Durham Open Day

[Maggiethecat]

Anyone done one and what did you and Dc think of it?

We were there on Wednesday and my ds was not keen. He felt that Durham was too small and too quiet. It seamed so run down with lots of empty shops. We looked at St Mary’s, South and Collingwood and my ds hated south said it felt like a hospital. He liked St Mary’s. I just wished there had been more time to see the colleges. He wasn’t impressed with the subject sessions, there were no tours of the labs and no mock tutorials. Some of the sessions he was booked in when he went to them there was no one there so had been given the wrong locations/information. He said it was very badly organised and the talks that he did see were uninspiring they just talked about the course structure. He said that Leeds and Bath was so much better organised. I think he’s leaning more towards Leeds at the moment as it’s such a lovely vibrant city but the course was amazing at Bath so he’s still unsure. We are still waiting for UCL.

What is you dd studying @Wronginformation ?

MerchSwyddEfrog I'm pretty sure she has applied for same course as your Dc 😁
She will be firming Bath.
But yes to bits looking rundown. Also, Bath campus has everything together in the same place. There are advantages to non campus unis , and i enjoyed my time at UCL . The surroundings of the hill colleges looked just boring.

TBH, if your DC is prioritising shops as part of their university criteria, then Durham definitely isn't somewhere they should go.

Not sure what you would be expecting re the hill college surroundings - everyone who's done a bit of research in Durham realises they're away from the centre in a wooded, green area.

Completely different from The Bailey area, but not unlike some campus universities - the outskirts of the Exeter campus is very similar

He’s not prioritising shops, that’s a silly thing to say. I was explaining my impression of Durham. We did do our research but hadn’t seen any of the Universities beforehand and it’s hard to get a real feel for somewhere from YouTube videos. He will be at the university for 4 years so he needs to enjoy where he is living. I thought offer holder days were to find out if you liked the place after all? I think if the talks in the afternoon had been better organised then he may have been more impressed. But it’s really not great to turn up to an organised talk with other students and theres no one there and they then have to run around trying to find staff to find out where they are supposed to be!

I would also say that choosing Bath is not because of the shops. For what it's worth Bath not so much lower than Durham on CUG League table. DD likes to do an integrated masters as well as study abroad. Possible in Bath but not Durham for her course.

More importantly after having seen the cathedral etc in the morning and with lectures in the afternoon just for students I just got a bit bored😁. And yes DD could have gone on her own like her siblings did....

@Wronginformation Bath is actually several places higher for my DD's subject (though Oxford is there at number two, and doesn't even offer the subject so not sure what they are doing there). I personally like the city of Bath much more, and we haven't seen the uni (clashed with Bristol).
I imagine the kids should be studying, and if they want someplace livelier then there are other options. And I guess that's also why the colleges make so much effort with activities and socials. My DD would be just as happy walking along the riverbank as along a parade of pubs, though of course she lives in London and is considering something different.

The surroundings of the hill colleges looked just boring. Darn those green spaces and clean air😂 Joking aside that was one of the reasons DS chose Stephenson. Don't be fooled though there is plenty of socialising on the Mound, sport on the MUGAs and arguably the best two student bars at JoBo and Stephenson.

"Darn those green spaces and clean air"
Hm, unlike the surrounding area of Bath campus then...

Are those surrounding areas of green spaces and clean air less boring at Bath though?

Are those surrounding areas of green spaces and clean air less boring at Bath though? 😂

For the person who mentioned that John's is 10k for room and catering, it follows the standard Durham rates but offers better food (it and one other college have their own chefs instead of the standard Durham uni catering co) and more free things eg laundry, formal means even for livers out in later years, hot drinks.

The new Principal sounds brilliant and it's so warm and welcoming.

Tatty rooms are made up for by being in very old listed buildings in an amazing location, the warm welcome and tons of activities.

@billymean that was me - and I think the cost is for any catered college not just St John's.
I know - the colleges are the best thing about Durham but better if you were sure of which one you got!