Bath or Durham for chemistry????

I am struggling to choose between Bath uni and Durham uni for a chemistry degree starting in sept 2018. I have received offers for both, Durham being slightly higher.

Does anyone have any advice on how to decide??

Reply 1

Blue_Cow

Original post by salvatore1864

They're both quality universities. AFAIK Bath is known for having excellent opportunities for industrial experience which is invaluable.

They're also very different universities. One with a collegiate structure (albeit unlike Oxbridge, no teaching is done within the colleges) and one is more "campus" based.

Have you visited Bath and Durham? They're beautiful cities. Also, be sure to check out the course content as one might, for example, have a stronger focus on organic or inorganic chemistry which might be a factor if you're planning to do an MChem integrated masters.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 2

SarahBaggaley

This doesn't particularly help you I know but I'm in the same position for education with psychology! I really like both and my Durham offer is slightly higher too, so I'll keep an eye on this and see if anything helpful comes up!

Reply 3

salvatore1864

Original post by Blue_Cow

I have visited both and I think I prefer Bath as a city and it is much closer to home. However I do like the college system at Durham as it has more of a community feel.
The courses are pretty much the same but in my opinion Durham has better optional modules.

Reply 4

Blue_Cow

Original post by salvatore1864

Hmm. It's definitely a tough choice. Seems like you prefer Durham slightly more than Bath? :tongue:

You do have some time to think about it. No rush in firming (iirc the deadline to reply is the 2nd May if you receive all your offers before 31st March?)

Reply 5

University of Bath

Official Rep

Original post by salvatore1864

Hey Salvatore,

I'm a physics student at the University of Bath so if you have any questions in particular that you think may help you decide then please ask away :smile:

You already spoke of options, so I'm assuming you've seen the chemistry course's catalogue online, which gives every module and a description of it? If not here's the link: http://www.bath.ac.uk/catalogues/2017-2018/ch/ch-proglist-ug.html

Some advice when choosing which course:

Make sure you know the university's main method of assessment. As I remember applying to Lancaster and then realising only when I talked to a student that their homework due in every week went towards their final grade, with I think a 50:50 coursework:exam ratio. Which definitely agrees with people who struggle in exams, however I personally wanted 100% exam assessment for most of my courses if possible.

In my opinion, I wouldn't weigh too heavily on rank as most of the time employers see all of the 'top' universities in the same light- and the differentiating factor between candidates tends to be all the other activities or experience they offer. I don't know anything about Durham, however I can tell you that Bath really excels in building a great CV.

Just some examples would be: free foreign languages courses offered at the university at a range of levels by our dedicated Foreign Languages Center, 'Skills workshops' which are free to attend and usually 2 are on every week with courses on Advanced Excel, Managing People, Creating your Own Business, etc. , and of course we have a impressively high number of students that go on a work placement year: and talking as a final year student looking for a graduate job- it really, really helps!!

Everything I mentioned above and all the other things on offer can be found by having a nose through our website which is for bath students themselves (and so this website isn't so readily advertised)- and so it'll hopefully give you a good idea of what we're actually like! https://www.thesubath.com/

Hope this has helped and let me know if you have any questions :smile:

Lydia