She's off to stay overnight in a strange place where she knows no-one and no-one knows her. Slightly scary, and the phone call earlier this evening served to confirm the awkward anticipation and squirmy stomach feeling that most people will experience when placed in an unfamiliar situation. Fresher's week reminiscence, anyone? I know I've been in a similar place, and I don't envy her position at the moment. Hopefully, tomorrow will all be sunshine and rainbows and accounts of a having wonderful time and meeting amazing people, it's just the initial interaction that is the difficult part.
However, the real reason I have drawn-out this pathetic excuse for a piece of writing, is to spark a battle of the universities. The choice is (mainly) this: Cardiff or Durham? I'd like to be able to offer as much support and advice as I can in helping this person make her final decision on which uni is best for her. Any comments, hints or information that may be considered useful in making this important choice would be much appreciated.
Of course, there would be no point in asking this unless perhaps, by chance, current students from the well renowned universities of either Cardiff or Durham were here to offer their point of view, to tell me why one should or shouldn't go to their uni, the good, the bad, the ugly and the rest...
Now, I wonder where I could find such fine examples of student specimen?
On the jukebox: The Clash ~ Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Heh, nice.
ReplyDeleteCardiff is good. Starting with the Uni, I think it's rated pretty highly. Obviously I can only talk about my department, but frankly its ACE (my department is Architectural, Civil and Environmental engineering... I'm just Civil though). The teaching is really good (it's rated in the top 10 for my dept), but more than that the ethos of the place is really nice. It's relaxed, everyone is really approachable, and it's just a nice place to be. I have to say this was one of my main reasons for coming to Cardiff - visiting other departments at other unis, you get a sense that some of them are less approachable or friendly. Obviously, I can't say how applicable that is to other departments in Cardiff, but it's my experience. (as an aside, what is she applying for?)
As for the rest of the uni... Halls of residence are alright (Avoid Senghenydd at all costs, and Taly Court is falling down), and iirc cheaper than most other universities. The union is hideously ugly, but is actually pretty good. Theres a decent amount of things to go to, and... yeah, its good.
The City... I've moaned before that it's too small, but I'm weird. The Bay is really nice, the centre (near the Stadium and the train station) is good too, especially if you like clubs... For second years and beyond, theres loads of housing around too and most of it is pretty good. Dunno how prices compare to other cities though, although I know it's cheaper than London (no shit). All told, it's not a bad place.
Unless Wales win the Grand Slam or, even worse, beat England. In which case all your Welsh friends *will* gloat.
Recommended, but I think Lucy's gonna write some very compelling reasons for Durham. I guess it all depends what you want...
Ohhhhhhhhhh. So there is life after msn? No wonder I couldn't reply. ;p
ReplyDelete--Amber
Damn right I'm going to write some compelling reasons for Durham, because I love love love it :D
ReplyDeleteAs a start, it is a really, really beautiful place. It's tiny (again by the standards of one who lives in Birmingham), but it still has the conveniences of a town/city - it has enough clothes shopping/other shopping to get you through and if needs be, Newcastle and the Metro Centre are twenty minutes train ride away. It also is very green - riverbank footpaths, fields, and bluebell woods all within ten minutes of the hill colleges (of which your sister's is one). It certainly doesn't have the concrete city feel to it. The very centre (the bailey, containing the cathedral, castle, central colleges and arts depts) is Norman, and quite frankly, stunning. There aren't many days when I don't pause at some point and go, "Wow." - I now carry a camera at nearly all times for just that reason!
What's your sister studying (arts vs sciences if you like)? The science site is a handy ten-minute walk from your sister's college, arts lecture theatres fifteen or twenty depending on how fast she walks (she'll get quicker and fitter as she gets used to the hills!). Living-out in the second year involves a certain amount of choice, obviously, but I don't know many people who are more than half an hour from their Dept and most are within twenty minutes. Average rent is in the £60-a-week bracket, cheap rent £40s, expensive £80s. No idea how that compares to Cardiff, really.
The nightlife, it has to be said, is fairly minimal (although for me that was another plus point). There are clubs, the music tending to be of the more cheesy variety, and of course college bars. People tend to go to Newcastle if they want rock gigs, although there is an indie night once a week at the union. There are lots of places to go for hot chocolate though :-)
Erm, it has a reasonably good academic reputation for most stuff. Though if she's down to Durham vs Cardiff, she's probably been through that sort of thing already...
Personally I'd've thought that Durham's biggest trump card was the collegiate system. She'll have got some of that from the Open Day (yes, I did go on the equivalent three years ago!), but it's almost unrivalled in the atmosphere it creates and the opportunities it gives you for meeting kindred spirits. The pastoral support is excellent should you need it, and belonging to a body of 1000 students (or whatever Mildert is?) rather than 25000 in a large university is rather a nicer feeling :-) You also get more opportunity in terms of societies (something else Durham does very well as a university) - if you're a diploma-level violinist you can audition for the university orchestra, but if you're only grade 5 or 6 and just want to play for fun then the college orchestra will welcome you with open arms. Ditto sport, student theatre (very active), debating, CU if you're that way inclined, whatever...
In the interests of giving a balanced picture, I can think of three main downsides.
One is obviously the distance. I don't know whereabouts you live but it's clearly in the south of England and you only need to glance at a map to see that Durham's quite a long way! Weekends home will be few and probably more expensive than from Cardiff.
Two is the size of the place. The collegiate system means that it's a very small world, and some people find that claustrophobic (especially people who have taken gap years, interestingly). Having said that, by the time you're living out, you can spend as much or as little time within 'the system' as you like. You have the option to return to college as a finalist - some take it, some don't. It doesn't sound like you come from a city, so you probably wouldn't miss multi-screen cinemas and the like - just as well because Durham doesn't have them!
And the third main complaint that gets banded about is the omnipresence of the rahs. The bailey college and arts Depts in particular suffer from them - and some of the shops in the centre of town are very much aimed at Daddy's credit card. But again that might be more of a problem for me than for your sister - she comes from the south, after all, and they came as a shock to me because they simply don't exist in B'ham! And there are a lot, a lot of really lovely, friendly, down-to-earth people, regardless of their background :-) If you make the effort to integrate a bit, the local community is also lovely - I'm convinced that it's true that people up North are friendlier than those in the South, in general. Can't talk for Wales, admittedly.
You probably knew a lot of that anyway. But I hope it helps a bit! My main advice to your sister would be to go by instinct on the feel of the places - which one's right for her. All I can say is it worked for me :-)
(And she's more than welcome to message me with specific questions if she likes :-) Longest comment, ever!)
Ooo, and catering. If she's at Mildert, that'll be enforcedly catered in the first year vs Cardiff uncatered I'd imagine. I've no idea what Mildert food is like, though I can ask friends...
ReplyDeleteAnother difference: Durham runs terms, Cardiff runs semesters.
ReplyDeleteBasically what that means is that in Cardiff she'd get one set of exams in January and another set in May/June, presumably covering different modules (Dickie?). In Durham, we are taught new material for two terms, and then the third term is dedicated to revision, exams, and partying for three weeks at the end :D
It seems a trivial difference, but it's not in terms of course structure and in terms of how well you deal with exams.
Would you like me to take down the comment on my blog with your email for security purposes, incidentally, or shall I leave it up there?
ReplyDeleteI'll stop bugging you now :-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Lucy's essay...
ReplyDeleteDurham seems slightly more expensive than Cardiff for accomodation.
If you like nightlife, Cardiff has loads (Sadly). Apparently it's a pretty decent night out.
In terms of shopping... Well Queen Street is at most 30 minutes walk from residences (But the internet beats anything)
For societies, I think any decent uni will have more than enough choice for you.
BTW Cardiff is a pretty friendly place.
What Lucy says about semesters is perfectly true (yes, different modules in 2nd semester). As I said, it all comes down to what she's after. Cardiff is a good uni in a pretty good place; the city isnt too big, but it has all the trappings of larger cities. And it's much more convenient than Durham. But Durham is prettier (allegedly. I've never been...), and a smaller city/town (which one?). And also Collegiate, which (from what I've heard) is a pretty big plus.
Oh, by the way, I think most halls in Cardiff are self-catered. Maybe one (Heath?) isnt, and Senghenydd you can buy meals if you want, but I can't remember off the top of my head.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! Wow you guys, I didn't expect such a response so soon, I am most impressed and grateful! She's coming back from Durham today (6 hr coach journey + travel to home - distance is a major factor in that respect) and she's already been and seen Cardiff, so I shall suss out the verdict today :o) You've given me lots of fodder for discussion, which is brill!
ReplyDeleteShe's Zoology, keeping up the science trend in the family ;o)
In terms of big vs. small - one of the attractions for Durham was the beauty of it - cobbled streets (!) old buildings, green places, etc and the small and contained idea - she's not such a fan of the industrial city thang, I don't think (though she liked Cardiff more than she thought she would, I think...) Also, she's a bit of a healthness freak so somehow I reckon that big hills would encourage her!
@ Lucy: How easy is it to get to/from Newcastle on a night out, and do people go there often? I suppose it depends on the type of person, to be honest, I'm not sure the nightlife would be a major pull/push factor for my sis, but she has only recently turned 18, so hey, you never know...
Speaking from my own experience, although I didn't have the collegiate system, our halls of residence gave a similar opportunity to meet lots more people than I would have say if I were in a flat of six or twelve people, and to be honest, when I was deciding, that was a major plus point.
@ Dickie: Do you get to choose which halls of residence you're in?
We've talked about the rahness as well - I'll be interested to see what she makes of them on this open day, but having said that, my uni has some insufferable toffs, I just tend to steer clear of them since there are so many like-minded people avaliable also.
@ Lucy: one point which I do want to make clear - does that mean you don't have exams in January? Is that the same across all departments? So you're tested on all the material at the end of the year? That's quite a notable difference, as I thought most unis did the modular system (by most, I mean, um, me!?)
Again, thank you so so so much for all the info, it's such a difference to have someone who knows the unis, and this happy coincidence is most useful :oD
I will no doubt be back here with updates, so keep tuned as the battle of the unis continues... ;o)
(Also, Lucy, you can leave my comment up there :o)
When I did it, we had to rank all the halls in order of preference. As long as you get the form in early enough though, you should get your first choice (I did, and I think most people I know did)
ReplyDeleteDickie, Durham is a city by dint of the fact that it has a big-ass cathedral! Size-wise, however, it feels more like a town (I imagine, anyway...)
ReplyDeleteFlix...
Newcastle. Newcastle is very easy to get to once you're at the train station - it's a twenty minute journey into the centre and trains go pretty regularly. I've no idea where the nightlife area is in relation to the station having never been for that. But it's about 10-15 mins walk to the shops, 15-20 mins walk to the Gateshead Millenium Bridge/ the Sage, and you can change onto another train to take you out to the MetroCentre (although if you're there for big shopping, I'd advise taking most of a day to go there - you can't just nip in and out, but again, it doesn't sound like you have that at home either).
Most people go a few times during their degree for whatever reason, and I know that quite a few of the societies (e.g. alt-soc, music society) arrange coaches to get people to concerts/gigs if there's a lot of interest. In terms of trains back, I *think* they run 'til about one in the morning. Not sure! In practice, clubbing in Newcastle is a special night out, not a regular thing, but it's perfectly do-able and a good escape from the 'bubble'.
If anything, the time-consuming factor is getting to the station in Durham. It's about a twenty-five minute walk from Mildert (and predominantly uphill on the way back!). The most popular student housing area for second years is known as the Viaduct - as the name suggests, this is a lot nearer the railway line, so potentially only five or ten minutes walk. For me, living slightly further out, it's half an hour, but there are taxis or whatever if you get back late and can't be bothered!
Erm, rahs. In Mildert, doing Zoology she should be fine! And as you say, every university probably has 'em, it's just a question of how much you let them piss you off... And hey, forewarned is forearmed!
Exams. I have a feeling that Biology (the Dept under which Zoology would presumably fall) has some sort of exams at the end of the first term. This is possibly the only Dept to do so, and I don't know what format they take or how important they are, but I have a friend doing Biology who I can ask. For more information, I'd refer your sister to here, though I daresay they'll have given her some bumph already. I don't know what the coursework/exam weighting is for Biology, but the module pages will tell you.
Certainly across the university as a whole, exams are not held in January! We are indeed tested on all the material at the end of the year - we learn six modules simultaneously, spread over the first two terms. I quite like this as it gives us a chance to build up our knowledge before we have to pretend to know what we're talking about, but then Maths is very cumulative anyway.
All modules are weighted equally (20 credits), although I would imagine that there's a core double module in the first year. I have a feeling that Biologists (/Zoologists?) can only take 100 credits worth of their own subject in the first year - so your sister would have to make up the weight with an elective from another Dept. Electives can be any 'Open' module from any Dept of the appropriate weight, providing that they can timetable it and that you have the prerequisites. One of Durham's selling points is its flexible degree programmes - if your sister wanted, she could probably transfer to Natural Sciences and do half Zoology, half Chemistry, say. Or a third Zoology, a third Psychology and a third History if she really wanted, only you do have to be careful about prerequisites for future years.
:-)
Durham is really really pretty. And close to Newcastle, which is an amzing city.
ReplyDeleteMy friend is at Durham.
She loves it.
That wasn't that helpful, but that never stopped me putting in my two cents before...
xxx
Well, it seems she's pretty smitten. Nothing's definite until the final click of the UCAS form, but from what I've gathered and given, it looks like she's going to Durham (grades depending, of course...)
ReplyDeleteThanks once again to both of you for all the help, it was great to be able to actually answer the questions she was asking with some kind of concrete knowledge base!