UMIST doesn't exist any more does it? It all depends on what you want to study. Some universities are better at some subjects than others. It really also depends on what the end goal is. I got pretty sick of teaching Chinese students engineering at Imperial when they all wanted to be (and most of them will end up as) bankers.
She wants to do law, a really tough call! Already rejected by UCL and LSE, York and Bristol still to decide.
Law is probably one of those snobby careers where the big firms want to select from certain red brick unis (possibly Russell group ones). I would have thought that Durham would probably tick that box, with both York and Bristol probably also being acceptable.
Friend of mine went there donkey's years ago. He captained the rugby team. Will hat one past him when I next see him. As long as I am more than an arm's length away.
LSE? Sir Humphrey Appleby, after using a Latin quote " Of course someone who went to the LSE wouldn't understand that." Jim Hacker "I went to the LSE!" Sir Humphrey Appleby " Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Prime Minister". Bristol is a decent place to spend time in, great waterfront area.
Law is one of those really tough subjects where loads of people come out with law degrees. Competition for places in mediocre law firms is fierce and I don't think salaries are that great in the early years.
I think there is two universities in York, York st john is the smaller one five minutes from the town center
I went to Durham Uni 2000 - 2003, so all this information is from then, locations of departments etc might have changed. Van Mildert is a bit out of town - its the second most remote college ("on the hill") which means its a bit more of a pain than other colleges to get to lectures and into town, especially to go drinking and on nights out (that said, every college has its own bar, and you can easily hop between the "hill" colleges, so its only an issue if she wants to into Durham city to what passes as nightclubs). The law department is right in the middle of the town, next to the castle and the cathedral, and law lectures take place in the lecture halls near there, so its probably a 30/40 min walk or so from Van Mildert. The college is, however, close to the main library and the sports facilities. In my day, Van Mildert had a reputation as the most bohemian of the colleges. It had by far and away the most international students and seemed to have a high population of either more "worldly wise" mature students who had done some travelling, or kids fresh from their "gap yarh". It was not one of the more social colleges and had a poor bar atmosphere (you would only drop in to tick it off your list on a bar crawl, never go there by choice). On the other hand, because it was a bit more bohemian, it also had a reputation as the college to go to if you wanted to get connected with some drugs. In 2000, it had some of the more modern facilities, but that will all be out of date by now anyway. Hope that helps.
Thanks for replying though things seem to have moved on a bit since 2003. The Law School is now in a new building at the bottom of the hill so less of a hike to get there. Also I've come across quite a few folk saying the bar is arguably the best in the university! The mix of students you refer does resonate though. Lets see if she gets the grades...
It just shows the level of maturity on this board, that Durham gets mentioned, with nobody owning up to singing it to the Pink Panther tune.
There is a bit of a link though. When our son graduated there the Dean was Peter Ustinov who, I believe, had something to do with the first Pink Panther film. His speech at the ceremony was hilarious, lots of anecdotes and impersonations.
He was originally going to play the role of Clouseau, but pulled out and the role was given to Sellers.
A great story teller - he was in a wheel chair when we saw him and we were told that he'd given virtually the same speech the previous year. It was easily the best congregation ceremony that I've ever attended.
