Official Durham Applicants Thread 2011

You can demonstrate academic potential in ways other than exam results, as Durham clearly feel. Don't be foolish enough to believe that getting 4A*s makes you academically superior to all of the other applicants!

If stories like this show anything, it's simply that many departments within Durham don't simply choose the applicants with the best A level or GCSE results, I'm sure that these are used to distinguish borderline candidates, but as they quite openly reiterate, the personal statement is very important

Wow thanks! Perhaps I forgot to mention in my personal statement my position as a Captain of school, my work experience with top theare directors, having written scripts for the BBC ( radio, broadcast 2008) having played Olivia, Ophelia and Puck in school plays, working with children in Thailand, raising money for victims of Genocide, working at an international boarding school teaching English in The Netherlands... cba to defend myself much more. Clearly I havent been living in a cave with my books.

haha, I don't think I'm going to go on the open day thing..it seems a bit of a waste of £30 + travel expenses, and also missing 2 days of school (I think?) when I know that there's no way that I will firm it, and that it would be pointless to insure it...although your situation is different seeing as Cambridge are asking for A*AA and Durham AAA, whereas with me Oxford is also asking for AAA...

I genuinely wonder if your offer would be made to someone else in your department if you decline their offer in the next few days rather than hang on to it till May.

Yea, I mean, I love Durham for so many reasons that it made me feel really conflicted with the Oxford application.
So in lots of ways I'm relieved. This isnt the end, I've already found a Postgrad course at Oxford which I really like the sound of.
In my opinion, its more important to do a masters somewhere with a crazy international reputation, particularly as im 98% sure ill go on to do more degrees.
If I manage to do well in my first degree hopefully I'll strive for either Ivy League or Oxbridge again but I'm quite content now.
More than that, I'm ecstatic. Meeting people and joining lots of societies are so so important to me in my first degree in addition to the important academics.
It sucks to be rejected and I know how you feel about the tutorial system but I feel theres a lot in the pro column for somewhere a bit more 'fun' (which of course is very largely opinion based) which can't be later achieved.

I was wondering why people were talking so much about Durham until I realised that this was the Durham applicants thread and not the Cambridge pool thread. Since Cambridge has rejected me this could well end up being my firm. Anyone else applied here for Chemistry?

Yep =D
when did you send your application?

I'm really sorry you didn't get in
I don't think anyone intended for you or any of the other applicants to feel disheartened.
I was merely giving my own perspective on the situation as someone not getting in to Oxford but I understand if it was really your first choice for you to not really feel the same way.
I just wanted to express my excitement about durham and i think the whole thing about 'the rejects' university is really more about 'we're all in the same boat so lets try and make the best of an unfortunate situation', rather than we're ok going to a less reputable university.
I'm sorry consider it dropped.

Congratulations on Durham and hopefully other universities. Where else have you applied and for what?

This is something I'd been wondering about too. Does anybody know more about this?

I would just like to point out that the most intelligent/well qualified people in the world are almost always NOT the richest and most successful (apparently psychology uni modules on intelligence will tell you this). Getting on in life involves so many factors besides intelligence. Life is what you make it. I know lots of people with an oxbridge degree who didn't do anything great with their lives.

This is something I'd been wondering about too. Does anybody know more about this?

You can demonstrate academic potential in ways other than exam results, as Durham clearly feel. Don't be foolish enough to believe that getting 4A*s makes you academically superior to all of the other applicants!

If stories like this show anything, it's simply that many departments within Durham don't simply choose the applicants with the best A level or GCSE results, I'm sure that these are used to distinguish borderline candidates, but as they quite openly reiterate, the personal statement is very important

Wow thanks! Perhaps I forgot to mention in my personal statement my position as a Captain of school, my work experience with top theare directors, having written scripts for the BBC ( radio, broadcast 2008) having played Olivia, Ophelia and Puck in school plays, working with children in Thailand, raising money for victims of Genocide, working at an international boarding school teaching English in The Netherlands... cba to defend myself much more. Clearly I havent been living in a cave with my books.

I know there's been at least one Modern Languages offer, but don't think that was for deferred.

I'm waiting for Combined Arts, but French is one of the subjects I've put down, so am also waiting for the Language dept. too (although I hear they're meant to be slower at giving out offers).

Yes.. my university advisor said universities look if anyone firms offers especially oxbridge so that they can give out other offers.. if they give too many they get fined so they dont.. but if they see someone has firmed then they probably will.. thats why they wait until april sometimes.. not because they havn't looked at the app its because it is in the maybe pile and they look to see who will firm them and who will firm other unis so they can be more certain about numbers i would firm oxbridge if i were you to make it fairer..

They make more offers than they have places because they expect some people to turn them down/change their plans. I wouldn't worry about it. Sooner or later, someone will get the place.

that was speedy!! :O I got my offer before christmas and I still havent heard about the college.. they've forgotten about me lol.
I want to send an email as a little reminder but I know they'll be SUPER busy now so I don't know what good it'd do.
Did you hear by post? I live overseas so I was hoping they'd send an email but my inbox is empty *sigh*..
I guess if I irritate them by sending an email they can't legally take back my offer :P

congrats again!

Ye when I went to the Cambridge open day, all the postgrads came from other universities, ones I hadn't heard of mostly!! Though I'm not sure what I want to do yet. If I want to go into research, Cambridge is where I want to go, though I am already signed up to a masters at Durham which will be cheaper than a masters elsewhere because of fees rise and stuff.
Societies, music societies are what I'm going to join, I might join a little brass ensemble, fingers crossed they have an orchestra who want a bass trombone
And I'll work hard at Durham too, what course are you going to do? I'm basically doing a masters in Physics and Maths, even though its called natural sciences!

Yes I heard by post! So that may explain the delay! Have you checked your AES? If you go on there, look at the "Useful Links" page and see if there is a college listed, that may be a solution, as I checked that on Thursday and it said St. Cuth's on it and got the letter yesterday!

Yea thanks, I check that all the time but there's been zero change.
I'm just unloved -- none of them want me to play on their squash team (I don't play squash so frankly, I'm not surprised)

I sent a very nice email this evening asking them to send me an email about my college allocation if it is sent by post because I live overseas and the mail is really bad here blah blah and that I would like to know as soon as the information is available so I can book the open day... which I'm not sure I'm doing but I figured it justifies my urgency, rather than me just being incredibly impatient!!

I feel rubbish scrawling all over this thread about how I haven't heard yet and so many people haven't heard about the offers or anything.. very selfish

I sent mine a little bit late like last month.
Did you send yours earlier like October or something?