Physics at Durham

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Thought I'd log in for the first time in a while to help with this, since I was in the exact same situation last year, and am now at Durham doing straight physics and really enjoying it.

First off there are loads of physicists at Durham so must have been an off day for that open day. And don't judge the staff by the open day, they often put the best ones on the open days, who won't even teach you when you're there.

Basically, physics is the same anywhere you go more or less, especially for top ones like manc and Durham. Choose based off things other than the course. Took me a while to realise this (I do physics revision at home now with friends doing it at 3 other unis...we all do more or less the same stuff). So I chose Durham because of the collegiate system, and am so glad I did, considering how close I was to choosing manchester (still a brilliant uni/city). Being in a college makes it so easy to get involved and meet loads and loads of people compared to other unis- when I've had friends visit they've found it a very different experience from their (mainly big-city) universities, and enjoyed it!

However, some people find Durham a bit small as a city. If you like your proper club scenes and other big-city things go to Manchester. But due to the collegiate system Durham is more exciting than other sized cities, but still far away from Manchester.

This time last year I was obsessing over technicalities in each course- don't bother and choose where you want to study. You'll do better in the degree, which counts for more than tiny reputation differences.