I’m a second year Chemistry student at the University of Nottingham, ask me anything!

Well done with your results! If anyone has any questions about university life (doesn’t have to be about chemistry or UoN) then feel free to ask!

Hey, what is your timetable like for chemistry in first year?
How different is it from A Level?
Why did you choose Nottingham for chemistry?
How easy to make friends in your course?

I got in to the university of Liverpool for MChem, what advice would you give for first year, what knowledge should I Be strong on before I go, I’m scared I’m not going to be clever enough. How much harder than A level chemistry is it? Also since exams I’ve kind of blanked out all of the required practicals, do they assume you remember all of your A level knowledge? What are labs like?

For the timetable, we had two hour-long lectures of each of the core modules (organic, inorganic, physical) a week. We also had two 4-hour long lab sessions a week, but these hours fly by so fast when you’re busy working, and sometimes I find myself actually rushing to finish in time! We also had to choose 3 optional modules, and we would have one hour of each of these modules a week. Tutorials also happen once a week, where you discuss a certain set of questions with a small group of around 6 other students. When you think about it, there is a lot of free time - almost half the week is spent not in lectures, but this gives you time to work on any tutorial questions, lab reports, or consolidate the information you’ve learnt in the past week.

With regards to A Level, first year is very similar. The majority of the first semester was basically A Level, a bit of GCSE (our first inorganic lecture was about the structure of the atom and learning about moles) as well as some new content being added in, but this just builds up on the chemistry knowledge you already have and isn’t too hard to understand. Later on you do learn things that are completely new concepts to you, but that’s part of learning and you just have to be sure to put in the time and effort to make sure that you completely understand it. The tutorials are great for this as if you have any problems with topics you can always bring these up in tutorials or you can ask your personal tutor one on one. But generally, first year isn’t that much of a jump from A Level.

I chose Nottingham for chemistry because I really liked how big the labs were and that they had only just renovated them around 4 years ago so it was quite modern. I chose Nottingham as a university because of how beautiful the campus is. Up to this day there are still places I haven’t seen yet, and I would usually find myself discovering a new part of the campus each day! It is absolutely stunning and it kinda motivated me to do well being in such a picturesque place, compared to studying in London, for example also I know this sounds so cheesy, and even I didn’t believe it when people would say this to me, but when I visited Nottingham for the first time, it just kinda felt right, and I didn’t feel that for any other university.

I’d say it’s much easier to make friends outside of your course in societies and in your accommodation, but I did make friends with people I sat next to in lectures, and people I worked near to in labs, and also in tutorials. At the beginning everyone is open to meeting new people and making friends, so it wouldn’t be too hard! And even if you don’t meet good friends in the first semester or so that’s okay. I met my chemistry friends around February, so you have a lot of time!

Sorry this was so long, I hope this helps!

I would just be sure to look over your A Level notes. Don’t worry about not being clever enough, there is no such thing, you already got into university and that is a great achievement! First year is basically just to make sure everyone is at the same level in their chemistry knowledge. People would have done different boards for A Level, and there will also be some international students who would’ve had a different curriculum too. So generally it is not much harder than A Level, it will be quite similar actually. Yes there will be some new content but there will be a lot of support available to you from lecturers and of course you have to make sure to put in the time and effort to go over topics you find difficult.

Don’t worry they won’t assume you to remember everything, but it would be great to refresh your memory a bit before uni starts, just to save you from doing it during uni when you’d have other things to focus on.

For me labs were 4 hours long, two people would share a fumehood (in organic and inorganic labs) but would each be doing their experiments individually. We each had our own boxes of glassware which we had to clean at the end of the labs, and we would have to write lab reports afterwards at home. In physical labs there are no fumehoods, most work was done on computers in the lab and again experiments were done individually. Lab reports were done in the lab within the 4 hours, so time management was definitely crucial!

This was my experience from Nottingham, so it may differ to that in Liverpool, but I hope I helped! And well done for getting into a great uni!

Thank you for your reply, I got accepted into Nottingham for Chemistry with an unconditional offer but I'm very nervous about moving away from home and I don't think I want to. When I first applied to move away it was fine but now I'm getting very stressed about it and want to look at unis closer to home.

Well done with your results! If anyone has any questions about university life (doesn’t have to be about chemistry or UoN) then feel free to ask!

Are you currently second year and going into third in september?

Congrats with getting into Nottingham! I live 2 hours away from Nottingham and was also really scared about being away from home where I don’t know anyone. On the first night I honestly considered dropping out but it did get better as I met new friends which made the university experience great for me. It is normal to be nervous now that the time to move is getting closer, but remember that university is meant to be the best few years of your life, and you can always visit home as much as you want to. On the first week there will be many people like you, and there will also be student welcome mentors that you can talk to if you’re finding it hard to settle in. You’re just gonna have to be brave, you may really enjoy university so much that you forget about being homesick!

Will you be staying in catered or self-catered accommodation?

No, I’m going into second year in September

Oh fairs I'm going into third year NatSci so I did a few chemistry modules that you'll be doing this year aha

Ah what modules?

I think chemistry may be a bit too difficult for me. Or the workload would be too high. I heard that biochemistry is similar to chemistry but with a bit more biology. Do u think this is a good option? Thanks