ADVICE PLEASE! Not enjoying university.

Those are my current thoughts also. I've been looking at biochemistry, which seems slightly more applied but still maintaining the chemistry side of things. I, regretfully, didn't do biology A-level so i don't think I could change to a Biology course.

Biochemistry is a lot of protein structure etc. from my experiences. Piles of information and theory, again. If you don't mind me saying: i'm not sure you're suited to a science degree, if you're not very interested in theory. Your best bet would be an appenticeship into something, but they are so uncommon now for scientific disciplines, and completely unsuitable for a lot of areas in the chemical industry [i.e. you need certain theoretical prerequisites, not to mention things like technical writing and researching which help the day to day].

Perhaps a better way to go about it is to choose a specific area of science - like forensic science, environmental science etc. They are narrower degrees, but do specialise you towards one field more, and therefore usually have more focus on particular techniques and applications in an area, compared to a standard science degree which will always contain a broad spectrum of the science, with a view to specialising in later years. With a chemistry degree, you are qualified enough to do things like forensics or environmental, so it's a better choice if you don't know what you want to do, but perhaps if you think about it there might be something for you that's more specific. Before you swap to anything though look at the job market - stuff like forensics is quite limited as the police don't need that many of them, and outside of that the field is small.

At this stage, it's worth considering dropping out and leaving it a couple of years. Don't rush into another course, otherwise you'll screw yourself up on the funding aspect if it's not the right one for you. Get a job, maybe find a path, and then head towards it. Science may be a path for you, but it could be that academia isn't for you particularly. I'm a fourth year now, and i'm not having much fun this year. I spent my last year working out in industry and loved it, and now i've come back it has highlighted so much what I don't enjoy about being in academia.

The point of a degree is to gain the transferable skills employers want and the best way to do that well is to study something you enjoy. If you don't find it interesting then it'd be best to consider other courses.

Is there a course adviser or some kind of counselor person you could speak to? I don't go to uni so I'm not sure who you'd speak to but you should tell someone how you feel. Ask what the other people on the course think. Maybe read around the subject to try and gain enthusiasm. At least wait until the next topic you do - maybe it's just the topics you've been studying so far that you don't like. If you decide in the end that Chemistry isn't for you, think of what other options you'd consider. You said that you're not enjoying uni either - and maybe that's just something you have to put up with, but you could consider options like an apprenticeship.

There's always the Open University!

Good luck

Ben you need to give it till Christmas. I hated my first term as well, but saw it differently when I came back after Christmas. You are only in first year, you may want to consider a course change if you still feel the same after Christmas. My friend dropped out of Chemistry, thought it was too much. You may consider Philosophy.

Would chemical engineering perhaps feel a bit more meaningful for you, whilst continuing to use your talent for chemistry?

Massively ignorant statement and an insult to the efforts of thousands upon thousands of brilliant people who have dedicated their existence to figuring out a lot of very hard stuff. I can't understate how far human understanding has come. Massive irony in making such a statement on the internet using a computer, so much has had to be understood to make these amazing things possible.

I don't mean it in terms of technological advancement but with regards to the entire universe and it's existence, the BIG BIG picture that frankly we're a ridiculously tiny part of - we know so little.

You sound like the perfect candidate for philosophy! The sort of questions you are asking, e.g. 'what is the point?'

We know an astoundingly large amount about the Universe - far more than our primate cousins. For someone doing a science degree, you show very little enthusiasm.



He is not asking 'what is the point', he is stating that there is no point.

My philosophy of science module has shown me that actually, we can only know very little, if anything, from our human perspective, about the universe. You can't make sweeping claims like that without some justification.

We know an astoundingly large amount about the Universe - far more than our primate cousins. For someone doing a science degree, you show very little enthusiasm.



He is not asking 'what is the point', he is stating that there is no point.

First up, I find it all very fascinating hence I'm doing a science degree, whether I think it's useful in the real world is another thing completely. Secondly, yes we know quite a lot, but in the grand scheme of things we that's very little and I don't see how anyone can say otherwise.

Of course chemistry is useful in the real world. Technology and scientific literature doesn't grow on trees.

You're not really getting my point here, I'm not on about real chemistry, i.e. synthesising molecules, analysing data, catalysis and energy etc, I'm on about the theoretical quantum mechanics side, like knowing an electrons position or momentum or what shape the orbitals are or every Tom Dick and Harry's theory on electronegativity.

You're not really getting my point here, I'm not on about real chemistry, i.e. synthesising molecules, analysing data, catalysis and energy etc, I'm on about the theoretical quantum mechanics side, like knowing an electrons position or momentum or what shape the orbitals are or every Tom Dick and Harry's theory on electronegativity.

What you're missing there currently is the link - knowing how a molecule reacts relies precisely on the electronic position, preference, and orbitals involved.

Then perhaps that should be made clear in lectures, if you give something application then my interest peaks, I just don't want to be wasting my time learning stuff that is no use to anyone.

Trying to run before you walk etc. but largely if you feel it would aid your learning/interest: this is something you should suggest to the department. Not all lecturers will take to it, although i've had a couple who really did spend the best part of the first lecture going down the "why on earth should you care about this, and why is it important" route.

The other thing you'll probably pick up on (depending how far you go on here) is that for the most part, an organic chemist will probably go "okay!" and accept some knowledge, and use it. The physical chemists are the ones who more interested in knowing why - which is where a lot of the fundamentals and mathematical derivations come in (i.e. the quantum mechanics here). The physical chemistry tends to help us justify our assumptions and compose models to explain certain phenomena, but you may be someone who isn't so bothered about the nitty gritty and the why, you just want to use it.

I'm not very interested in physical chemistry, and a lot of it goes over my head, so I too just nod and say "okay" and move on. For that reason, it's by far my worst grade, but equally I am happy to live in my ignorance and go deal with something more interesting