Durham vs Bath uni
Hi everyone 🙂 I’ve just got a contextual offer from Durham (Sociology) and a conditional offer from Bath (Social Sciences), and I honestly really like both — but I have no idea which one to firm.
One of my main worries is distance from home. I live in London, so Durham feels quite far and I’m slightly nervous about getting homesick or struggling with the travel back and forth. At the same time, I love the course and the college vibe there. Bath also seems amazing but in a different way, and I’m torn.
If anyone studies at either uni (especially for sociology/social sciences) or had to choose between similar options, how did you decide? And if you moved far from London for uni, how did you find it?
Any honest experiences or advice would really help — thank you!
One of my main worries is distance from home. I live in London, so Durham feels quite far and I’m slightly nervous about getting homesick or struggling with the travel back and forth. At the same time, I love the course and the college vibe there. Bath also seems amazing but in a different way, and I’m torn.
If anyone studies at either uni (especially for sociology/social sciences) or had to choose between similar options, how did you decide? And if you moved far from London for uni, how did you find it?
Any honest experiences or advice would really help — thank you!
Reply 1
Hi ther!
Great to hear you're considering Bath as one of your options. I did not do social sci but I did psychology, so in the same faculty so I'll happily give you my opinion.
Although it may seem biased, I genuinely loved my time at Bath as a student. The city is not overwhelming like some big cities, and is very safe as a place to live. Bath also put a lot of emphasis on student support - you have an academic advisor (like a form tutor who supports you for your whole degree) who looks after 4-7 students in a small group, a year tutor who looks after all the pastoral stuff per year group, and most lecturers will also have office hours where you can go up and chat to them about anything you're finding difficult with in an allotted time per week - they may be able to advise you on essay briefs and contents etc. I found this extremely helpful.
Bath's placement scheme is also one of the best in the country. We offer the huge majority of our UG courses placement options, and have a dedicated team per course to give you all the support you need with securing them - providing options from our industry links, CV help, application support, practice interviews, workshops etc. I did my placement as a research assistant in an autism research team and absolutely loved it. I had loads to talk about for subsequent job interviews and I was able to get a lot of support for my dissertation from the team I was with as well.
Honest cons of Bath:
I hope this gives you something to work with but if you have any more questions then please post away 🙂
Great to hear you're considering Bath as one of your options. I did not do social sci but I did psychology, so in the same faculty so I'll happily give you my opinion.
Although it may seem biased, I genuinely loved my time at Bath as a student. The city is not overwhelming like some big cities, and is very safe as a place to live. Bath also put a lot of emphasis on student support - you have an academic advisor (like a form tutor who supports you for your whole degree) who looks after 4-7 students in a small group, a year tutor who looks after all the pastoral stuff per year group, and most lecturers will also have office hours where you can go up and chat to them about anything you're finding difficult with in an allotted time per week - they may be able to advise you on essay briefs and contents etc. I found this extremely helpful.
Bath's placement scheme is also one of the best in the country. We offer the huge majority of our UG courses placement options, and have a dedicated team per course to give you all the support you need with securing them - providing options from our industry links, CV help, application support, practice interviews, workshops etc. I did my placement as a research assistant in an autism research team and absolutely loved it. I had loads to talk about for subsequent job interviews and I was able to get a lot of support for my dissertation from the team I was with as well.
Honest cons of Bath:
•
The uni is up a hill - bus travel required, especially if you're living in town after first year
•
Small city may not be enough for people from bigger cities, but Bristol and London are easily accessible by bus/train/coach
•
Cost of living is quite high - not quite as high as London, but higher than most places up North like Durham
•
Nightlife is limited (again, this is what's good about being close to Bristol!) but we have plenty of pubs.
I hope this gives you something to work with but if you have any more questions then please post away 🙂
Reply 2
Original post
by E.xoxoHi everyone 🙂 I’ve just got a contextual offer from Durham (Sociology) and a conditional offer from Bath (Social Sciences), and I honestly really like both — but I have no idea which one to firm.
One of my main worries is distance from home. I live in London, so Durham feels quite far and I’m slightly nervous about getting homesick or struggling with the travel back and forth. At the same time, I love the course and the college vibe there. Bath also seems amazing but in a different way, and I’m torn.
If anyone studies at either uni (especially for sociology/social sciences) or had to choose between similar options, how did you decide? And if you moved far from London for uni, how did you find it?
Any honest experiences or advice would really help — thank you!
One of my main worries is distance from home. I live in London, so Durham feels quite far and I’m slightly nervous about getting homesick or struggling with the travel back and forth. At the same time, I love the course and the college vibe there. Bath also seems amazing but in a different way, and I’m torn.
If anyone studies at either uni (especially for sociology/social sciences) or had to choose between similar options, how did you decide? And if you moved far from London for uni, how did you find it?
Any honest experiences or advice would really help — thank you!
Hello!
I’m a second year Psychology student, and although I can't give my view on sociology or social sciences, I thought I’d let you know my perspective on studying at Durham. 😊 Choosing between two great universities is really difficult, so I understand the confusion. I knew I wanted to go to Durham after I attended an offer-holder day, visited my college (St Aidans), got to explore the facilities, meet the staff and knew I could envision myself there. I'm really pleased you enjoyed the course and colleges!
I was conflicted trying to decide between studying Law and Psychology, but for me, it came down to envisioning what I'd want to do in my career, but also what I thought I could enjoy studying for 3 years. Although both courses would've been great, I found it helpful to visit universities to weigh up my choices and try to determine where I'd be happiest! I am a commuting student, so unfortunately can't give much advice on moving away, but you can read the support we offer here (https://durham-student.org/finding-support-when-moving-away-from-home/ ), and experiences of students who've moved to Durham here (https://durham-student.org/moving-into-stephenson-college/ ).
Maybe it would be helpful to create a pro's and con's list of either university, and think about where you'd like to be at the end of your degree; which course and uni would best align with this? 😊
I hope this is helpful and offers some insight, please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions!
-Rosie, DU Representative
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