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Chemical Engineering???

So I’m in year 11 currently and we have started applying for colleges and a level courses and I’ve been thinking of doing maths psychology and biology because those are the subjects that interest me. However I’ve been thinking of what I could do at university with those courses and I’m not too sure? I hear that biology is considered ‘soft’ compared to chemistry & physics so I’ve been thinking of doing chemical Engineering at uni and therefore for college I’d have to do chemistry (which isn’t my favourite subject even though I’m pretty decent at it) maths and for the third a level further maths/physics/biology/economics (imperial college) and I’m really unsure about what to do. I’m particular interested in chem eng because of the pay honestly and it seemed pretty decent to me but I’ve seen really negative things about it and how it’s not interesting and a waste of time. What should I do?

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Original post by Sxraa
So I’m in year 11 currently and we have started applying for colleges and a level courses and I’ve been thinking of doing maths psychology and biology because those are the subjects that interest me. However I’ve been thinking of what I could do at university with those courses and I’m not too sure? I hear that biology is considered ‘soft’ compared to chemistry & physics so I’ve been thinking of doing chemical Engineering at uni and therefore for college I’d have to do chemistry (which isn’t my favourite subject even though I’m pretty decent at it) maths and for the third a level further maths/physics/biology/economics (imperial college) and I’m really unsure about what to do. I’m particular interested in chem eng because of the pay honestly and it seemed pretty decent to me but I’ve seen really negative things about it and how it’s not interesting and a waste of time. What should I do?


Biology is not a soft subject. It’s very well respected.
Reply 2
Original post by AM_TSR
Biology is not a soft subject. It’s very well respected.

I’ve researched but do you know what kind of jobs you can get? I’ve seen like marine Biologist and stuff but that doesn’t really interest me
Original post by Sxraa
So I’m in year 11 currently and we have started applying for colleges and a level courses and I’ve been thinking of doing maths psychology and biology because those are the subjects that interest me. However I’ve been thinking of what I could do at university with those courses and I’m not too sure? I hear that biology is considered ‘soft’ compared to chemistry & physics so I’ve been thinking of doing chemical Engineering at uni and therefore for college I’d have to do chemistry (which isn’t my favourite subject even though I’m pretty decent at it) maths and for the third a level further maths/physics/biology/economics (imperial college) and I’m really unsure about what to do. I’m particular interested in chem eng because of the pay honestly and it seemed pretty decent to me but I’ve seen really negative things about it and how it’s not interesting and a waste of time. What should I do?


If you don't like chemistry, don't do -chemical- engineering.
Original post by Sxraa
I’ve researched but do you know what kind of jobs you can get? I’ve seen like marine Biologist and stuff but that doesn’t really interest me


Life sciences, like marine biology. It isn't a soft subject, but your pay won't be fantastic with any of those degrees... not anything like engineering.
Reply 5
Original post by Sxraa
So I’m in year 11 currently and we have started applying for colleges and a level courses and I’ve been thinking of doing maths psychology and biology because those are the subjects that interest me. However I’ve been thinking of what I could do at university with those courses and I’m not too sure? I hear that biology is considered ‘soft’ compared to chemistry & physics so I’ve been thinking of doing chemical Engineering at uni and therefore for college I’d have to do chemistry (which isn’t my favourite subject even though I’m pretty decent at it) maths and for the third a level further maths/physics/biology/economics (imperial college) and I’m really unsure about what to do. I’m particular interested in chem eng because of the pay honestly and it seemed pretty decent to me but I’ve seen really negative things about it and how it’s not interesting and a waste of time. What should I do?

Jusy saying that many unis don't require chemistry for chem engineering . But u should take it and maybe even FM
Reply 6
Original post by ZombieTheWolf
If you don't like chemistry, don't do -chemical- engineering.

It’s not that I don’t like chemistry it’s more that I find is slightly more difficult then biology therefore I’m more interested in doing bio
Original post by Sxraa
It’s not that I don’t like chemistry it’s more that I find is slightly more difficult then biology therefore I’m more interested in doing bio


Then do biomedical engineering :P
Reply 8
Original post by Rockrs
Jusy saying that many unis don't require chemistry for chem engineering . But u should take it and maybe even FM

I enjoy maths it’s probably my favourite subject currently but I’m not like super genius at it I enjoy more areas then others eg I really enjoy algebra and I’ve been planning on doing a level maths but I’m not sure about further maths. I’ve heard that it’s super tricky and is it possible for me to get an a/a* in it?
Reply 9
Original post by ZombieTheWolf
Then do biomedical engineering :P

I’ve never actually heard of that but I’ll research it ty ^-^
Reply 10
Original post by Sxraa
So I’m in year 11 currently and we have started applying for colleges and a level courses and I’ve been thinking of doing maths psychology and biology because those are the subjects that interest me. However I’ve been thinking of what I could do at university with those courses and I’m not too sure? I hear that biology is considered ‘soft’ compared to chemistry & physics so I’ve been thinking of doing chemical Engineering at uni and therefore for college I’d have to do chemistry (which isn’t my favourite subject even though I’m pretty decent at it) maths and for the third a level further maths/physics/biology/economics (imperial college) and I’m really unsure about what to do. I’m particular interested in chem eng because of the pay honestly and it seemed pretty decent to me but I’ve seen really negative things about it and how it’s not interesting and a waste of time. What should I do?


Original post by ZombieTheWolf
Then do biomedical engineering :P


Good shout.

OP, there's very little chemistry in chemical engineering. Engineering is really all about applied maths and physics.

If you prefer biology then study it. Don't pick A-level subjects you don't much enjoy.

So if Maths, Biology and Physics (or whatever) are your 3 favourites then pick them.
Chemical engineering is very demanding you literally study a hell load at uni, far more than other types of engineering. It's more maths based and learning the industrial process than chemistry but you need to have a very good grasp of chemistry. It isn't the most interesting career and other types of engineering pay equally as much, in fact some pay more. So with that in mind don't go after the money, you may end up regretting it. Universities like Bath and Nottingham want A*s whereas Imperial actually give typical offers of 3A* (very rare and incredibly difficult to get an A* in physics or FM but both are not required I'm telling you for the purpose of understanding ). Overall I would suggest you have a look at different courses and narrow down a few which you like not just for the money.
Reply 12
Original post by Mr.noname
Chemical engineering is very demanding you literally study a hell load at uni, far more than other types of engineering. It's more maths based and learning the industrial process than chemistry but you need to have a very good grasp of chemistry. It isn't the most interesting career and other types of engineering pay equally as much, in fact some pay more. So with that in mind don't go after the money, you may end up regretting it. Universities like Bath and Nottingham want A*s whereas Imperial actually give typical offers of 3A* (very rare and incredibly difficult to get an A* in physics or FM but both are not required I'm telling you for the purpose of understanding ). Overall I would suggest you have a look at different courses and narrow down a few which you like not just for the money.


Do you or have you studied ChemEng? Or any Engineering?
Original post by Doonesbury
Do you or have you studied ChemEng? Or any Engineering?

Nope but I was researching the same stuff a while back. I probably should have said it's my opinion.
Reply 14
Original post by Mr.noname
Nope but I was researching the same stuff a while back. I probably should have said it's my opinion.


Indeed. And it's not very accurate...
Original post by Doonesbury
Indeed. And it's not very accurate...

What's not accurate?
Reply 16
Original post by Mr.noname
Chemical engineering is very demanding you literally study a hell load at uni, far more than other types of engineering. It's more maths based and learning the industrial process than chemistry but you need to have a very good grasp of chemistry. It isn't the most interesting career and other types of engineering pay equally as much, in fact some pay more. So with that in mind don't go after the money, you may end up regretting it. Universities like Bath and Nottingham want A*s whereas Imperial actually give typical offers of 3A* (very rare and incredibly difficult to get an A* in physics or FM but both are not required I'm telling you for the purpose of understanding ). Overall I would suggest you have a look at different courses and narrow down a few which you like not just for the money.

I’m just so confused urgh that’s why I’m asking because i don’t want to pick certain a levels just bc I wnat to do chem eng and then regret it further down the line
Reply 17
Original post by Doonesbury
Good shout.

OP, there's very little chemistry in chemical engineering. Engineering is really all about applied maths and physics.

If you prefer biology then study it. Don't pick A-level subjects you don't much enjoy.

So if Maths, Biology and Physics (or whatever) are your 3 favourites then pick them.

Thank you for the advice and if I were to pick maths psychology and biology do you know what kind of careers I could go into? I just find the biology jobs like marine biology and biologist boring or at least they seem boring
The only unreliable and opinion based stuff is the fact about how it's not interesting (I got this from someone who studies it so, it's super biased ) and the fact that it is very demanding from a TSR forum again from someone who studies engineering but is biased.
Original post by ZombieTheWolf
If you don't like chemistry, don't do -chemical- engineering.


The two subjects aren't very similar at all.

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