Unsure about biology course

Hello,
I have met my conditions for the biology/ biomedical sciences course at Durham, however I am a bit unsure about whether to send the email to accept my offer. I didn't get the chance to look around the biology department and have seen some of the tables which say that the student satisfaction on the course is not the best. Just wondered if anyone who currently or did study biology at Durham has any advice/ opinions on the course. I really like Durhams collage system and have been acepted t Van Mildert college which I have had a chance to look around and it seems really nice. The other uni witch I am considering is York f they still have places for my course. Thank you in advance for your thoughts on the course.

Reply 1

fgcsinclair

I don't know whether this is too late to be of any use, but I'll answer anyway. I'm at Durham at the moment, and have just completed first year Biology. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it, and although a lot of that was down to being personally unsuited to the degree, there were problems with the course itself: uninspiring lecturers (though some were brilliant), course content could do with some jazzing up, general lack of enthusiasm from (and within) the department - just the same old problems, which I'm sure exist everywhere. One of the problems is that in first year the course is modeled for you, but as you progress into second year, you can choose which area of biology you'd like to focus on. Anyway, regardless, it wasn't quite right for me and I have changed to English (which the university were all too happy for me to do). In retrospect, I remember talking to people who graduated from Durham in Biology who said be wary of the course, and I wished I had listened to them more, but there we are. If you are set to go to Biology at Durham **DO NOT** lose hope and if you are still deciding only let this reply advise you - it is CERtainly not the be all and end all. Firstly, what I've said may not be true in your case. As I said, there were personal issues which I overlooked, namely that I wasn't as keen on Biology as I thought. That may sound stupid, but it happens more than you might think. There is a marked difference in the way you're expected to study and what you're expected to study between A-level and Uni level, and you simply can't be completely sure if the transition will suit you. Secondly, although the course wasn't a success, my god I've had fun. Again, this may seem idiotic - I'm there to study, get a good degree, but I want a hell of a lot more than that for my £9,000, and Durham offers it. Of course, I know that you would have loads of fun at York too (I know it's over-said, but the key is to dive in head first, say yes to everything and do those things with all guns blazing - there's nothing to lose) but Durham's huge advantage is it's college system, and that would become immediately evident upon arrival. Basically the college system breaks up the university into bitesize chunks of people, so rather than having 16,000 people to face, you have a couple of hundred, and what's more, in your college you can all talk about things you immediately share, but others in Durham don't, like Mildert's pond of which you'll become so proud (don't ask me why....). Thirdly, if you find the course not to your taste, like me, then talk to Mildert. If you nip it in the bud, you could change without adding a year, but if not, it's no problem, and Student Finance offers you one extra year of funding. It just means you'll end up living with linguists and engineers in your final year. Hope that helps

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Reply 2

09dawsonk

Thank you soo much for answering, but it was just too late. I have had to accept my place at Durham university and it is now definitely too late to change. So annoyed that I didn't pick york now, as the biology course seems so much better there. Thank you again for answering though.

Unsure about biology course

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