Durham Postgraduate Applicants entry 2014

Durham University

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Reply 200

YoungVictorian

Original post by Montrealer

Hi, I have been admitted to Castle as well and was wondering how long it took them to send the licence agreement as I have not received it yet and getting a little anxious to find out where I will be staying.
thanks for your time
- Steph

Did you receive your license agreement yet?

Durham University

Durham

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Reply 201

Montrealer

Original post by YoungVictorian

Did you receive your license agreement yet?

Yes thanks, I received it two days ago. Now I have to decide whether I want to rent a room somewhere else or choose to reside at Brackenbury.

Reply 202

Sophia.T

Hello everyone,

I got a conditional offer back in April for an MA in Early Modern History and was allocated to Castle. I met my conditions on May 9th and sent in my final transcript from my undergrad university. I received confirmation from the application office but I have not heard anything since then.

Does anyone know how long it usually takes to hear back?

Thanks!

Sophia

Reply 203

Shreyans

Hello, I am from Mumbai (Bombay), India and I will be coming to durham university in September 2014. I have accepted my conditional offer and I am sure of completing the condition which means I am sure of coming to the university. My course is a postgraduate taught course MA Philosophy.
I have a few questions and it would be very kind of someone can answer them.
1) I haven't applied to any college yet, I am planning on doing so once I arrive ( 15days early) is this a good idea?
2) on student pad I searched for a few private accommodations and they looked pretty neat, plus the rent goes for about 50-60 pounds a week, which is definitely cheaper than college accommodation, the private accommodations may be a little far but then we do have free university buses running right? So is it a good option to stay in a private accommodation?
3) the university recommends 6hrs per week of part time job for postgraduate students, my visa allows me for 20hrs per week. Will it be ok if I work for more than 6 hrs since this will help me a lot on saving up for next year's course. Or will the college take action against me? I definitely won't do anything stupid to jeopardise my education.
4) I've tried to look everywhere but I haven't been able to understand the 'term' concept. Actually I haven't been able to understand the structure itself. The university says that I'll understand when I start, but I think it's better to understand things before hand.

Please accept my apologies for bombarding this thread with so many questions.

Thank you in advance :smile:

Reply 204

mixxy

Original post by Shreyans

1) Apply now - it takes almost no time and you'll probably get chased anyway.

2) £50-60/wk is good but consider that you also have to pay bills, which will be included in college acc prices. I think I pay about £105/week for my college room but that is all in (though obviously not food). I'm guessing you can live cheaper going privately but it's probably not going to be that big a difference

3) I suspect the university would really recommend you devote all your time to studying! The 6 hrs is probably sensible, but if you wanted to work more then it's not the university's place to stop you. You'll only have problems if you don't attend/grades are bad. You'll have to judge all that for yourself. There isn't (generally) the same culture in the UK as the US say, where it seems everyone works whilst studying to supplement their funds at university. That's not to say you can't, but don't expect sympathy over it -if your job and your studies conflict, you will be expected to give your study priority! Your college will have rules that you must abide by so you should consult those once you have your spot, but I doubt it'll mention anything relevant

4) I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but basically an academic year is split into three terms (roughly October - Jan, Jan-April, May- August). I probably wouldn't worry overly about it - basically, you will have modules, there will be assessments, complete the assesments when they fall/by the deadline and you will be ok,

Reply 205

YoungVictorian

Hi! Never recieved my license agreement so now I don't have housing! Anybody looking for a roommate or advice for finding off campus rentals? Thank you!

Reply 206

packt_sardines

Hey everyone, I created a Facebook group for us postgrads! You're all welcome! :smile:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1466629486916434/

Reply 207

supriyajoshi

Original post by packt_sardines

Hey everyone, I created a Facebook group for us postgrads! You're all welcome! :smile:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1466629486916434/

Great initiative, thank you! :smile:

Reply 208

Montrealer

Original post by YoungVictorian

Hi! Never recieved my license agreement so now I don't have housing! Anybody looking for a roommate or advice for finding off campus rentals? Thank you!

Did you email them? They may have more spaces at Brakenbury because the old hotel is under renovation.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 209

Junglee

Got my offer, think I'm going to apply to St Chads. Pretty excited.

Reply 210

Eboracum

Hi Everyone, congratulations.

I'm wondering if anybody can help me with a few questions. I'm considering 2015 postgraduate entry, is it hard to get a place on a course, and how about accommodation? I'm wanting to do an MA in International Relations, does one need a 1st, would a mid 2:1 from a Russell have a chance? I'm a bit older as I worked for three years as well,

Thanks and enjoy Durham. My bro did undergrad there. Great place.

Reply 211

Gaurav3010

Original post by Meethique

So I have eventually received an offer (unconditional) for an LLM in International Trade and Commercial Law.

This is horrible and awesome at the same time.

I now have to choose between Durham, Glasgow (LLM in Intellectual Property Law) and Nottingham (LLM in International Commercial Law). Cruel dilemma.

I was in the same dilemma. I chose Durham.

Reply 212

Blou17

Hi everyone,

I was accepted on my course in February, and was allocated to my choice of college (Chads whoop!) in about March. Since then I have heard...nothing...from anyone. I am living out, so of course I don't ned any accommodation emails, but I am starting to get a bit jittery about having heard nothing else. Is this normal? Has anyone else had details about their course or about when to arrive even? I'm going to call them on Monday but thought I's ask here too.

Thanks

Reply 213

JJasper

Original post by Blou17

You are not alone. I have been contacting various people since May seeking more information about my course and trying to get everything sorted out for my Visa. I have gotten absolutely nowhere with them in almost 3 months. I have been told that we will receive log-in names and passwords for DUO (Durham University Online) which will allow us to see our class options etc. 56 days before the start of term, but from my experience over the past few months I take that to mean that this is when they will begin giving out this info, not necessarily you and I specifically will receive it.
Don't even get me started on the CAS letters for immigration.... At the first of June I was told I would get mine in 2 weeks. Still no sign of it. I've made an "urgent request" 3 times. No sign of it, despite the fact that I have repeatedly called and e-mailed to let them know that I am dangerously close to not being able to make it to Durham on time because of the length of time it takes to get a Visa interview in my country. None of this matters to them. I know that they began working on my letter
the Wednesday before last, no word of it since then.
Anyways, you may want to call on Monday but in my experience it won't get you anywhere. I guess we just have to wait until the very last second for everything. I certainly do not have a very good first impression of the university, at least on the administration side, at this point. I have friends from Canada attending other UK universities this fall, one at St. Andrews for example, and they have had absolutely no problems or hold-ups.

Reply 214

JJasper

Original post by Blou17

I think I should say as a follow up to my last reply/rant that I'm probably being a bit unfair to complain about the entire administration. I guess it's just that the people that I have had to deal with most often have been very unhelpful and have, as yet, failed to follow through on anything they have promised or assured me. Obviously this has created a huge amount of stress for me and left me feeling quite resentful, as you can see :colondollar:

I don't know who you were planning to contact for your specific questions, but if I remember correctly I think we are in the same programme (MA Medieval & Early Modern Studies). I would suggest that you contact the secretary for the MLAC department, Ms. Luck. She is absolutely lovely, and although she hasn't been able to fix the issues for me she has done everything in her power to help me out. I think she should at least be able to give you some information about start dates etc., although for actual firm schedules/classes and other info, we just have to wait I think.

Reply 215

Blou17

Original post by JJasper

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply (s) and you do have a good memory - that's exactly my course. Well, although it's not helpful to have not heard anything, it's helpful to know that you are in the same boat, and I guess it's worse for you with visa applications. It didn't sound like a rant! :smile:

I will contact Ms. Luck this week - I spoke to her when my application seemed to be dragging it's feet and she seemed to do something as I had an answer shortly after that, so I guess she is doing her best.

I'll let you know if I hear anything! Hope you get your visa sorted!

Reply 216

Boudicaa

Original post by Eboracum

A 2:1 should do just fine, that's what I was asked to get a place in an MA in International Studies (which is basically IR + a modern language). I was offered accommodation in a college which is not even in Durham, and you'll find private accommodation is not exactly the cheapest (I found one for £120 per week all bills included). Either way, you should be fine :smile:

Reply 217

Josb

Does anybody know why the postgraduate sections haven't been updated on the website? The deadline should be in two months... Durham is very late compared to other unis. :confused:

https://www.dur.ac.uk/arts.humanities/funding_opportunities/

Reply 218

ianuam

Original post by Josb

Does anybody know why the postgraduate sections haven't been updated on the website? The deadline should be in two months... Durham is very late compared to other unis. :confused:

https://www.dur.ac.uk/arts.humanities/funding_opportunities/

I've applied for an English PhD, and the deadlines have been updated on the dept site itself. Fret not. Check on your own dept site?