Durham: Pros and Cons

Have you visited there?
Why such harsh and biased criticism?

Durham does not have a proper collegiate system like Oxbridge. Its not a criticism as such it's just a statement of fact. Durham students do seem unduly concerned about how they rank compared to other univeristies and shouldn't worry. Similar quality Unis such as Cardiff don't seem to have such issues, I don't see why Durham does.

Durham does not have a proper collegiate system like Oxbridge. Its not a criticism as such it's just a statement of fact. Durham students do seem unduly concerned about how they rank compared to other univeristies and shouldn't worry. Similar quality Unis such as Cardiff don't seem to have such issues, I don't see why Durham does.

Again, I repeat, have yuo even visited there? What are you basing this on?
hear'say?

I think it's safe to base my opinion that Durham students have concerns about status on the number of lengthy posts on this site concerning Durham and how well it ranks.

And that is different from *any* hall of residence at another university how?

Claiming that Durhams "colleges" are meaningless is not "harsh and biased critisism" - it's pretty much the opinion of everyone in the academic world.

Edit: and yes I have been there.

The colleges at Durham have a completely different atmosphere to other halls of residences.
For one you don't stay a member of other halls or return there.
I know they don't teach, and they're not as exclusive as Oxbridge colleges (thank god), but to call them meaningless is pretty wrong.
My comment on the badger's criticism was that she/he seemed to think it was a "clever scheme", without having any knowledge on the topic whatsoever - I can only wonder at his/her motivation, and against the opinion of many Durham students.
i'm not an ardent supporter of Durham - I may or may not go there - but I think it's a shame this board is polluted with such comments when the poster is ignorant to the topic in hand as it's not going to help any future students.

The colleges at Durham have a completely different atmosphere to other halls of residences.
For one you don't stay a member of other halls or return there.
I know they don't teach, and they're not as exclusive as Oxbridge colleges (thank god), but to call them meaningless is pretty wrong.
My comment on the badger's criticism was that she/he seemed to think it was a "clever scheme", without having any knowledge on the topic whatsoever - I can only wonder at his/her motivation, and against the opinion of many Durham students.
i'm not an ardent supporter of Durham - I may or may not go there - but I think it's a shame this board is polluted with such comments when the poster is ignorant to the topic in hand as it's not going to help any future students.

I meant it would be a clever scheme for another univeristy to use to improve its image. I hear Nottingham halls of residence have JCRs.

It obviously varies by university but in my experience the halls at Durham are certainly no more or less special than the halls elsewhere - calling them colleges only removes value (and encourages in-fighting/rivalry) IMO.

There is plenty of community sprit made simply through sharing a living space - to encourage from something positive to something negative isn't particularly productive.

Not for English it's not, fool. 5th best in the country, behind Oxbridge, which i didn't want to go to, some London uni, ditto, York, which is grey and put me off, and oh wait... There's Durham! So shut your mouth!

OK, OK, calm down!! I was only pointing out that Durham isn't as academically majestic as it views itself. I never said it wasnt very good!

Its amazing how quickly people dissappear up their own arses when someone criticises the university theyre going to! Blimey!

She was joking mate - hence the smiley face!!

Also kingslaw, why so against stockport?
I live there and it's ok - you're only half an hour from manc.
Although I do live in a good area away from the centre.
And come on, it could be worse....

Oh right! Sorry!

For reasons look here and click on stockport: http://www.craptowns.com/html/frontsection/craptowns/30_5/england.htm

Its a shame when the best thing about a town is that it is close to somewhere else!

Well.. nothing is going to change my mind about going to Durham. I got a letter from UCAS stating confirmation of my choices.. ironically, Leeds sent me an "international students' prospectus" in the same batch of post.

Hahaha - that's pretty weird of Leeds. Roughly how long did it take UCAS to send your confirmation of choices after you made them? They've updated online but that's it for me.

An awful lot of people seem terribly perturbed by the perception of Durham as having an overly high image of itself. Why? If you don't like it, ignore it and don't go there, lol. I like the course and so I want to go.

And why are you bothered that it calls itself collegiate? I personally found the system very different to normal halls of residence, but what does the name even matter? Just visit, see if you like the system, and if you do, who cares what it calls itself? It doesn't help anyone to play games over semantics.

An awful lot of people seem terribly perturbed by the perception of Durham as having an overly high image of itself. Why? If you don't like it, ignore it and don't go there, lol. I like the course and so I want to go.

And why are you bothered that it calls itself collegiate? I personally found the system very different to normal halls of residence, but what does the name even matter? Just visit, see if you like the system, and if you do, who cares what it calls itself? It doesn't help anyone to play games over semantics.