Durham natural sciences

Hi I applied for NatSci too but I’ve firmed York. Sorry I can’t help with your actual question but where else did you apply?

Reply 2

OP

Original post by HannahJ21

Hi I applied for NatSci too but I’ve firmed York. Sorry I can’t help with your actual question but where else did you apply?

Which subject stream did you apply for?

Other unis I applied to are Bath, Exeter, Leicester and Loughborough.

Reply 3

Original post by Anonymous

Which subject stream did you apply for?

Other unis I applied to are Bath, Exeter, Leicester and Loughborough.

I applied for Chemistry, maths and physics at Leeds, Durham, Bath and York as well as a joint degree of Chemistry and maths at Leeds. I have firmed york and leeds chemistry and maths is my insurance. Sorry I declined Durham 😂😂

Reply 4

OP

Original post by HannahJ21

I applied for Chemistry, maths and physics at Leeds, Durham, Bath and York as well as a joint degree of Chemistry and maths at Leeds. I have firmed york and leeds chemistry and maths is my insurance. Sorry I declined Durham 😂😂

No need to apologise! I was just interested to see what kind of pathway you were going for. I really liked the Natural sciences course at York when I looked at it, but didn't have the right A levels for the stream I wanted :frown:

. But that's ok because I'm really excited about the NatSci course at Durham now. What did you like about the course at York? :smile:

Reply 5

Original post by Anonymous

No need to apologise! I was just interested to see what kind of pathway you were going for. I really liked the Natural sciences course at York when I looked at it, but didn't have the right A levels for the stream I wanted :frown:

. But that's ok because I'm really excited about the NatSci course at Durham now. What did you like about the course at York? :smile:

What a levels are you doing and what pathway did you want to do? I live really close to York and I liked how flexible the course is there. Also, I have been on quite a lot of open days and I really like the staff that I have met. I like how small the cohort is at York and that they have a NatSci common room. Overall, I just like the uni, city and the course is right for me.

Reply 6

OP

Original post by HannahJ21

What a levels are you doing and what pathway did you want to do? I live really close to York and I liked how flexible the course is there. Also, I have been on quite a lot of open days and I really like the staff that I have met. I like how small the cohort is at York and that they have a NatSci common room. Overall, I just like the uni, city and the course is right for me.

I'm taking biology, chemistry and maths. I liked the biology-chemistry-physics stream at York but didn't have the right A level combination. I then decided on Durham because they seem to have a wide range of student support, and I love the city and the course.
It's great that you've found a course/uni that works so well for you though! I hope all goes well for you at York :smile:

Reply 7

Original post by Anonymous

I'm taking biology, chemistry and maths. I liked the biology-chemistry-physics stream at York but didn't have the right A level combination. I then decided on Durham because they seem to have a wide range of student support, and I love the city and the course.
It's great that you've found a course/uni that works so well for you though! I hope all goes well for you at York :smile:

I do maths, further maths, physics and chemistry but I can remember that even to do CMP, I didn’t need a grade in physics. I hope that you enjoy Durham 😊

Reply 8

Original post by Anonymous

I'm hoping to study natural sciences at Durham this year. Does anyone have any tips for the NatSci course and studying at Durham in general?

Hey! I'm in first year doing Chemistry and Biology in Natural Sciences at Durham. I don't have any particular tips tbh :smile:

can tell you that taking NatSci is really challenging - you get the core modules from each subject you take, which are the hardest ones, so no "easy" credits. So be prepared for a challenge :smile:

I can answer any questions if you have any, best of luck regardless 😄

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Lizzie_2407

Hey! I'm in first year doing Chemistry and Biology in Natural Sciences at Durham. I don't have any particular tips tbh :smile:

can tell you that taking NatSci is really challenging - you get the core modules from each subject you take, which are the hardest ones, so no "easy" credits. So be prepared for a challenge :smile:

I can answer any questions if you have any, best of luck regardless 😄

That's great, I would really appreciate it if you could answer some questions!

- What do enjoy most about studying Natural Sciences and being a student at Durham?
- How much academic support is available? Are the professors helpful and do they explain things well?
- If two modules clash or present timetabling issues, is there any flexibility in the schedule, or would you just not able to take those modules together at all?
- Are there any compulsory modules?
- In your opinion, what are the most challenging aspects of a natural sciences degree?
- Could you explain what seminars and tutorials are and what they involve? (They seem to vary between unis and I'm not sure what the difference is)
- Is there a heavy workload?

Sorry, I ask a lot of questions- you don't have to answer all of them, any help would be appreciated! :smile:

Reply 10

Original post by Anonymous

That's great, I would really appreciate it if you could answer some questions!

- What do enjoy most about studying Natural Sciences and being a student at Durham?
- How much academic support is available? Are the professors helpful and do they explain things well?
- If two modules clash or present timetabling issues, is there any flexibility in the schedule, or would you just not able to take those modules together at all?
- Are there any compulsory modules?
- In your opinion, what are the most challenging aspects of a natural sciences degree?
- Could you explain what seminars and tutorials are and what they involve? (They seem to vary between unis and I'm not sure what the difference is)
- Is there a heavy workload?

Sorry, I ask a lot of questions- you don't have to answer all of them, any help would be appreciated! :smile:

Oh aha that is a lot of questions!! Happy to answer them though, I'm kinda procrastinating chem revision D:

1. Love the fact that NatSci gave me an extra year to choose between disciplines! Meant I could get a feel for both of them at uni level, and now I know that I want a career in Biosciences instead so am transferring to Bio, but I never would have known if I hadn't started with joint honours. Ofc you can also continue with a couple subjects for your whole degree, if you still love them both. Also is great how you get each one to the level of your peers taking single honours, and it isn't a mixed degree (e.g. Biochemistry is basically chem through a biological perspective - whereas with NatSci you get to study them both as individual disciplines, which I like much more, for example). Long answer!

2. Hmm academic support is tricky, you get as much as you ask for. Especially because it's online, if you don't reach out it's pretty much solo studying. Academics are lovely when you email them though, very helpful. You also get tutorials every week, which are with 5ish other students and an academic, which are awesome for this. Tutorial frequencies vary tho, I get 2 per week for chem, and only about 6 per year in bio. Professors do explain things very clearly, most of them are concise. The concepts are mega hard though, so they'll still confuse you!

3. I didn't have issues with clashing modules as Bio and Chem are a really common combination. You should be fine so long as you don't do unusual combinations, like Psychology and Physics or something. Dr Blowey is the guy in charge of natsci, he gives good advice on whether or not you'll have clashes, you could probably email him if you're worried! I don't know anybody who's had any.

4. Compulsory modules, sort of. You have to take modules that pave the way for next year. So when you're taking joint honors, you NEED the core modules, so you can keep up with everyone this year and in future years. if you like, follow this link https://www.dur.ac.uk/natural.sciences/ click on your subjects on the right, have an explore of the modules, "prerequisite" means you need to have studied the module last year, "corequisite" means you need to do this module at the same time :smile:

sorry for such a complicated answer - so basically nothing is technically compulsory, but you've got to choose sensibly :smile:

5. I find the most challenging bit is doing all of the core modules of each subject, which so far as I can tell are harder. I remember them saying that you are just as good in your subjects as single honors students are, and it's nearly true. It's mega hard work to keep up in both subjects!! But if you want to do both, it's worth it of course.

6. Seminars, I don't know, I've never had one. I think it tends to be for humanities students? Like I friends in politics and english lit. But I think I know somebody doing Geology/Earth Science or something, and he has seminars I think?

Tutorials; you have to submit worked answers to problems that they send you a few days before, then in the tutorial the tutor goes through the answers, puts you all on the spot a bit, challenges you. Then goes through some other useful problems. They're hard! :biggrin:

tutorial groups for me are usually between 4-8 other students

7. Workload is pretty heavy. I probably work more than I need, because I can be a bit slow working through online lectures. But there are plenty of submissions and lectures to keep you busy!! Usually I work 10-8:30 on weekdays (with at least an hour off for lunch and for dinner each), and sometimes a few hours on a Saturday on a particularly busy week, but my weekends are often clear.

Really long answers - apologies!! Hope this is helpful though :smile:

Reply 11

Original post by Anonymous

That's great, I would really appreciate it if you could answer some questions!

- What do enjoy most about studying Natural Sciences and being a student at Durham?
- How much academic support is available? Are the professors helpful and do they explain things well?
- If two modules clash or present timetabling issues, is there any flexibility in the schedule, or would you just not able to take those modules together at all?
- Are there any compulsory modules?
- In your opinion, what are the most challenging aspects of a natural sciences degree?
- Could you explain what seminars and tutorials are and what they involve? (They seem to vary between unis and I'm not sure what the difference is)
- Is there a heavy workload?

Sorry, I ask a lot of questions- you don't have to answer all of them, any help would be appreciated! :smile:

If you've got questions about any bio/chem modules btw let me know :smile:

Reply 12

OP

Original post by Lizzie_2407

If you've got questions about any bio/chem modules btw let me know :smile:

Thank you so much for the detailed responses to my questions! What chemistry module revision were you procrastinating? (Just curious)

I don't think I have any particular questions about the modules for now, but if I do I might come back and ask you. :smile:

Reply 13