Durham/Bristol Law

At the moment Im looking at these 2 as first choices for my UCAS this year. What do you guys think? I dont neccessarily want an "OMG x is better" response just a weighing up of what you think, preferably from people that go there, any responses are greatly appreciated =]

Reply 1

iodine

8

Durham slightly better department imo

The issue here is one of what type of university do you want?

As a Bristol Law student, Bristol is the choice if you are after the city life and Durham is the one if you are not. Its really that simple.

Reply 2

neon

13

university fan boy fight ;w00t;

but ditto

Reply 3

Profesh

20

iodine

As a Bristol Law student, Bristol is the choice if you are after the city life and Durham is the one if you are not. Its really that simple.

I would second this; any difference in prestige is debatable, and could weigh quite arbitrarily in favour of either institution. Bristol is a vibrant and highly cosmopolitan city, whereas I'm given to understand that Durham is somewhat parochial by comparison. Visit them both, and draw your own conclusions.

Reply 4

River85

17

Profesh

I would second this; any difference in prestige is debatable, and could weigh quite arbitrarily in favour of either institution. Bristol is a vibrant and highly cosmopolitan city, whereas I'm given to understand that Durham is somewhat parochial by comparison. Visit them both, and draw your own conclusions.

Parochial? As in provincial? Geographically yes but not in spirit! I say provincial but, being close to two major conurbations and on the East Coast mainline (plus A1) it's by no means isolated.

Durham is considered to be the marginally better department. It's arguably one of the elite law schools although Bristol really isn't too far beind at all. Both produce their fair share of grads that going into the magic circle firms.

So, given that there is little to choose between the two academically it largely depends on what you're after in terms of a city.

Durham is small, beautiful, but small. It doesn't offer what Bristol can offer in terms of clubs. It's clubbing scence is dire. Klute, the nightclub popular with Rahs, was voted second worst in Europe by FHM, I think. The worst burned down leaving Klute the worst in Europe by default.

I grow tired of people saying "Newcastle's just up the road". They are two completely different cities, in two completely different counties after all. Being twenty five miles apart travelling back to Durham after a night out is difficult (last train is about 11:30PM). Getting a taxi back, on a Friday or Saturday night, is expensive. However, if shared between four people it could work out quite reasonable.

So, although Durham's small and (some would say) "Oxbridge" atmosphere may be a little claustrophobic to there is the chance of escaping to Newcastle every now and then. Newcastle is, as you may well be aware, often voted as one of the world's top party cities. It was recently voted as the best student city. Although I feel that Newcastle's nightlife is slightly overrated it does offer more than enough clubs plus the theatres and shopping facilities (largest shopping centre in the EU ten minutes from Newcastle!)

Durham itself has vibrant student theatre. Although it doesn't have the clubs that you'll find in the major cities, including Newcastle and Bristol, its colleges offer some of the finest bars around. It's also one of top unis for sport partcipation. They have an annual Doxbridge sports tournament, competiting against Oxford and Cambridge, plus an annual boat race with Newcastle. Its facilitites reflect this.

Bristol also has a reputation for Rahs and Oxbridge rejects. It certainly does have an affluent middle class student body that is, in many ways, similar to Durham's. I would still thing it has a little bit more variety. Although I myself don't find Durham suffocating (and most people I know love the city) I am aware that there are a few who do feel that way. With Bristol you don't have to travel to another city to find the best clubs and theatres around. They are right there, in the city. Despite it suffering from bombing during the second world war it does still offer some fine Georgian and Vicotrian architecture, plus a little bit of mediaeveal architecture. It comes close to rivalling Durham's.

So it depends what you're looking for really. If you want to study in a smaller, more concentrated academic community and (although not a requirement) are a sporty person then you can do worse but choose Durham. If you want the benefits of a large city (clubs, art galleries etc) without travelling twenty five miles each time then Bristol may be for you.

I'll finish with Bill Bryson's words, "If you've never been to Durham go there at once, take my car, it's wonderful!" :wink:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/ondemand/films/oneminutemovies/ram/take?bgc=FF6600&nbram=1&lang=en&bbram=1&ms3=6&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=1&size=4x3

Reply 5

Nana_Julia

9

River85

Bristol also has a reputation for Rahs and Oxbridge rejects.

This is entirely anecdotal but I always thought Durham was THE Oxbridge reject hang-out? I never heard that said about Bristol before...? :confused:

Reply 6

AdamTJ

12

I would've been happy at either...I think that demonstrates that they're both as bad as eachother in that regard Julia.

Reply 7

River85

17

Nana_Julia

This is entirely anecdotal but I always thought Durham was THE Oxbridge reject hang-out? I never heard that said about Bristol before...? :confused:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11694145&highlight=Bristol+Rah#post11694145

Although that was written by a future Durham student!

I didn't think Bristol was all that bad for them, no more than most other good universities. However, since coming on TSR (and speaking to Bristol grads personally) it seems they are quite a number at Bristol. Have a look around the Bristol forum or do a search.

Newcastle and, to a lesser extent, Exeter also have a reputation.

Reply 8

Lewisy-boy

11

Nottingham is certainly high on Oxbridge-reject-rah-type-people. Bristol and Durham are both also full of them, although to be honest it's not really a bad thing! You get a good diverse group of people at them, and that's precisely what you want.

Reply 9

iodine

8

Nana_Julia

This is entirely anecdotal but I always thought Durham was THE Oxbridge reject hang-out? I never heard that said about Bristol before...? :confused:

Bristol is full of them. I thought this was common tsr knowledge!

Reply 10

Nana_Julia

9

AdamTJ

I would've been happy at either...I think that demonstrates that they're both as bad as eachother in that regard Julia.

Reply 11

Nana_Julia

9

River85

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11694145&highlight=Bristol+Rah#post11694145

Although that was written by a future Durham student!

I didn't think Bristol was all that bad for them, no more than most other good universities. However, since coming on TSR (and speaking to Bristol grads personally) it seems they are quite a number at Bristol. Have a look around the Bristol forum or do a search.

Newcastle and, to a lesser extent, Exeter also have a reputation.

Nah, don't really care that much, just didn't realise!

Reply 12

River85

17

Nana_Julia

Nah, don't really care that much, just didn't realise!

Lol, yeah, OK :smile:

But putting talc in their hair? What's up with that?

Reply 13

Lord Lawz

Personally, I'd choose Bristol. Student city. Durham is small and up north (and I would imagine therefore cold and wet).

Reply 14

River85

17

Lord Lawz

Personally, I'd choose Bristol. Student city. Durham is small and up north (and I would imagine therefore cold and wet).

Don't assume, it makes an ass of you (but not me).

I don't understand this assumption that because somewhere is northern it gets more rain.

The West of Britian generally has a warmer but wetter climate. The East cooler but drier. Durham, last time I checked, was in the east. It's in a rain shadow, being behind the Pennines. This makes the north east of England, including Durham, one of the driest regions of the country.

Funnily enough Bristol gets a fair bit more rain than Durham.

Sorry for the geography lesson, but I wish it was something people would realise. Also Durham's been a student city longer than Bristol :p:

Reply 15

Lewisy-boy

11

Hmmm I live right on the Scottish border on the east coast and we get a shed load of rain!!

Generally, however, I think you can say Bristol is more of a 'student city' even though Durham has had students for longer simply because Durham is small and generally quite boring from what I've heard whereas Bristol is bustling and good fun.

Reply 16

River85

17

Lewisy-boy

Hmmm I live right on the Scottish border on the east coast and we get a shed load of rain!!

Generally, however, I think you can say Bristol is more of a 'student city' even though Durham has had students for longer simply because Durham is small and generally quite boring from what I've heard whereas Bristol is bustling and good fun.

That's different though. You're a lot more exposed. The reason for the east being dry, especially most of the north east, is because the Pennines creates a rain shadow (rain comes from the Atlantic Ocean and Irish sea, and carried by westerly winds, falls over the high ground over the west and, by the time it reaches the east it has all pretty much gone. The part of the Scottish border you probably live at doesn't have the protection of the Pennines and is rather exposed.

You can see Bristol is a large and cosmpolitan city, just like you could say the same about Newcastle (best student city in the country :smile:

) But what's a student city but a city dominated by students? Durham, out of all the cities in the country, is that with a mass load of student facilities and social activities (formals, bars, sports).

What else is a student city?

Reply 17

Lord Lawz

River85

That's different though. You're a lot more exposed. The reason for the east being dry, especially most of the north east, is because the Pennines creates a rain shadow (rain comes from the Atlantic Ocean and Irish sea, and carried by westerly winds, falls over the high ground over the west and, by the time it reaches the east it has all pretty much gone. The part of the Scottish border you probably live at doesn't have the protection of the Pennines and is rather exposed.

You can see Bristol is a large and cosmpolitan city, just like you could say the same about Newcastle (best student city in the country :smile:

) But what's a student city but a city dominated by students? Durham, out of all the cities in the country, is that with a mass load of student facilities and social activities (formals, bars, sports).

What else is a student city?

Well, Durham isn't really a city, it's so small. More like a large town.

And all my mates who go there tell me the weather is awful. Plus checking out the weather predictions recently, Bristol has had much better weather than Durham (which has been really cold). According to wikipedia, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK. It's just warmer down south. Which is still really cold. Sorry for the common sense lesson.

Reply 18

River85

17

Lord Lawz

Well, Durham isn't really a city, it's so small. More like a large town.

And all my mates who go there tell me the weather is awful. Plus checking out the weather predictions recently, Bristol has had much better weather than Durham (which has been really cold). According to wikipedia, Bristol is one of the warmest cities in the UK. It's just warmer down south. Which is still really cold. Sorry for the common sense lesson.

Well, being a small cathedral city it does have more of a market town feel. However, it's still a city, one of the oldest cities in the country, so it should be called one.

I think your friends are just moaners. Durham is further north and in the east so, yes, it's colder than Bristol. It's still not that bad considering. The weather we get now in the winter, whereever you are in the country, is a heck of a lot more mild than even twenty years ago. Plus six of the last eighteen summers has been a heatwave (one in every three). It's not as if we even get snow anymore :rolleyes:

People don'yt really have much of a right to call much of the weather we get these days, "cold".

I can tell you that when much of the country was having floods, or at least weeks of heavy rain, last summer (and previous autumns) we barely feel it. Although late October has been a little dearer these past few years. It soon passes.

Aren't you actually from Moscow? It's almost tropical compared to Moscow!

Ive just checked the next five days on the BBC website, there isn't that much between the two, especially not later on in the week.

Reply 19

Lord Lawz

You'd think I was ripping the uni. apart or something. Durham is a great university, especially for law!

Moscow can be really warm in summer. I haven't checked but it'll be warmer than Durham right now. Last year we had a heat wave. Okay, yes it was a record year but still...

Durham/Bristol Law

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you