Clever people at Durham?

I am 99% sure I will choose to go to durham if i get in this year however one question that I must just ask which is a bit stupid but something that if i dont ask I just wont ever know...

Is everyone at Durham quite clever or are there a mix of academic levels...I seem to do ok in exams (in the summer got AAB) but in lessons etc I seem to find 'clever' people quite daunting...so i suppose my question is, is it quite apparent that people at durham are clever and this shows in lectures/seminars or not?

Bit of a random question but something that seems to be playing on my mind a bit!

Reply 1

Itchynscratchy

10

What a strange thing to worry about.

The way I always see it is this, you can't be much less good at your subject than someone else on your course if you both got in.

Of course Durham people are generally quite clever, but if your are going to be one of them, then so are you. :smile:

Reply 2

Esquire

1

Itchynscratchy

Of course Durham people are generally quite clever, but if your are going to be one of them, then so are you.

*feels the urge to say something nasty relating this quote and the subject matter*

Reply 3

Princess_Peach

you're nasty if you say it :wink:

Reply 4

pikaboo

13

It's difficult to say - those that sound really eloquent and sophisticated in tutorials aren't necessarily those who will get the best marks, they might just have more confidence to put in spoken words what you're just gonna put in your exam anyway. At least that's the way I like to look at it :biggrin:

everyone has the potential to do well as long as you put the effort in - those that are labelled 'clever' are probably just showing off more :p:

Reply 5

NilDesperandum

pikaboo

It's difficult to say - those that sound really eloquent and sophisticated in tutorials aren't necessarily those who will get the best marks, they might just have more confidence to put in spoken words what you're just gonna put in your exam anyway. At least that's the way I like to look at it :biggrin:

everyone has the potential to do well as long as you put the effort in - those that are labelled 'clever' are probably just showing off more :p:

I whole-heartedly agree with you there. When doing my a-levels I knew people who were extremely clever, but would rather hush-up and keep their heads down, where as the 'swats' as such (sorry to use such a stereotypical word) attempted to show off their knowledge of a certain subject. Rather off-topic, but hey :p:

If you get the grades to get into Durham, you deserve to be there.

--Saul.

Reply 6

Mattmoy_2000

9

In my experience, the ones that are "clever" in lectures are actually not that good at their subject (in my case, physics).

Reply 7

Itchynscratchy

10

Esquire

*feels the urge to say something nasty relating this quote and the subject matter*

Making a grammar mistake is in no way a measure of intelligence. Especially in my case considering my field

Reply 8

Foxius

There's plenty of kids who think that Durham is right behind (or even ahead of) Oxbridge in terms of pretty much everything.

Not sure how much truth there is to that belief, but one thing you'll surely find here is unwavering middle-class pretentiousness. Meh, it's not their fault.

I'm not knocking it though - Durham is still a brilliant place to be.

Reply 9

arkbar

12

you're nasty if you say it

It was a typographical error, not a grammatical one, hence why the word 'are' follows 'your'.

Reply 10

Teehar

10

you'll always have 'tards in your lectures and so on that try to answer everything or ask pointless questions that they know the lecturer doesn't know, I'm guessing it occurs across the board in all subjects at all unis. I find the best way is to just sit back and let them speak. Relax and dont feel intimidated, just because they're more eloquent, it won't make them right.

Reply 11

loggins

17

When I went on holiday I got talking to this girl, and when I told her I was going to Durham, she looked at me with a shocked and frightened expression and said: "Ooh, Durham...That's the clever person's place..." - This I found hilarious! :biggrin:

Reply 12

Mattmoy_2000

9

Talking of clever people, does anyone know how to use Friedmann's equation to obtain an expression for the density parameter in terms of redshift, z? (not assuming a flat universe).

Wikipedia! :p:

frizzy_locks

I am 99% sure I will choose to go to durham if i get in this year however one question that I must just ask which is a bit stupid but something that if i dont ask I just wont ever know...

Is everyone at Durham quite clever or are there a mix of academic levels...I seem to do ok in exams (in the summer got AAB) but in lessons etc I seem to find 'clever' people quite daunting...so i suppose my question is, is it quite apparent that people at durham are clever and this shows in lectures/seminars or not?

Bit of a random question but something that seems to be playing on my mind a bit!

Yes yes, tons of asswhipe pretentious rah rah ***** who ask pointless questions which only confuse the rest of the class. 80% of people are what i would class as "clever", but it doesn't mean they push it in your face all the time. Most of my new mates at uni are incredibly intelligent in comparison to myself, but this does not mean that i can't be friends with them as they are not stuck up or full of themselves. Don't worry

Reply 15

RobbieC

15

Mattmoy_2000

Talking of clever people, does anyone know how to use Friedmann's equation to obtain an expression for the density parameter in terms of redshift, z? (not assuming a flat universe).

I think it has something to do with your wavelength normalization constant...

or a wedding cake.

Both answers being equally nonsesical, useless and pointless - which is what Physics is all about after all.