Anyone waiting for a Durham offer?

[Annabelnextdoor]

DS has applied for a STEM at Durham. Heard nothing back yet. So thought I’d start a thread so we can share news of offers coming though?
Anyone have any experience as to when offers for STEM are normally made?. The thought of waiting until April seems too much!

@Rollergirl11 20th March and 27th April

last year DD’s Durham offer came in in April, all the offer holder days had taken place.

Thanks @Cremebrulee45

@Rollergirl11 I am so pleased your DD got an offer!

@Rollergirl11 congratulations to your DD! My DD also received a Durham offer - from the timing, looks as though it was in the same batch - for Liberal Arts inc English Lit. She’s absolutely delighted.

Well done to those who have a place 🥰

Still waiting here 🙏🏻

@SurvivingTheWeek congratulations! Is it likely to be one of her firm or insurance?

DD has booked on to the March offer holder day. She has a few friends going then too.

However I’ve just looked at booking a train and it’s looking like £250 to £300 for the two of us and that’s with a 16-25 saver card! It was half the price when we went to the open day last summer. Not really sure what to do as I can’t justify spending that on the train ticket and more than likely a hotel overnight too (we are 5 hours/275 miles away). I’d happily let her go on her own but not sure she’d be allowed to stay in a hotel on her own as she’s not yet 18. Does anyone know?

DD did the Durham open day (not offer holder day) on her own, she got a train about 5am, then got back home about midnight, crossing London. It was a long day but do-able.

I think most hotels have minimum aged 18 for them. If there are friends going with their parents could she join up with their group if travelling all in one day isn’t possible?

If it’s the March one it’ll be the Easter holidays - Chads (and possibly others) do B&B so might be worth looking at that?

Be aware that 16-17 railcards offer better discounts than 16-24 railcards and might still be worth it for a 'soon to be 18' if looking at a long return journey. As PP says, a long solo day trip is possible, and less bleak as the daylight hours extend; might as well get the practice journeys in now! Also look at 'Two Together' railcards if student and parent considering joint trip; can be used for other offer days and pre-uni bonding trips.

To be honest,if you decide it’s vital for her to go and she is happy to go alone, I’d book the room for 1 adult. I think I’d lie about her age at this point.

Trains and accommodation are very expensive with this short notice. My DS wasn’t bothered about an Offer Holder day as he saw what he wanted at the spring open day. His mind is made up about Durham. Therefore an offer holder day wasn’t something he was very bothered about as it’s a massive schlep for us too and he didn’t think he’d learn much else from it. I quite fancied another look and a lovely day out, but in the end decided the distance, cost and him not being bothered at all made it just not worth it.

I can see why anyone who didn’t go to an Open Day wants to go and also if you didn’t get to see any colleges. It’s worth remembering that although you rank colleges there’s a high chance if provisionally being allocated a different one from anywhere in your ranking, plus there’s a pretty good chance if being re-allocated post results day too. On that basis, seeing some pictures and doing abit of online reading might be just as good and also help avoid becoming too attached to one college. In the end they need to choose Durham for the university and not a particular college, because there is no control really over which college they end up at.

Unsure also about whether to attend an offer holder day. We’re about 4 hrs away but have previously just got in the car early and driven and parked.

Lner/Unidays has a 40% off offer so better than the 16-25 railcard even if she does already have one. Alternatively, the Two Together railcard if both of you want to go will save more than it costs even if you only use it for this journey. I’ve used Tesco Clubcard points in the past to purchase railcards.

Is the coach an option - possibly even overnight.

Was going to offer my son another trip up, but if I do it won’t be for March given those prices! He got his offer today btw 🎉🥳.

Great news @Jaxx . Congratulations to him.

She wants to go to the offer holder day despite us attending the open day last summer because the subject talk was a bit of a damp squib due to the strikes. It was a generic humanities subject talk and she couldn’t get a proper feel for the course. We managed to look round 4 colleges so it’s just the subject talk she wants.

Anyway she’s informed me that they’ve found flights for £90 return to Newcastle and then they will split an Uber. And apparently Travelodge do family rooms and there are 3 of them going and one is already 18. They have checked the T&C’s and you have to be 18 to book and if under 18 can’t stay on your own, which they won’t be as they will all be in one room. I think I’m just going to leave them to it and bow out. I know when I’m not wanted! 😬

Congratulations to your DS @Jaxx!! 🎊🎉Is it likely to be a firm or insurance?

Congratulations to DS @Jaxx

Thank you @Rollergirl11 . Yes, it is, though she’s waiting to hear from Edinburgh & St Andrews before making a decision. I fear we might be waiting a while!

As per your comment above - we were in the general humanities talk in the summer too, so DD would like to go back to find out more.

Well done to your DS @Jaxx

We did the Durham open day in a day trip so didn’t pay for overnight accommodation - we couldn’t stay because of other commitments . We live in London so flew from Heathrow to Newcastle for the open day and at the time the flights were actually much cheaper than the train (not environmentally friendly though but we had no option ). You can then get the train at the airport via Newcastle to Durham (or you can get a taxi ) . Might be worth exploring if you are close to an airport with flights to Newcastle . Booking well in advance for train travel is usually quite cheap - we’ve paid £22 with railcard for a Friday train ticket from Durham to London for example so don’t let the train fares put you off .

@Jaxx Delighted for him. Fingers crossed he gets Stevo.

Gosh never thought of flying! It's the same amount of time train or driving (5.5 hours) and I guess with the getting to the airport, waiting then flying it's just a bit shorter. I don't like flying though!

@Rollergirl11 she's very busy - working five days a week (including Saturday) while most of the others are doing three. But I think she has the most interesting placement and she goes all over Lisbon. But exhausted as they stay up very late too! But she's getting so much out of it and experiencing living in a flat with 14 others and sharing a room.,

@Rollergirl11 yes, the english department talk at the Durham open day was such a disappointment - and the main reason we went on what was a pretty expensive trip

Slightly concerned multiple posters found the English talks to be a let down, which backs our experience of them. We went the year earlier and attended 2 subject talks and the English one was quite uninspired compared to the other one. Isnt Durham is meant to be one of the higher ranked English courses after Oxbridge and St A.