The Student Room Group
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham
Visit website

Is it laughable to put Durham after Oxbridge as the best?

Is it laughable to put Durham after Oxbridge as the best?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Magic Streets
Is it laughable to put Durham after Oxbridge as the best?


Depends on the department. Arguably, in the humanities, it is competitive. Imperial takes the winning ticket on many STEM subjects and is better than Oxbridge in some subjects.


I think Durham is less attractive because its in the north meaning many top students won't even consider it. Meanwhile, I think the London unis are overrated for the same reason.

Finally, I think Durham's employment opportunities are slightly inflated due to the fact it is incredibly attractive to private school pupils which tend to get better jobs even compared to state school pupils from the same university. So, that advantage is one it inherits from simply being attractive to kids from a private school background.

SS
(edited 7 years ago)
Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham
Visit website
Original post by Supersaps
Depends on the department. Arguably, in the humanities, it is competitive. Imperial takes the winning ticket on many STEM subjects and is better than Oxbridge in some subjects.


I think Durham is less attractive because its in the north meaning many top students won't even consider it. Meanwhile, I think the London unis are overrated for the same reason.

Finally, I think Durham's employment opportunities are slightly inflated due to the fact it is incredibly attractive to private school pupils which tend to get better jobs even compared to state school pupils from the same university. So, that advantage is one it inherits from simply being attractive to kids from a private school background.

SS


"I think Durham is less attractive because its in the north". Ha! From the start I decided to avoid any university that included 'London' in it's name and am now avoiding all universities south of London too.
Original post by dvdnbl2543
"I think Durham is less attractive because its in the north". Ha! From the start I decided to avoid any university that included 'London' in it's name and am now avoiding all universities south of London too.


Obviously, it's not the same for everyone but in general the south produces more top students than the north, your goodself ever excepted, of course!
I think it is competitive, at least for the humanities and many STEM subjects (I believe the geography and theoretical physics courses are particularly strong). I turned down an Oxbridge offer to come to Durham - make of that what you will.

I agree with the previous poster that its reputation is negatively affected by its location. I think it would look much stronger in the international rankings if it were in a big city, particularly somewhere like London. And, as has been said, many top students won't even consider it because of the distance.
I don't see why so many seem to think that Durham is the third best uni. It's not, Imperial and LSE, and maybe UCL, are far more respected than Durham nationally and internationally.
Original post by akbar0123
I don't see why so many seem to think that Durham is the third best uni. It's not, Imperial and LSE, and maybe UCL, are far more respected than Durham nationally and internationally.


To be fair, not many students do think Durham is third best, since it struggles to even make the Uk's top 10 in any major World ranking. Likewise, Durham really struggles in REF, be it the overall REF score or by Research Power.
Original post by Magic Streets
To be fair, not many students do think Durham is third best, since it struggles to even make the Uk's top 10 in any major World ranking. Likewise, Durham really struggles in REF, be it the overall REF score or by Research Power.


That's true. But most people view a Durham degree as prestigious as any other aside from Oxbridge mainly because of its history, buildings and collegiate structure. It has the whiff of Oxbridge about it.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Internationally Imperial college London And UCL beat Durham. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2016

in fact quite a few UK universities beat Durham, so I do think it is silly to put them right behind Oxbridge.

having said that Durham still make the top 100 universities in the world which is the standard for world class in universities apparently. So Durham are in fact a world class university and you can be proud of that if you go there. Just putting them behind Oxbridge is silly.
4th University Cambridge
6th Oxford University
7th UCL
9th Imperial
19th Edinburgh
21st Kings college
29 Manchester university
37th London School of Economics
41st University of Bristol
51st Warwick University
63rd Glasgow University
74th Durham University
etc
Original post by SunnysideSea
That's true. But most people view a Durham degree as prestigious as any other aside from Oxbridge mainly because of its history, buildings and collegiate structure. It has the whiff of Oxbridge about it.

Posted from TSR Mobile


I don't think Durham's degrees are on par with that of Imperial, LSE or UCL. Durham thrives on superficial prestige. They will never be a super powerhouse like UCL.
(edited 7 years ago)
The only people who think Durham is third behind Oxbridge are Durham students. In most subjects there are other unis with stronger departments. STEM: Imperial, Social Sciences: LSE, All round unis: UCL, Warwick, Edinburgh.

Durham does not produce international research in peer reviewed journals, attracts less research grants and its grad schools are not top tier by international standards.

Even with regards to attracting public school students from well off families, St Andrews has stolen Durham's thunder.
Durham has a number of things going for it:

The city is a lovely place to live, with short distances between departments, colleges and extracurricular activities.

Being part of a college makes for a feeling of belonging to a closeknit community and means that there are two levels of sport, theatre, music, etc, university (serious) level and college (more relaxed) level.
This debate is and always has been very boring
Original post by tiny hobbit
Durham has a number of things going for it:

The city is a lovely place to live, with short distances between departments, colleges and extracurricular activities.

Being part of a college makes for a feeling of belonging to a closeknit community and means that there are two levels of sport, theatre, music, etc, university (serious) level and college (more relaxed) level.


But aren't the professors and lecturers at most top universities just as capable as the ones at Durham?
Original post by Lord Jon
This debate is and always has been very boring


Then go away and be at peace. Cheap reps scrounger.
Imperial for STEM
LSE for Social Sciences
Durham for Humanities
Original post by Magic Streets
But aren't the professors and lecturers at most top universities just as capable as the ones at Durham?


Yes. I was giving some explanation as to why many students choose Durham over unversities which are (a bit) more prestigious.
Original post by Magic Streets
Is it laughable to put Durham after Oxbridge as the best?
Definitely not for History. Always depends on the subject. Durham is a small-ish Uni, and doesn't do loads of different subjects.
Original post by Magic Streets
But aren't the professors and lecturers at most top universities just as capable as the ones at Durham?
People are different. Some of them will work with you well, some of them may aggravate the living daylights out of you so that you will never want to see you again. You be the judge of people when you visit the unis.
Reply 19
Avatar for Ipsooo
Ipsooo
5
Depends on what factors you rank it on. Research, yes, maybe London unis are better in fact imperial and lse dominate Oxbridge in some areas even. But if its quality of teaching and student life and general prestige then Durham is definitely one of the best after Oxbridge and their tutorial system.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you