To people applying for science courses and haven't taken A-level maths

Let's get two things straight.

1. I'm not some ******* who thinks anyone who hasn't done maths is an idiot.
2. I'm not trying to worry anyone, this is just a friendly warning :smile:

I'm almost at the end of my first term at university and I'm studying Biochemistry, I've often had to help people who stuggle with the maths/stats elements of course throughout biosciences in general.

I've come to realise that a lot of people who have taken science courses (this is more common in biosciences) did not do maths at A-level and also stuggled at GCSE.

It was highlighted when I heard someone ask what a natural log was. I was annoyed that I was in the same lecture as them (I got a B in A-level maths). Now don't get me wrong it's fine that people either don't like maths or indeed struggle with it, that's fine by me :biggrin:

But if you are going to take a science course, you need to realise that maths plays a very important role in most sciences courses. A lot of my peers seemed ignorant of the maths elements (and for the biology students, the heavy chemistry aspects aswell) and have struggled with them since the start of the year.

I don't mean to scare anyone, not having maths won't be bad on your application. But I seriously suggest to brush up on your maths skills in your spare time so you're prepared for what is to come :biggrin:

Reply 1

Fat-Love

They're probably biologists. I see what you mean but it doesn't seem worth wasting an entire A-level slot (especially if maths isn't your strong point) just to learn what a natural logarithm is. You could probably teach it to your self in 5 minutes.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 2

TheSownRose

Original post by sicarius1992

Let's get two things straight.

1. I'm not some ******* who thinks anyone who hasn't done maths is an idiot.
2. I'm not trying to worry anyone, this is just a friendly warning :smile:

Thing is, unless it's a specific requirement for the course, there should be no presumptions made about prior knowledge.

Reply 3

Planar

Original post by TheSownRose

Thing is, unless it's a specific requirement for the course, there should be no presumptions made about prior knowledge.

This exactly

Reply 4

yousif92

Original post by sicarius1992

Let's get two things straight.

1. I'm not some ******* who thinks anyone who hasn't done maths is an idiot.
2. I'm not trying to worry anyone, this is just a friendly warning :smile:

I do understand wht you are getting at. Its the same at my uni. I didnt do A level maths and suddenly I was faced with lots of stats and stuff. But the uni gave us lots of practice stuff and help booklets that really worked. I suppose it depends on how much help the uni gives you. Now most people on my course find the stats and maths really easy so its a non-issue.

Reply 5

siani-chan

I have two flatmates studying biological sciences and they struggle with the maths but it was not on the course requirements, other than a GCSE level requirement. Unless it is specifically mentioned it shouldn't be assumed that someone has studied maths to A level standard. :smile:

I have another flatmate studying geography. The only requirements for her course were GCSE standard maths and science grades. She's come to me asking for help with the maths and physics elements of her course and even I hadn't studied half of it until my A2 year or at least in AS - and yet she was told it was only GCSE standard. :rolleyes:

It sounds to me like the maths is poorly taught on their courses. I wouldn't say it is particularly well taught on my own, but for something like geography I don't see why they haven't asked for it and yet they seem to assume that everyone has done it before.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

fretter778

At my interview for Manchester I was specifically asked why I didn't take A Level maths. I gave my answer and the interviewer said don't worry it's not that big a deal. Simply because we'll be taught all the maths we need as we need it. So so long as you're not already hopelessly bad at the maths in A Level biology/chemistry you'll survive.

In fact he even said something like most of statistics was created by biologists to explain findings, though I'm sure that must have been an exaggeration.