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bristol Vs durham

Hi, everybaody. I am a new comer here and very glad to get acquainted with all of you.

I am an overseas student. I have got offers for the LLM program from Bristol and Durham. But I really cannot learn much about the two universities just from the websites of them and as I know, the ranking cannot be rest on absolutely. Therefore, it is difficult for me to make the final decision.

Bristol commercial law
Durham international trade and commercial law

Hope you could give me some advice. Thank you for your kind assistance, which will be of great help to me. :smile:

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Reply 1
Not sure bout LLM, but for LLB, I would say Durham all the way ( and you know Im not biased coz Ive an offer from Bristol, yet nothing from Durham as yet)..
Reply 2
manthi
Not sure bout LLM, but for LLB, I would say Durham all the way ( and you know Im not biased coz Ive an offer from Bristol, yet nothing from Durham as yet)..


I think the majority of informed people would disagree with you there. Have you been reading the times university guide subject league tables, by any chance?

Also, your offer from Bristol does not necessarily demonstrate impartiality; that is not to say that you are biased, rather, that you are using faulty logic.
Reply 3
If you are going to base you're whole perception on which university is better on merely the Times University Guide, then so be it. Although, as "informed" as you may be, many people would say that Newspaper ratings are not the ideal thing to go by. a good example is Durham itself. According to the Times rankings, Durham is 3rd, while Bristol I believe is somewhere like 18th! And according to the Guardian, Durham is 33rd!! So you realise how "informed" our decisions will be when we take them by looking at newspaper rankings? A better way would be to think about employer's points of view - and in that regard, many believe Durham to be ahead of Brisol. Look at Lawz's thread in this same forum concerning the matter. Whatsmore, look at the standard offers at both universities. While Durham gives out AAA as its standard offer, Bristol continuously gives AAB or ABB (as in my case). Faulty or not, logic might seem to suggest that students at Durham are a bit more accomplished at A Level than those at Bristol; which says a bit about the university itself.
I think you're the uninformed one, my love.

You completely missed the point. I believe 2easy was suggesting that you have been reading too much into the league tables. This appears not to be the case, but you're being similarly simplistic by assuming that a higher standard offer means a better course. Two years ago I got an AAAB offer from Exeter (yes, really) and an ABB offer from Nottingham.

A university might make an ABB offer to a candidate because they especially like them and want them to accept it. Or if they receive two applications which are equal in every respect but one was received in September and the other in November, they might make an AAA offer to the person who applied in September because they suspect that person has applied to Oxbridge, whereas the other has obviously not. No university wants to be your insurance choice. It's a pain in the arse admin wise. So if they think you've applied to Oxbridge, they'll happily raise an AAB or even an ABB offer to AAA, just so you can't do that.
Reply 5
I would say there isn't a huge difference in Bristol and Durham's reputations. Both are traditional institutions and both are popular with employers. You have totally missed 2easy's point - everyone knows the newspaper rankings should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The comment about offers is slightly irrelevant. I believe Bristol's standard offer this year for the LLB is AAA, exactly the same as almost every other decent uni. Durham and Bristol both give out lower offers to international students. I assume this is the same for the LLM. Anyhow, the vast majority who get offers have been predicted AAA.

If you actually read Lawz's thread then you will know that Bristol and Durham have been 'ranked' exactly the same. They are in the group under Oxbridge, and as each group is in no particular order then according to him there really isn't much between them.

Finally, here's the reason I didn't even bother applying to Durham: I visited it and I thought it was pants. The law department buildings were tiny and dated, the tutors left me uninspired, and the place itself made me feel like a giant. Bristol on the other hand, where I am now, is huge, and the law building is arguably the best of all the departments and the tutors are great. Perhaps this would be a more useful factor to consider.

Cxx
Ciara, I'm so jealous of the Bristol lawyers being in the Wills Building. :frown:
Reply 7
Where are the Durham people when you need them!!!!
Reply 8
hmm i cant contribute much to this thread as Im an intl student and havent visited any university in the UK. however, from my knowledge and what ive been hearing, to me Durham is " better" than bristol. some reasons are that ive been hearing more about it, according to the website it is " officially" a top 5 law school ( not sure what thats based on) , the university as a whole has a better reputation throughout the uk especiallly for the social and pure sciences ( thats what ive picked up from months of reading threads around here and articles regarding universities in the UK). and thats my unbiased opinion , but keep in mind the limitations of my experience with UK unis.
Reply 9
I always heard that Durham was more reputable for law than Bristol in the league tables, however i guess it depends what you want in a uni. I have grown up near durham and gone to school there since i was ten. It is very beautiful and peaceful, the city centre is a bit naff for nights out (in my experience). Haven't been to Bristol but have been told all the fitties go there!! (seems a good enough reason for me!).
Course wise, i don't think there seems to be much between them, but Bristols nightlife must be better, i mean it can't really be any quieter than Durham!
Reply 10
well, if the specialism is taken into account, which is better then?

besides, i think the courses provided by durham are not so good as those by bristol. and it seems that durham has a high reputation for its EU law. even most courses in the program of international trade and commercial law are EU laws
Reply 11
both the unis have amazing reputations and are good law schools but in my opinion durham is generally slightly more highly regarded and only a little bit below oxbridge.
saying that social life wise definiteeeeely go for bristol, there is one crappy little club in durham.
Reply 12
what are the opinions of others?
Reply 13
barbie
...there is one crappy little club in durham.


That's not actually true. Yes, there is a 'crappy club' in Durham (called Klute) but there are others: Walkabout, DH1 and Studio are all pretty good. Bear in mind that in term time students constitute half of Durham's population. I'm not trying to 'big-up' my university, and I'm sure Bristol's nightlife is very different from Durham's, but there's a slightly different feel to university here (Durham). This is mainly due to the collegiate system. There are 16 different college bars; they are all very cheap (1.40/pint) and each bar is a night out in itself. This also results in the local bars and clubs competing with the college bars to get students to go to their bar/club.

I'm a first year law student so I can't claim to know much about the LLM. I can, though, give my general impression of the department. The law department is housed in an old courtroom in the shadow of Durham Castle (University College) and the Cathedral. It does appear to be small but it's very much like a rabbit warren: the corridors seem to sprout in all directions. The tutors are friendly, understanding and, perhaps most importantly, experts in their fields. I'm sure this is similar to Bristol's tutors, but I think it's still worth pointing out. Tutor groups are small (4/5 students; probabaly smaller for the LLM) and tutors are at the very edge of current research (Durham has a 5* rating for it). I know that most of my tutors have advised governments and large companies on areas such as discrimination, large building contracts (Hong Kong Airport, I believe) and many constitutional matters. They also regularly contribute to legal journals (there's a page on http://www.dur.ac.uk/law where you can read about staff and their research interests).

Well, I think I've given quite a detailed opinion, but please feel free to ask any further questions.
Reply 14
Thank you for your detailed description. As I have said above, however, I think the courses provided by durham are not so good as those by bristol. And it seems that durham has a high reputation for its EU law. even most courses in the program of international trade and commercial law are EU laws. What do you think about this problem.
drmoney89
hmm i cant contribute much to this thread as Im an intl student and havent visited any university in the UK. however, from my knowledge and what ive been hearing, to me Durham is " better" than bristol. some reasons are that ive been hearing more about it, according to the website it is " officially" a top 5 law school ( not sure what thats based on) , the university as a whole has a better reputation throughout the uk especiallly for the social and pure sciences ( thats what ive picked up from months of reading threads around here and articles regarding universities in the UK). and thats my unbiased opinion , but keep in mind the limitations of my experience with UK unis.


I hardly think the Durham website is the best place to find an unbiased opinion of how good their law school is! I bet Bradford's website says "officially" a top 10 law school, because for reasons known only to them, the Guardian placed it in the top 10 in their league tables.

Bristol and Durham are equal in reputation but different in just about everything else. Choose which course you'll enjoy more, and which city you'd rather live in.
Reply 16
susiemakemeblue
I hardly think the Durham website is the best place to find an unbiased opinion of how good their law school is!.


very true, that why I questioned the credibility of the source. however, if i were to make a rank of the top 5 law schools, durham would definitley be in it. but hey, thats just me.
Reply 17
I think Durham often has the reputation of being on the tier just below Oxbridge in terms of prestige, mainly due to the collegiate system there and the style of the town that seems to me to be more of an old style English town with perhaps less nightlife and entertainments in the town itself than other cities such as Bristol or Exeter, for example. What you do have to consider though is that Durham is within easy striking distance of Newcastle where there are a huge number of evening facilities - 'The Gate' near St. James' Park seemed to me to be a particularly nice part of town, although it is somewhat pricey. Whereas you may find yourself visiting the town a bit more in Bristol, I would imagine you could find plenty to keep you entertained within your college at Durham.
Reply 18
schmitz
I think Durham often has the reputation of being on the tier just below Oxbridge in terms of prestige, mainly due to the collegiate system there and the style of the town that seems to me to be more of an old style English town


I should hope the people offering me a job would do it on grounds other than my university was subjectively considered no to as much of an old style english town and because it does not operate a colllegiate system, which in itself is no indication of academic standards, merely having an oxbridge facade will never make you oxbridge, not to say that Durham is not one of the best unis in the country.

From what i know, the two institutions are broadly on a par, as mentioned above, contained within a group of unis just below oxbridge. The decision should therefore be based on factors such as which you liked more when you went, whether you want collegiate or not, and other, perhaps more trivial factors such as whether you like the town or not etc.
Reply 19
IAJTHOMAS
I should hope the people offering me a job would do it on grounds other than my university was subjectively considered no to as much of an old style english town and because it does not operate a colllegiate system, which in itself is no indication of academic standards, merely having an oxbridge facade will never make you oxbridge, not to say that Durham is not one of the best unis in the country.


Don't get me wrong, the nature of the town is not the only reason why one should choose a particular university over another, nor is it any reason why a university should be held in any higher estime than another but the impression you tend to receive from many people is of Durham being especially highly regarded.