Is further maths recommendable for chemistry at uni

Hi, I'm in year 11 right now and am quite interested in studying chemistry at university.
I'm planning on doing triple science and maths for AS and A2 and am wondering if doing further maths as well would be useful. If so, how important would you say it really is and whether AS or A2 would be advisable given the fact that I most likely won't be finding it a breeze?

Thank you very much for taking the time :biggrin:

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Reply 1

Daryaa1

Well I was doing 6 As levels further maths included - but halfway through the year I just realised for what I wanted to do at Uni there was no point of having the further maths - so I dropped it
I still did 5 As levels even though you don't really need to,
I would say there's no need to do further maths but it's really up to you - also think about all the exams you'll have at the end of the year
And most uni's don't accept maths and further maths as 2 separate A2 levels anyway :smile:

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Reply 2

CB101

Doing biology AS in first year then further AS in the second might be a good idea.

You could do them all if you wanted, though. Depends on how much work you want to do.

Reply 3

mojojojo101

I didn't do any maths at A-level and some of the quantum mechanics stuff took me a little while to pick up and really understand the maths behind it.

All of the maths outside that got covered in a semi-compulsory (if you didn't do A-level) module anyway.

tldr: I wouldn't say Further Maths is at all necessary for a Chem degree. If you want to do it, and you can keep your other grades up as well, it cant hurt either.

Reply 4

fizzers

Original post by Daryaa1

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Thanks, what are you studying now if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 5

fizzers

Original post by mojojojo101

Thanks a lot! btw, what sort of maths do you need if you get what I mean?

Reply 6

QuantumOverlord

Original post by fizzers

I would say FM would certainty be useful, chemistry courses are far more mathematical in university than they are at school so getting a grasp of harder maths in sixth form might make your life easier by the time you get to undergraduate level. But as people are saying it certainly isn't essential.

Reply 7

spleenharvester

From what I can gather, Maths is extremely useful for Chemistry (a lot of degrees I looked at wanted Maths A-level with them, which is mainly what deterred me).

Reply 8

mojojojo101

Original post by fizzers

Thanks a lot! btw, what sort of maths do you need if you get what I mean?

Imaginary numbers, differentiation and integration are the only really big things that come to mind. Other than that as long as you are comfortable working with algebra you shouldn't bet too taxed by it.

The thing that caused me trouble, in QM modules more so was using and manipulating matrices, took an age for me to brute force that stuff into my brain but I got there eventually.

Of course I can only speak for my uni/course, might be worth looking further into particular institutions preferences for these things 'coz they can vary pretty wildly from what I hear.

Reply 9

alow

Depends where you want to apply. Some courses won't have much maths and some will have masses of it.

Check out the university websites and see, but whatever you do, having FM at least to AS will always look good when applying for any physical science.

Reply 10

Mike_123

Original post by fizzers

The ability to cope with A2 FM would mean that you wouldn't struggle with the maths involved in chemistry at degree level

Reply 11

Emma:-)

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Original post by fizzers

It might be worth looking on unis websites or emailing them to get an idea of if you would want it/need it in any way.

Reply 12

Daryaa1

Original post by fizzers

Thanks, what are you studying now if you don't mind me asking?

Well I'm in Y13 now & have offers to study medicine :smile:

I do know quite a lot of people who have offers fit chemistry / chemical engineering and only 1 is Doing fm and they have an offer from Cambridge :smile:

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Reply 13

L'Evil Fish

Original post by Daryaa1

And most uni's don't accept maths and further maths as 2 separate A2 levels anyway :smile:

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This is only true for medicine.

So ignore this part.

I'd say it's useful, not necessary but will help. It's good fun too!

Bio AS is ****, but it's good to have it as a base. So bio as and then fm as in yr13 could be good, it's what I plan to do (well A2 fm in yr13)

Reply 14

fizzers

Original post by mojojojo101

I'll have a look into those asap! Thanks a bunch

Reply 15

fizzers

Original post by Daryaa1

Well I'm in Y13 now & have offers to study medicine :smile:

I do know quite a lot of people who have offers fit chemistry / chemical engineering and only 1 is Doing fm and they have an offer from Cambridge :smile:

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Ah, I've wanted to do medicine for ages but recently been a bit swayed when I looked into chemistry haha :redface:

Reply 16

alow

Original post by mojojojo101

Wouldn't you have to solve lots of DEs?

Reply 17

SZS

you dont need further maths. so dont waste your time studying that haha, unless you really love maths then do whatever. just having AS and A2 maths will be alright for chemistry at university :smile:

Reply 18

fizzers

Original post by L'Evil Fish

Really? Yeah, I'm not too sure yet tbh. I've wanted to study medicine for quite a while now and have even started work experience and what not (which is why I opted for triple science- biology included), until recently, I realised that I kind of really like chemistry haha.

I guess I still have a bit of time to decide though, so I'm gonna see if 'real' chemistry at AS/A2 is my thing (because let's be honest, sciences at gcse is practically a joke).

Reply 19

fizzers

Original post by SZS

you dont need further maths. so dont waste your time studying that haha, unless you really love maths then do whatever. just having AS and A2 maths will be alright for chemistry at university :smile:

I've been getting some mixed advices but the general consensus is that it's useful but not necessary. Some university websites do list fm as recommended though so I'm not sure yet