Durham University

Durham

Durham v York for Biology

I do understand Durham is a fine and upstanding institution but I went to school in Harrogate near York, and York is lovely too

Which has better Biology learning and facilities?

Reply 1

Tufts

*sigh* durham is a pile of pish. we just come here because we secretly hate ourselves and want to go to a crap uni. we all have fetishes for going to crap unis and making the wrong decisions. :rolleyes:

Jeeeeeez, what do you think we're gonna say? #grumble# This is the DURHAM forum. If you want an UNBIASED opinion post in a general forum.

P.S. welcome to PMS zone, level 1 :biggrin:

Durham University

Durham

Visit website

Reply 2

Jelkin

I doubt many people here could actually tell you which biology dept is better, given that most people go to one uni or the other. Check out The Times' subject tables:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/displayPopup/0,,13435,00.html

However, these need to be taken with a pinch of salt and they change every year. Have you visited both places? I think it'd be better for you to choose the place you'd prefer to spend your student years.

Reply 3

littlej

I was in an identical dilemma although I decided to do an OU course for financial reasons.

To address your question .... I have had a long phone conversation with the admissions tutors of both Durham and York and I have spoken to a few biology students from both universities. In both cases, the department and course sounded just right for me and I am sure it is almost impossible to decide which is better in terms of the course and the facilities.

I think if you have to decide between the universities, it is a question of which location would suit you best. Of course, that itself is a dilemma seeing as they are both beautiful cities.

Reply 4

WokSz

I'm going to go ahead and be biased - DURHAM!

Reply 5

vickyrkenya

Well that table puts Surrey above both of them, so I really would take with a pinch of salt! For undergraduate both are probably fairly similar, but Durham has an absolutely amazing research department - nearly all of my lecturers are active in research too and actually lecture on the subjects that they research. I had a lecture a couple of months ago where we found out some new information about 2 weeks before it was published in Nature because our lecturer discovered it! This doesen't just affect postgrads though, im spending my summer doing a placement with one of my lecturers on leukaemia research.

Reply 6

Picnico

I studied philosophy for a year at York University and was appalled by the lack of care towards me as a student. First of all, barely anyone on my course spoke to me, I became depressed and, even though I lived barely a few metres from the teaching rooms, nobody made any effort to find out of I was OK. I ended up being forced to leave the university. I have since got things in context, that other students may have been as shy as I was, but I still feel that the university could have done more to foster a genuine community as it claimed to.

York and Durham are very similar in some ways and very different in others:
York University is a 1960s university (though the admin building is an old mansion) mainly made of concrete. It's generally rather homogenous with little or no real difference in character between each of the colleges. An outstanding feature is Central Hall which looks like a spaceship, with the massive manmade lake (one of the largest in Europe) surrounding it. It is based on Heslington, a very small country village. York city centre itself is a good 15-20 minutes walk away. Although York University is noted for its radio station and TV (John Peel studied there), popular entertainment in general is poor as gigs were banned from Central Hall following a Boomtown Rats concert in the 1980s. There is a hall for classical music through.
The teaching is , overall, generally rated second only to Cambridge.
York students tend to be either left-wing or keep very quiet about their conservative leanings in my experience (I attended an opening speech at C entral Hall in which some students disgustingly used the opportunity to make left-wing party political statements) and the students definitely do not advertise if they went to public school. or even if they went to grammar school- fittingly for this New Labour type of subterfuge, several Labour MPs have studied there eg. Harriet Harman and Tony Banks.

Durham University dates back to 1832. Although it is not technically an 'ancient' university, it is very much based in an ancient setting (one of the halls of residence is the oldest building used for such a purpose in the world, the Castle or University College) and the university is often described as the 3rd oldest in England (although one or 2 other universities could argue that they existed, if not were founded, before Durham University). Durham city itself seems to have far less going for it in terms of shops, cafes and restaurants than York City and the university seems to be more conservative.

Perhaps the difference between the 2 universities is of more consequence, in terms of experience, to an arts student.

Either way, I massively enjoyed my time at Leicester University before I made the decision to switch to York.

Reply 7

arkbar

The teaching is , overall, generally rated second only to Cambridge.

In which particular delusion of grandeur?

Reply 8

Tomber

Rokit

I do understand Durham is a fine and upstanding institution but I went to school in Harrogate near York, and York is lovely too

Which has better Biology learning and facilities?

Which school? I went to St Aidans in Harrogate :smile:

Reply 9

Rokit

Tomber

Which school? I went to St Aidans in Harrogate :smile:

Ashville College (from what I recall we were not allowed out of our cages much) :p:

I have posted on the general forum just to get a balanced view

Thanks all

Reply 10

pinkeyspinkey

Im doing biology at durham and i went to wetherby high sixth form so from knowing york and durham durham won

i have a friend who went to york to do biology and he seemed to enjoy it

york has a slightly better nightlife durham better for sport (my opinion)

so personally durham

Reply 11

pinkeyspinkey

woops posted twice

and i have no idea why im up at 06:52

i would also say that being able to put up with toffs rahhhhhhhhs etc is a must at durham

" daddy brought the bently"
"that exam was sublime"

Reply 12

sarbruis

Do any of them (the rahs, I guess) say "house" and "friends" like Abigale from "Skins" (ie, "hoose" and "fronds", etc.)? Because I would really enjoy that--well, for a week or so.