The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

Reply 3960

Helioghost

13

Original post

by maxcartwright

thanks for that :rolleyes:

i meant inside, like the rooms for example.

Ahh, sorry. :tongue:

Presume you've seen the couple of photos on the website as well?
http://www.dur.ac.uk/st-marys.college/undergraduate/accommodation/

Reply 3961

lollijade

Hello everyone,
I have an offer for Biological sciences at Durham and I am at Castle college. What is it like to be at castle college and how likely is it that you get to stay in the actual castle?
Thank you :smile:

Reply 3962

Futurism

Hi guys,

I've just firmed Durham for Engineering at Josephine Butler college. I visited Durham last summer and loved it, but I couldn't attend the open day last week.

Can anybody at Josephine Butler say what the college is like, as in good points and bad points and stuff like that?

Cheers :smile:

Reply 3963

alliegoestocollege

Hey there,
I'm an American student thinking about firming my offer for History.
One aspect of college life that I'm pretty unsure about is the amount of drinking that goes on. Since the drinking age here is 21, I have very little experience with alcohol. Now, I don't have an issue with drinking at university from time to time, but from some of what I've seen online, it appears to be the only thing that people do. Drinking and going to clubs, which are two activities, while i'm not opposed to them, i really don't want to be the only thing to do on weekends.
What else is there to do? Is going out to pubs and clubs pretty much the only social option?

thanks!

Reply 3964

sanksta

Original post

by alliegoestocollege

Hey there,
I'm an American student thinking about firming my offer for History.
One aspect of college life that I'm pretty unsure about is the amount of drinking that goes on. Since the drinking age here is 21, I have very little experience with alcohol. Now, I don't have an issue with drinking at university from time to time, but from some of what I've seen online, it appears to be the only thing that people do. Drinking and going to clubs, which are two activities, while i'm not opposed to them, i really don't want to be the only thing to do on weekends.
What else is there to do? Is going out to pubs and clubs pretty much the only social option?

thanks!

I don't drink at all and there is plenty to do still! :smile:

Quite a few of my social activities do involve being in locations where others are drinking but quite often this tends to be in pubs or college bars where we'll just sit and have a chat rather than binging in a club or something, so it's never been a problem that I don't drink. There's always loads of events on too - I've been to a couple of gigs including an acoustic night at the DSU and the student theatre productions are really cheap and really good. And of course you'll get to socialise a lot through different societies where you'll be able to meet up and have a chat with people with similar interests. :smile:

Reply 3965

Helioghost

13

Original post

by alliegoestocollege

Hey there,
I'm an American student thinking about firming my offer for History.
One aspect of college life that I'm pretty unsure about is the amount of drinking that goes on. Since the drinking age here is 21, I have very little experience with alcohol. Now, I don't have an issue with drinking at university from time to time, but from some of what I've seen online, it appears to be the only thing that people do. Drinking and going to clubs, which are two activities, while i'm not opposed to them, i really don't want to be the only thing to do on weekends.
What else is there to do? Is going out to pubs and clubs pretty much the only social option?

thanks!

I'd agree with sanksta that most peoples' choice of social activity does seem to involve drinking - whether in pubs, clubs, college bars, or just hanging out in peoples' rooms to drink.

So first off, even when people are drinking, there's nowhere near as much pressure to drink yourself as you might expect - except for what I've heard from certain clubs and societies, people do what they enjoy, but really don't mind if you don't want to do the same.

In terms of college friendship groups, some will do a lot more than just drink to socialise - movie nights, trips out, playing games, etc, as well as people always wandering in and out of rooms in college to chat to people, so it's not like people only interact when events are going on.

As a third year, I've gotten involved in a lot of societies and college groups, so I'm used to interacting with people mainly through the activities those groups do, whether that's casually planting trees with Conservation Society, playing games with Games Soc, or running around shooting people in Assassins.

Reply 3966

hypercaine.

4

Original post

by alliegoestocollege

Hey there,
I'm an American student thinking about firming my offer for History.
One aspect of college life that I'm pretty unsure about is the amount of drinking that goes on. Since the drinking age here is 21, I have very little experience with alcohol. Now, I don't have an issue with drinking at university from time to time, but from some of what I've seen online, it appears to be the only thing that people do. Drinking and going to clubs, which are two activities, while i'm not opposed to them, i really don't want to be the only thing to do on weekends.
What else is there to do? Is going out to pubs and clubs pretty much the only social option?

thanks!

Not at all, a lot of people may drink in the evenings in their rooms or at the college bar but you can still not drink alcohol if you dont want to, soft drinks are cheap. It also kinda dies down a bit the further you get into the year and no one really goes out apart from once a week or so as they cant afford to be hungover the following day.

Reply 3967

KayteeKaytee

6

I'm a bit confused by the whole 33/38 week let thing. I am paying for a 33 week let but have worked out that I'm actually only allowed in my room in college for 29 weeks (11+9+9). For both the Christmas and Easter Holidays we had to lock everything up in the boxes under the bed or take it with us. Shouldn't we technically be allowed to leave our room as it is if we're paying for it during at least one of the holidays?

Also, the Easter break alone accounts for the 5 week difference between the 33 and 38 week lets. Does this mean that everyone has to pack up everything at Christmas, even on a 38 week let?

Does anyone know how this actually works?

Reply 3968

hypercaine.

4

Original post

by KayteeKaytee

I'm a bit confused by the whole 33/38 week let thing. I am paying for a 33 week let but have worked out that I'm actually only allowed in my room in college for 29 weeks (11+9+9). For both the Christmas and Easter Holidays we had to lock everything up in the boxes under the bed or take it with us. Shouldn't we technically be allowed to leave our room as it is if we're paying for it during at least one of the holidays?

Also, the Easter break alone accounts for the 5 week difference between the 33 and 38 week lets. Does this mean that everyone has to pack up everything at Christmas, even on a 38 week let?

Does anyone know how this actually works?

Have you asked someone in college about this? Last year I had a 33 week let but we were allowed to leave our things in our rooms but only over Christmas, over Easter we had to remove everything due to the open days. If we came back before term started (before the Sunday) we were charged £15 per night.
In our other accommodation site you can leave everything over Easter, including yourself, if you wish as this is a 38 week let.

Reply 3969

undergradstudent

Original post

by KayteeKaytee

I'm a bit confused by the whole 33/38 week let thing. I am paying for a 33 week let but have worked out that I'm actually only allowed in my room in college for 29 weeks (11+9+9). For both the Christmas and Easter Holidays we had to lock everything up in the boxes under the bed or take it with us. Shouldn't we technically be allowed to leave our room as it is if we're paying for it during at least one of the holidays?

Also, the Easter break alone accounts for the 5 week difference between the 33 and 38 week lets. Does this mean that everyone has to pack up everything at Christmas, even on a 38 week let?

Does anyone know how this actually works?

Hi,

For both lets, you get catered full board accommodation for the 29 term time weeks.

For a 33 week let, you get to keep your belongings in your room for the whole 4.5 week Christmas period (in my college you could leave your room how you wanted (provided cleaners could reasonably clean), so you didn't have to put things in boxes as nobody would be in your room apart from cleaners), but you aren't allowed to live in the room and have to hand in your keys at the end of the Christmas term and pick them up again the weekend before the Spring term starts. You can pay extra to live in college over the Christmas holidays, however there is a 2 week 'closedown' over Christmas where you have to leave. If you need to stay in Durham during those 2 weeks, you can pay extra to live in another college with the other students who are staying (I think you're usually put in Aidan's).

For a 38 week let, you get to keep your belongings in your room for the Christmas and Easter holidays, and you can live in your room (or come and go as you please) during both holidays, except for the 2 week closedown at Christmas. It will be self-catered but you should have a pantry with a fridge and some cooking facilities on your corridor.

So in summary:

33 week let = term time catered residence + storage (no room access) over the Christmas holidays;

38 week let = term time catered residence + live in your room self-catered over the Christmas and Easter holidays (except 2 weeks over Christmas).

Reply 3970

Helioghost

13

Original post

by KayteeKaytee

I'm a bit confused by the whole 33/38 week let thing. I am paying for a 33 week let but have worked out that I'm actually only allowed in my room in college for 29 weeks (11+9+9). For both the Christmas and Easter Holidays we had to lock everything up in the boxes under the bed or take it with us. Shouldn't we technically be allowed to leave our room as it is if we're paying for it during at least one of the holidays?

Also, the Easter break alone accounts for the 5 week difference between the 33 and 38 week lets. Does this mean that everyone has to pack up everything at Christmas, even on a 38 week let?

Does anyone know how this actually works?

Which college are you looking at, btw? As there might be specific reasons for why you have to move out at Christmas. I think Trevs just demands that the room is tidy so that cleaners can get at it, not stripped (over Christmas, that is).

Also look out for specifics with 38 week lets - such as at my college, next year anyone in the non-refurbished area of college will have to move out at the start of Easter no matter what let they're on, effectively meaning that compulsory 38 week lets are a complete load of balls.

Reply 3971

KayteeKaytee

6

Original post

by Awoodrow2

Which college are you looking at, btw? As there might be specific reasons for why you have to move out at Christmas. I think Trevs just demands that the room is tidy so that cleaners can get at it, not stripped (over Christmas, that is).

Also look out for specifics with 38 week lets - such as at my college, next year anyone in the non-refurbished area of college will have to move out at the start of Easter no matter what let they're on, effectively meaning that compulsory 38 week lets are a complete load of balls.

Aidan's. I actually think this is a complete con. We were required to hand over our keys at Christmas so had no access to the room, yet still had to pay for it. I appreciate those rooms are used by those staying over Christmas from other colleges but they really can't call this a 33 week let if we only get access to our rooms for 29.

Reply 3972

Helioghost

13

Original post

by KayteeKaytee

Aidan's. I actually think this is a complete con. We were required to hand over our keys at Christmas so had no access to the room, yet still had to pay for it. I appreciate those rooms are used by those staying over Christmas from other colleges but they really can't call this a 33 week let if we only get access to our rooms for 29.

I'd suggest channels to complain through, but there's no chance of clearing that up since the university aren't budging on a more recent, more contested, more obvious con.

Although I have had a fourth year student suggest to me that someone who knows someone in the media could probably get a story out about how Durham treats its students financially.

Reply 3973

paperstars123

5

I'm sorry if these questions were asked before - I couldn't find specific answers through the 'search' button and couldn't be bothered to browse through all these pages:

1.What's the usual class size in economics, especially in tutorials?
2.Do students have a lot of class discussion with the lecturers? or is it more based on self-study and meeting the lecturers for help outside class?
3.how's the prospects of further study after the undergraduate course at Durham? I'm aware that the degree is from the business school, so I'm not sure how much difference it'll make.

Thanks! :smile:

Reply 3974

PudPud

5

I am thinking about studying French and German at Durham in 2013.
But I am very worried about my GCSE's

AS Predictions: AAAA (French, German, English Lit and History)

GCSE's: English Lit A*
English Lang A*
French A
History A
German B
Geography B
Maths B
Additional Science B
Core Science B
P.E C
R.E (Short Course) B
ICT (Short Course) Pass

What do you think?

Reply 3975

luceyinthesky8

Are you allowed to study in the palace green library?

Reply 3976

Econ92

Original post

by paperstars123

I'm sorry if these questions were asked before - I couldn't find specific answers through the 'search' button and couldn't be bothered to browse through all these pages:

1.What's the usual class size in economics, especially in tutorials?
2.Do students have a lot of class discussion with the lecturers? or is it more based on self-study and meeting the lecturers for help outside class?
3.how's the prospects of further study after the undergraduate course at Durham? I'm aware that the degree is from the business school, so I'm not sure how much difference it'll make.

Thanks! :smile:

Hey,

1. Lectures for the two main modules (Elements and Methods) have upwards of 250-300 students in, as they include PPE students etc...whereas other modules could have as few as 50 people, depending on which ones you choose to take. Most tutorials range from 10-18 people.
2. At the end of lectures the lecturers stay behind for 5-10mins to answer any questions, but if you email the lecturer or your tutorial leader they'll usually respond quickly to any queries you have. A lot of tutorial leaders also have drop-in sessions.
3. Only a fresher myself, so not too sure!

Reply 3977

undergradstudent

Original post

by luceyinthesky8

Are you allowed to study in the palace green library?

Yes, although there aren't many study spaces compared to the main library and I think they've moved all the academic books to the main library. But it's a good place to study if you have an hour between lectures.

Reply 3978

maxcartwright

11

If you do a self guided tour can you look around the academic departments?

Reply 3979

LawrenceL

Just want to ask what the term times are (when does each term start
/finish)?

Many thanks

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