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Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham

The "Ask a Durham Student" Thread :)

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Original post by Anonymous
Just got my offer for 2023 entry and need to rank colleges. I heard St Hild & Bede is being refurbished. Does anyone know what happens to anyone allocated there?

Hey there

According to the website,

Following on from 2022/23, Hild Bede will continue to provide a blended model for college accommodation for the academic year 2023/24. This will include around 250 rooms at Hild Bede Riverside, offered on a catered basis and 250 rooms at Ernest Place, offered on a self-catered basis. This will help to ensure that we are able to continue to offer all our first year students college managed accommodation, within easy reach of the city centre.

Additional rooms (supplementary to the 250 provided for Hild Bede students) at Ernest Place will also be available for students from other colleges, including an allocation for returning and Postgraduate students.

-Himieka
Chemistry Research, Durham University
Durham University
Durham
Hello everyone.
I've got an offer for MSc management. And I am required to pay an initial deposit in order to confirm my place. I'm still waiting to hear from another university. I just wanted to know if I can ask Durham for an extension. Like has anyone asked for an extension and do they agree to it?
Hi, i got an offer for accounting and finance at durham but didn't select the 'with study abroad' option as I didn't even realise it was a thing. I now am realising i should have selected it as i want to study abroad. Does anyone know if i would be able to switch over to study abroad or if its only for applicants who selected that option. Thank you!
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, i got an offer for accounting and finance at durham but didn't select the 'with study abroad' option as I didn't even realise it was a thing. I now am realising i should have selected it as i want to study abroad. Does anyone know if i would be able to switch over to study abroad or if its only for applicants who selected that option. Thank you!

In just about all the open days I have attended with my son on Maths all unis have been keen to stress how flexible they are with changing options so I think you will be fine. Worth checking which overseas unis you could go to as this varies tremendously from course to course and some offer only a limited number of places.
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, i got an offer for accounting and finance at durham but didn't select the 'with study abroad' option as I didn't even realise it was a thing. I now am realising i should have selected it as i want to study abroad. Does anyone know if i would be able to switch over to study abroad or if its only for applicants who selected that option. Thank you!


Hiya

I think you'd be able to switch to the study abroad version of your course later. You can check the full process here and don't worry about it for now because support will be available at uni for this once you come to Durham :smile:

-Himieka
(edited 8 months ago)
this may seem like an odd question lol but bedding. Can we buy a bedding package? We have a 7 hour train journey to lug all my daughter's stuff up in Sept. Also, how far away is say Wilkos/Tesco/Argos. We visited for the Offer Holder's open day so got the idea of the main town area but didn't go further
Original post by Anonymous
this may seem like an odd question lol but bedding. Can we buy a bedding package? We have a 7 hour train journey to lug all my daughter's stuff up in Sept. Also, how far away is say Wilkos/Tesco/Argos. We visited for the Offer Holder's open day so got the idea of the main town area but didn't go further

Hiya, I was able to purchase a bedding package from college once I arrived. There is a tesco in the market place but big tesco is like a 40 min walk from town or you can get the bus
Original post by Anonymous
this may seem like an odd question lol but bedding. Can we buy a bedding package? We have a 7 hour train journey to lug all my daughter's stuff up in Sept. Also, how far away is say Wilkos/Tesco/Argos. We visited for the Offer Holder's open day so got the idea of the main town area but didn't go further

Hi there

Yes you'd be able to buy a bedding package from the colleges, you can find one for Van Mildert here: https://pay.durham.ac.uk/optional-college-payments/vm---bedding-pack-undergraduate

Also last year Collingwood organised a fresher's trip to Ikea via coach, you can watch the tiktok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedurhamstudent/video/7151814837054508294

Wilko and Argos are located in the Arnison Centre while the big Tesco is in Dragonville Park. Bus 64 runs from town to these destinations regularly and only cost 1 quid for an all-day student ticket. I think they're about 15 mins away by bus :smile:

-Himieka
Hi, if you get allocated to Cuth’s, is it difficult to get a catered room on the Bailey or do most people choose to go to the self-catered site?
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, if you get allocated to Cuth’s, is it difficult to get a catered room on the Bailey or do most people choose to go to the self-catered site?


Hi there

You can technically say it might be more difficult to get a room on the Bailey because it can only accommodate 110 students as compared to 360 on Parsons Field. Once you get allocated, you will have the option of choosing whether you want catered or self-catered but it may not always be possible to get your preference due to oversubscription. However, Parsons Field is only 10 mins away from the Bailey and you can opt-in for a 10-meal package. The website mentions,

Students living in our self-catered accommodation can purchase a ten meals package, giving the flexibility of being self-catered plus the convenience of having 10 prepaid meals in college per week to be taken at any time, Monday to Sunday. The cost of the 10 meal package is £1,340.59 per academic year.

-Himieka
(edited 8 months ago)
To put it bluntly- which college has the most ethnic minority students as I myself am BAME and thinking of applying however I’ve heard all sorts about the lack of diversity etc online and from friends :s-smilie:
Hi, i’m struggling to understand the new college allocation process (it’s probably not that complicated but i’m overthinking it). (i did try and read the websites detailed explanation but the wording is a bit unclear idk)

Does the algorithm look at everyone’s first college preference first, and then everyone’s second preference etc. , or is it done by person?

If it’s everyone’s first preference simultaneously, is it best to put a more popular/oversubscribed college as your first choice, and then a less popular college as your second as surely most places in the popular colleges will be taken after the first pass of the algorithm?

or is it by person, in which case you may as well list a bunch of popular ones first?

thanks
Original post by Anonymous
To put it bluntly- which college has the most ethnic minority students as I myself am BAME and thinking of applying however I’ve heard all sorts about the lack of diversity etc online and from friends :s-smilie:


I would probably suggest South or John Snow. I’m a BAME student in John Snow and it’s pretty diverse up here.
To get an idea of how high my hopes can be, how popular is St Mary’s (for engineering if that helps) and if I’ve ranked it first does that give me an alright chance or is it quite oversubscribed?
Can anyone share about their experiences and time at Stevo? Been kinda hard to find much about it online so anything would be appreciated. I'm also an international BAME student if that changes anything, thanks.
Original post by woogeebooby
Can anyone share about their experiences and time at Stevo? Been kinda hard to find much about it online so anything would be appreciated. I'm also an international BAME student if that changes anything, thanks.


Hiya

Here's a blog by a Stephenson student sharing his experience at the college: https://studentblog.webspace.durham.ac.uk/life-at-stephenson-college/

-Himieka
H/i everyone, We recently went to an open day in March and loved the atmosphere of /Durham , my daughter is going to be firming her PPE offer and has selected her colleges. We're from a working class family, live in South Wales and she went to a normal comprehensive school. Obviously I'm nervous for her as it's quite a long way from home...
She's selected Hatfield as her first choice. I'm aware she may not get it but then again she might. I have to admit I'm a bit wary of her choice (I really liked Chads and St Johns which she's put for her 2nd and 3rd choice ).. So I'm asking, is Hatfield really all RAH and elite or will there be some diversity there..
Original post by Anonymous
H/i everyone, We recently went to an open day in March and loved the atmosphere of /Durham , my daughter is going to be firming her PPE offer and has selected her colleges. We're from a working class family, live in South Wales and she went to a normal comprehensive school. Obviously I'm nervous for her as it's quite a long way from home...
She's selected Hatfield as her first choice. I'm aware she may not get it but then again she might. I have to admit I'm a bit wary of her choice (I really liked Chads and St Johns which she's put for her 2nd and 3rd choice ).. So I'm asking, is Hatfield really all RAH and elite or will there be some diversity there..

Every college has a diverse intake as the university tries to make sure people are spread across all subjects in each college. There are Rahs and non Rahs across all colleges. The Bailey colleges seem to attract more applications from that type and I would say Castle is the most popular overall. My state educated daughter is at St Johns and her state educated friend was at Hatfield both found lots of like minded friends and loved their colleges. Also students usually only live in college for first year and move out into other accommodation for 2nd and 3rd year. My daughter has friends from lots of other colleges and her house share is not just St Johns friends.
Original post by Anonymous
Every college has a diverse intake as the university tries to make sure people are spread across all subjects in each college. There are Rahs and non Rahs across all colleges. The Bailey colleges seem to attract more applications from that type and I would say Castle is the most popular overall. My state educated daughter is at St Johns and her state educated friend was at Hatfield both found lots of like minded friends and loved their colleges. Also students usually only live in college for first year and move out into other accommodation for 2nd and 3rd year. My daughter has friends from lots of other colleges and her house share is not just St Johns friends.


fab xx thank you :smile:
Just wondered if anyone knows about the college allocation process… do people who have firmed Durham get priority over those who have it as their insurance? I have firmed my offer. But my friend wants to hear what college they’ve been allocated before firming. Is that even possible to do? Anyone know?

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