Chemistry at uni

I'm looking at studying chemistry at uni and have found there seems to be quite a lot of maths. I'm doing chemistry AS at the moment and I don't mind the maths in it but I don't really enjoy maths and I'm probabp going to drop it. Is there really that much maths in chemistry at uni if so how hard is it? And should I still do it if I dont like maths?

You can't learn chemistry properly without maths.

You'll be able to choose modules at some point but there's going to be compulsory courses that are more physical/theoretical, and that'll be far, far more mathsy than the basic multiplication you see in chemistry A Level.

http://www.rsc.org/images/Accreditaiton%20criteria%202017_tcm18-151306.pdf

Yes I've noticed that at higher level learning there I more maths involved and Thank you for your help. I'm visiting some universities soon. Should I ask them about the maths involved in their course?

Yeah that's exactly the kind of thing open days are for. Bear in mind however that if you go to a university specifically to avoid doing maths and never learn the content, you'll never be able to understand chemistry.

Yeah that's exactly the kind of thing open days are for. Bear in mind however that if you go to a university specifically to avoid doing maths and never learn the content, you'll never be able to understand chemistry.

I'm a second year chemistry student, and truth be told I've never found the maths TOO awful, although you need a very solid understand of maths to get to grips with some of the tricker physical chemistry concepts. Calculus, trig, matrices, imaginary numbers and operators all crop up in physchem and in addition to this your actual mathematical ability relating to being able to use and rearrange equations is VITAL. All said however this shouldn't sound too daunting, and uni will offer whatever support you need! Message me if you have other questions , happy to help!

I don't dislike maths that much but fair point. If I like the university and the course and wanted to go I would regardless of the maths content, I was just worried that I would be doing more maths than chem when I really chose the course for the chemistry

The maths you will do is chemistry.

I'm looking at studying chemistry at uni and have found there seems to be quite a lot of maths. I'm doing chemistry AS at the moment and I don't mind the maths in it but I don't really enjoy maths and I'm probabp going to drop it. Is there really that much maths in chemistry at uni if so how hard is it? And should I still do it if I dont like maths?

It really depends on the university. Cambridge (for some streams) or Oxford you need Maths A level and 25% of your first year will be pure Maths. However not all universities require maths and some organise extra classes to get you up to scratch, this is definitely worth researching! I hated the pure maths in the first year but in later years when it was buried in Physical Chemistry it was much more manageable (this is at Oxford, I think generally speaking at other universities except Cambridge the maths content can be easier).

And whilst you need maths for Physical Chemistry, you don't need it for some of Inorganic Chemistry or Organic Chemistry. As someone who is going into Organic Chemistry the most complicated thing with numbers I have to do is calculate yields/concentrations (i.e at no higher level than A level) and if you find this hard you'll find it really easy with practice, and will do it all the time in the teaching lab. You won't be doing more maths than chemistry!

So all in all I really wouldn't let the maths put you off a Chemistry degree. A lot of people despise it, but it's not that important if you don't want to specialise in Physical Chemistry.

Yes I'm looking at universities that require another science subject alternatively to maths. And thanks for your help, much appreciated

In that case I think you will be fine! Enquire at the open days - always try and ask the students as they will be most honest

I'm looking at studying chemistry at uni and have found there seems to be quite a lot of maths. I'm doing chemistry AS at the moment and I don't mind the maths in it but I don't really enjoy maths and I'm probabp going to drop it. Is there really that much maths in chemistry at uni if so how hard is it? And should I still do it if I dont like maths?

Hi! Second year (third year in October) chemist here!

I only did maths at AS level and i'm doing just fine (high 2:1). I think the ability to understand maths is required, but you don't have to be super talented at it (i'm not). If you're worries about the maths content, try and look for chemistry courses that aren't as maths intense (may have more organic courses) or courses in which maths modules aren't a requirement, Lancaster for example are not very maths heavy.