]

(Original post by InadequateJusticex)
They don't interview? Really? I didn't know that. Does that apply to every course they do?

They only interview for courses where external bodies require them to. Only medicine and education applicants get an interview.

[Helioghost]

(Original post by Calllu-m)
Yeah I know that. It's especially bad for IB-ers because all we have are predictions. However it does seem Durham history in particular don't take people with less than straight A*s at GCSE judging by how many were rejected from my school this year who had missed straight A*s by 1

Well, History at Durham is certainly very competitive, but they try not to say outright that they'll refuse anyone with non-perfect GCSEs - it's just one of the easiest ways to cut the numbers, I guess.

[CD315]

(Original post by Awoodrow2)
x

How's the social life at Durham? Is it good for a night out, and are there plenty of things to do during your free time?

[Helioghost]

(Original post by CD315)
How's the social life at Durham? Is it good for a night out, and are there plenty of things to do during your free time?

I'm thinking maybe I should answer this in big letters on the first post of the FAQ - it's slightly awkward to answer, and gets asked a lot more than I realised!

These two posts on the FAQ thread give a brief overview of the nightlife and clubs/sports/societies in Durham - but there's still massive amounts more you could talk about for 'social life'.

I mean, in an average week, I can go to the LGBTa's 'safe space' social, a small scale LARP event, to Klute with college friends for someone's birthday, along to Games Society's RPG night, go to a Conservation Society event, have a movie night or a drink in the college, and go on a society bar crawl. And that's just the evenings, and there are a few other societies I've always wanted to go to, but never got round to.

Edit: And less on the 'social life', more on the 'things to do'; I'm a member of three college committees, two university/DSU committees (until they sort their act out and merge them or something), sometimes go to the college choir or acapella society, served two and a half years worth on society executive committees, and occasionally get invited by friends to other things that I'd not considered doing.

[CD315]

(Original post by Awoodrow2)
I'm thinking maybe I should answer this in big letters on the first post of the FAQ - it's slightly awkward to answer, and gets asked a lot more than I realised!

These two posts on the FAQ thread give a brief overview of the nightlife and clubs/sports/societies in Durham - but there's still massive amounts more you could talk about for 'social life'.

I mean, in an average week, I can go to the LGBTa's 'safe space' social, a small scale LARP event, to Klute with college friends for someone's birthday, along to Games Society's RPG night, go to a Conservation Society event, have a movie night or a drink in the college, and go on a society bar crawl. And that's just the evenings, and there are a few other societies I've always wanted to go to, but never got round to.

Edit: And less on the 'social life', more on the 'things to do'; I'm a member of three college committees, two university/DSU committees (until they sort their act out and merge them or something), sometimes go to the college choir or acapella society, served two and a half years worth on society executive committees, and occasionally get invited by friends to other things that I'd not considered doing.

Ah thanks for the reply I'll have a look at those 2 posts. It's just I've heard of a few people saying that Durham's boring, but obviously that's just an irrational opinion

[Helioghost]

(Original post by CD315)
Ah thanks for the reply I'll have a look at those 2 posts. It's just I've heard of a few people saying that Durham's boring, but obviously that's just an irrational opinion

My general opinion is that Durham is boring, but Durham University isn't - there's SO much going on, if you just look for it. But when I have family or something visiting, I can never think of anything to take them to.

[When you see it...]

For Physics applicants:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show....php?t=2074232

[Helioghost]

(Original post by When you see it...)
For Physics applicants:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show....php?t=2074232

I think your post has been merged into the general university Physics applicants thread for some reason.

[When you see it...]

(Original post by Awoodrow2)
I think your post has been merged into the general university Physics applicants thread for some reason.

Oh yeah, I saw that a week or two ago. It is really inactive though...
What is physics like at Durham compared to other 'top' unis? Is it in any way different?

[Helioghost]

(Original post by When you see it...)
Oh yeah, I saw that a week or two ago. It is really inactive though...
What is physics like at Durham compared to other 'top' unis? Is it in any way different?

Difficult for me to say, since all the courses sounded pretty much the same to me when I applied!

As far as lecturing goes, I think that's just dependent on who's working at the university at the time, rather than any fundamental way the department functions. I've got plenty of lecturers I've not liked, and complain about a lot, but there's no saying I wouldn't have had similar experiences at another university.

As to the course, I think the main general trends are that
a) it's more geared towards getting us into academia, rather than a degree for graduate jobs, although it's still highly regarded by employers.
b) we have less choice in modules, and courses specialise less - leaving us with a more broad overview of Physics. Only a bad thing if you know there are specific areas you want to study or avoid.

[When you see it...]

(Original post by Awoodrow2)
Difficult for me to say, since all the courses sounded pretty much the same to me when I applied!

As far as lecturing goes, I think that's just dependent on who's working at the university at the time, rather than any fundamental way the department functions. I've got plenty of lecturers I've not liked, and complain about a lot, but there's no saying I wouldn't have had similar experiences at another university.

As to the course, I think the main general trends are that
a) it's more geared towards getting us into academia, rather than a degree for graduate jobs, although it's still highly regarded by employers.
b) we have less choice in modules, and courses specialise less - leaving us with a more broad overview of Physics. Only a bad thing if you know there are specific areas you want to study or avoid.

Okay thanks I'll check out some more details.

[Peachtwist]

Name: Caitlin
Course applying for: Law
College applying for: University College (I think!)
Studying currently: Access To HE. Modules: Psychology, English Language & Quantative Methods. Law isn't offered.
1st choice?: Not sure.

I need to call them to find out if they'll accept Access to HE and if so what grades will be required but hopefully!

[shopoholic]

Name - Julia
Course applying for - Business and Management
College applying for - Stephenson College
Studying currently - IB HL Business, English A, Spanish B. SL Biology, Maths, Geography
1st choice? - also applying to University of Bath, Aston, Exeter and University of Manchester so no

[NellyNoodles]

(Original post by Calllu-m)
Yeah I know that. It's especially bad for IB-ers because all we have are predictions. However it does seem Durham history in particular don't take people with less than straight A*s at GCSE judging by how many were rejected from my school this year who had missed straight A*s by 1

In my experience, the thing about GCSEs isn't true. I got 2A*s, 6As and 4Bs. Most people would say that Durham would see that, screw up my application and throw it away. Yet I got an offer for Psychology, which is a highly competitive course.

As long as you have their minimum requirements, like a C in English, they really don't mind. GCSEs would only be used to differentiate between candidates with similar profiles, which is incredibly rare.

From what I have experienced, they are a lot more interested in your AS results, your predictions, and also what you do OUTSIDE of school. TBH, I'm pretty certain I got my offer because I was head girl at school and I do sports. If I did no extra curricular things and they were just going off my GCSEs and my AS results, I wouldn't have got a place.

So don't worry about it!!

[kalika_amz]

Name: Amani
Course applying for: Medicine as 1st choice, Chemistry as backup
College applying for:
Studying currently: Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Philosophy and English Literature
1st choice?: Depends on my AS results. Love Durham and Oxford. Probably didn't do so well at AS, so probably, yes.

[Helioghost]

We get a lot of questions here about which colleges get the most applicants, and so on, so I've drawn up a quick table showing the number of applications made to each college, and the number of Freshers starting.

Helpful? Anything else I should add to it or change?

[Robyn1204]

Name: Robyn
Course: Spanish & German
College: Not sure
Studying currently: Spanish, German, History, RS
1st choice?: no

[yakizzo]

Name: yakizzo
Course: Economics
College: St Chad's
Currently studying: Maths, Economics, History, German
1st choice? Depends on Thursday's AS results!

[elliot17]

Name: Elliot
Course: Physics
College: Josephine Butler/ not sure
Currently studying: Physics, Maths, Further Maths, Additional Further Maths, Spanish and Chemistry AS
1st choice?: No


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Helioghost]

(Original post by Llewellyn)
That's very helpful

Makes me less sure about picking University College though...

Thanks! And yeah, applying to Castle can be a bit of a risk, especially since only a relatively small number of people get to live in it - I know one girl on TSR who had to live in Teikyo accommodation for a term or two before she was able to live in the Castle.