The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

My parents are taking me to university and we're gonna be a day early, because they'd like to see the town and everything so we're going to stay overnight - can anyone recommend a good bed and breakfast or something similar in Durham? :smile:

Reply 2701

Edenr

14

Ultimate1

To all mathmo's:

What were your UMS scores when you applied?

Also does the course require a lot of dedication (Which ofcourse I don't mind, it's maths after all :drool:

)

They were both around the 280 mark (four years ago). And yes, a fair bit of dedication is needed. I found that my enthusiasm dropped with each passing year.

Reply 2702

charlotte_joy

la_mariposa

My parents are taking me to university and we're gonna be a day early, because they'd like to see the town and everything so we're going to stay overnight - can anyone recommend a good bed and breakfast or something similar in Durham? :smile:

Hiya!!

I'm doing the same with my parents, we are going up on the saturday, because it takes us about 5 hours to drive up there...!

We are staying in the Premier Inn. I stayed there for the open days as well, and it is very good for bed and breakfast and right near the centre of Durham :smile:

Hope that helps!!

Reply 2703

Ultimate1

Edenr

They were both around the 280 mark (four years ago). And yes, a fair bit of dedication is needed. I found that my enthusiasm dropped with each passing year.

Damn my Further is 269 and Maths 290 giving me overall 559/600 which averages to 93%. Reckon I've got a fair shot?

Reply 2704

jaheen22

12

Do you have to sit an interview when applying to Maths??

Reply 2705

Hopping Mad Kangaroo

15

jaheen22

Do you have to sit an interview when applying to Maths??

No, the University have a general policy against them for undergraduate study.

Reply 2706

Emanon

Hi, I'm starting at Durham in Oct and have been looking at maybe joining a choir as I really enjoy singing. However from what I have seen they all require auditions and are very elite. I have never sung in a formal choir before and can't read music, so I'd never get in. Are there any choirs or groups for newbie's like me?

Reply 2707

annab1684

15

Emanon

Hi, I'm starting at Durham in Oct and have been looking at maybe joining a choir as I really enjoy singing. However from what I have seen they all require auditions and are very elite. I have never sung in a formal choir before and can't read music, so I'd never get in. Are there any choirs or groups for newbie's like me?

I know the college choir at Trevs where I'm going is non auditioned. There's a choir called Voices - if you go on the DSU which is also non-auditioned.. I'm not sure if it says something about reading music on that one though. Definitley see if your college has one - if not - you might be able to join a different college's one. :smile:

Reply 2708

thewrong_girl

mightyjingyi

hey (:

i'm an international student and just wanna ask if it's alright to bring your laptop to lectures to take notes? or is the norm more of taking down notes in notepads? and are the powerpoint lecture slides used uploaded onto any university internet portal before the lecture itself? or do lecturers actually prepare handouts?

thank you!

It is ok to take your laptop to lectures, however most people in my lectures don't. I think the reason is speed of typing and the fact it is easier and lighter to carry a notebook and pen to a lecture than even a small netbook or macbook.

The powerpoint slides thing does vary on your department and lecturer. Some departments don't seem to have embraced powerpoint or DUO at all whereas others have powerpoints, hand outs and even some lectures on DUO. Some lecturers put the slides/hand outs they make before the lectures on DUO before and some after. Hand outs are very rare in my departments (Philosophy and Politics) but I can't speak across the board.

Very vague I know but I hope it helps. :smile:

Reply 2709

dring

12

thewrong_girl

It is ok to take your laptop to lectures, however most people in my lectures don't. I think the reason is speed of typing and the fact it is easier and lighter to carry a notebook and pen to a lecture than even a small netbook or macbook.

The powerpoint slides thing does vary on your department and lecturer. Some departments don't seem to have embraced powerpoint or DUO at all whereas others have powerpoints, hand outs and even some lectures on DUO. Some lecturers put the slides/hand outs they make before the lectures on DUO before and some after. Hand outs are very rare in my departments (Philosophy and Politics) but I can't speak across the board.

Very vague I know but I hope it helps. :smile:

Embrace? Eurrgh :tongue:

Tool of the devil!

Reply 2710

marsbars

John Snow starting October :smile:

The site didn't have a lot of pictures of the college, so just curious as to the rooms etc, hope I don't have too much stuff to move in!

Business and Finance with foundation - anyone else doing the same?

Oh also, I think my welcome pack thing is going to be sent to Dubai and I'm vacationing and then heading straight to uni so i won't be getting it, anything important in there I need to know?

Reply 2711

charlotte_joy

Hi, I have a question about fairy lights...

I know that the "christmas style" bulb fairy lights are banned from your room due to being a fire hazard, but are even the LED versions banned? Surely they are no more of a fire risk than a desk lamp or lava lamp, for example?! I want to bring my pink lights with me :frown:

Reply 2712

Sequin

11

Does anything know much about College cheerleading?

I know Grey have a very good team, but I can't find out if Castle have a team or not. I'm just looking for something dancey to do as a keep-fit type thing. :smile:

Oh, and on the subject of fairy lights, I have a fluffy set that dont work, and doesn't have a plug anymore. Will I still be able to bring them? They look nice!

Reply 2713

Edenr

14

Sequin

Does anything know much about College cheerleading?

I know Grey have a very good team, but I can't find out if Castle have a team or not. I'm just looking for something dancey to do as a keep-fit type thing. :smile:

Oh, and on the subject of fairy lights, I have a fluffy set that dont work, and doesn't have a plug anymore. Will I still be able to bring them? They look nice!

The American football team always seem to hang around with the Divas, who, I think, are a cross-college cheerleading squad. Also, I remember there being a college cheerleading competition a few months ago, so I assume most colleges will have a team.

Reply 2714

queen_georgie

10

charlotte_joy

Hi, I have a question about fairy lights...

I know that the "christmas style" bulb fairy lights are banned from your room due to being a fire hazard, but are even the LED versions banned? Surely they are no more of a fire risk than a desk lamp or lava lamp, for example?! I want to bring my pink lights with me :frown:

I brought my fairy lights and no one ever told me to take them down although it was in the handbook that we weren't allowed them...

X

Reply 2715

Edenr

14

charlotte_joy

Hi, I have a question about fairy lights...

I know that the "christmas style" bulb fairy lights are banned from your room due to being a fire hazard, but are even the LED versions banned? Surely they are no more of a fire risk than a desk lamp or lava lamp, for example?! I want to bring my pink lights with me :frown:

I've seen lots of people with fairy lights in their rooms and kitchens, and as far as I'm aware there hasn't been an issue.

Reply 2716

pipsi

Sequin

Does anything know much about College cheerleading?

I know Grey have a very good team, but I can't find out if Castle have a team or not. I'm just looking for something dancey to do as a keep-fit type thing. :smile:

Oh, and on the subject of fairy lights, I have a fluffy set that dont work, and doesn't have a plug anymore. Will I still be able to bring them? They look nice!

I was a cheerleader at my undergrad uni and hope to continue with cheerleading at Durham, i saw somewhere on the website that Castle have a squad although i think the webpage i was looking at that referred to it was fairly old so it could have disbanded since then. I can't remember which webpage it was that i was looking at but it's either on the official university site or one linked on the uni site, perhaps the Castle JCR website. As far as i'm aware there is also a university wide squad, i seem to remember competing against them in a competition i was at with my undergrad uni but that was a few years ago now.

Reply 2717

PNEJOE

Any current students want to give me an idea what a comfortable income is to live off at Durham?

Excluding tuition fees and accommodation/catering, I just have very little idea what a reasonable personal income is for somebody who wants to be able to go out relatively often, be involved socially in all kinds of things and not worry too much about being able to buy 'luxuries' (clothes etc) reasonably often.

Reply 2718

charlotte_joy

I'm a bit confused about practical groups for biology.

Looking at the timetable checker, it shows that the same practical is done 3 times, tues afternoon, and friday morning and afternoon. I'm guessing we only go to one of them each week, but do you always go on the same day? And are you put into groups or do you choose the slot you would prefer (if there are spaces)?

Thanks :smile:

Reply 2719

pipsi

charlotte_joy

I'm a bit confused about practical groups for biology.

Looking at the timetable checker, it shows that the same practical is done 3 times, tues afternoon, and friday morning and afternoon. I'm guessing we only go to one of them each week, but do you always go on the same day? And are you put into groups or do you choose the slot you would prefer (if there are spaces)?

Thanks :smile:

I had the same thing with seminars for the modules i want to do, for one module it has four seminars each week. I'm assuming it is because the number of people in the lecture is spilt so that seminars/practicals are taught with smaller numbers. It therefore lists the practical/seminar a number of times because the timetable people need to make allowances for room bookings for each of the seminars/practicals it needs to schedule. You will therefore only need to do one of these per week not all three.

How they split the groups will largely depend on the lecturer. When i did my undergrad course at Swansea, some lecturers allowed us to sign up to the slot that was most convenient for us (we had to stick to the same time each week unless something came up and then we would be able to go to one of the other sessions). Alternatively other lecturers used to split the lecture group themselves, either by just dividing the names on the register into equal groups or by randomly splitting the group into groups they thought might do well together on a particular topic to be debated or something like that.

I'm sure you can ask for a particular slot if it works best for you. If i get to do the modules i want, a seminar for one module clashes with a lecture for another, if the lecturers organise the groups themselves i'll just point out that that particular seminar is no good to me. Likewise because i'm a part time student and live in Newcastle it will be better for me to go to one particular seminar over another because going on a Tuesday for example means that it's the only thing i have that day at uni, whereas the Thursday one is better for me as i already have other lectures on that day.

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