How competitive is Biochemistry?

OP

ye i am prepared for it, because im working a lot harder now for a levels than i was for gcse. do you think i could get accepted by one of those unis..?

Reply 3

Aired

1

Depends where you apply I suppose. At the top unis it's quite competitive I think, i.e. Bristol get around 600 applications for 60 places.

Reply 4

tetedupet

11

Those are good results, do not be detered at all. Work hard at AS and get As and show your potential.

Reply 5

Tom H

9

A-Levels is where the big academic weight lies, get some good results and you can get into a good uni.

Reply 6

Eau

15

well i have one less competitor to worry about then

kidding

Reply 7

kesso12

1

Not a problem with them GCSE's I would have thought

I got 1A* 3A's 3B's and 3C's

I got into biochemistry at nottingham with a BBB offer. Just write a good PS and get at least BBB in your AS levels ( although i got BBC) I mean my Personal statement was about Chemistry lol

You'll be fine for notts

THanks

kes

Reply 8

Tom H

9

In your sig it says your offer is for Mediclinical and Biological Chemistry? Surely that's not Biochemistry.

When I applied for Biochem at Notts in 2004 I got an AAA offer.

Reply 9

crazygirl4521

14

gogna500

Hi, i was thinking of doin Biochemistry at a top uni (Imperial, Warwick, KCL or Nottingham). In my GCSE'S, i got 5a's, 4 b's, 1 c. Will these results be good enough to do biochemistry at the unis i named above..? also, how many applicants apply to these unis competing for 1 place..? ( ratio between applicants and place). Thanks.

Hey ive got similar grades to you 5As 4Bs and i wana go into biochemistry aswell.

Reply 10

OP

cool, you thinkingabout going to the same universities i was aswell?

Reply 11

At the end of the day i have to agree that good AS results and predictions (all As possiblty a B) will outway your GCSEs. In the end your results are hardly bad at GCSE and if you got a's in biology and chemistry thats important.

Other good unis for biochem include bath, bristol and york and I would also recommend surrey as a slightly grade option BBB as its research rating (5*) is actually higher than oxford.

The number of applicants varys between unis, don't let that decide your choice. What subjects are you doing that will be importrant, having maths a level could be an advantage as not many people have it.

Reply 12

OP

in my AS, im doing maths, bio, chem and physics. for A2, im carrying on with chem, bio and physics. I reckon that i might get A in chem, A in bio and C in physics. If a university gives a range of grades you need and say that there minimum requirements are AAB-ABB ( such as imperial), would they offer a place with AAC. They should shouldnt they because AAC and ABB are both 320 points. I heard that they could reject you. Why can that be?

Reply 13

They can either give you a points offer e.g. 320 or an offer on grades e.g. ABB. Points offers are more leniant as you can get a range of grades to get them, hence many top unis will only offer on grades as they will often be of a higher standard. If unis really like you they can offer you a lower offer than standrad. Also most biochem offers will want an A in chem for a top uni. TBH AAC is a bit lowe for top unis would you get higher in maths than physics do you think?

Reply 14

OP

ye, thats one other problem i have because im not sure whether to drop maths or physics. Im definately going to carry on with chemistry and biology but in maths and physics, im weaker at. However i think that i might just carry on with physics as i enjoy it more than maths and probably get a higher grade than in maths. Im totally confused about which one i should carry on...any suggestions? lol

Reply 15

stratomaster

gogna500

ye, thats one other problem i have because im not sure whether to drop maths or physics. Im definately going to carry on with chemistry and biology but in maths and physics, im weaker at. However i think that i might just carry on with physics as i enjoy it more than maths and probably get a higher grade than in maths. Im totally confused about which one i should carry on...any suggestions? lol

As maths isn't as hard as you migh tthink.. if your decent at maths you can get an A or B at AS deffinately. Not sure about AS physics but I think A2 is quite difficult.

Reply 16

ally22

All my offers last year were ABB (Imperial, York, Warwick, Durham) apart from UCL which was AAB. I agree with Tom H, I think the weighting is on A levels, and a personal statement, as has already been said, can make all the difference.

Your GCSE grades are good, but I do think it's important you perform at AS.

Reply 17

gogna500

Im totally confused about which one i should carry on...any suggestions? lol

I would suggest maths as its more relevant to biochem than physics, but on the other hand you don't want to be stuck with a subject you hate. Have you thought about whether you want a year in industry during your placement as this could effect your uni choice.

Reply 18

OP

na, i dont think im going to do a year in industry. Im hoping to do biochemistry then most likely go into finance, possibly investment banking or might do dentistry as a post graduate. However its unlikely i decide to do dentistry. Could that effect my chances of getting into a good uni as i want to go into something totally different to biochemistry instead of becoming a biochemist or something?

Reply 19