Natural science advice??

Hi I’m currently in year 12 studying biology, physics and maths. I achieved 13 A*s at GCSE & have just sat my AS levels with predicted 3 A’s (we don’t get full predicted grades until AS results day). I’m super interested in medical physics/biophysics. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to apply to Cambridge NatSci but I honestly don’t know if I want to put myself through the application process just to be rejected/if I have what it takes to get in. What unis should I be looking at for natural science? Any help will be appreciated!!

Reply 1

bl0bf1sh

15

Original post by IsobelS14

Hi I’m currently in year 12 studying biology, physics and maths. I achieved 13 A*s at GCSE & have just sat my AS levels with predicted 3 A’s (we don’t get full predicted grades until AS results day). I’m super interested in medical physics/biophysics. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to apply to Cambridge NatSci but I honestly don’t know if I want to put myself through the application process just to be rejected/if I have what it takes to get in. What unis should I be looking at for natural science? Any help will be appreciated!!

If you don't want to apply to Cambridge, don't.

The UCAS website has a list of a bunch of unis that offer Natural Sciences: https://digital.ucas.com/coursedisplay/results/courses?studyYear=2023&destination=Undergraduate&postcodeDistanceSystem=imperial&pageNumber=1&sort=MostRelevant&clearingPreference=None&searchTerm=Natural%20Sciences

I'd advise looking at the NatSci pages on individual university websites – they'll tell you which subjects they can offer you, combinations, and course structure. I think that not all of them may allow physics and biology. At Bath, for example, you can do physics and biology, but not physics and pharmacology or biochemistry (this is because you also do some maths if you take physics, and in first year if you do a life science (e.g. pharmacology or biochem) you do a cell biology unit – basically you'd end up with too many units!) https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/natural-sciences/

Reply 2

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post by IsobelS14

Hi I’m currently in year 12 studying biology, physics and maths. I achieved 13 A*s at GCSE & have just sat my AS levels with predicted 3 A’s (we don’t get full predicted grades until AS results day). I’m super interested in medical physics/biophysics. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to apply to Cambridge NatSci but I honestly don’t know if I want to put myself through the application process just to be rejected/if I have what it takes to get in. What unis should I be looking at for natural science? Any help will be appreciated!!

Hi there!

I have just graduated from Lancaster University with a Natural Sciences BSc so thought I could give my experience with the degree. Natural Sciences degrees tend to vary by university, so it's definitely worth having a look around to see what course is right for you, for example it will vary from the Cambridge NatSci course. At Lancaster, the degree is very flexible, you can choose 3 pathways out of a possible 21. The subjects range from chemistry, biology, physics, maths, computer science, engineering, earth sciences, and more, so there are many different possible combinations! The complete list of different pathways is in the brochure which can be found here - https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/natural-sciences/ . In terms of medical physics/biophysics, you could combine a biology pathway and physics to understand the principles behind biophysics.

I have loved the degree, and have started studying a Mechanical Engineering Masters since that ended up being my favourite subject of my Natural Sciences undergraduate. One thing that is quite challenging with the degree is studying subjects in three different departments. It definitely advances time management skills because deadlines for the subjects can sometimes fall at similar times. If you are organised and plan ahead, I found this to be very manageable. I also found that it helped me when applying for placement years as it showed that I could apply myself to different types of work. I did my placement year with the Environment Agency, helping with flood modelling and also some of the mechanical engineering projects. A natural Sciences degree set me up really well for this.

I absolutely loved the degree and if you have any questions, just let me know!

-Bethan (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

(edited 10 months ago)

Natural science advice??

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you