Chemical Engineering with no physics?

Is it possible to do chemical engineering with A level grades of A-Chemistry A-biology B-Maths? I understand that I'm at a disadvantage with a B in maths as well as only AS physics(A) however Im planning on taking a gap year in which i could resit a module which could get my maths to an A or even an A*.

Be honest would there be any decent unis for chemical engineering which would give me an offer based on these grades as well as an A in as physics? thanks

Reply 1

Reynolds's#

16

Your current grades won't really suffice for the top chemical engineering universities like Manchester, Imperial. This is because they require you have at least an A in Maths. Universities such as Cambridge would demand you have an A-level in Physics (if you're taking the engineering route).

But all in all, I would urge you to get an A-level in Physics and bring your Maths grade up to an A/A*. While you're at it, if you can, get an AS in Further Maths as this will also strengthen your application.

Happy days!

Reply 2

student gamer

OP

Original post by Ade9000

Your current grades won't really suffice for the top chemical engineering universities like Manchester, Imperial. This is because they require you have at least an A in Maths. Universities such as Cambridge would demand you have an A-level in Physics (if you're taking the engineering route).

But all in all, I would urge you to get an A-level in Physics and bring your Maths grade up to an A/A*. While you're at it, if you can, get an AS in Further Maths as this will also strengthen your application.

Happy days!

Thanks for the advice, would you say there are any unis for chemical engineering that would accept my grades i.e sheffield or leeds? Lets say i apply with those grades would they be willing to give me an offer of AAA on the condition i pull my Maths grade up to an A?

Reply 3

montstar

16

Lots of unis only need Chemistry and Maths. Some just say maths and a science.

I didn't do physics or biology and I had no problem getting offers. It's probably best if you can get an A in Maths though, unis have repeatedly told me that ChemEng contains more mathematics than chemistry.

Good luck :smile:

Reply 4

student gamer

OP

ive already taken my c4 exam and did horribly... i was predicted an A and was on an A before the exam but did very badly and probably got a low c in that exam or something, thanks for the advice though :smile:

do you think its worth applying through ucas extra? I didn't apply to any courses this year so im not sure exactly how it will work and if not do you think taking up further maths in my gap year would be useful? Assuming i do get a B in maths ( i haven't got my results yet) will any ChemEng courses accept me :/ ?

Reply 5

Reynolds's#

16

Original post by student gamer

Thanks for the advice, would you say there are any unis for chemical engineering that would accept my grades i.e sheffield or leeds? Lets say i apply with those grades would they be willing to give me an offer of AAA on the condition i pull my Maths grade up to an A?

Leeds and Sheffield offer at AAA. There are universities who would take you on your current grades like LSBU, Aberdeen.

I'm sure you'll get an offer on the condition of getting an A in Maths. Just work hard and you'll come out fine.

Reply 6

montstar

16

Original post by student gamer

ive already taken my c4 exam and did horribly... i was predicted an A and was on an A before the exam but did very badly and probably got a low c in that exam or something, thanks for the advice though :smile:

do you think its worth applying through ucas extra? I didn't apply to any courses this year so im not sure exactly how it will work and if not do you think taking up further maths in my gap year would be useful? Assuming i do get a B in maths ( i haven't got my results yet) will any ChemEng courses accept me :/ ?

I also did really badly in c4, I got a D lol but I got high As in all the other modules so I somehow got an A overall. So depending on how you did in the other sections you could still get an A, remember c4 is only one sixth of the overall grade. You could work out the UMS you need to get an overall A if you're bothered, you might find a C will be enough.

I don't know much about Extra to be honest, I would assume most places at the best unis would be taken already? But AAB is certainly enough for many good unis. I can't remember which ones off the top of my head, but it's worth doing a UCAS course search and going through the course requirements for different unis. If you get AAA then you could potentially go anywhere except for Oxford/Cambridge, Imperial, and UCL I think.

By the way I took a gap year too, partly due to medical reasons but I also wasn't sure what I wanted to do at this time last year. The more you can do in a gap year the better, don't sit around and go crazy like I did! :lol:

Reply 7

student gamer

OP

Original post by montstar

I also did really badly in c4, I got a D lol but I got high As in all the other modules so I somehow got an A overall. So depending on how you did in the other sections you could still get an A, remember c4 is only one sixth of the overall grade. You could work out the UMS you need to get an overall A if you're bothered, you might find a C will be enough.

I don't know much about Extra to be honest, I would assume most places at the best unis would be taken already? But AAB is certainly enough for many good unis. I can't remember which ones off the top of my head, but it's worth doing a UCAS course search and going through the course requirements for different unis. If you get AAA then you could potentially go anywhere except for Oxford/Cambridge, Imperial, and UCL I think.

By the way I took a gap year too, partly due to medical reasons but I also wasn't sure what I wanted to do at this time last year. The more you can do in a gap year the better, don't sit around and go crazy like I did! :lol:

thanks a lot for the advice! Did you have any work experience when you applied and what sort of info did you put on your personal statement? i can see you are starting Chemical engineering this year at bath uni so you must have done something right :smile:

Reply 8

a10

19

Original post by student gamer

ive already taken my c4 exam and did horribly... i was predicted an A and was on an A before the exam but did very badly and probably got a low c in that exam or something, thanks for the advice though :smile:

do you think its worth applying through ucas extra? I didn't apply to any courses this year so im not sure exactly how it will work and if not do you think taking up further maths in my gap year would be useful? Assuming i do get a B in maths ( i haven't got my results yet) will any ChemEng courses accept me :/ ?

someone posted this on another thread and I thought it may be useful for you, it shows all the unis in clearing this year, apply ASAP:

http://search.ucas.com/search/providers?Query=chemical%20engineering&Vac=1&AvailableIn=2013&Page=1&flt6=2

Reply 9

montstar

16

Original post by student gamer

thanks a lot for the advice! Did you have any work experience when you applied and what sort of info did you put on your personal statement? i can see you are starting Chemical engineering this year at bath uni so you must have done something right :smile:

No problem :smile:

I didn't mention my year 12 work experience because it was in a school and I was told there's no point putting in stuff that's irrelevant. I did briefly mention the one I did in year 10, working for Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation because some of their research is related to ChemEng.

If you can get some relevant work experience, that's great, but unis won't expect you to have work experience directly in ChemEng.

As for the info in the personal statement, I started off with why I want to study ChemEng and what interests me about it, and mentioned some related reading I've done.
The biggest section was me going through the different subjects and saying what I'd learnt from each one, and how it could be useful for the degree (e.g. skills and knowledge).
After that it was any duties in school and extra curicular activites, plus work experience, jobs etc.
Then as a conclusion I reiterated my motivation for studying the subject and why I'm suited to it.

Everyone's will be different though, some people like to make it more of a story of how they came to decide on that subject, some barely mention school studies and instead focus on work exp and clubs etc.
You can check out some ChemEng statement examples here, just remember to make it your own.

Reply 10

BoBoAlpha

Original post by a10

someone posted this on another thread and I thought it may be useful for you, it shows all the unis in clearing this year, apply ASAP:

http://search.ucas.com/search/providers?Query=chemical%20engineering&Vac=1&AvailableIn=2013&Page=1&flt6=2

Is this list subject to change?

Reply 11

a10

19

Original post by BoBoAlpha

Is this list subject to change?

well most probably since other people elsewhere will be also trying to get onto these places! So really the sooner you do it the better however most are likely to be still there by results day xD

Reply 12

BoBoAlpha

Original post by a10

well most probably since other people elsewhere will be also trying to get onto these places! So really the sooner you do it the better however most are likely to be still there by results day xD

Thought so, vacancies for chemeng at manchester seem too good to be true.

Will more courses be added?

Reply 13

BoBoAlpha

Original post by a10

well most probably since other people elsewhere will be also trying to get onto these places! So really the sooner you do it the better however most are likely to be still there by results day xD

Today vacancies at UCL for chemeng are present, why is this?

Reply 14

a10

19

Original post by BoBoAlpha

Today vacancies at UCL for chemeng are present, why is this?

Idk it means they have vacancies? Some people turn down UCL for Manchester/Imperial/Nottingham/Bath for chem eng these seem to be more popular choices? I heard the facilities at UCL aren't as good compared to those other universities but I'm not sure! Did u apply for 2013 entry?

Reply 15

BoBoAlpha

Original post by a10

Idk it means they have vacancies? Some people turn down UCL for Manchester/Imperial/Nottingham/Bath for chem eng these seem to be more popular choices? I heard the facilities at UCL aren't as good compared to those other universities but I'm not sure! Did u apply for 2013 entry?