Durham vs Leeds 2024

Hello I got offers both from Durham and Leeds for Philosophy and Politics BA. Both contextual with Durham being ABB and Leeds being ABB (BBB if I firm it)

My problem is I'm not sure what university is better for my course, I know choosing a humanities heavy course can put me in a financial disadvantage later on in life and by going to a more reputable uni (Durham) this could benefit me a whole lot.

On the other hand, I'm a very sociable person, and I love surrounding myself with lots of like minded people, going out, ect. Thus Leeds seems to look better for me in that category. I know Durham has lots of social events but in comparison to Leeds these seem quite costly and I don't want to become a financial burden upon my parents lmao.

I am considering doing a masters after my undergrad already but obviously that's looking years into the future. Would picking Leeds or Durham change my prospects in any way when applying postgrad?

Am I throwing away opportunities if I was to pick Leeds over Durham?

As an extrovert, is Durham's lack of social life that bad?

...Or am I just deepening this all? Is there really any difference between the universities?

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post by Roxannebeznosiuk

Hello I got offers both from Durham and Leeds for Philosophy and Politics BA. Both contextual with Durham being ABB and Leeds being ABB (BBB if I firm it)

My problem is I'm not sure what university is better for my course, I know choosing a humanities heavy course can put me in a financial disadvantage later on in life and by going to a more reputable uni (Durham) this could benefit me a whole lot.

On the other hand, I'm a very sociable person, and I love surrounding myself with lots of like minded people, going out, ect. Thus Leeds seems to look better for me in that category. I know Durham has lots of social events but in comparison to Leeds these seem quite costly and I don't want to become a financial burden upon my parents lmao.

I am considering doing a masters after my undergrad already but obviously that's looking years into the future. Would picking Leeds or Durham change my prospects in any way when applying postgrad?

Am I throwing away opportunities if I was to pick Leeds over Durham?

As an extrovert, is Durham's lack of social life that bad?

...Or am I just deepening this all? Is there really any difference between the universities?

I’ve visited a couple times to stay with people who go to uni there now, the nightlife isn’t too bad as people say it is though. Yes there are fewer clubs but after a while it won’t be too bad and I know some people who went to Newcastle via train if they really want more. You do a lot more stuff in your college, however one fun part is doing the different college pub crawls every so often. I think Durham definitely has more of a title than Leeds, but also if your worried about Finance - Durham probably has more issues with student accom but also having less clubs (it still some !) means you meet more people in different colleges or stay in your accom and stay a bit cheaper that way with your own drinks. Durham events like Balls definitely seem pretty fun so if you’re looking for what is basically a college wide party - there’s that. I’m not looking at going to Durham since they don’t do my course and I’d prefer not to be as far up North since it’s far from home, but have been looking into Leeds and it does seem much more like a city , so if you want more culture I’d look into that. Durham is a bit smaller, but it feels really nice still since you feel like your never too far from home, which is probably important when out late. Personally ? - Id go Durham BUT look into their accommodation pricing not just for Halls but also Private since they do have a fairly big problem with it : /

Reply 2

Picnicl

15

Looking at their websites, it looks to me that the Leeds Philosophy department is in a grand old church-looking building whereas the Durham department is in one of the old Elvet terraces. Durham's currently 23rd for research in Philosophy whereas Leeds is 28th so there's not a lot of difference there. Similar story for Politics. The main difference you might notice is Leeds might be more diverse. That may or may not convert to more fun lovers. Plus Leeds is a grand civic university. Because Durham doesn't have a central focal point for the university (unless you count the castle but why should we as that's a hall of residence that's been a castle for a lot longer than it's been a hall of residence), it's more like a campus university, that just happens to be in some old (and 1960s) buildings, that's been scattered around - but that doesn't have a central campus. Durham's college system allows for the potential for some fun. Durham itself has a serviceable number of bars, restaurants (mainly a few chains) and even a club. It's certainly not without entertainment - it has a large central cinema and theatre too and Newcastle isn't far away. Durham has a higher percentage of students who go on to great (and related) things but, then, Durham has higher average grades from entrants so they were already more dispositioned towards that. I've visited Leeds about twice - it has some modern buildings around a waterfront in parts. It's kind of a bit like visiting Salford. The city centre didn't impress me much, although it does have the old shopping arcades, and it feels like the city is too sprawled out. There's just a lot more character to Newcastle as a large city but Leeds does have some lovely countryside outside of it. See The Complete University Guide.

(edited 2 months ago)

Durham vs Leeds 2024

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