Durham and Cambridge: Would I be nuts to choose Durham?

Hey All,

I'm an American student, more specifically from the U.S., applying to master's programmes in contemporary literature studies with an eye towards researching David Foster Wallace and other "New Sincerity" movement writers. After deciding to undertaken my degree in the UK, I settled on applications to Cambridge, Durham, York, and Glasgow.

It's two months later and I have received acceptances from all these schools (good problem to have, I know). Initially, I had been fully settled on Cambridge were I to be accepted, but as I went through the process, I became increasingly taken with Durham. Firstly, though the Cambridge programme is generally right for my interests, truth be told, there is no advisor there who is as good a fit as the faculty member with whom I have corresponded at Durham. Furthermore, the difference in the communications I've had with Durham and Cambridge faculty and admin has been like night and day, with Durham responding promptly, thoughtfuly and at length – whereas Cambridge replies has frequently been curt, slow, or in form letters with no follow-up.

i realize I may be generalizing based on limited experiences but my intuition tells me that this difference is somewhat reflective of the experiences I would have at these respective schools. However, given the international cachet of Cambridge, part of me is having a lot of trouble trusting myself, though if it was the US, I wouldn't blink at turning down Harvard or Princeton for Brown or Stanford.

i guess what I'm looking for is for someone to tell me either "yes, it's ok to choose Durham over Cambridge, that's not crazy and unheard of", or "Absolutely don't do that because (specific reason)." Thanks so much for replies in advance. You have a very supportive and courteous online community here.

Best of luck to all other applicants!

Reply 1

gutenberg

What are your plans for after the master's? If you were thinking PhDs, then having a relevant and well-respected expert in your particular area (as it seems to be with the Durham supervisor) could be invaluable. However, on name recognition alone, both within and outside the UK, Cambridge trumps Durham every time, so if you were hoping to use the master's as an eye-catching addition to your CV before seeking employment, then Cambridge could be worth reconsidering. Even in terms of PhD applications, if that is your plan, having Cambridge on your CV will very seldom hurt you.

Have you ever visited either place? Both are relatively small places, though Cambridge is much better connected with London, and if you were planning to live in the UK just for the year, and hoped to get out & about while you were here, Durham's relative isolation could be trickier.

I don't think you'd be crazy to choose Durham over Cambridge, if you really feel the programme's a better fit, and the supervisor is closer to your area. I wouldn't base the decision purely off of interactions with admin staff, or initial exchanges with supervisors. Cambridge get many more applications than Durham I imagine, meaning the admin staff are more pressed for time in their work. Additionally, if you were emailing supervisors during Cambridge term time, it is often crazy busy for academics, so a short response may have been all they had time for.

These are some rambling thoughts I had. I'm at Cambridge currently (not in English, but another humanities subject), I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have :smile:

Durham and Cambridge: Would I be nuts to choose Durham?

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