The &quot;Ask a Durham Student&quot; Thread :)

Yeah, I love it. Would be my other choice for a degree if I had to pick another. I'm in my 2nd year studying Applied Psychology 🙂

Original post by Tortoises172

Haha I hope so! That's cool, what do you study?

Reply 7002

Klouiselouise

2

Year abroad??

I think I'm about to firm my place at St Aidan's college in Durham for a BA Geogrphy course. I have seen you can do a replacement year abroad in your second year which I really want to do. How easy is it to get into the year abroad programme? Is it quite competitive or relatively straightforward?

Thankyou!

Reply 7003

Really great to hear that you'll be firming your place, St Aidan's is a great college.

The year abroad is a competitive opportunity but that's dependent on how you do it. If you go through Erasmus (EU countries) then you're almost certainly going to get it. If you wanted to do an International Exchange (same thing but you'd be going to a country out of the EU) then you're not as likely to get it with the stats being somewhere between 40%-60% to being successful and getting on the study abroad. The likelihood of your success is also effected by the country you want to go to as some are more popular than others and so receive more applications.

It's definitely something you should do if you can as I regret not doing it this years.

Original post by Klouiselouise

Year abroad??

I think I'm about to firm my place at St Aidan's college in Durham for a BA Geogrphy course. I have seen you can do a replacement year abroad in your second year which I really want to do. How easy is it to get into the year abroad programme? Is it quite competitive or relatively straightforward?

Thankyou!

Reply 7004

Original post by Jamster1997

Yeah, I love it. Would be my other choice for a degree if I had to pick another. I'm in my 2nd year studying Applied Psychology 🙂

Ah cool, I did psych A Level but that was enough for me!

Reply 7005

Awh nice and haha yeah, I know what you mean. There's certainly testing parts of the degree when it comes to content of the course and interest. I'm just bearing it until next year where I get to choose all my modules (apart from having to do a dissertation of course) and being able to shape them by my interest. Which is primarily mental health and therapy. I want to become a psychotherapist.

Original post by Tortoises172

Ah cool, I did psych A Level but that was enough for me!

Reply 7006

Original post by Jamster1997

Awh nice and haha yeah, I know what you mean. There's certainly testing parts of the degree when it comes to content of the course and interest. I'm just bearing it until next year where I get to choose all my modules (apart from having to do a dissertation of course) and being able to shape them by my interest. Which is primarily mental health and therapy. I want to become a psychotherapist.

Yeah I think in the end there's probably more testing bits in every degree and so long as you have an end goal that you can keep in sight then you know you're probably doing the right thing. Psychotherapy is cool, more involved with the patient than a psychiatrist and less just prescribing medicine (and less time spent in education, which is a plus!). Any age range in mind?

Reply 7007

Yeah that's certainly true. It keeps you going. You certainly know a lot about it, did you ever consider a career in psych? 😃 I'm not sure. I'm thinking probably teenagers. 16-25 maybe. Still figuring that all out

Original post by Tortoises172

Yeah I think in the end there's probably more testing bits in every degree and so long as you have an end goal that you can keep in sight then you know you're probably doing the right thing. Psychotherapy is cool, more involved with the patient than a psychiatrist and less just prescribing medicine (and less time spent in education, which is a plus!). Any age range in mind?

Reply 7008

Original post by Jamster1997

Yeah that's certainly true. It keeps you going. You certainly know a lot about it, did you ever consider a career in psych? 😃 I'm not sure. I'm thinking probably teenagers. 16-25 maybe. Still figuring that all out

I thought about it for a bit but really unfortunately most of what I know comes from personal family experience. I think I could have gone into it but at the moment I'm trying to take things one step at a time and I want to do a History degree far more than any other so that's what I'm doing haha. I'll figure out what's next fully when the time comes like you :biggrin:

Reply 7009

Ah ok, yeah I can totally understand that. A good bit of my motivation for wanting to go in to it was because of family things. Yeah that's definitely the right way to choose what to do for a degree 🙂 Yeah it'll work itself out in the end I think.

Original post by Tortoises172

I thought about it for a bit but really unfortunately most of what I know comes from personal family experience. I think I could have gone into it but at the moment I'm trying to take things one step at a time and I want to do a History degree far more than any other so that's what I'm doing haha. I'll figure out what's next fully when the time comes like you :biggrin:

Reply 7010

Zimbombardo

Could somebody familiar with St. Chad's please give me some information as to its general atmosphere? For work-related reasons, I haven't yet had chance to visit, but I applied and was allocated there anyway. I applied to Chad's based on its appearance as a small, academically-orientated college.

However, I used to go to a private school, which was a soul-destroying experience, until I left for a regular, state-run sixth form college, which I loved. My concern is that Chad's could be too much like a private school, not in the sense of having formals, traditions, etc. (these factors don't concern me too much), but in the sense that its atmosphere could, in parts, be cliquey, arrogant, and otherwise elitist.

Whilst I doubt this representation to be true, I would appreciate it if somebody familiar with Chad's could elaborate on their perception of the college.

Reply 7011

username904959

13

Original post by Zimbombardo

Could somebody familiar with St. Chad's please give me some information as to its general atmosphere? For work-related reasons, I haven't yet had chance to visit, but I applied and was allocated there anyway. I applied to Chad's based on its appearance as a small, academically-orientated college.

However, I used to go to a private school, which was a soul-destroying experience, until I left for a regular, state-run sixth form college, which I loved. My concern is that Chad's could be too much like a private school, not in the sense of having formals, traditions, etc. (these factors don't concern me too much), but in the sense that its atmosphere could, in parts, be cliquey, arrogant, and otherwise elitist.

Whilst I doubt this representation to be true, I would appreciate it if somebody familiar with Chad's could elaborate on their perception of the college.

Chad's is a lovely college! One of my favourites, and everyone I've met from Chad's has been lovely.

You're always going to run into cliquey people, but they're a tiny minority and it's not something you need to worry about, I don't think. They tend to keep themselves to themselves, and university is big enough and diverse enough that you can find people you get along with fairly easily.

Reply 7012

Zimbombardo

Original post by Oli-Ol

Chad's is a lovely college! One of my favourites, and everyone I've met from Chad's has been lovely.

You're always going to run into cliquey people, but they're a tiny minority and it's not something you need to worry about, I don't think. They tend to keep themselves to themselves, and university is big enough and diverse enough that you can find people you get along with fairly easily.

Thanks! That's good to hear. I've been talking to some other applicants from Chad's too, and they all seem decent.

Reply 7013

prostheticzeta

20

Do we have to pay for formals at Durham? Especially when I'm going to Josephine butlers where it's self catered

Reply 7014

Original post by prostheticzeta

Do we have to pay for formals at Durham? Especially when I'm going to Josephine butlers where it's self catered

It varies between the colleges but as far as I'm aware yes. In my college you get two included for free in the college jcr membership when you get it in first year and then it's only £5 for any dinners past that. The cost though is different at each college though and I believe your formals would be less frequent than most colleges currently in Durham City (typically one every week) because you'd be self catered and you might have two a term or month. The college JCR would be able to tell you specific details on the cost and frequency of the formals though and are the best people to ask about this.

Reply 7015

Suprite

12

What advantages are there going to Durham over a uni in London? Also, is the nightlife dead in Durham?

Reply 7016

Original post by Suprite

What advantages are there going to Durham over a uni in London? Also, is the nightlife dead in Durham?

Firstly, the nightlife in Durham is most definitely not dead. Just like any student area, it's pretty buzzing and busy at particular times of the week in certain places. I personally am not a fan of clubbing so I can't really tell you much more but there's no doubt that Durham students like to club.

In terms of the comparison of Durham to London for uni and the benefits, Durham is a lot smaller a city (you can literally walk from one end to the other) with a smaller population as a result so if you want a less busy environment then London then Durham certainly has that but then does have the busy thriving city feel to it that you'd expect from a university campus.

Whilst accommodation can be pricey in Durham it's still cheaper to London in comparison I believe and you can definitely do your shopping for cheaper.

If you like a city with a historical character then Durham City is certainly full of that, particular helped with having its own cathedral.
The collegiate system that the university uses also means that if you were to go the Durham University then you'd certainly get an experience that you wouldn't at a university in London. Not to mention experiencing the traditions of these colleges.

There's probably much more than that but that's all I can think of right now sorry. Hope that's helped.

Reply 7017