Anyone else dc received a reduced offer if firmed from Durham?

[RedHelenB]

Dd received an email this morning.

[hopefulmumofone]

Same here, DD already had a reduced offer for English Literature (AAA) and they’ve offered AAB if firmed.

[Tinseltrauma]

Would you mind me asking what subject OP? DS has firmed economics at A*AA - I'm wondering if we should have waited to firm in the hope of a lowered offer!

[RedHelenB]

History. She's going to offer holders day later this month and will decide then.

[bengalcat]

Not to my knowledge but she only has to get 2 A’s anyway - sitting 3 A levels this year but already has Maths sat early last year - I’ve promised to buy her a soprano sax if she gets 3 A* as an incentive

[CBear99]

Can I just clarify that Durham are giving reduced if firmed offers for History? My DD's been waiting to hear since early October so if this is true it really doesn't look good for her even with top grades ....She really wants to go to Durham too. It's really all a bit baffling to be honest.

[PortusCale]

CBear99 - am in the exact same position as you, it really is baffling and I’m not sure that Durham has done this before? Just hope that we hear one way or the other this coming week, it’s pretty demoralising.

[RedHelenB]

I'm not sure how many they've given out. Just wondered because it came a bit out of the blue.

[ReggieWoo]

That's unusual for Durham. Well done to her.

I think it's pretty crappy that every year they are so slow getting their offers out though.

[RedHelenB]

It is horrible to have to wait , seemed ages until dd1 had offers for dentistry.

[MarchingFrogs]

According to posts on TSR, they have gone to BBB for some offer holders for Geography and Psychology. DD's comment was that she wasn't surprised, 'because no-one wants to go there'. Apoarently Durham really isn't popular with her state grammar year group (although a friend of hers, not at her school, is holding an offer for a combined honours course and is quite keen).

[RedHelenB]

Where is popular MarchingFrogs? Durham not too popular with dds year either but a lot go local.

[MarchingFrogs]

Where is popular MarchingFrogs?

Leeds, apparently - I have to say that having visited the city and the university for the first time for the open day in September, I can see the attraction.

It is slightly less 'not local' to here than Durham is

[Fozzleyplum]

Will be interested to see if anyone is given a reduced offer for modern languages. DS is holding their standard AAA offer and is attending an offer older day next week.

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Apoarently Durham really isn't popular with her state grammar year group (although a friend of hers, not at her school, is holding an offer for a combined honours course and is quite keen). At DS's grammar school, they regularly send about 8% of the year group there.

[MarchingFrogs]

At DS's grammar school, they regularly send about 8% of the year group there.

Ah, I see that there is probably a bit of a difference between your DS's school and the ones where our DC are / have been, since ours regard their role as guiding the students towards making their own decisions as to what is best for them and their desired field of study, rather than 'sending' them anywhere. Similatly, we last sent a DC to a particular educational establishment five when I put the schools DS2 had qualified for in our preferred order on his CAF. And even then, it was in sgreement with him as to which he himself preferred.

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

MarchingFrogs, it was just a turn of phrase . The school has not been in the least bit pushy about influencing the universities the young people have applied to. For a very academic school, I have always been impressed by its holistic approach and that it doesn't seem like an 'exam factory' at all, unlike some of the girls grammars locally.

[Itwillallworkoutok]

MarchingFrogs I'm surprised at your DD's comments. Durham is a much better university than Leeds

[MarchingFrogs]

I'm surprised at your DD's comments. Durham is a much better university than Leeds

Obviously not an opinion shared by everyone. No doubt there are courses at Durham which it teaches 'better' than the equivalent coutse at Leeds (or at Oxford, or Manchester, or...). But equally I'm willing to bet that the reverse also applies. And university being a holistic experience - not just a package of 'contact hours' - and the general set-up at the one being rather different from the other, it seems quite reasonable that not everyone considering both will prefer the same one. DD herself decided that aside from considetations of course content, she preferred campus to city and a chance as near to zero as possible of having to spend her first year sharing a room.

(Presumably Anthropology at Durham isn't necessarily regarded as the 'best' btw, or the university wouldn't currently be busy trying to fill the course by offering it to Politics and IR applicants? Hopefully, there will be enough who decide that 'Durham' trumps 'what I want to study there' to keep it going, though)

[Namechangeforthiscancershit]

No doubt there are courses at Durham which it teaches 'better' than the equivalent coutse at Leeds (or at Oxford, or Manchester, or...). But equally I'm willing to bet that the reverse also applies

Really? There definitely weren't any courses in my day where Leeds scores above Durham. But my day was not any time recently so I imagine that both how courses are delivered and how they are ranked are scored very differently now. I suspect things are more balanced now and that is a very good thing too.

It sounds like you have a specific issue that you are very close to Durham? We had that with a very good "local" university that no one applied to because it really was on the doorstep (or felt like it).

Anthropology is undersubscribed in most places I think. In my day (see caveat above...) lots of people took modules but there were very few straight Anthropologists. It wasn't necessarily the best run of the social science departments and it did give lower offers that history, politics etc. I don't remember IR being its own degree but I was a bit oblivious because I think it's the least exciting aspect of politics.

Anyway very long story short, loads of applications from my state grammar on the other side of the country, and I don't think it's too helpful to come on a thread about offers and claim that no one wants to go there

[Namechangeforthiscancershit]

Sorry I think I missed your double negative and Leeds is nearer you so ignore that bit! Maybe we were more keen to escape parental influences

My research has drawn a blank because I got through 9 pages of Leeds' highest ranked course and none of them are offered at Durham and my chemo brain is officially done in. Which is a shame because I really need to get some sleep and a night of comparing would probably have done that

[BlackPrism]

I had that with Lancaster in 2013. Thank god as I dropped to AAB from triple A

[BlackPrism]

A lot of drugs in the Leeds uni scene btw (I am from Leeds and have mates who went there.)

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

The Complete University Guide 2019 has Durham 6th and Leeds 13th. Certainly when I was a student many moons ago, Leeds was a middling university, whereas Durham was considered one/two below Oxbridge.

[ifonly4]

Durham is highly thought of at DD's school and her friend was shocked she'd firmed St Andrews over it (even though I'd say it's fairly close in terms of reputation, ranking) . St Andrews is the better course for DD and she feels uni and location would suit her, so they have to go where they think is right for them.

[MarchingFrogs]

Durham was considered one/two below Oxbridge.

Not knocking Durham, but I genuinely wonder why it didn't become part of the university boys' club - sorry, Russell Group - for a whole 18 years after the latter's inception? Was it due to the other universities not wanting to let Durham play with them, or Durham repeatedly repelling the RG's attempts to pick it for their team?