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Mathematics or chemical engineering

I jus got results for yr 12
A* in maths alevel
As phys A
As chem B

Im torn between maths and chemical engineering

Can anyone highlight on pros and cons of both subjects and give their opinion on which one tjey would choose with the above results

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Original post by Angeltiger59
I jus got results for yr 12
A* in maths alevel
As phys A
As chem B

Im torn between maths and chemical engineering

Can anyone highlight on pros and cons of both subjects and give their opinion on which one tjey would choose with the above results


What do you want to do for a career? Do you actually have an interest in engineering?
Original post by Smack
What do you want to do for a career? Do you actually have an interest in engineering?


Ive always hav an interest in engineering
But it kinda sci fi engineerin too filmy

I like to get creative but my biggest strength is maths so im kinda confused

At the end of the day we need to hav a job right so im not sure which degree would be the best for that

I like engineering but im good at maths

Would u choose maths or engineerin
Original post by Angeltiger59
Ive always hav an interest in engineering
But it kinda sci fi engineerin too filmy

I like to get creative but my biggest strength is maths so im kinda confused

At the end of the day we need to hav a job right so im not sure which degree would be the best for that

I like engineering but im good at maths

Would u choose maths or engineerin


I chose engineering because I wasn't really that interested in the study of maths for it's own sake, but both are good degrees for getting jobs, depending on the jobs you are aiming for. If you want to be an engineer then it's really advisable to study engineering, for example.
Chem eng is a more versatile and interesting degree (current masters student). Maths is essentially just learning theorems.
Original post by alexjones1994
Chem eng is a more versatile and interesting degree (current masters student). Maths is essentially just learning theorems.


Do u do chemical engineering

Do u like the subject and does the subject hav good job prospecy

What kind of projects do you work on

If u dont mimd tellin me
What were ur gvse , alevels grades and which uni do you go to
Original post by Angeltiger59
Do u do chemical engineering

Do u like the subject and does the subject hav good job prospecy

What kind of projects do you work on

If u dont mimd tellin me
What were ur gvse , alevels grades and which uni do you go to


Yes I do. I study at the University of Birmingham. Starting my masters. My grades at alevels were AAB, the offer was AAA but they let me in anyway. GCSE I got 4A*, 4A and 1B.

Job prospects are unbelieavble. Exxon, BP, GSK, Unilever all need chemical engineers. Outside of Chemical Engineering you can go into any career as its highly rated. Its well known for being the toughest Engineering discipline (Also why Chemical Engineers are the paid the most out of every engineering discipline).

So much variation in the course. I have modules related to economics, marketing, biology, chemistry, physics... I applied for chemical engineering without having a clue what the course is but I absolutely love it. The work is not particularly difficult but there is a massive workload. Up there with dentists and medics.

Your main job as a chemical engineer is to come up with a process for manufacturing a particular good eg beer and then the design pieces of equipment for that process. Reactors, heat exchangers, storage tanks, distillation columns etc. This includes sizing, health and safety, designing automated controls and costing estimations.
I'm certainly biased but I would say chemical engineering students have better employment prospects because there is such a wide range of sectors you can go into with highly reputable companies. Also, there's a lot of maths involved in a chemeng degree, but it's no doubt very different to the maths involved in a mathematics degree.
Original post by alexjones1994
Yes I do. I study at the University of Birmingham. Starting my masters. My grades at alevels were AAB, the offer was AAA but they let me in anyway. GCSE I got 4A*, 4A and 1B.

Job prospects are unbelieavble. Exxon, BP, GSK, Unilever all need chemical engineers. Outside of Chemical Engineering you can go into any career as its highly rated. Its well known for being the toughest Engineering discipline (Also why Chemical Engineers are the paid the most out of every engineering discipline).

So much variation in the course. I have modules related to economics, marketing, biology, chemistry, physics... I applied for chemical engineering without having a clue what the course is but I absolutely love it. The work is not particularly difficult but there is a massive workload. Up there with dentists and medics.

Your main job as a chemical engineer is to come up with a process for manufacturing a particular good eg beer and then the design pieces of equipment for that process. Reactors, heat exchangers, storage tanks, distillation columns etc. This includes sizing, health and safety, designing automated controls and costing estimations.


Its sounds gr8
I was thinkin of applyin to birmingham
Did u do any work experience relevant to chem eng b4 applyin to uni

What kind of job are u personally hopin to get into?

Btw thank u very much for the info
Very helpful
Tell me if im gettin annoyin coz then i will stop askin ques
Original post by Bioluminescence1
I'm certainly biased but I would say chemical engineering students have better employment prospects because there is such a wide range of sectors you can go into with highly reputable companies. Also, there's a lot of maths involved in a chemeng degree, but it's no doubt very different to the maths involved in a mathematics degree.


I heard the maths in chem eng is similiar to alevel maths.
Obvio u would learn more formulae but is the diffuculty like alevels or is it rillli hard

Honestly i finished alevel maths with no prob kinda found it easy personally. (Ps sorry if i sound full of myself in maths, dont mean it, im not a genius in it )
Check out the chemical engineering reddit - it's worth a look as it is populated by many practising chemical engineers.

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Original post by Angeltiger59
I heard the maths in chem eng is similiar to alevel maths.
Obvio u would learn more formulae but is the diffuculty like alevels or is it rillli hard

Honestly i finished alevel maths with no prob kinda found it easy personally. (Ps sorry if i sound full of myself in maths, dont mean it, im not a genius in it )


I would say the maths is definitely a step up from A levels but nothing too challenging, it's just the workload can be heavy at times. But a lot of the time you're applying maths to real engineering applications so it's about understanding rather than just applying rules.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Bioluminescence1
I would say the maths is definitely a step up from A levels but nothing too challenging, it's just the workload can be heavy at times. But a lot of the time you're applying maths to real engineering applications so it's about understanding rather than just applying rules.

Posted from TSR Mobile


In all honesty engineering maths is essentially about applying rules - you don't understand things like a maths student.

I agree that it's probably not too much more challenging than A-levels though.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Angeltiger59
Its sounds gr8
I was thinkin of applyin to birmingham
Did u do any work experience relevant to chem eng b4 applyin to uni

What kind of job are u personally hopin to get into?

Btw thank u very much for the info
Very helpful
Tell me if im gettin annoyin coz then i will stop askin ques


1) Birmingham is a top university. Should give it a go. One of the highest rated Chemical Engineering universities + we smash all the other unis as sports when it come to the chemical engineering sports day :P

2) I worked at a solvent manufacturer during my AS Levels. Work experience not needed though imo.

3) I want to pursue a career in Investment banking as I prefer economic / finance side of engineering atm.

4) No problem. Here to help :smile:
Original post by alexjones1994
1) Birmingham is a top university. Should give it a go. One of the highest rated Chemical Engineering universities + we smash all the other unis as sports when it come to the chemical engineering sports day :P

2) I worked at a solvent manufacturer during my AS Levels. Work experience not needed though imo.

3) I want to pursue a career in Investment banking as I prefer economic / finance side of engineering atm.

4) No problem. Here to help :smile:


I didn't know chemical engineering had a financial side to it :smile: What sort of modules are there in terms of finance? Or is this for the masters only?
Original post by Ze Witcher
I didn't know chemical engineering had a financial side to it :smile: What sort of modules are there in terms of finance? Or is this for the masters only?


Well Chemical Engineering at Birmingham, unlike all the other courses has what they call a MOMD which stands for modules outside main discipline for 3 years (most just have it during first year). So every year i get to pick one module each term which is not in chem eng department. First two years I did Economics.

Aside from that modules related finance are:
Process and Project Management
Energy Economics
From Bench to Market: Development of Pharmaceutical Drugs

So typically i'm doing 30/120 credits related to finance in some way :P. Obviously its not outright finance but there are some useful bits and bobs. We have to work out cost estimations for everything to calculate payback times. NPV, IRR, use of discounted cash flows, income statements etc
Original post by alexjones1994
Well Chemical Engineering at Birmingham, unlike all the other courses has what they call a MOMD which stands for modules outside main discipline for 3 years (most just have it during first year). So every year i get to pick one module each term which is not in chem eng department. First two years I did Economics.

Aside from that modules related finance are:
Process and Project Management
Energy Economics
From Bench to Market: Development of Pharmaceutical Drugs

So typically i'm doing 30/120 credits related to finance in some way :P. Obviously its not outright finance but there are some useful bits and bobs. We have to work out cost estimations for everything to calculate payback times. NPV, IRR, use of discounted cash flows, income statements etc


So do you do like mini projects designing things, estimating costs, doing health/safety regulations regularly? And since you are doing a fair bit of finance, do you come out with a joint degree or is it a single honours in Chem engineering? Thanks
Original post by Ze Witcher
So do you do like mini projects designing things, estimating costs, doing health/safety regulations regularly? And since you are doing a fair bit of finance, do you come out with a joint degree or is it a single honours in Chem engineering? Thanks


No its just part of the degree. Let me best explain chem eng using an example.

You want to make 1000 chocolate bars. So we know the basic starting materials are the cocoa bean and milk but how are we going to turn that into 1000 chocolate bars. What we do.

1) Design the process... we need to turn the beans into bars. So they need to go through various 'units' as they are called. Grinders, mixing tanks etc.
2) Once we get the basic process, we need to start thinking about how each piece of equipment works. Temperatures, operating pressures, flow rates in and out. (Mass and Energy Balances)
3) We got al the details now, so now we design the equipment in each 'unit'
4) Estimate costs. We need to start bringing this down. Optimisation, energy recovery, heat exchangers, pinch.
5) Control. Temperature sensors, pressure relief valves etc.6) Health and Safety. What happens if...Yes. We do loads of these 'mini design projects' building up to a main project which takes up 1/3 or our year studies in which we fully design a fully functional plant. In my case last year (in a team of 5) we designed a freeze-dried coffee plant.Hope this helps,
Original post by alexjones1994
No its just part of the degree. Let me best explain chem eng using an example.

You want to make 1000 chocolate bars. So we know the basic starting materials are the cocoa bean and milk but how are we going to turn that into 1000 chocolate bars. What we do.

1) Design the process... we need to turn the beans into bars. So they need to go through various 'units' as they are called. Grinders, mixing tanks etc.
2) Once we get the basic process, we need to start thinking about how each piece of equipment works. Temperatures, operating pressures, flow rates in and out. (Mass and Energy Balances)
3) We got al the details now, so now we design the equipment in each 'unit'
4) Estimate costs. We need to start bringing this down. Optimisation, energy recovery, heat exchangers, pinch.
5) Control. Temperature sensors, pressure relief valves etc.6) Health and Safety. What happens if...Yes. We do loads of these 'mini design projects' building up to a main project which takes up 1/3 or our year studies in which we fully design a fully functional plant. In my case last year (in a team of 5) we designed a freeze-dried coffee plant.Hope this helps,


That actually sounds quite interesting to do it as a degree :smile: Do you also get assessed on the exams and is the degree as a whole hard?
Original post by Ze Witcher
That actually sounds quite interesting to do it as a degree :smile: Do you also get assessed on the exams and is the degree as a whole hard?


Yeah. Sorry I meant to say the main design project is in year 3. Normally we have 6/7 exams each year. The concepts are particularly hard but the workload is big.

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