firm durham or exeter for english?

unfortunately it is more like 85% 85% 93%
(like i mentioned, english would have been more like 91% if coursework had not been graded down.)
my classics teacher has predicted me an A* but thats just because shes really nice, i dont think i can really get it. im fairly on course for maths, got one of the higher mock grades in the class. english should be ok? idk

unfortunately it is more like 85% 85% 93%
(like i mentioned, english would have been more like 91% if coursework had not been graded down.)
my classics teacher has predicted me an A* but thats just because shes really nice, i dont think i can really get it. im fairly on course for maths, got one of the higher mock grades in the class. english should be ok? idk

unless you feel you can get durham's offer then think elsewhere as they are highly unlikely to accept a dropped grade. Exeter generally do and if you look their offers rage from A*AA to AAB but nobody can guarantee this. I suspect the A*A*A offer was about trying to prevent people putting them as an insurance so giving them more certainty. Wherever you go be it Durham Exeter or East Anglia they are all excellent so good luck on whatever you decide

Do you have to get A* in a particular subject? From memory, don't you get an A* if you achieve 90% or more at A2 and average 80% over the whole A-level? From your marks so far, you therefore have to achieve 90* at any of your three A2s. Given your comment about Maths, that would seem to be a pretty good chance.

In addition you would still have to get two A grades. Taking your lowest AS grades of 85%, you would have to slip to 74% or below in one of your remaining A2s to fall to a B. How likely is that? Have you ever got close to those marks?

I would like to emphasise that I am not trying to persuade you to accept any offer in particular. Others have given eminently sensible advice about how to tackle this problem. However, I think it is always a good idea to look at facts - and in this case, probabilities - when taking important decisions.

Who has heard from Edinburgh? And if so what were the offers?
I haven't heard yet!

urggggg im sorry im sure this thread is absolutely dead by now but just if anybodys still floating about with too much spare time or something

i feel really like im floating a bit towards exeter but i really feel like its kind of mad to turn down the opportunity of studying at durham considering that its pretty hard to get in and that must count for something? it sounds so much better i think as well, although maybe my perception of their reputations is wrong but yea
everybody keeps telling me to firm exeter and that durham's boring and that exeter is nicer grrr
i guess all i wanna know is if people think its a mistake to go against reputation, because i chose not to try for oxbridge despite reputation and ive kind of regretted it since :/

Go with whichever uni you can see yourself at for three years cos if you have a great time it's unlikely you'll be on your death bed saying 'I wish I went to a uni with a better reputation' and more likely that you'll say 'I wish I went to a uni that I would have enjoyed more'. Having visited both unis, I would say that Durham is a nicer city, even though Exeter is better for shopping in general and is a bit more modern and urban if that's what you like. At Durham in terms of outside accommodation is probably cheaper but with first year inside accommodation you get more choice at Exeter, because at Durham you're basically restricted to your college in first year- where have you been allocated out of curiosity?
When I first visited Exeter I remember thinking 'oooh there's a blackwells and a costa how good is that!' but after visiting Durham and revisiting Exeter all I could think was 'well Durham has those and more because it's a city uni rather than a campus one and it's not a 15 minute walk into the centre.'
Also in position of league tables Durham is no.1 in the country for English, even though Exeter isn't far behind. In terms of atmosphere and quality of choice of modules etc Durham is the better uni. You do 4 modules a year at Exeter whereas at Durham you do 6 if that makes any difference to you, and there is more flexibility at Durham with changing modules whereas at Exeter it was actively discouraged- that's what really made my mind up and I've firmed Durham.
At the end of the day though go with whichever uni you'll be happiest at. I know plenty of people who have declined higher-rep unis in favour of one that they liked more. So the ultimate advice is go for whichever uni you like the best- if you regret not applying for Oxbridge then maybe you'll regret not going for Durham, but the two have completely different atmospheres so it's your choice. In my opinion Durham isn't boring whatsoever- it is much friendlier than Exeter at least in terms of offer-holder days in my opinion.

ive been allocated hatfield, which was my first choice anyway.
yea i kind of like the idea of a city uni but seeing as i dont have an experience of uni at all i have no idea what id really prefer myself :/
i personally dont think durham's modules are better than exeters, or at least exeter seems to list a more diverse variety on their website. im surprised to hear that its hard to change modules since i met someone who changed her whole course after a year, but i guess thats different so ill take you word for it. and i think durham has wayyyy more of a focus on exams whereas exeter is more focused on coursework, which i think sounds better.

the boring thing ive only got from other people by the way. i have a friend whos at oxford and every time i even mention durham shes like NO BOO HISS BORING which is kind of disconcerting too but oh well. thanks for replying.
what college were you allocated?

Yeah I agree Exeter offer more modules but it was the fact that out of a list of like 12 you could only choose 4 that put me off, and I've been allocated to St Chad's (also my first choice ) It does seem like you're definitely swaying towards Exeter with the whole coursework thing if you don't like exams, that totally makes sense because it's how you'll be assessed for 3 years ans so should be a main factor in your decision. And the whole thing about changing modules was something I asked in the English talk when I was there, I said something like if you choose your modules at the beginning of the year is it set in stone? And they replied basically yes because of timetabling and so on, but I don't know if it's totally true. Good luck with your choice! Let us know what you decide, you'll definitely enjoy either uni though.

heh thank you, hopefully i will come to a conclusion soon, im just such a stupidly indecisive person.
thanks again!