I think I chose the wrong degree course

i applied to uni this year for the 2015 entry for biochemistry at ljmu. at the beginning i couldn't decide between biomedical science and biochemistry and made my mind up without in-depth research into what the courses are like, how much chemistry/biology the course contains relatively etc. i wouldn't want to just do biology as ecology and plant stuff doesn't really interest me, i'm more interested in genetics, disease, biochemistry of the human body and generally anything that is more to do with humans rather than plants. i do both biology and chemistry at a2 and enjoy them both however i struggle with some of the chemistry, especially the calculations, and that makes me think that i might also therefore struggle at uni, as i've been told that biochem contains a lot of maths and physical chemistry, which really isn't my favourite. now, i could go to uni if i get the grades required and either love the degree or absolutely hate it or struggle with it and be forced to drop out and also waste a year of student finance which i could use for a year in industry. or, i could try to switch courses to biomedical now, and if that's not possible then re-apply next year for biomedical science. any advice from anyone about this? also if anyone has done/is doing either of the degrees mentioned, could you give me any details of what the course actually consists of, whether it's what you expected, if there's a lot of 'hard' chemistry in biochem etc? thank you :smile:

Reply 1

Going_To_California

From what you've said, it sounds like biomed would suit you. I found that in my first year, there was quite a lot of human biochemistry and I've had no compulsory plant/ ecology modules. My uni wasn't as human focused as I'd have liked, but there was quite a lot of emphasis on disease, microorganisms etc.
Biochem does contain more physics/ calculations than biomed does, so if you're not too keen on those it could be difficult.
At my uni, people were allowed to switch from biochem to biomed, but there was only a small window in which biomeds could switch to biochem, as the course generally had more contact hours and it'd be difficult to catch up with the material covered. It might be worth emailing the uni to see if there is the possibility of switching between the two after the course has started.

Reply 2

dis0rder

Original post by Going_To_California

thanks for the reply :smile:

i've already emailed them with that question, my concern is that i've seen quite a few people with offers for biomed so it could be fully subscribed :/

Reply 3

Going_To_California

Original post by dis0rder

thanks for the reply :smile:

i've already emailed them with that question, my concern is that i've seen quite a few people with offers for biomed so it could be fully subscribed :/

Biomed seemed to be the post popular life sciences at my uni too, but in our first term there was a waiting list, and quite a few people were able to switch to it, so even if it is fully subscribed, it might be helpful to register interest anyway :smile:

Do you know what you'd like to do in the future?

Reply 4

dis0rder

Original post by Going_To_California

Do you know what you'd like to do in the future?

not entirely sure yet but a career in a hospital lab seems like something that i'd really enjoy :smile:

Reply 5

Going_To_California

Original post by dis0rder

not entirely sure yet but a career in a hospital lab seems like something that i'd really enjoy :smile:

I'm not totally sure about this, but I think you'd need an accredited degree, at least for the NHS scientist programme. Though you probably know more than me about this :P

Reply 6

dis0rder

Original post by Going_To_California

I'm not totally sure about this, but I think you'd need an accredited degree, at least for the NHS scientist programme. Though you probably know more than me about this :P

research careers usually need a postgrad/masters too i think so i won't think about the career too much at this point haha :') i think most of the science courses are accredited anyway :smile:

Reply 7

dis0rder

anyone?