University of Bristol Physics with Scientific Computing

Hi I am also an international student (From Asia) currently in my first year of Physics with Scientific Computing at Bristol.

My experience so far has been far from normal due to covid so keep that in mind.As for your statement about the 70% physics, I would say its more like 50% physics, 30% maths, and 20% computing, at least in the first year and I think the second year too. The experience is indeed very similar to students taking the normal physics course for the first 2 years, but changes in the third and fourth years as there are many more options for computing, you can see all of them on the course website.

All my lectures were delivered online, but from what I can tell the enjoyability of each module is largely based on the lecturer, and you change lecturers decently often for the main physics module. In the first term I had 2 different lecturers and 3 different ones for the 2nd term.

The tutorials are biweekly for physics and computing, with a weekly maths tutorial. The tutorials are in much smaller groups and a lot more interactive, I found the math one especially helpful and is a good opportunity to ask questions. Although if you ever have questions you can just email the professor. There are also biweekly workshops for math and physics alongside tutorials and lectures which are also smaller group classes where you can meet other students and interact with a teacher. The computing module is run entirely through a weekly workshop, which I find very effective as you always have help available and you work through the content alongside everyone else.

I haven't been in many in person classes on campus, but I have been to a couple study centers/libraries and they are very convenient to get to and use, and usually have lots of space/free desks.

As for accommodation I stayed in The Courtrooms, and from what I know a lot of international students tend to stay in the city centre, as the accommodations are newer and they tend to have ensuite bathrooms. Life in the city centre is quite nice all the shops are in walking distance and so is the university. The other residential villages require a bus to be taken to get to campus, but the buses are decently frequent. The Stoke Bishop/Clifton residences are a bit more social, however I know of two international students who moved out from those residences to the city centre within the first couple weeks as they hated it there. They said there was constant partying and noise late into the night so they couldn't sleep or study. The city centre accommodations are a bit more expensive though.

I hope this is helpful, feel free to ask if you want to know anything else.

Hi!

Sorry for replying back so late, Thank you loadssss for this, it really helps getting insight from a student at the uni.
I find every aspect of Bristol appealing but there's just one thing that's keeping me from firming it which is the "social" environment of it.
A lot of people I've talked to about the uni are satisfied with the teaching and academics which is great! I'm mostly an academic person so that's what I hope to focus on in uni as well. But I've heard a lot about the social life and night life being quite "heavy" there, as in there's lots of parties, drinking, drugs etc. One of my friends who goes to durham who has friends from bristol said that people view it more as a social uni rather than an academic one. As you even mentioned about the two Asian students who had to move to the city centre because of the clubbing noise. Of course I don't mind a social life, I love meeting new people! But I'm a muslim and I don't get involved in the drinking, clubbing and drugs part if you get what I mean? So I just wanted to know, is the night life a really big part of the experience in bristol? Do you think I would be able to find an environment where I can comfortably avoiding this? I hope you can see where I'm coming from.

Everything about bristol seems great to me but this particular aspect has been iffy for me so just wanted to know your opinions on it

Hi there!
I am now considering this course for 2023 and am in the exact same position as you - may I ask which university you ended up going to and if you are at bristol now do you enjoy it?

Thanks

Same!

Oh awesome hi! I ended up firming bristol anyway - were you there on the open days?

xD I made the mistake of being too lazy to go to any open days. But it doesnt matter bc I got rejected from basically every uni. I also got rejected from the CS bristol course but they gave me the option doing physics with computing. However, I don't really know what its all about. Why did u firm it?

I mean I applied physics elsewhere like manchester (got rejected from oxbridge lol) and bath but I just didn't really like the feel of the courses at either of these unis. I was thinking of taking a gap year and maybe applying for imperial (idk why I didn't apply first time round) but bristol was actually really nice. The people there were actually really cool and super friendly, like they seem like normal well adjusted people unlike some of the other uni physics courses I visited haha. I think the course is basically 70 - 80 % physics but with coding projects on the side but its not just scientific coding they teach u java and stuff aswell. Idk the lectures seemed good aswell plus they have a year in industry Hope this helps!

Ya, thanks. Do you know whether the coding projects are big individual projects or are they small tasks to do as hw?

Hi there!
I am now considering this course for 2023 and am in the exact same position as you - may I ask which university you ended up going to and if you are at bristol now do you enjoy it?

Thanks

I'm a maths and physics join honours student at Bristol and me and my other friends who also do maths and physics hate the physics department. They cannot teach half the time. Some lecturers explain things in the worst ways possible, we're not provided with many good revision materials or revision support, half of the problems set are just boring and not really challenging, the in-person lectures are useless, and in general it feels like there is a lack of care put into the degree and students' learning. It's not the lecturers' fault; from what I've heard the department don't always pay their lecturers for teaching students so it's the fault of the people running the department for this lack of care. I personally would advise not picking Bristol for physics.

please could someone reply to this post? Thinking about firming Bristol for Physics with Computing. Would like to know that the Physics teaching is good!

I am an international student and I'm having trouble deciding which uni to firm. I was hoping someone who goes to the University of Bristol could give me a brutally honest review of what's it like to study as a physics student.
I've applied for Physics with Scientific Computing but since about 70% of the course is physics I would assume the experience may be relatively the same as a physics student.
I am hoping on getting some details on the lectures, tutorials, support, academic environment, safety, accommodation, living costs etc. Just anything that you think might be useful for me to know

Hi I am also an international student (From Asia) currently in my first year of Physics with Scientific Computing at Bristol.
My experience so far has been far from normal due to covid so keep that in mind.As for your statement about the 70% physics, I would say its more like 50% physics, 30% maths, and 20% computing, at least in the first year and I think the second year too. The experience is indeed very similar to students taking the normal physics course for the first 2 years, but changes in the third and fourth years as there are many more options for computing, you can see all of them on the course website.
All my lectures were delivered online, but from what I can tell the enjoyability of each module is largely based on the lecturer, and you change lecturers decently often for the main physics module. In the first term I had 2 different lecturers and 3 different ones for the 2nd term.
The tutorials are biweekly for physics and computing, with a weekly maths tutorial. The tutorials are in much smaller groups and a lot more interactive, I found the math one especially helpful and is a good opportunity to ask questions. Although if you ever have questions you can just email the professor. There are also biweekly workshops for math and physics alongside tutorials and lectures which are also smaller group classes where you can meet other students and interact with a teacher. The computing module is run entirely through a weekly workshop, which I find very effective as you always have help available and you work through the content alongside everyone else.
I haven't been in many in person classes on campus, but I have been to a couple study centers/libraries and they are very convenient to get to and use, and usually have lots of space/free desks.
As for accommodation I stayed in The Courtrooms, and from what I know a lot of international students tend to stay in the city centre, as the accommodations are newer and they tend to have ensuite bathrooms. Life in the city centre is quite nice all the shops are in walking distance and so is the university. The other residential villages require a bus to be taken to get to campus, but the buses are decently frequent. The Stoke Bishop/Clifton residences are a bit more social, however I know of two international students who moved out from those residences to the city centre within the first couple weeks as they hated it there. They said there was constant partying and noise late into the night so they couldn't sleep or study. The city centre accommodations are a bit more expensive though.
I hope this is helpful, feel free to ask if you want to know anything else.

I mean I applied physics elsewhere like manchester (got rejected from oxbridge lol) and bath but I just didn't really like the feel of the courses at either of these unis. I was thinking of taking a gap year and maybe applying for imperial (idk why I didn't apply first time round) but bristol was actually really nice. The people there were actually really cool and super friendly, like they seem like normal well adjusted people unlike some of the other uni physics courses I visited haha. I think the course is basically 70 - 80 % physics but with coding projects on the side but its not just scientific coding they teach u java and stuff aswell. Idk the lectures seemed good aswell plus they have a year in industry Hope this helps!

Ya, thanks. Do you know whether the coding projects are big individual projects or are they small tasks to do as hw?