The Student Room Group

Degrees

I've seen and heard that a lot of people agree that maths, physics, medicine etc. are the most respected and looked for degrees/a levels. I find that really annoying and now I don't know what to do for A levels or uni degrees. I'm going to be re-picking my A levels on results day and after hearing non stop maths and physics, I feel like I'm not going to get very far in education. I mean half the stuff in maths is ******** anyway, no relevance to life! I'm fairly weak in maths and I'm more biology than physics but if you want any science course, you need a stupid B in maths and I'm aiming for C (which even is a stretch for me.) Is there anything that is 'prestigious' but doesn't have to do with maths and science?!
To study biosciences at uni the requirements are Biology and (almost always) Chemistry. More than a pass at GCSE level maths isn't necessary except at the top 2 or 3 institutions, nor is it realistically necessary to continue in that field. Quantitative skills relevant to the course will be developed during the degree programme as needed.

While I take umbrage at the suggestion maths is irrelevant to real life, it may be that you haven't had the best introduction to it from your teachers; this is often a significant cause for people to dislike maths and frequently, avoid touching it ever again, which is a shame. Some biologically relevant aspects of maths might include chi square tests relating to phenotype ratios in genetics (phenotypes occur in more or less fixed ratios, and this can be found experimentally for example with Mendelev's famous pea breeding. However you can also predict this using a chi square test in statistics), exponentials and population growth (consider a bacteria dividing in two every minute; how long until there are a million bacteria? It's less than you might think.).

But to refocus on the point, maths isn't necessary to continue within the biosciences (or for that matter, medicine). While it helps if you do have an aptitude for it, this is more a bonus than a prerequisite to become a biologist or doctor. Also while maths is valuable generally, there is no particular use for physics if you aren't intending to become an engineer or physicist, despite the number of people doing degrees in these areas to try and leverage them into finance and banking jobs.

Quick Reply

Latest