Chemical engineering...?

Just reapply for biochemistry in clearing or next year. There is no point doing a degree you have no interest in, and quite possibly won't end up getting a good enough classification to go on to a masters in view of that.

That said, biochemistry doesn't really involve that much chemistry either generally, at least in the UK. It usually covers a little a bit of organic and biological chemistry to support the biochemistry content, which is essentially cell and molecular biology. If you want to learn chemistry (organic or otherwise) in much detail you will really need to do a degree in chemistry.

Sadly I don't think I have a choice but to study chem eng bc I get a discount in my dads uni for it,, it's very difficult for us to afford anything else. Will I be allowed to pursue medicinal biochem with a chem eng degree though?

Where will you be studying...? UK students will normally be funded by Student Finance England for a first degree; most users on this site are studying in the UK so most advice pertains to that (although there are forums for international study on here as well).

It would really depend on the content of your degree and what the requirements of the masters course is. In the UK I think it would be possible to go onto some bioscience courses after a chemE degree, particularly in e.g. biotechnology, systems biology/bioinformatics, or possibly some on the physical side of biochemistry (structural molecular biology, molecular biophysics and such). Medicinal chemistry however might be less likely as I believe they'll probably expect you to have more of a background in organic and synthetic chemistry. However again this is in the UK; I'm really not familiar enough with masters courses elsewhere to advise

I'm in malaysia but I'll be studying in the University of nottingham malaysia campus, i intend to go to the UK for my masters so,, i have the option to do a degree in medicinal chem here as well but its crazy expensive so i doubt i'll be allowed to, i want to go into something like medicinal biochemistry, im also interested in research involving biochem + psych + neuroscience or smth like that,,,

Neuroscience masters programmes usually expect a background in neuroscience or the biosciences (or sometimes psychology if there is sufficient scientific content). I'm not sure a chemE background will be suitable for that. That's somewhat removed from medicinal (bio)chemistry however. I'd probably suggest looking into options for just chemistry (not medicinal chemistry specifically) as an undergrad. If you wanted to go more into the neuroscience direction then some course in the biosciences (e.g. biology, biomedical sciences, physiology, neuroscience) might be a better background.

Why not try biochemical engineering. It has biochemistry elements in it as well

I' m kind of in a situation where I have no choice to study chem eng even though i dont really want to, i'm more interested in biochem (i love organic chem.
I know chem eng doesn't really have much chem, (and the chem it does have i kinda hate)
anyway my question is,,, if i do beng in chem eng,, can i do my masters in synthetic bio OR medicinal biochem OR molecular bio OR biochem etc,,, what are the Msc i will not be able to take if I do chem eng. thanks for any help.

Hi there,

I'm sorry you're stuck with a degree you don't want to do, but hopefully I can give some reassurance!

Firstly, you may start the degree and find that you enjoy it! If not, there are options. A lot of students drop out of their course and re-start on another one (or just directly transfer to another course) at the end of their first year, so there is some flexibility if you really don't enjoy ChemEng. If you being stuck with ChemEng is to do with grades, then there's also the option of applying for a place on a course you do want via clearing, when the time comes.

If you scroll down in this thread, myself and another student ambassador have given detailed answers about the ChemEng course, and comparing it to other chemistry courses (biochem, chem, NatSci etc). Hopefully seeing how much she enjoys the course, and seeing how it compares to other similar courses, will help you a bit

In terms of whether or not you can do an MSc in those subjects with a ChemEng degree, I'd recommend looking at some of those MSc degrees course requirements on different university websites, as there they will say what BSc courses allow you to take that MSc. If that doesn't help, then I'd suggest emailing admissions departments at unis that do the MSc you're interested in and they can tell you if you'd be eligible if you have a ChemEng BSc.

I hope this has helped,
Jessica, a third year NatSci student

Thanks a lot for replying! I read your descriptions about you course and fell in love with your degree instead ahahah. Your answer has been very helpful , biomedical science has opened up as an option for me so now I'm just debating between then haha.

Hi,

No problem at all, I'm glad I could help And that's amazing that you love the sound of NatSci, and have found some more options! If you want some more detailed information about the NatSci degree (which would definitely be useful, as the degree varies a fair bit between universities), then take a look at this thread that I started about NatSci at Bath. I've also left detailed answers about different aspects of the degree (i.e. module options, contact hours, teaching types, comparing unis) in these 3 threads, so they'd also be useful to look at:
- Bath VS Durham NATURAL SCIENCES
- University of Bath: pros and cons? (this is a NatSci specific thread, despite the title not saying so)
- Natural Sciences @ Bath

If you do have any more questions, be that about NatSci, Biomedical Sciences, Bath in general, accommodation, student life, careers with each degree etc. please just let me know, and I'll be happy to answer

Jessica, a third year NatSci student

Ahhh tysm, unfortunately I'm not based in the UK haha so no Nat sci for me, I do have seen qs abt biomed, I didn't take bio a level but I did bio igcse and got A,,, would it be too hard for me?