Biochemistry vs Microbiology

I'm going into my third year of a microbiology degree (was meant to do a placement but was cancelled due to covid, doing integrated masters instead) so hopefully I can answer any questions you have about the degree!

if you dont mind me asking what are your plans for after you get your masters and which universities would you recommend for microbiology thank you

Hello, I'm applying for Leeds uni this year to do medical microbiology, is there any tips you would recommend for my personal statement. Also, do you enjoy studying at Leeds and the course! Many thanks

Honestly, just show your love for the subject! I discussed my EPQ, experience days I had with my college, and just general interests in bacteria and viruses. Its also a place to sell yourself and your skills that you've learned from your subjects and any extracurriculars. Show them why they should take you over someone else.

Also yes I love both Leeds and the course! Leeds is a lovely city, plenty to do and see. I'm still experiencing new things in my third year! The course is super interesting (and pretty relevant atm haha) and its pretty small course so you get to know a lot of your coursemates. Most lecturers are great and really just want to help and you do cool lab projects such as trying to find novel antibiotics from soil!

Thank you for your help! Do you do the microbiology course or medical microbiology course? I'm not sure which one to apply for, I find myself more drawn to medical microbiology but I think that microbiology might be a better course as it doesn't just focus on pathogens and looks into environmental microbiology. So, I'm not sure if the microbiology might give me more leeway when I want to specialise in the future. Many thanks

I do MBiol Microbiology! Honestly I haven't noticed any difference between the two courses at my uni (University of Leeds) - plenty of my course mates are on microbiology and medical microbiology. Other than the degree name and the inability to do an MBiol in medical microbiology (this may have changed) the only difference I saw between the two was medical microbiology had 2 or 3 less optional module choices in year 2 than I did.

I don't know about the differences between the courses at other universities but honestly I don't believe it'd make much difference which one you do! The most important thing to look at when choosing a course is the module content. Even though I don't do medical microbiology, almost all of my course has been medical/disease related but this may not be the same at a different uni.

Thank you for your reply, you have been of great help? I know that microbiology is a very small course- how many people are in your year?

Its changed over the years with people dropping out, switching on/off the course, people coming back from years in industry, etc. I'd say its usually between 25-30 in a given year for me

Hello, just wanted to say I just got my conditional offer. To study at Leeds for medical microbiology I'm super excited as at the moment its my top choice!