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Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham

The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

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Hello, are there any students on here that are currently at St Chad's? I've put the College as my preferred choice and I've already received an offer (unconditional), so I guess I'm just waiting to see where I get allocated and hoping for Chad's! How has your experience been so far? Especially regarding shared rooms. I was also wondering if anyone had any photos of the College? Large enough for a desktop background (>1920x1080). Thanks!
Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham
Does anyone know anything about the Philosophy department at Durham? I went to the open day and the Philosophy talk was awful. I really liked Durham but the department really failed to sell itself. The admissions tutor just went round the room and asked every single person who their favourite philosopher was and why for the whole hour. It told us nothing and it was really stressful for those who hadn't studied Philosophy already.

I'm also told that the offer holders open day will only include a stay in the college not a visit to the department as it used to do. Is this true?

I really want to go there because I love the uni but I need to know that the department is better than this.
Original post by JosephT
Does anyone know anything about the Philosophy department at Durham? I went to the open day and the Philosophy talk was awful. I really liked Durham but the department really failed to sell itself. The admissions tutor just went round the room and asked every single person who their favourite philosopher was and why for the whole hour. It told us nothing and it was really stressful for those who hadn't studied Philosophy already.

I'm also told that the offer holders open day will only include a stay in the college not a visit to the department as it used to do. Is this true?

I really want to go there because I love the uni but I need to know that the department is better than this.
That admissions tutor sounds like he doesn't really have a clue. Strange since all the philosophers I know at Durham are friendly and unassuming people. I wouldn't have said they all did philosophy either (but I'd have to check that fact. A-level subjects is a surprisingly rare conversation topic beyond freshers week).

In the offer holders' day you stay over at your college for the night and visit your department the next day. You have both college talks and departmental one. The programme for 2013 can be found here:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/st-cuthberts.society/FINALFULLPDFGUIDE2013.pdf

I wouldn't judge the department by that once incidence. I don't really rate open days at all in fact. Give the visit day a go and if you figure you wouldn't enjoy spending 3 years there and with that department then fair enough, but in general the visit days have a lot more of an informative mindset (departmentally especially) than open days. Plus the visit day is great fun too!
Original post by Silverland
That admissions tutor sounds like he doesn't really have a clue. Strange since all the philosophers I know at Durham are friendly and unassuming people. I wouldn't have said they all did philosophy either (but I'd have to check that fact. A-level subjects is a surprisingly rare conversation topic beyond freshers week).

In the offer holders' day you stay over at your college for the night and visit your department the next day. You have both college talks and departmental one. The programme for 2013 can be found here:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/st-cuthberts.society/FINALFULLPDFGUIDE2013.pdf

I wouldn't judge the department by that once incidence. I don't really rate open days at all in fact. Give the visit day a go and if you figure you wouldn't enjoy spending 3 years there and with that department then fair enough, but in general the visit days have a lot more of an informative mindset (departmentally especially) than open days. Plus the visit day is great fun too!


Thanks. I know someone at Durham (not a Philosopher) who works on the open days and hasn't been invited to work the post-offer day because they said they're not doing the departments this time so only college FReps were required. They said people could see the department on a normal open day. I wondered if this was actually true.
Original post by JosephT
Thanks. I know someone at Durham (not a Philosopher) who works on the open days and hasn't been invited to work the post-offer day because they said they're not doing the departments this time so only college FReps were required. They said people could see the department on a normal open day. I wondered if this was actually true.


I'd be very surprised if that were the case. Getting to know the department and course is essential to know if Durham is right for an offer-holder, and that is what the visit days are all about. Plus a lot of offer holders don't go on the open day (I know I didn't) so I don't see at all why departmental talks would be off.
Having said that you should receive more information along with your college allocations from the next few weeks or so.
(not very much in line with the discussion but I'll still ask it :tongue:)
So I wanted to ask how's Natural sciences at Durham and why is the chemistry course so over subscribed ?


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Original post by Oceanica
(not very much in line with the discussion but I'll still ask it :tongue:)
So I wanted to ask how's Natural sciences at Durham and why is the chemistry course so over subscribed ?


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According to one of the professors who did the open day, the physics course is more oversubscribed than the chemistry course.
Not answering your question but I thought it might be a interesting fact.


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NJam
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Original post by Oceanica
(not very much in line with the discussion but I'll still ask it :tongue:)
So I wanted to ask how's Natural sciences at Durham and why is the chemistry course so over subscribed ?


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I don't do chemistry so can't really be of much use for the second question I'm afraid. Maybe something to do with limited lab space? Dunno.

Natural Sciences is great. Not only do you have great options before you arrive, but I had the opportunity to completely change direction in the first 3 weeks. I didn't, but some of my peers did, and it's reassuring to know that you have the choice. Is there anything specifically you want to know about?
Original post by Oceanica
(not very much in line with the discussion but I'll still ask it :tongue:)
So I wanted to ask how's Natural sciences at Durham and why is the chemistry course so over subscribed ?


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Durham chemist here. Oversubscribed because:

1) A*AA offer with required chemistry + maths makes it quite a selective place to study. Only Oxbridge and Bristol also require maths and as a result the course gets quite interesting fast since we can skip all the A-level maths recap/teaching that would otherwise need to be done
2) League table standings -> https://www.dur.ac.uk/chemistry/undergraduate/our_department/chemistry_tops_the_tables/
3) https://www.dur.ac.uk/chemistry/undergraduate/why_durham/
4) Because the Durham is one of only 2 UK unis to offer the year in industry/abroad option in your 4th year as part if your MChem. Other unis tend to do this in 3rd year when you're less prepared and it also is a bit more disruptive when you have to leave for a year and return.

Any more chemistry questions and I'm happy to answer
What is the accommodation like at Hild and Bede, also what is it like being such a big college?
Will they go over maths to get to some common ground in our first year? I study the American program and the maths that we do is pretty poor compared to IB and A Level maths. Straight Chemistry by the way...
(edited 9 years ago)
How big of a chance will people get reallocated to a different college?


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Original post by Bookler_Natsu
How big of a chance will people get reallocated to a different college?


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I think there's a fairly good chance of being reallocated, depending on when you get your offer and which college you have applied to.

You might want to have a look at the admissions statistics on the Durham University website - you can view the number of applications to each college and also the number of entrants to each college.
Original post by Bookler_Natsu
How big of a chance will people get reallocated to a different college?


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It varies a lot depending on which college you applied to. People who applied to castle are obviously very lucky if they get a place but other colleges such as Chads, Hatfield and Collingwood can be hard to get places at generally or for some subjects. On the other hand, you are virtually guaranteed a place at some colleges (where people are always happy when they get there).
Original post by KayteeKaytee
It varies a lot depending on which college you applied to. People who applied to castle are obviously very lucky if they get a place but other colleges such as Chads, Hatfield and Collingwood can be hard to get places at generally or for some subjects. On the other hand, you are virtually guaranteed a place at some colleges (where people are always happy when they get there).


I've applied to St Mary's and chemistry, do you know if it's hard to get a place in St Mary's?


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How expensive is it to travel to and from university (mainly at the end of terms)? I live in the South East in Bedford
Original post by Roarmaster
How expensive is it to travel to and from university (mainly at the end of terms)? I live in the South East in Bedford


It's not gonna be cheap but it won't be too bad if you don't do it too often. I live in the East Midlands and it costs roughly £50 for an off-peak return with a rail card. However, it is possible to get one for about £30 if you split your journey and change at York for example. For you I'd guess it'd be at least 1.5 times what I pay. Mock a journey up online and have a look at the average prices! :smile:
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Superflibbit
It's not gonna be cheap but it won't be too bad if you don't do it too often. I live in the East Midlands and it costs roughly £50 for an off-peak return with a rail card. However, it is possible to get one for about £30 if you split your journey and change at York for example. For you I'd guess it'd be at most1.5 times what I pay, probably less than that though. Mock a journey up online and have a look at the average prices! :smile:


I was looking online and it's about £70-£80. Will the cost of travel be covered in my grants/maintenance loan or will I have to save up for that? Also, is it wise to take up a part time job whilst at university?
Original post by Roarmaster
I was looking online and it's about £70-£80. Will the cost of travel be covered in my grants/maintenance loan or will I have to save up for that? Also, is it wise to take up a part time job whilst at university?


That's not too bad then. Errrm, it depends really, if your household income is fairly low then you'll end up with plenty of living cost support and providing you don't blow it, you should be able to budget your travel in. I don't think it's recommended to get a part time job generally, unless it's something that doesn't take up too much time. If you're lucky I think you can get a job in your college bar for example. By the way, I'm not actually at Durham, I just have friends there that I visit. I'll be starting this October providing I accept my offer :smile:
Original post by Superflibbit
That's not too bad then. Errrm, it depends really, if your household income is fairly low then you'll end up with plenty of living cost support and providing you don't blow it, you should be able to budget your travel in. I don't think it's recommended to get a part time job generally, unless it's something that doesn't take up too much time. If you're lucky I think you can get a job in your college bar for example. By the way, I'm not actually at Durham, I just have friends there that I visit. I'll be starting this October providing I accept my offer :smile:


My family income is low (under £8,000/year at the moment) so what will that mean for me? And yay! What subject? I'm going for Chemistry!

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