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Anyone studying Chemistry at Uni?

I'll be finishing off my alevels this year in chemistry maths psychology biology.

out of all of those the only one i enjoyed was chemistry and a little bit of biology.

so i am thinking of pursuing a degree in chemistry but i dont know how difficult it is. I am expecting a B/C in chemistry a level, so it is worrying me, is alevel chemistry comparable to 1st year of chemistry at uni?

like would someone who is average in the subject and okish in maths do well in a chemistry degree?

And what does the job market look like for this degree?

thanks guys

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Chemistry isn't an easy degree, and the step up in difficulty from A-level to degree level is significant.
Unless you are getting an A in chemistry and enjoy it then I wouldn't bother. Wouldn't worry about maths too much, they will have a compulsory maths course in first year to get everyone up to speed. 1st year is significantly harder than A level.. A level is easy...

The job market is also pretty much non existent for actual jobs in chemistry but you can go in to all sorts of things
Reply 3
Original post by Infraspecies
Chemistry isn't an easy degree, and the step up in difficulty from A-level to degree level is significant.
what specifically makes it harder at uni (in particular year one ) ? And what degree would you compare the difficulty to ? And any way to find out if I can handle the degree as I don't want to realise it too late ie whilst at uni
Reply 4
Original post by langlitz
Unless you are getting an A in chemistry and enjoy it then I wouldn't bother. Wouldn't worry about maths too much, they will have a compulsory maths course in first year to get everyone up to speed. 1st year is significantly harder than A level.. A level is easy...The job market is also pretty much non existent for actual jobs in chemistry but you can go in to all sorts of things


i see , what degree would you compare the difficulty to like amount of study and the complexity of the topics ?

Would u say biomed is much easier ?

and the job market , Should I assume it is limited but do I have good options to go into different fields ?
Reply 5
Original post by Gurjat
what specifically makes it harder at uni (in particular year one ) ? And what degree would you compare the difficulty to ? And any way to find out if I can handle the degree as I don't want to realise it too late ie whilst at uni


(I am in sort of the same situation as you).

I believe at university you go into a lot more detail on a lot more things to do with Chemistry. What you could do is go out and buy an undergraduate chemistry textbook and read through it, and see if you feel ok with it. What you could also do is go to open days and ask people who are doing the courses.
Original post by Gurjat
i see , what degree would you compare the difficulty to like amount of study and the complexity of the topics ?

Would u say biomed is much easier ?

and the job market , Should I assume it is limited but do I have good options to go into different fields ?


Well I'm doing chemical physics and the work load for chemistry isn't nearly as much as for physics in terms of hand ins etc. but you do have much more in terms of labs and lab reports. I'm not sure about chemistry compared to bio med. Biomed will have almost 0 maths in it but probably more memorising stuff.

I'll give you a list of the topics we've done in chemistry:

1st Year

Spoiler



2nd Year

Spoiler


(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by langlitz
chemical physics
So I assume there will be quite a bit of maths and lots of lab work and some physics ?

Is it like engineering ?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Gurjat
So I assume there will be quite a bit of maths and lots of lab work and some physics ? Is it like engineering ?


Ye so we do all the chemistry the chemists do, and all the physics and maths the physicists do until the end of 2nd year. Then we do a mix of physics and chemistry courses in 3rd and 4th year. It's brutal. No it's not engineering. And not that much lab work after 2 year
Reply 9
Original post by langlitz
Ye so we do all the chemistry the chemists do, and all the physics and maths the physicists do until the end of 2nd year. Then we do a mix of physics and chemistry courses in 3rd and 4th year. It's brutal. No it's not engineering. And not that much lab work after 2 year
but would u say chemistry is as hard as chemical physics ? And would which uni u go to affect the difficulty ?
Original post by Gurjat
but would u say chemistry is as hard as chemical physics ? And would which uni u go to affect the difficulty ?


Straight chemistry is much less work, some bits will be equally as hard. Yeah the uni you go to will always be a factor, where are you thinking of going?
Reply 11
anymore info?
Original post by Gurjat
I'll be finishing off my alevels this year in chemistry maths psychology biology.

out of all of those the only one i enjoyed was chemistry and a little bit of biology.

so i am thinking of pursuing a degree in chemistry but i dont know how difficult it is. I am expecting a B/C in chemistry a level, so it is worrying me, is alevel chemistry comparable to 1st year of chemistry at uni?

like would someone who is average in the subject and okish in maths do well in a chemistry degree?

And what does the job market look like for this degree?

thanks guys

Only go for it if you enjoy chemistry... first year is much more difficult than A level, I did A level maths so i'm doing OK with that, where I found myself struggling is the physics side of things.

So far we have done a bit of thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, equilibrium and reaction kinetics, NMR, organic synthesis, reaction mechanisms (SN1, SN2, E2, E1), transition metal complexes, bonding theories (a lot of building on A level knowledge, much more detail)
(edited 8 years ago)
I want to do a degree in medicinal chemistry but i am not doing well in my 4th AS. I think i will get 3 A's and a D. Will this be a problem?
Reply 14
Original post by SubwayLover1
I want to do a degree in medicinal chemistry but i am not doing well in my 4th AS. I think i will get 3 A's and a D. Will this be a problem? ������


this isn't an answer to your question, but can I ask what medicinal chemistry is in comparison to just chemistry ? Thanks
Reply 15
Anymore comments from anyone ?
Original post by Gurjat
I'll be finishing off my alevels this year in chemistry maths psychology biology.

out of all of those the only one i enjoyed was chemistry and a little bit of biology.

so i am thinking of pursuing a degree in chemistry but i dont know how difficult it is. I am expecting a B/C in chemistry a level, so it is worrying me, is alevel chemistry comparable to 1st year of chemistry at uni?

like would someone who is average in the subject and okish in maths do well in a chemistry degree?

And what does the job market look like for this degree?

thanks guys


I'm finishing my as levels this year and I also want to study chemistry at uni :tongue:
Do you have any universities in mind?
Original post by Gurjat
I'll be finishing off my alevels this year in chemistry maths psychology biology.

out of all of those the only one i enjoyed was chemistry and a little bit of biology.

so i am thinking of pursuing a degree in chemistry but i dont know how difficult it is. I am expecting a B/C in chemistry a level, so it is worrying me, is alevel chemistry comparable to 1st year of chemistry at uni?

like would someone who is average in the subject and okish in maths do well in a chemistry degree?

And what does the job market look like for this degree?

thanks guys


It'll depend completely on the university itself whether your first year is comparable to A-level chem- I found the first year of university difficult and there was so much more detail, so (so) many more mechanisms to learn and more maths and physics than I had expected! It just means you need to research your university and course very carefully- check out their course chemistry pages, they should have information on what modules you'll do throughout your degree, how many labs etc :smile: I also agree with someone mentioning having a flick through an undergraduate textbook (but don't let it put you off!)

Generally for chemistry there are always staple modules, like thermodynamics (think enthalpy and entropy), quantum mechanics (which I don't think you'll have come across at all at this point), kinetics, MO theory etc. and the rest will be variable. You'll probably have a maths course to get you up to speed but most of the time the maths is just a lot of calculus, not too hard.

About the job market, chemistry can lead to a wide range of jobs because it's classed as a numerate degree and (imo) requires a fair amount of time management, balancing labs and work. However finding jobs IN the chemical industry is pretty hard and probably quite low paid. (Unless you go into sectors such as the petrochemical industry, but I'm sure there are more qualified people to speak about that than me!)
So basically if you're unsure about what you'd like to go into, it won't hinder you. It's not an amazing, guaranteed job degree but few are anymore :redface:
Reply 18
Hello! I am studying Medicinal Chemistry.
The course is extremely challenging and there is a lot of biology and pharmacology in it.
So if you personally enjoy biology or any topics along that lines, this is a good course to take as it has a mix of both chemistry and biology (;
Reply 19
Original post by peanutbutterjam
I'm finishing my as levels this year and I also want to study chemistry at uni :tongue:
Do you have any universities in mind?


I am predicted AAB so I applied to the following : Keele, liverpool , manchester, huddersfield and sheffield.

dont know if I made the grades though:redface:

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