2017 Physics Applicants

Research maybe? Maybe work in education (eg museums/documentaries)? I also love animation/art so maybe just doing physics and specialising in the computing side? (Im just thinking out loud here )

Im currently freaking out because ive done NO extra curricular/super curricular things at all! Ive had a job and did 2 weeks work experience but no sumer schools/ schemes at all. Ive tried reading some books recently but I wont be able to read enough maybe one or two basic books... Any advice?

I'm contemplating whether to apply for physics. Just wondering what you guys enjoy so much about physics. Do you enjoy the pracs? Cus those are probs the worst part for me, unless theyre super cool like the double slit experiement lol, pretty much all the others I find so boring. Does that mean I shouldn't apply for physics? My favourite part is astrophysics, it's so interesting.

If you don't like practicals there are some theoretical physics courses/maths and physics courses which don't have labs (or have hardly any)

Yes! I've had a look at some and they do look really interesting, but then I'd be afraid it would be way too pure if you see what I mean

Just have a look around the different courses, if you really dislike labs then you will need to look at the modules for each course as often one uni will have a wide range of variations (e.g. nottingham have 9 variations of physics, not including mscis), so you should be able to find some courses that appeal to you. One thing to note is that higher level physics is very different to a level physics, there is a lot more emphasis on maths than at a level so bear that in mind when you're considering whether to do it or not.

I do further maths so I think it'll probably be okay for me, that kind of what appeals cus I really like maths and I love mechanics. But then some areas of physics I find so dull like optics and waves. And I also hate electricity which is obviously a major part of physics so that sucks. I just don't 'get' it. But the rest I really love like nuclear/particle/wave particle duality/astrophysics etc.

Bear in mind that your experience of topics in physics are pretty much entirely based on what they're like at A level. For example, you mention that you don't like waves but at a level it is taught in an almost entirely qualitative manner, whereas at uni waves are dealt with in a much more quantitative way, where you learn about wave mechanics, proper qm etc. What other courses would you consider instead? Ultimately you need to decide what course best fits your interests

Right now I'm probably going to apply for natsci just so I can prolong the decision of what to go into haha because I'm also really interested in maths, Chem and earth sciences. Contenplating applying for earth sciences since apparently it's basically the physics and chemistry of the earth which I think sounds really cool.

Thank you !
Yeah I'm just worried because my school's final personal statement deadline is in two weeks and I've just started writing properly!

I haven't actually even studied an IT Gcse but I just saw that the head of animation or something at dreamworks actually studied Maths and Physics at Durham I think and then specialised in AI and computers in Edinburgh, then went on to do lectures at Oxford for AI and then went to dreamworks which I just really liked the sound of!

But I think opportunities and career paths like that are ones you can't really plan for necessarily !

haha i did a similar thing last year, although ill probably end up doing physics after my first year anyway. It's worth finding a course that you feel comfortable doing, the course is much more important than where you go

That's actually really reassuring! I'd never heard of anyone that had done natsci at Durham being very successful so I was a tad reluctant to apply there. Obviously you can't plan these things but still nice to know they're possible hahaha.



No course has particularly stood out to me, it's hard to know what really on them, especially is some modules are titled things like 'An Introduction to Physics' fmlll. They all start to look the same after you've seen enough of them so imma just apply for natsci and hope for the best lol

If you're applying for nat sci look carefully into how the system works, some are a bit weird forcing you to do certain subjects which is why i applied for 2 nat sci courses and 3 maths and physics ones last year rather than all the same

Yeah I saw! Southampton had compulsory bio I was like nah mate lol. The Durham one seems to be the most liberal though which is great. Where are you going to uni?

Cambridge, durham was my insurance. If you want to do any chem at durham make sure you put it as one of your top 2 preferred subjects (they ask you at some point, i think it was fairly soon after applying) or you wont be able to do any

Wow congrats!! Are you starting in 2016?? I was going to apply to cambridge but pulled out, the application process alone is so stressful. Ok thanks for the heads up, is chem in natsci really competitive or something?