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Bristol University Physics Applicants 2012

Hi all,

Anyone else got/firmed an offer at Bristol for physics? And for which course?

I just firmed my offer for the MSci in straight physics at Bristol for an A in maths and a B in physics. Quite a generous offer I thought.

Also how did people find the visit day test?

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Reply 1
Yes! :biggrin: I should be firming soon.

I was't invited to a visit day? :frown: Not sure why, I would quite like to be as haven't seen the department yet.

What did you think of the department? Is it nice?
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Reply 2
Yes it's really great! It's definitely the best physics department I have seen, the facilities were good, and the department is the Royal Fort so it's a nice place to be studying. Not being a campus university I thought everything would be all over the city but its actually all quite close together, and in a nice area. On the visit day we also went to see some of the accommodation, which was also really nice, although we only got to see Wills hall which I think is one of the best halls, so although it looks as nice as Oxbridge residences I imagine its not all like that! (We did walk past Durdham which also looks good but we didn't go inside.) I definitely preferred it to the other departments I have seen.(Bath/York/Exeter/Sussex/Sheffield/Leicester)
What course have you applied for?
Reply 3
Good! :biggrin: I haven't been that impressed by most departments so far, so hopefully this will be better. I applied for F300, I might want to do the MSci, it sounds very flexible on the website, so I might change.

Just got an email saying there will be no more formal open days, but I can come up on the 2nd of April for an informal one.
Reply 4
I have an offer for physics with a year abroad! But can't decide between bath and bristol hmmmmm.
Reply 5
Original post by levare
I have an offer for physics with a year abroad! But can't decide between bath and bristol hmmmmm.


Have you visited both?
Reply 6
Original post by levare
I have an offer for physics with a year abroad! But can't decide between bath and bristol hmmmmm.


Have you seen both unis? I was facing the same decision between Bath and Bristol as to which to put as my firm, but when I visited both I decided I preferred Bristol. I didn't think much of Bath as although the city is really nice I wasn't particularly struck on the campus or the accommodation as it is quite a distance from the city center, and quite a bit of the campus is a 70's concrete eyesore. Also, even though the day I went to was a physics admissions day, we hardly saw any of the physics labs or anything as we were too busy being shown round the massive swimming pool and sports facilities, and personally I would have preferred to visit their center for nano-science or something like that.:biggrin: I guess it also depends on whether you prefer a campus uni or a city uni as Bath is definitely more of a campus uni. Also for most of their big nights out the students at Bath said they travel to Bristol, so if your thinking of getting into the nightlife then Bristol is the place to go, as Bath is quite small. A big factor for me was that Bristol has one of the best music departments in the UK as I play violin and piano and want to keep it going at uni, but I dont think Bath actually offers music as a subject. Overall though I thought Bristol has a better physics department, much nicer accommodation, and nicer place to live. (Maybe I am a bit bias as I have firmed Bristol now but that's what I think anyway.) :biggrin:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 7
I have seen both three times and I still can't decide! Ah yes I know what you mean about the Bath tour, Bristol has much nicer labs and it would be a nicer place to live hmmm. I preferred the accommodation at Bath though, its right on campus and self catered :smile: which accommodation at Bristol are you looking at? I think I would have to go for Manor Hall or Goldney which both look quite nice to be fair. I got the impression that Bath research was slightly better but I'm not sure how much that really matters, and the course looks pretty similar at both places but I might do a year in Europe or in industry which I think Bath is slightly better for :s but Bristol nightlife aaah! Also, out of interest where are you insuring? :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by levare
I have seen both three times and I still can't decide! Ah yes I know what you mean about the Bath tour, Bristol has much nicer labs and it would be a nicer place to live hmmm. I preferred the accommodation at Bath though, its right on campus and self catered :smile: which accommodation at Bristol are you looking at? I think I would have to go for Manor Hall or Goldney which both look quite nice to be fair. I got the impression that Bath research was slightly better but I'm not sure how much that really matters, and the course looks pretty similar at both places but I might do a year in Europe or in industry which I think Bath is slightly better for :s but Bristol nightlife aaah! Also, out of interest where are you insuring? :smile:


I'm also looking at Manor or Goldney for accommodation - I am going self catered, but think it might be safer to put down for Woodland Court as a second choice as both of these are quite popular, although Manor is having renovation done in 2012-2013 so it will probably be less popular this year as I think people have to use the communal facilities at Clifton Hill House and Goldney Hall. Ill probably put down Goldney and Woodland, although I still haven't quite decided as I don't greatly like Woodland and I have heard that if you put down Goldney as your first choice then you need to be prepared to get your second choice because Goldney is so oversubscribed. I see what you mean about Bath accommodation as the Stoke Bishop Halls, like Durdham, are about 3km away from the main departments and I would prefer to be closer. I tried not to let accommodation influence my decision too much though as at the end of the day you are probably only going to be living there for a year. I think both research and course structure are going to be very similar between them, although I know Bath does really good placements etc. so Bath would probably be better for year in industry, although the year in Europe at Bristol is quite good as I just got that impression and you can take language modules as part of your timetable in the first year. My insurance is Exeter, although it's unlikely I will go there as my Bristol offer is an A in maths and a B in physics, not specifying for a third subject so I would have to seriously mess up my final exams not to get it! :biggrin: Where is your insurance?
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 9
True, accommodation isn't a big factor in deciding! I would go for Durdham as second choice I think. Also after first year everyone just moves out anyway and both places have nice areas to live in. That is a good point about Bristol language modules being part of your timetable, at Bath I would have to take them as like extra evening classes which wouldn't be quite as good. But Bath has better erasmus links, tricky... ooh Exeter is nice! I did a three day physics course thing there last summer :smile: I think my insurance will be Sheffield, which I love <3 and the offer is AAB but I've done Maths so just AB, I'm guessing you did something early if your Bristol offer is AB? :smile:
Reply 10
Sheffield is nice, I went up there last year and it is a great city. I think Durdham will probably be my second choice too, as even if it is a bit further away, its got more to offer than Woodland Court and I will probably cycle everywhere anyway, as it is quicker than walking. I haven't already done any of my subjects early, I think I just got that offer because my third subject is music, which is a bit irrelevant for physics! I cant imagine it was as a result of the visit day, as they said the test wouldn't affect the offer and we didn't get a proper one-to-one interview. (They probably guessed that decent music teachers are difficult to come by, and I don't have one!) :biggrin:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 11
Ah nice, or they liked you particularly :smile: I think I mucked up the maths parts in the test a bit! Yeah I don't think Durdham would be too bad, the walk seemed okay and the general stoke bishop atmosphere seems nice. Wish I could decide! My offer is for MSci physics with study in europe by the way, so might be seeing you!
Reply 12
Original post by levare
Ah nice, or they liked you particularly :smile: I think I mucked up the maths parts in the test a bit! Yeah I don't think Durdham would be too bad, the walk seemed okay and the general stoke bishop atmosphere seems nice. Wish I could decide! My offer is for MSci physics with study in europe by the way, so might be seeing you!


Quite possibly! I also struggled on the maths a bit in the test, although it might well have been easier if I did further maths, and also we typically just moved on to the definite integration by parts topic in the first maths lesson I had after the visit day, so I struggled on that question as well! Was quite helpful though that our tour guide told us what questions to expect as apparently they give out the same test each year! Where are you thinking of studying in Europe by the way? If only I could speak a foreign language I would consider doing something like that!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 13
Ah that would be annoying! I was okay with integration I think but had some issues remembering c2 stuff which wasn't good. I think I'll go to germany (or maybe switzerland) because german is cool and apparently their university system/experience is quite similar to ours. You only need the foreign language to GCSE level so you could :smile: hmm I am leaning towards bristol now!
Reply 14
Germany or Switzerland would be great! I went on holiday to Switzerland a couple of years ago and the scenery and culture (and mountain biking!) is amazing. (That's in addition to CERN being there:biggrin:) I did do a GCSE in Spanish in year 9, but they probably don't have any connections with unis in Spain and it was so long ago I have forgotten everything anyway! Let me know what you decide uni-wise in the end.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 15
Yess CERN, but its in the french-speaking region :frown: and as much as I love french, my accent is appalling...bristol have links with salamanca in spain which is a very very nice place! I'm hoping to decide within the next week, so I'll let you know! if you're not doing further maths, are you gonna have a look at some modules before you get there? I think I'm gonna need to look at some mechanics modules because I've done mostly stats, only m1!
Reply 16
Yes I will probably look over some further maths modules, as apparently complex numbers play quite a big role in physics, as well as mechanics, and at the risk of sounding a bit geeky, I think complex numbers actually sound quite interesting!:smile: I might also get into learning a bit of French/German, as I am thinking of possibly using my physics degree to get a job as a patent attorney, and if you want to qualify as a European patent attorney then you have to at least have a good reading knowledge of these languages. I'll probably have changed my mind on that idea by next week though, as although it sounds like you get involved in a range of scientific innovations, I'm not that keen on the law side of it! Don't know why I didn't do further maths in the first place though, it would be a lot easier. Good luck with the decision making anyway.
Reply 17
Haha, complex numbers are quite interesting! I think there are quite a lot of matrices as well and I can only do the fairly basic ones at the moment... oh yeah the patent attorney stuff does sound quite appealing, no idea what I want to do yet :smile: and thanks! I think bristol accommodation stuff isn't until June or something so I'm not too rushed at the moment.
Reply 18
Anyone know what the options are for the optional unit in the first year?
Reply 19
Original post by Ouzo
Anyone know what the options are for the optional unit in the first year?


Yes, according to the booklet I was given on the visit day the optional unit can be 'Chemistry, Astronomy, More Mathematics, Language, or Philosophy.' However, I am not sure whether there are other options available as there is an ellipsis on the final bullet point.

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