Studying MSc Criminology at Durham as an international student

Elias Koenig on May 17, 2024

I did my undergraduate in law back in India, and criminology was one of the subjects I found most interesting, which is why I chose to do an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. I chose Durham University because it was one of the best universities for criminology in the UK. Also, what interested me was the way the course and specific modules were structured.

A change of pace

Although I was initially uneasy moving from a big city to a tiny, quiet town like Durham, I now find a change of pace to be quite lovely. Since then, I’ve grown to like taking leisurely strolls to and from classes while simply taking in the scenery which is also a bit refreshing. I was halfway through my first term when I finally got used to being on my own, acclimated to the temperature, and started interacting with people.   

A different academic system                          

I found it a bit tough to adjust to the academic system at first because it is completely different. Here, we don’t have lectures every single day, and the lectures are also more like group discussions, where everyone is open to all sorts of opinions. This made me feel a bit confident in expressing my opinions in front of my peers.

The amount of reading that needed to be done was a bit daunting at first because, during my undergrad, my assessments were completely based on exams, and we didn’t have a dissertation. But here, you need to read articles and journals and provide critiques and arguments for them. I feel this let me delve much deeper into every topic that we studied.

The department

I feel the Sociology department has been very welcoming and supportive of the students, especially international students. They hold an informal social meeting every term where they check up on us and ask us about our experiences. They also make sure we tell them if there is anything they could do for us that they aren’t aware of so we can get the most out of our degree. One of the best aspects of the degree is that the professors are always willing to mentor and assist us, whether it be academically or otherwise.

Workshop at HMP Durham
Finchale Priory
River Wear from Kingsgate bridge

My favourite modules

The most interesting modules for me were the placement module and the Prisons, Crime and Justice module. As a part of the placement module, I get to volunteer as a mentor at the Durham Police and Crime Commissioners Office, which I feel gives me a good experience of what it’s like working with people and has also allowed me to make connections in my field. As a part of the Prisons, Crime and Justice module we had a workshop where we held group discussions with the prisoners at HMP Durham.  I feel like this would be one of my most memorable experiences during my degree. This module was also a part of why I chose Durham for my master’s program.

College

Being an introvert, the collegiate system here gave me a chance to attend formal dinners and get to know people outside of my academics, making my social life a bit richer. Being away from my parents for the first time was not easy, but my college and the Student Union held a lot of cultural events for international students like me, which made me feel a little less homesick during festivals. Durham has provided me with a positive academic and social experience that I will always cherish.

Discover more

Feeling inspired? Take a look at our Sociology Department webpages

Follow The Durham Student on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube

Create your own personalised prospectus here

What you need to know about the undergraduate collegiate system

Elias Koenig on May 16, 2024

When applying to Durham, I’m sure most of us were both intrigued and intimidated by the collegiate system. The endless hours spent binge-watching Jack Edwards created an idyllic expectation of the collegiate life. But what is the collegiate system? And how does it actually work?

Durham University is one of the very few UK Universities with a collegiate system, which is what makes us quite special. The collegiate system allows students the opportunity to find a community/family at Durham where they can meet students from all backgrounds, courses and degree levels. It makes the process of transitioning to university much easier as you’re constantly surrounded by people who understand you, and are going through a shared experience.

Which is why it’s important to understand the ins and outs of the collegiate system before diving in to university and college life.

How many colleges are there?

Durham University has 17 colleges all located across the City, the Bailey, and what’s known as the Hill (near main Science Site).

  1. Hatfield {Bailey}
  2. Castle (University College) {Bailey}
  3. St Cuthbert’s Society {Bailey & Old Elvet}
  4. St Chads {Bailey}
  5. St Johns {Bailey}
  6. St Hilde Bede {the main bulding is close to Gilesgate but the college community is moving to a new location in 2024 near the city centre due to refurbishments}
  7. St Aidan’s {Hill}
  8. Grey {Hill}
  9. Trevelyan {Hill}
  10. Ustinov (Postgraduate only college)
  11. South {Hill}
  12.  John Snow {Hill}
  13.  Van Mildert {Hill}
  14. Stephenson {Hill}
  15.  Josephine Butler {Hill}
  16.  Collingwood {Hill}
  17.  St Marys {Hill}

I’ve done my research, now what do I do?

Whether you’ve attended an open day, spent hours googling and searching social media for all there is to know about each college, the time has come for you to rank your college preferences. Also, the tricky part. Upon receiving an academic offer from Durham, you’ll be asked to rank 16 of the colleges according to your preference (1 as your first, 16 as your last). My biggest advice to incoming students is to take this process seriously, and to rank ALL 16 according to your preference properly and not just the first 3 or 6. Also, to properly do your research, whether that’s attending open days, speaking to ambassadors online or browsing through the social media pages. The most important thing to remember is, college preferences are not 100% guaranteed! The university will do its absolute best to allocate you your top preferred college, but that will not always be the case. Which is why it’s important you rank all colleges properly.

Preliminary allocation, allocation, and reallocation

Understanding the lingo of the collegiate system is integral, it avoids confusion, stress and anxiety during the allocation process. Fear not, I am here to break it down:

  • Preliminary Allocation- Once you rank all 16 colleges according to preference, you will be entered into the college allocation process, usually beginning in May. And will receive a preliminary allocation until results day. This allocation is NOT your final allocation, and is rather done in preparation for your final allocation.
  •  Final Allocation– Once your place at Durham has been confirmed after results day, you will receive a final allocation. This allocation may be different to your preliminary allocation or for some not, but it is your final and confirmed allocation.
  • Reallocation– While incredibly stressful and unfortunate for some, reallocations do happen (not always!) when a college becomes oversubscribed, and yes, sometimes you are reallocated a college you were not expecting or to your delight, are reallocated a college you originally ranked higher. However, the University will always try its best to reallocate you to suitable or similar college to your preferences.

The most commonly asked question after preliminary allocation or final allocation is whether you can change your college if you are unhappy with the choice. The answer is situational. If your allocated college cannot provide for your medical or accessibility needs, then a request to change your college can be made.  But, if it’s simply you not liking your college, then that is not grounds for a request to change your college and you cannot change your college based on that.

How does the allocation process actually work?

You’re probably wondering, are allocations first serve? Whether you firmed Durham? Well, the answer is quite complicated. The Allocation process takes into account various factors when allocating you a college and is an incredibly complex process and system to understand. Applicants are grouped into two categories:

  • Applicants who have filled out the preference form, ranking their colleges.
  • Applicants who have not ranked their college preferences.

Applicants from both categories will go through the allocation process until finally, a preliminary allocation is provided.

The allocation criteria take into consideration the required quota for each course in a college and your college rankings. Meaning, if a college is overly subscribed or you were not allocated your top choice, it probably means they’ve filled the required number of students from that course. You may think these criteria isn’t fair, but, it’s a necessary criterion as it allows for an equal and diverse mix of courses/course levels within each college; which makes the college experience and student life at colleges better for students 😊

What if I don’t get my first choice?!!

Yes, sometimes, you won’t be allocated your first choice, or your second or even 6th. But it’s important to know that whichever college you are allocated, you will end up loving and proudly defending when it comes to college rivalries and debates. Your first choice may be the one you wanted, but your allocated college will end up being the one you needed all along.

You’ll find an amazing community waiting for you at your college, regardless of whether it was your top choice or not, and you’ll have some amazing memories to look back on further down the years after you graduate 😊

Discover more

Find out more about the undergraduate college application process here

Read more student stories about College here

Read about Harry’s experience of being reallocated

Why you shouldn’t stress about not getting your first-choice college!

What’s it like studying Physics

Elias Koenig on May 3, 2024

Why Physics?

When applying to unis, I was always pretty certain that I wanted to study physics. After reading a great book about it a few years ago, I found understanding why things worked at a fundamental level really cool, and the idea of studying crazy phenomena like black holes and quantum theory seemed awesome to me!

A typical day

A typical day in my life sees me waking up half an hour before lectures, quickly having breakfast and taking the 5-minute walk down to the science site (a definite upside of being at Trevelyan college!). Contact hours are all an hour long and there are generally 3-4 of them every morning, ranging from tutorials to lectures to workshops, after which I head back up the hill to Trevs for a catered lunch. My afternoon is then generally spent in the library, most likely doing assignments, going over lecture notes or preparing for tutorials.

My top tips

Being a first-year student, I was glad there wasn’t much module choice in terms of physics, because I would have had no idea what I wanted to specialise in! However, roughly half of our modules are maths modules, and I picked the ones focussed more on teaching the maths needed for physics, instead of the ones giving a more rigorous, abstract approach. These modules were my favourites in first term, and I found it really cool how they took the maths I’d learnt at school a step further and showed us where it all came from.

My favourite part of second term has been the physics side of the course though! While in the first term I didn’t really interact much with physics outside of lectures and assignments, in the new year I started going over my lecture notes and using the textbook to make sure I really understood what was going on. Doing this has made me enjoy the course much more! It’s more work, but I’d say my main learning from first year is that you get as much out of the course as you invest in it.

Once a week we also have a three-hour lab session, and just like the theoretical part of the course, I’ve enjoyed it much more in second term! My favourite experiment so far has been measuring the speed of light, which we did by bouncing the light off a mirror and measuring the time delay between when it was emitted and when it came back. Apart from the fact that we got a really accurate result, I really enjoyed it because it branched the theory we’d been doing with real life.

Friends and free time

Before coming to uni I was worried that my degree might mean I was working all the time, but, in first year at least, I’ve found that balancing friends/societies and my workload has definitely been doable. I spend most of my free time with my friends and often in the evenings we do something together like baking or playing a game. I also always look forward to my Wednesday evenings, where I play DnD with a group I met through the Durham Games society!

Frisbee, frisbee, frisbee!

I’m also on the Ultimate Frisbee team for both Trevs and Durham! Before coming to uni I’d never played, but now I have training three to four times a week and generally a match over the weekend. I’ve also been around the UK a bit for matches or tournaments with the Durham team, which is always great fun! Sport has always been a great way to destress for me, and Ultimate Frisbee has been a great new discovery!

Discover more

Feeling inspired? Take a look at our Physics Department webpages

Follow The Durham Student on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube

Create your own personalised prospectus here