Engineering without maths

I am currently in lower sixth and intend to study medicine after A levels. I am quite sure about this however, when the time comes, I need to apply for a course other than medicine. I was considering either civil or aeronautical engineering, however I didn't take maths at A level, I took Bio, Chemistry, Physics and Music. Would it be possible to engineering with these subjects, as I know maths is a big part?

Many Thanks

Jack

Reply 1

ChemistBoy

Maths is an essential part of engineering and any decent engineering course should expect you to have studied it at A-level.

Reply 2

Smack

Volunteer Team

I haven't seen an engineering degree anywhere that does not require at least A-level or Higher maths. Your best bet is probably a foundation year.

Reply 3

kerily

How come you intend to study medicine, but without applying for medicine?

Reply 4

TheFoxBlip

There are engineering degrees available that would accept physics and chemistry and not maths. chemical engineering degrees at leeds are just one example.

Reply 5

iainthegreat

Original post by jackow

Short answer, no.

Long answer, maybe if you did some sort of foundation course?

But maths is a huge part of civil and aero eng.

Reply 6

ocelotrevs

You could try Industrial Design, apparently there's a large crossover with Engineering.

Reply 7

ScottD

At my uni, where im doing aero eng, maths forms 1/3 of your 1st and 2nd year and all that maths is then applied in the 3rd,4th and 5th years. You wouldn't have a chance without starting uni with a-level/higher maths.

Reply 8

whiplash

Any reputable engineering degree is almost entirely applied maths with some approximations. Just from derivations to modelling and graph sketching. It's like doing medicine without chemistry I suppose.

Reply 9

thefish_uk

Original post by kerily

How come you intend to study medicine, but without applying for medicine?

I think it's because medical applicants are required to have a certain number of non-medicine choices on their UCAS form, as medicine is so competitive.

Original post by jackow

Also bear in mind that unless UCAS has changed, you have to write a single personal statement for both. How the hell are you going to merge medicine and engineering in the same personal statement? Especially considering a medicine PS has to be very strongly pro-medicine (as it's so competitive), and an engineering PS for somebody who's applying without the usual Maths qualification is going to have to be very strong on the engineering side. I think this will be impossible to achieve in a way which makes you a strong applicant for both. This is why most medicine applicants use something like biology or chemistry as their non-medical choice.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 10

Kareir

I dont know, you could talk about how both help society, both help people? Links between doctors and engineers without borders, blah blah blah philanthropy blah blah blah i care blah blah blah. How the applications of all sciences interest me blah blah blah blah.

Also, try going for chemical eng, might be your best bet.

_Kar.

Reply 11

Nick 50

How about applying for a Biomedical/Medical Engineering degree?

Again you would still most likely need Maths but could go down the foundation route.

At least with Biomedical/Medical it would make the PS a lot easier to write plus most of the course I have seen do look really interesting, was tempted myself.

Reply 12

RedCasino

You'd be very hard-pressed to find Engineering schools accepting your application, considering it's somewhat competitive course anyway.

Best advice is to sit Maths A-level in the time you have left, whether that's stretching it over Year 12 and 13, or do it all in Year 13. You'll have to show that you are excellent in maths, either in interview, through A-level grades, or through a test they may get you to sit. In other words, if you don't enjoy maths, I'd advice you to look for other courses than Engineering/Physics-related ones.

Some are suggesting foundation years, but then why didn't you take maths if you were considering Engineering, or maybe do it next year anyway, because without truly appreciating maths, you probably won't enjoy the course.

Good luck with your Medicine pursuit though!

Reply 13

wdywuk

Contrary to what most people have stated here, there are accredited Mech Eng courses in the UK that do not require A level Maths. (You may still need AS Maths).

Engineering has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. When I did my degree it was highly mathematical and a Maths A level was 100% necessary, but over the years the level of deriving "stuff" from first principles has decreased while the use of computer software packages has increased to the point where a huge chunk of the degree revolves around modelling the problem and then hopefully being able to tell if the results are valid or not.

Reply 14

wdywuk

Original post by RedCasino

Some are suggesting foundation years, but then why didn't you take maths if you were considering Engineering, or maybe do it next year anyway, because without truly appreciating maths, you probably won't enjoy the course.

On the Foundation Year front ......if anyone is planning on doing one, get it sorted sooner rather than later as it's expected that the funding for Foundaiton Years is going to be pulled in the not too distant future and unless uni's then use the funds from their other students to subsidise their Foundation Year, expect more and more uni's to withdraw their Foundation Year provision.