The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

Yes, a number of colleges offer B&B accommodation all year round, but they have a lot more rooms in the university holidays.

My parents and I actually stayed in the Castle the night before the last open day, had a few drinks in the Undercroft Bar and a superb breakfast in the magnificent dining hall. This actually also helped me decide my choice of college (Hatfield), as I felt that I would get bugged with the number of tourists roaming around my college, had I chosen Castle!

You can book accommodation online at the university website:

http://www.dur.ac.uk/event.durham/tourism/

However, we found that the Castle was fully booked via the university website, but there was still availability via laterooms.com, which we booked.

I would like to know if someone is/has studied combined honours in arts, particularly History of art and tell me about the department, what they think about it regarding History of art.
The thing is, I am debating between Bristol and Durham for History of art... So any feedback pros/cons would be much appreciated.
thanks

Have a look around the website - I don't know about your degree or anything, but I'm finding things like;

http://www.dur.ac.uk/school.health/pg/entry/english/
" One of the following is required:

IELTS test achieve an overall band score of at least 7.0 (with no other element below 6.0)
TOEFL iBT (Internet Based Test) achieving at least 102 (with no element under 23)
Cambridge Proficiency (CPE): Grade C
Cambridge Advanced (CAE): Grade A
Cambridge GCSE First Language English at Grade C or above
Cambridge GCSE English as a Second Language at Grade B or above
GCSE English Language at grade C or above
Pearson Test of English (overall score 62 (with no score less than 56 in each component)

The British IELTS is Durham University's preferred test.

In all cases the English Language Test transcripts and certificate must have been issued within two years of the programme start date and must be received by the admissions tutor."

http://www.dur.ac.uk/international/studyabroad/exchange/incoming/howtoapply/englishreq/


Aha; University admissions guidelines!

http://www.dur.ac.uk/learningandteaching.handbook/1/3/1.3.1/#

"3. Candidates who are not native speakers of English (from a country listed in 1.3.3) should either:

a. have been taught and passed a qualification which meets the University's entry requirements using the English Language, within two years prior to their programme or pre-sessional course start date or

b. have taken a recognised English Language proficiency test within two years prior to their programme or pre-sessional course start date (see 1.3.2.1)."

Is it common for freshers to get jobs? Does it interfere with the workload?

It's fairly common; just make sure you get something that isn't too time-consuming. Plenty of people find work in college shops, college bars, or even some student clubs/bars like Klute.

These kinds of things aimed specifically at students will usually have a fairly low workload; it's only if you're looking for less studenty jobs that you might find an issue.

I'm waiting for college allocation so accommodation is on my mind

Is an unconditional offer more likely to get you in your chosen college?

Since there are no halls, how are the shared bathroom facilities? I had a look around on college websites, but it didn't mention anything specific. How many people have to share? How are they?

I heard horror stories of people living in halls in the south, I'm hoping it's a bit better

College allocation is done separately from giving offers. The university accepts you as a student based on your application and results. Once accepted, your file is then passed on to your chosen college to look at and decide if they have a place for you. If not, you'll get re-allocated to another college that's a better fit/has spare spaces. So, in short, it shouldn't really make any difference. I got an unconditional, applying on my gap year with my results already, and still didn't get my chosen college, but that was castle so who knows.

Most colleges have halls. I don't understand what you mean by 'since there are no halls...' The colleges offer accommodation, in most of it you'll have to share a bathroom and shower with 5-10 others maybe. It can be good, can be bad, depending on who you end up with. Some have en-suite rooms. This info is available somewhere on the uni website, or at least was 2 yrs ago when I was applying.

thanks, you've been super helpful.

I guess I was just confused regarding halls. I'd assumed they had a different layout, maybe because of how old some buildings are..? I don't know, it was just a silly assumption
If I understand it right, en-suite is randomly given, and at the same price?
I looked at the Castle website (it's my first choice as well) and there are only two prices depending on the weeks of let, not type of choice, so again, I'm assuming!

Hi, what's the most commonly used method of transport to get from Durham to London? How long does this take, how much does it cost?

Thanks.


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Hello,

1. Is it usually cheaper living outside a college?
2. If I live outside a college, and study at my course department, when do I actually spend time in the college?
3. How much is it for utillities outside a college?
4. How much time does it take to walk from the city centre to the university?

Thanks.

Hey! I have an offer for Anthropology and Sociology. I saw a previous student post somewhere that they weren't able to get on the ERASMUS/ study abroad scheme, and I was wondering if someone could tell me a bit more about how to get chosen? (Eg do you need to have a certain grade in each first year module to be considered/ how many places are there per subject?)...

More specifically, if there are anthropology/soc students (or if you know one :P ), or even any student, what exactly do you do when you're on ERASMUS? Eg do you do the same modules as you would at Durham, except in a different country. Or would you do their modules, or is there a programme where you only go abroad for a term? (At manchester open day we were told that they did that).

Thanks for any help- just curious since I'd love to go abroad after hearing its meant to be a good experience, and employers think of it as a good thing


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I think this was possibly me :P no it has nothing to do with grades, although you may struggle if they're bad, but availability of places due to availability of funding.

You don't do the same modules, you do whatever the host uni offers.

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Hey, unfortunately I'm not going to be able to make it to an applicant open day because I have an exam, and I didn't actually go before applying, so I'd be very thankful for any information!

I've been offered a place on the Nat Sci course for Maths and Physics Joint honours, and I'm wondering what the structure of this is - at places like Warwick they seem to integrate the stuff you do so it's all pretty well related and more like a single honours degree, but other places seem to keep both subjects quite separate - which is Durham? Also, is there any possibility to pick up any extra modules in completely different subjects? I do Spanish at the moment, and I like the idea of continuing (or at least practicing!) this at university. Also, I've been allocated St. Johns, and I see that It's possible that I will be sharing rooms - will this be as bad as I think it will?!

If it helps any, I'm trying to decide between here and Warwick!

Right, let's see what I can help with:
- from what I've gathered from my NatSci friends, the course is entirely separate - each subject will have compulsory modules they require you to take, and there doesn't tend to be much wiggle-room to satisfy everyone's requirements and still take some extra topics.
- as for sharing rooms, I don't understand what all the fuss is about! All Durham colleges will happily quote statistics saying that the vast majority of people find room-sharing a positive experience - so many people go into it really worried, but find it's nowhere near as bad as they feared!