Existance of a reading list

Hi, I'm set to study Physics and Astrophysics in September this year (deferred entry from last year so I know I'm going) and everything seems to be going fine except my parents constantly asking about whether I should have a reading list before the course starts. I am pretty sure that reading lists are given while you are there for each course module but I'm not sure and they don't seem to be convinced. Could I get a straight answer please?

Reply 1

cheadle

Honestly, reading lists are rarely if ever issued in advance of teaching. Modules are continually being revised so reading lists can and do change over time.

University of Sheffield

Sheffield

Reply 2

hannychica

Many incoming students taking A-Levels this year will be revising for their exams. So regardless of whether or not you deferred entry it would be highly unlikely you would be expected to make a start on any reading right now.

You could email the department to ask if they have any core materials they would recommend (core textbooks are often the same for each module). But don’t expect an immediate or quick response.

Reply 3

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

Original post by meesguy

Hi @meesguy :smile:

Congrats on joining the uni soon! I'm a 4th year masters student here at Sheffield so hopefully my answer will be good enough. My straight answer to you would be don't do any reading beforehand. Of course out of genuine interest you can read whatever you wish relating to your subject, however I defiantly would not go out and buy any books, and I say this for two reasons.

1. Once you become a student here you will have access to an online library (and of course all the physical ones). These liabaries give access to an insane amount of books, texts, journals and so on free of charge. I made the mistake before beginning my undergraduate on purchasing some key texts to read over summer, I then quickly realised they were free through the university's online library so all in all was just a waste of money as the majority of people on my course did no prior reading anyway so i was no better off.

2. As you mentioned - modules and reading lists are subject to change in order to keep up with the evolving world, and some may end up being optional depending on what route you decide to take with the assessments etc. Therefore it may be difficult for lecturers to provide this information beforehand. As i mentioned, even if you did get this information beforehand, chances are you will be in a small percentage of your course that has read prior to the course, therefore its defiantly not necessary to do so.

All in all i would suggest having a relaxed summer (i'm sure you deserve it). Continue reading what you wish for enjoyment, but don't worry about reading lists until your course begins.

Hope that helps!
Georgia :smile: