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University of York
York

York or Durham? Durham with same grades as firm choice

I've chosen my firm choice but I need to choose my insurance in case I don't meet the grades. The problem is that Durham (Combined Social Sciences) as offered me the same grades as my firm: A*AA, but I really love it. I know this sort of defeats the point but I only just prefer my firm over Durham and ahhh I just really like it there. York (History) has offered me AAA. I emailed Durham Admissions and they said they don't flex for people who has put them as their insurance (??), say if I got AAA they wouldn't 'apparently' give me a place. I'm just not sure about York at all, I mean its fine but I don't love it, and would consider not going to university at all if I was transferred to York as my insurance. If Durham gave me a place as my insurance I would take it no matter what.

Has anyone been in this position/heard someone who has that was successful with Durham or another high league uni (or another uni with no places in clearing)? I've heard so many stories that universities can put high grades up and not be so strict on results day. Thank you!
Original post by patronus7
I've chosen my firm choice but I need to choose my insurance in case I don't meet the grades. The problem is that Durham (Combined Social Sciences) as offered me the same grades as my firm: A*AA, but I really love it. I know this sort of defeats the point but I only just prefer my firm over Durham and ahhh I just really like it there. York (History) has offered me AAA. I emailed Durham Admissions and they said they don't flex for people who has put them as their insurance (??), say if I got AAA they wouldn't 'apparently' give me a place. I'm just not sure about York at all, I mean its fine but I don't love it, and would consider not going to university at all if I was transferred to York as my insurance. If Durham gave me a place as my insurance I would take it no matter what.

Has anyone been in this position/heard someone who has that was successful with Durham or another high league uni (or another uni with no places in clearing)? I've heard so many stories that universities can put high grades up and not be so strict on results day. Thank you!


Hello, I have a similar problem. I would say, based on advise that has recently been given to me, to choose the one with the lower offer, which in your case is York. Though Durham is higher up in the rankings, it will be a big risk to insure a uni with the same requirements as your firm unless you're dead sure you can make those grades in your sleep. This is just to be assured that you have a school to go to if you don't make your offer because the clearing process can be quite tricky and you may not get a school as good as York or Durham.

In my case (I do IB though, not A-levels), I ended up changing my firm to Durham instead of my previous option for firm (which I have now removed completely) because they both had the same requirements and Durham kept getting more appealing each day and will now decide between York and Newcastle.
University of York
York
Original post by patronus7
I've chosen my firm choice but I need to choose my insurance in case I don't meet the grades. The problem is that Durham (Combined Social Sciences) as offered me the same grades as my firm: A*AA, but I really love it. I know this sort of defeats the point but I only just prefer my firm over Durham and ahhh I just really like it there. York (History) has offered me AAA. I emailed Durham Admissions and they said they don't flex for people who has put them as their insurance (??), say if I got AAA they wouldn't 'apparently' give me a place. I'm just not sure about York at all, I mean its fine but I don't love it, and would consider not going to university at all if I was transferred to York as my insurance. If Durham gave me a place as my insurance I would take it no matter what.

Has anyone been in this position/heard someone who has that was successful with Durham or another high league uni (or another uni with no places in clearing)? I've heard so many stories that universities can put high grades up and not be so strict on results day. Thank you!


This is literally the exact same situation I'm in right now!! I feel your pain :frown: I'm firming Cambridge (A*AA) but am torn between York (AAA) and Durham (A*AA) which I would choose just for the sake of being able to change my mind in summer .. :s-smilie:
Reply 3
Original post by Gym&Tonic
This is literally the exact same situation I'm in right now!! I feel your pain :frown: I'm firming Cambridge (A*AA) but am torn between York (AAA) and Durham (A*AA) which I would choose just for the sake of being able to change my mind in summer .. :s-smilie:


What did you choose??
York are quite flexible with grades if don't meet the requirements
Original post by patronus7
What did you choose??


I went with Cambridge and York. My thinking is that I probably would choose Cambridge over Durham if I actually get the grades, and if I really can't cope with Cambridge I can consider leaving and reapplying to Durham. I don't know how great an idea it was - I don't think I would go to York if I didn't get the grades for Cambridge... I'm just banking on Cambridge now lol.
Reply 6
Original post by Gym&Tonic
I went with Cambridge and York. My thinking is that I probably would choose Cambridge over Durham if I actually get the grades, and if I really can't cope with Cambridge I can consider leaving and reapplying to Durham. I don't know how great an idea it was - I don't think I would go to York if I didn't get the grades for Cambridge... I'm just banking on Cambridge now lol.


Ahh I insured Durham. Just decided there was no chance of me passionately wanting to go there, and I'd probably drop out.
Original post by patronus7
Ahh I insured Durham. Just decided there was no chance of me passionately wanting to go there, and I'd probably drop out.


I think you made the right choice! I regret my decision :frown:
Don't abuse York too much guys... it's pretty sick here. It's not sub-standard to go to York (unless you're hugely elitist, of course).
Reply 9
Original post by patronus7
Ahh I insured Durham. Just decided there was no chance of me passionately wanting to go there, and I'd probably drop out.


May I ask why?
Reply 10
Original post by jonnynoctu
Don't abuse York too much guys... it's pretty sick here. It's not sub-standard to go to York (unless you're hugely elitist, of course).


Yeah that's why I applied. It looked great but as I progressed throughout the year I became more attached to my course at Durham (Combined Social Sciences rather than straight History)
Reply 11
Original post by Adrono
May I ask why?


Neither of my parents went to university or completed the whole three years. I knew I wanted to take this decision seriously in terms of what the university would offer me in terms of happiness and enriching my personal academic needs and interests, which Cambridge and Durham (my choices) do. York's course is less flexible and focused on the areas I wanted to study, which are diverse. I didn't initially love Durham's straight History course (in the same way as I didn't love York's), so I applied for History, Anthropology and Politics instead. Cambridge's course spans a huge time range and set of topics most of which I was really attracted to.
Ultimately spending so much money on a course I knew I would feel even slightly uncomfortable about going into didn't seem logical. And in the end your gut feeling is a good decision maker once you've considered everything.

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