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Which Biochem/Chem course? Warwick, Bath,Nottingham, Sussex, York

Doing A2 biol, chem & economics.
AS grades: A biol, A econ, B chem (but resitting one paper so will be A)
Predicted: AAA

Wondering which out of Warwick, Bath, Nottingham, Sussex and York I should pick for either Biochem (w genetics) or Chemistry. I am unavailable to go to open days so I am limited to Youtube videos and website pics of accommodation and the campus.
A friendly, non-intimidating atmosphere, and modern accomodation would be most preferred by me, and also the employability prospects.

I have a couple of courses here but I need to reduce to 5.

I think I'm better at biology but also want to pick chemistry since chemistry degrees have higher salaries typically (based from my searches)

1.Warwick (1 course):
AAA/AAB for Biochem (rank 20th for biol). Kind of want to go here since its almost one of the elite unis. Also ranked 3rd targeted uni by employers but I've heard its in the middle of nowhere and people are snobs.

2.Bath (2 courses):
A*AA/AAA for Biology courses & Chemistry ( 9th for biol/ 10th for chem). Kind of like Bath for its beauty and nice friendly atmosphere. Also good science facilities but not sure if im confident enough to get the grades.

3.Nottingham (2 courses):
AAB for Biol courses which are accredited (28th for biol).
AAB/ABB for chemistry (rank 11 for chem)
I think this will be the easiest for me to get into and ranked 2nd most employable.

4.Sussex (2 courses)
AAB/ABB for biol course ( rank 10)
ABB for chem (9th in UK)
Also very good facilities based on rank but haven't looked into yet.

5.York (1 course)
AAA/AAB for biology courses which are accredited. (6th biol rank)
The highest ranking biology course in my options but less known as the Warwick and Bath.

Would the Russell group unis, Warwick, Nottingham and York be more employable generally even though York and Nottingham are ranked lower overall than Bath?
Where should I apply biology to and where for chemistry? Ideally 3 apps for biol and 2 for chem

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

Koalafications

Original post by valbrechts

Hi! Coincidentally I have experience of 4/5 of these unis so hopefully can offer you some advice in terms of my impressions of the campuses. These are my personal opinions though so take them with a pinch of salt!

Warwick:
Where I am starting this year to study Biomed!
The campus is really lovely, and has a lot of things to do on it such as a night club and bars in the student union and having an arts centre with lots of things on is a big bonus as you wouldn't have to leave campus for entertainment as much as you would at other universities. Its not the greenest of campuses in terms of that there is quite a lot of concrete, but it does have its beautiful greener parts, and it definitely has the feel of a larger university. In terms of it being in the middle of no-where, it is close to Coventry if you're after nights out, has a shopping centre right next door and has good transport links to cities like Birmingham.
Despite this, my impressions of the campus were that it wasn't too big so quite nice for getting around and visiting friends. Also don't worry about people being snobby, I was worried about that myself but I'm now in group chats with people on my course and in my halls and they are all lovely!

Bath:
I applied here, but was put off by a combination of the grades and the focus on a year in industry.
Bath seemed to be really well connected, so if you're interested in taking a year in industry it seems like a really good choice. In terms of the campus, it's all very pretty and compact (slightly too small for my tastes but still very nice.) they also seem to have a focus on sports as they had a lot of sports facilities. Overall I'd say it's a solid choice for connections, but not a good choice if you're looking for the big city experience as the campus is smaller and on a rather large hill away from the city.

Nottingham:
I don't have as much experience, but my brother has just graduated from here so I can tell you what he thought. The campus is definitely one of the larger ones about, so you really feel like you've gone to a big university. It's not too far from the Nottingham city centre so you can easily access the city. It's a beautiful campus and Nottingham is a lovely area to be around overall, my brother had no problems in the time that he was there!

York:
York is a beautiful campus with a large lake which seems perfect for sitting by in the summer. Similar to Warwick, it's can be quite concrete-y in places, but there were greener areas too. I'd say the campus is a medium size, as it was easy to get around, but they do have an east campus which you could end up living on if you wanted the most modern accommodation which is a 20minute walk away. In terms of being intimidating I found this university the least intimidating when I went to visit. One thing to note about York is their college system which operates with regards to the accommodation, which I don't know much about as I am not going there, but it could give more of an Oxford vibe if you're into that.

Again, take everything I say with a pinch of salt, as these are just my opinions so please don't let them put you off any of the universities as they are all really good choices.

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