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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

LSE v Durham, which one?

37 replies

ILoveApples · 16/02/2015 17:54

Dd is looking to study History & International Relations at LSE and IR only at Durham. She has received the same offer for both (3As) and is having a real problem deciding which one to choose. To make matters harder she's has been allocated the beautiful University College (Castle) at Durham. She will be attending both offer holder open days in the next few weeks to hopefully have a better idea.
We live in the south east. Any thoughts? Thanks.

OP posts:

Needmoresleep · 19/02/2015 17:51

I don't disagree. However as I understand, funding for a Masters degree can be very difficult to find if Bank of Mum and Dad does not have deep pockets.

So perhaps more important now to consider employability after a first degree. So back to the student and which environment is most likely to help them develop into an employable adult.

AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves · 20/02/2015 11:51

Reading this out of sheer interest as I have no connection to either place. I'm interested how many people have mentioned being able to go home for visits as a factor. In nearly three years my son has been home once during term-time, and that was only because he was back in London to go to a gig and needed somewhere to stay! The terms are so short and the vacations so long that I didn't really expect otherwise.

RandomFriend · 20/02/2015 12:21

TheBlessedCheesemaker Thank you for your thought. DD has a simiilar decision to make about Durham vs London, but for a very different subject.

gonegrey56 · 20/02/2015 12:47

My home-loving daughter is in her second year at Durham . She came home once last autumn term, and is not coming at all this term . Honestly , the students are so busy with full on lives etc that the distance factor is more applicable to parents wanting to visit ! DD so, so happy at Durham as an undergraduate .

Messygirl · 20/02/2015 13:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IssyStark · 20/02/2015 15:05

Madrigals I completely agree. I lead on my department's input to University open days here and so I get to speak to a lot of prospective students and their parents and often end up discussing which other unis they have applied to.

While I think my Russell Group uni is good, I know that for some subjects some '94 group unis such as Bath are exact competitors. What matters most if not which top 20 uni you went to but what class of degree you got and what extra activities you undertook to beef up your cv - and those you will only achieve to your full potential where you are happy. I always advise the student to look at the degree structure, and if everything is equal then go where you want to live for three or four years.

Needmoresleep · 20/02/2015 16:24

Issy, isnt IR quite a specialised field? From my experience it would be hard to find somewhere with a stronger internatinal reputation other than Harvard or Georgetown.

Back to the initial advice about deciding what you want to do after. If just a degree and a graduate job, then either are fine and indeed Durham may be better. If you are determined to work at something international, then LSE.

MillyMollyMama · 20/02/2015 18:14

We never factored in closeness to home when my DDs applied for university. They weren't going to come home all the time and we thought other things were more important.

Living as a student in London is very different to Durham. London will have a lot more international students and the pool of real friends (who you see out of term time and for many years into the future) is likely to be less at LSE because people will go and work all over the globe. I think it also depends on what your DD wants to do after graduation. How many students on each course get to do what she wants? She does not appear to be bilingual and lots of international relations students are multi lingual. For example, a lot of Swiss multi lingual IR students end up with jobs at the UN and other quangos in Geneva and it is more difficult for the English only speaker to get a look in. Therefore having a career plan, and then working out which university is best placed to facilitate this, could be a way of deciding.

bereal7 · 23/02/2015 17:13

LSE ...better reputation

Cottonmouth · 25/02/2015 19:59

Haven't read the whole thread.

I have no personal experience of either universities and they both have ca tactic reputations. I don't think there are any academic concerns.

The overall university experience is something you can try to figure out. South East universities are notorious for being dead at the weekends as many students go home. Durham is more remote, so more students will be around at weekends, and so there will be a more vibrant weekend culture. OTOH, London is London. Durham has the most fantastic countryside and Coast nearby.

MissLivvy · 26/02/2015 22:11

Agree LSE - far better reputation

Laquila · 26/02/2015 22:25

Durham is an amazing place to study and live - I loved my time there. The colleges are very close-knit communities, and i found that second-years having no contact with college was certainly not the norm. IMHO a Durham college is so much more than a half of residence.

Castle is right in the centre of town, as a great bar and an excellent rep for sport and drama. It's very near the student union building. Not sure where IR lectures take place but it's very near Elvet Riverside, where a lot of Arts lectures take place, and about 10-15 mins walk from the library.

London is a fantastic city and I loved living there after I graduated,, but realistically anyone doing IR is quite likely to end up there after uni, so it seems a waste not to go to Durham! ;)

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