How can I decide what area of science to study?

Hi i'm in final year of school in Ireland and I hope to study natural sciences in Cambridge. I know that I want to study science but there are so many areas that are interesting. At current i'm considering physics, chemistry, astrophysics, medicine and a few others. I know most of them are reached through the natural sciences course, but as for medicine and chemical engineering, I need to find out as soon as possible.

How did you decide what to study, and how do you think I should go about it? I'd really like to study all of them but there's no way I can do that... Any help is appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

gr8wizard10

Science is boring so I decided not to study science :biggrin:

That's my story. Hopefully it helps you in your predicament.

Go for Economics instead.

Reply 2

lucymellor

I'd just do Natural Sciences, that way you can get a taster of each area at degree level and you slowly specialise as you progress through uni. I wouldn't do medicine because people who want to medicine know they do and they'll have been preparing for literally years getting work experience etc, when it comes to interviews they'll be able to see that you aren't as passionate as some other people. As for chemical engineering, if whilst studying you suddenly realise it's your passion, you can always do a postgrad in it. :smile:

Reply 3

dragonkeeper999

At Cambridge, ChemEng is a second year course only anyway - and you can enter it via either the Engineering Tripos or the Natural Sciences Tripos, so you wouldn't be closing off that option with NatSci.

Medicine is the only one you wouldn't be able to study. However, to get into medicine at pretty much all the universities who offer it you will need tonnes of work experience - so perhaps you could do a bit of work experience and use this to decide if it is the degree for you? Remember, there are also postgraduate routes into medicine, and you could consider doing Postgraduate Medicine after a Natural Sciences degree if you decided at a later stage that medicine was the degree for you.

Reply 4

irishscience

Thanks for your replies. I never really thought of doing medicine until recently. I just found the area of pharmacology interesting but to me anyway, science is the most fascinating. I just decided it on a whim i guess :biggrin:

I wasn't aware that chemical engineering was a second year course so now I can keep all my options open. Thanks everyone! :smile:

Reply 5

akay2k14

Does fine art class as art and design???? Help

Reply 6

akay2k14

Original post by lucymellor

Does fine art class as art and design

Reply 7

lucymellor

Original post by akay2k14

Does fine art class as art and design???? Help

please start your own thread rather than hijacking someone else's

Reply 8

thegodofgod

Original post by irishscience

I wasn't aware that chemical engineering was a second year course so now I can keep all my options open. Thanks everyone! :smile:

You could consider pharmacy? As pharmacists, you work with drugs all day, and have a lot of patient contact too. Considering the fact that you like pharmacology, and that pharmacists are the experts on medicines, it seems a good fit, eh? :wink:

Reply 9

akay2k14

Original post by lucymellor

please start your own thread rather than hijacking someone else's

Ouch sorry I just didn't know how to :frown:

'''

Reply 10

lucymellor

Original post by akay2k14

Ouch sorry I just didn't know how to :frown:

'''

Sorry I didn't mean to come across as rude! At the top of the website there is a button saying 'Post' with a little pencil and pad next to it, click that to create a thread :smile:

Reply 11

akay2k14

Original post by lucymellor

Sorry I didn't mean to come across as rude! At the top of the website there is a button saying 'Post' with a little pencil and pad next to it, click that to create a thread :smile:

Don't worry about and thanks :smile:

Reply 12

Nymthae

Original post by irishscience

I'd wager most people make some decision on the exact area after doing the first year of A-levels. What stage are you at?

It's also worth noting that I don't think the other NatSci courses quite operate in the same way with respect to chem eng. Cambridge may be the goal, but you should consider your other choices and options carefully, as even with very good grades many applicants are disappointed and do not receive an offer.

I chose chemistry because it basically became the lesser of three evils (ish) by the end of AS. I enjoyed it enough and found it relatively easy so I went for it. The undergrad course is quite varied (split across physical chemistry, organic, and inorganic) so some areas catch interest more than others. There's a huge range of industries you can end up in within the sector, so as long as you survive the degree you're likely to stumble across something that's interesting.

Areas of science can be very different from each other - and I do find most of them quite interesting, but I think there's definitely a line between what's cool to read and learn about, and what I can/would actually study for 3-4 years full time. I loved biology in school, and the only reason I took chemistry at A-level was to aid my quest for a biology degree. Turns out I really couldn't stand biology in college; it was interesting enough but the whole examination process of it and tedious set up as an academic subject just sucked the fun out of it for me.

Reply 13

TheGameOfScience

Original post by Abdul-Karim

Science is boring so I decided not to study science :biggrin:

That's my story. Hopefully it helps you in your predicament.

Go for Economics instead.

just curious, why did you find science boring xD

Reply 14

TheGameOfScience

Original post by irishscience

i'm just wondering, why are you so interested in science? what about it makes you so interested in it?

Reply 15

gr8wizard10

Original post by TheGameOfScience

just curious, why did you find science boring xD

Useless to me. I could give less ****s about particles and atoms. Making money and economic constructs is what captures my attention.

Reply 16

TheGameOfScience

Original post by Abdul-Karim

Useless to me. I could give less ****s about particles and atoms. Making money and economic constructs is what captures my attention.

LOOOL haha ok

Reply 17

mphysical

Original post by Nymthae

I chose chemistry because it basically became the lesser of three evils (ish) by the end of AS. I enjoyed it enough and found it relatively easy so I went for it. The undergrad course is quite varied (split across physical chemistry, organic, and inorganic) so some areas catch interest more than others.Areas of science can be very different from each other -

Ernest Rutherford once said "Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting"

Reply 18

irishscience

Original post by TheGameOfScience

i'm just wondering, why are you so interested in science? what about it makes you so interested in it?

Sorry i only just logged in again. Science is really so broad and there are so many branches that I it would take a long time to tell you but i'll give it a shot :tongue:

I love astrophysics, for example, because finding out how the universe functions and discovering more about the various phenomena that exist within our universe, like black holes etc. are fascinating. And who doesn't want to know how the universe was formed?

Chemistry interests me because I like finding out how things interact at a molecular level, and I think it's fascinating that even the largest objects are governed by the same fundamental laws than the smallest.

I won't into it any further because I could go on for a while... I hope it gives you an idea of why I like science and that I didn't bore you too much...

Obviously to each their own, you might like economics or money (whatever the post was) but science is truly fascinating to me :biggrin: