Top unis for chemistry + your opinion?

So I plan to go to uni in September 2014 and study Chemistry, however I am a little confused on which unis to apply to.

My current thoughts are:
Oxford
Durham
Warwick
York
Bristol
Bath
Imperial college London

Could someone give me some advice about which ones are best for undergraduates in terms of student satisfaction, quality of lecturers and what the uni is like to live/what the city is like to "have fun" :tongue:

I don't like using uni comparison tables because they're all different anyway, I would prefer people's own experiences and knowledge! :smile:

If there are already threads about this please direct me there

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

NewBoneration

UCL is better for chemistry than Bath

Reply 2

pmc:producer

What about Manchester too?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 3

Davelittle

Original post by pmc:producer

What Manchester too?

I don't really want to go to a huge city like Manchester (which is why imperial is at the bottom of the list) because I'm from a village near a relatively small city (Carlisle in Cumbria), I think it would be overwhelming :/

Reply 4

lucine.B

I'd suggest UCLAN or East anglia, they tend to have smaller nicer classes.
Those are the places i shall be applying to. The rate for graduates getting jobs in their chosen field is quite high as well. Although i actually intend to study abroad.
I think its a personal preference, I went to the RCS universities meet which really helped me find the best uni's i didn't quite like the setup of Oxford uni, but maybe it sounds good to you.
Have you visited any of the campuses, if not visiting them should help you make your decision. Durham is really good as well i myself wouldn't really consider Bath, Bristol or York but thats just me.
All the other uni's listed are pretty good but i'd say try to talk to the students who attend, and makes sure theres a good union and loads f extra curriculars to participate in :smile:

Hope that helps

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

Davelittle

Original post by NewBoneration

UCL is better for chemistry than Bath

I don't particularly want to go to London (read above post) and if I did choose to then Imperial is better anyway! :smile:

Reply 6

Davelittle

Original post by lucine.B

I'd suggest UCLAN or East anglia, they tend to have smaller nicer classes.
Those are the places i shall be applying to. The rate for graduates getting jobs in their chosen field is quite high. Although i actually intend to study abroad.
I think its a personal preference, I went to the RCS universities meet which really helped me find the best uni's i didn't quite like the setup of Oxford uni, but maybe it sounds good to you.
Have you visited any of the campuses, if not visiting them should help you make your decision. Durham is really good as well i myself wouldnt really consider Bath, Bristol or York but thats just me.
Hope that helps

Yeah I'm going to Durham in August for a chemistry day so ill see what it's like then hehe :smile:

I wouldn't have chosen York if I wasn't doing chemistry but its one of the top chemistry departments in the country! Bristol is just a good uni overall and I like the look of bath uni :tongue:

When was this RSC meet and is it on the Internet anywhere?

(+ rep btw, very helpful!)

Reply 7

lucine.B

Original post by Davelittle

Yeah I'm going to Durham in August for a chemistry day so ill see what it's like then hehe :smile:

I wouldn't have chosen York if I wasn't doing chemistry but its one of the top chemistry departments in the country! Bristol is just a good uni overall and I like the look of bath uni :tongue:

When was this RSC meet and is it on the Internet anywhere?

(+ rep btw, very helpful!)

Ah well i think you'll like i there. Should be good then, let me know how it goes haha. Try to go to the uni that has the best percentage of graduates getting jobs.

Mmm well i guess its your decision but like i said the best people to talk to are the students :tongue:

Ah well this was the london one 6th july (which i went to) and there was one in leeds 29th june. You basically go the chance to meet all the top unis in britain, talk to the lecturers and students! It was so so good, really enjoyed getting some insight in certain things hehe. Plus i got bags and bags of freebies! Literally went home with like 5 different bags and i only went with one haha :biggrin:

I was lucky to find out about it. We had some careers talks and one was pharmaceuticals as well as other chemistry jobs (given by one of our teachers) he gave out these leaflets and thats how i found out. Go on to the website and sign up and if they're having more events they'll tell you.

http://rsc.li/mtu

(Aww thanks, i shall + rep you in return :smile:

)

Edit: LOL negs for what reason???

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

InadequateJusticex

Original post by NewBoneration

UCL is better for chemistry than Bath

UCL is a damn good uni but their chemistry department is (relatively) lacking. Not bad by any means, just that there are unis out that have wayyy better facilities, lecturers and labs. Not sure how good Bath's is but probably is better than UCL's.

Reply 9

emilouu96

Hey, I'm in the same sort of boat as you. I'm starting university in 2014 and want to study Chemistry. I am looking at getting BBB-ABB so the top universities wouldn't work for me. I want to go somewhere with nice accomodation and a good social atmosphere, they're my main preferences so if anyone knows of any universities which will fit this I will be very grateful if you'd let me know. Thanks :smile:

ps- Sounds silly but how do you start a thread on here?

Reply 10

.snowflake.

Original post by emilouu96

ps- Sounds silly but how do you start a thread on here?

Try looking at Sheffield, but the entry req's might have gone up since I applied...

Reply 11

InadequateJusticex

Original post by emilouu96

ps- Sounds silly but how do you start a thread on here?

At the top of each subforum there is an orange rectangle that says 'post new thread' :tongue:

A lot of top unis actually let you in with ABB, but it means you do BSc instead of MSci (so 3 years instead of 4 years)

Reply 12

FrescoDiMorte

Oxford & Durham are probably the best for chemistry. But personally for the rest for Chemistry solely the next best is probably Bristol , even above Imperial on some of the league tables and employment rates. Visited it myself actually thought it was pretty amazing, the facilities, the city. As for Bath amazing uni but like UCL their Chem department isn't that strong I've heard.

Reply 13

.snowflake.

Original post by InadequateJusticex

At the top of each subforum there is an orange rectangle that says 'post new thread' :tongue:

A lot of top unis actually let you in with ABB, but it means you do BSc instead of MSci (so 3 years instead of 4 years)

and then when you do well enough in first year, they literally beg you to consider changing to the MChem!

Reply 14

InadequateJusticex

Original post by .snowflake.

and then when you do well enough in first year, they literally beg you to consider changing to the MChem!

haha, funnily enough when I went to my manchester interview they gave us a little tip...if we MSciers get ABB instead of AAB we still get in but for BSc and the guy actually told us we can transfer to the MSci course in your second year if we do well enough!