Oxford Chemistry Students and Applicants

Whats the differences between reading chemistry now and 5 years ago at exeter?

Dont bother learning loads of archaic names. On exam papers they say any abbreviations and what they correspond to. A tutor wont mind you ask him/her for the systemic name of something. I get formalde- and ace- mixed up and just have given up caring.

SHAME ON YOU!!



But yeah, names annoy me. This year, I can't just get away with referring to molecules by 'this one' or 'that one', or 'the ketone with the long chainy bit' - I let ChemDraw take the naming strain

A little bit of a bump!

I got shown my perfect Part II project today.....*sigh*......

Oooh... what's that, then?

Conway group...synthesis of non-inositol ligands for IP3Rs - it basically ends up being a combination of synthesis and then the more bio/pharma side of testing the compound
Would kill to end up in that group

You probably won't have to kill. He's not well-known enough to be massively popular, surely?

Probably not - 3 people put him as their first choice last year and he had 3 places. And it isn't really like you come across him on a regular basis.

Is science working any better?

Not really, but I've been reassured by many people that slow progress is the norm. I spoke to my organic tutor yesterday about plans and ideas for the future, and she was very helpful and supportive, which was awesome

Also, VG and much of the group reckoned that we (the part IIs) had set the bar very high for the standard of presentations this year

Awesome
Are your plans definitely Tab-related?

Conway group...synthesis of non-inositol ligands for IP3Rs - it basically ends up being a combination of synthesis and then the more bio/pharma side of testing the compound
Would kill to end up in that group

a) I have no idea what this means
b) I have no idea what I want to do, perhaps a vague inkling towards organometallic but maybe not.

Looks like its picking someone at random because its either a bit of slack or the guy looks nice.

- it's the stuff I'm interested in that is basically not covered in the course. IP3 is very useful though!
I'm kind of lucky in that there are only so many people who do stuff in this area so my choices are fairly limited....but it does mean I don't get to slack
I think picking someone because they look nice is the way to go!

My basic tactic will probably boil down to just not picking people who are obviously psychopaths (eg Timmel) or anyone who doesn't know firsthand how awful I am (ie my tutors) Disappointed to see that Grout isnt taking anyone this year.

My basic tactic will probably boil down to just not picking people who are obviously psychopaths (eg Timmel) or anyone who doesn't know firsthand how awful I am (ie my tutors) Disappointed to see that Grout isnt taking anyone this year.

Disappointed?!
I have to put down someone who's tutoring me this year
So they now know *exactly* how bad I am....pericyclics *shudder*

Double Shudder. Its so bad im avoiding doing it by doing Soft Condensed Matter. Yes its that bad

Ha! Very similar plan - once I've done these 2 physical sheets (they follow on from each other) I'm going to start the soft condensed matter ones in preference to going over pericyclics and drawing in more orbitals.

Disappointed?!
I have to put down someone who's tutoring me this year
So they now know *exactly* how bad I am....pericyclics *shudder*