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Official Chemistry 2022 university applicant thread

Hi This is the Chemistry applicant thread for the 2022 start.

So will start this off so feel free to answer below and anything else you wish to add

What course are you applying for:
What universities are you thinking of:
A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
GCSE grades:
Extra curriculars:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

CheeseIsVeg

Volunteer Team

Original post

by 𝓖𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓪𝓭𝔂

Hi This is the Chemistry applicant thread for the 2022 start.

So will start this off so feel free to answer below and anything else you wish to add

What course are you applying for:
What universities are you thinking of:
A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
GCSE grades:
Extra curriculars:

Great idea :woo:

I will post to watch, I am a recent chemistry graduate from the university of southampton and have just started work in the real world! :zomg:

Feel free to quote me if you have any questions about a chemistry degree etc. will be happy to help :smile:

Best of luck with your applications!

Reply 2

Ghostlady

Original post

by CheeseIsVeg

Great idea :woo:

I will post to watch, I am a recent chemistry graduate from the university of southampton and have just started work in the real world! :zomg:

Feel free to quote me if you have any questions about a chemistry degree etc. will be happy to help :smile:

Best of luck with your applications!

nice one cheese, well done for graduating :smile:

Reply 3

username5444612

What course are you applying for:
MSci/MChem Chemistry

What universities are you thinking of:
Imperial, Durham, Warwick, Southampton and probs Manchester, UCL or Bath for my last choice

A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
Chemistry - A*
Maths - A*
Biology - A

GCSE grades:
3 9s, 4 8s, and 1 7 in English Lang

Extra curriculars:
I did the C3L6 and a research project during summer school. I'm also doing some wider reading using books and websites like newscientist. Include a bunch of school awards and leadership roles as well

I only have a draft of my PS done in mostly bullet points but I'm planning on starting at the end of August and submitting it in October

Reply 4

graciebear677

What course are you applying for: MSci/MChem Chemistry What universities are you thinking of:Oxford, Edinburgh, Manchester, St Andrews, DurhamA level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:A*A*A* in Maths, Physics, and ChemistryGCSE grades:5 9s, 3 8s, and 3 7sExtracurricular :biggrin:

oing the in2science program rn, did the British Chemistry Olympiad and C3L6 Challenge but I didn't get any awards :frown:

I also did an independent research project on natural product synthesis in drug development, and have read like two books.PS is done tho :biggrin:

Reply 5

GCM42

What course are you applying for:
MChem/BSc Chemistry

What universities are you thinking of:
Oxford, Imperial, UCL, St Andrews, and Nottingham

A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
Chemistry - A*
Maths - A*
Economics - A*
Further Maths - A (going to resit in September to try increase this)
EPQ (no grade yet. Wasn't chemistry related so maybe it won't matter much. Still hoping for an A* though)

GCSE grades:
11A*s

Extra curriculars:
I did the C3L6 (haven't been told what I got yet), lab work experience at a local university, EDT Summer Headstart course, university online summer school, chemistry club. I have also been doing some wider reading on ChemistryWorld and general books.

Reply 6

Lilymaemeredith

Original post

by 𝓖𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓪𝓭𝔂

Hi This is the Chemistry applicant thread for the 2022 start.

So will start this off so feel free to answer below and anything else you wish to add

What course are you applying for:
What universities are you thinking of:
A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
GCSE grades:

What course are you applying for:
Medicinal Chemistry
What universities are you thinking of:
Queen Mary London, KCL, Southampton, Liverpool and Sussex
A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
A* - Biology A* - Psychology and A - Chemistry
GCSE grades:
8888887777

Reply 7

Bookworm_88

Original post

by CheeseIsVeg

Great idea :woo:

I will post to watch, I am a recent chemistry graduate from the university of southampton and have just started work in the real world! :zomg:

Feel free to quote me if you have any questions about a chemistry degree etc. will be happy to help :smile:

Best of luck with your applications!

Heyy,
Just wanted to ask what you're doing now as a graduate, is it directly linked to your degree?

Reply 8

CheeseIsVeg

Volunteer Team

Original post

by Bookworm_88

Heyy,
Just wanted to ask what you're doing now as a graduate, is it directly linked to your degree?

Hey there

Yes I am a scientist in a pharmaceutical company :smile:

It's definitely directly linked to my degree haha and lots of fun too :tongue:

I had a couple of friends go for PhDs, dropped to BSc and do a specialised MSc or even go into teaching!

Reply 9

Bookworm_88

Original post

by CheeseIsVeg

Hey there

Yes I am a scientist in a pharmaceutical company :smile:

It's definitely directly linked to my degree haha and lots of fun too :tongue:

I had a couple of friends go for PhDs, dropped to BSc and do a specialised MSc or even go into teaching!

what made you work for a pharma company, what's it like? I imagine its organic synthesis heavy in the lab :biggrin:

Reply 10

CheeseIsVeg

Volunteer Team

Original post

by Bookworm_88

what made you work for a pharma company, what's it like? I imagine its organic synthesis heavy in the lab :biggrin:

I wanted to get some practical experience of chemistry in an industrial environment :smile:

It's lots of fun and really interesting to learn about the company and find out how big pharma works :yy:

I'm mainly interested in analytical chemistry but am supporting the synthesis team at the moment :yes:

it's very heavy on process chemistry!

Reply 11

Bookworm_88

Original post

by CheeseIsVeg

I wanted to get some practical experience of chemistry in an industrial environment :smile:

It's lots of fun and really interesting to learn about the company and find out how big pharma works :yy:

I'm mainly interested in analytical chemistry but am supporting the synthesis team at the moment :yes:

it's very heavy on process chemistry!

Is analytical chem. mass spec and IR spectroscopy stuff?

Reply 12

CheeseIsVeg

Volunteer Team

Original post

by Bookworm_88

Is analytical chem. mass spec and IR spectroscopy stuff?

Haha probably out of what you've studied so far but it really is a massive branch of chemistry :yy:

There are many other analytical techniques and equipment out there and I am sure you will learn more about it at uni :smile:

Reply 13

graciebear677

I have an interview at Manchester in a few weeks and will probably have an interview at Oxford (because they basically interview everyone) so I'm wondering what you guys are doing to prepare, if you are, and if you've already experienced interviews, what were they like??

Reply 14

Jannatul 123

Original post

by CheeseIsVeg

Great idea :woo:

I will post to watch, I am a recent chemistry graduate from the university of southampton and have just started work in the real world! :zomg:

Feel free to quote me if you have any questions about a chemistry degree etc. will be happy to help :smile:

Best of luck with your applications!

Hi so i wanted to know how many days a week did u have classes for the 1st or 2nd year and how many hours a week,?

Reply 15

15con46

Hi everyone,

What course are you applying for:

4 year MChem/MSci with year abroad where possible

What universities are you thinking of:

Oxford (Christ Church), Imperial (got an interview), UCL, York (got an offer), Bristol (got an offer)

A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:

A* for Chemistry, A* for Maths, A* for Biology

GCSE grades:

9988888A*A*AAA

Extra curriculars:

Debating/Public speaking, playing drums, supercurricular chemistry stuff (e.g books, MOOCs)

Reply 16

alice_226

Original post

by graciebear677

as a current student, there's not that much you can do to prepare. they're looking to see how you think- the oxford teaching style is very specialised, and if you're not the sort of person who will enjoy being grilled by academics every week then you will absolutely hate the course. the interviews are really like a taster tutorial- the main thing is interview technique, and making sure that you are good at year 2 functions and calculus work. mock interviews will be helpful to practice putting your thought processes into words- if you can't communicate to the tutors, then it is almost certainly a rejection. however, they are looking for someone that they can teach, so try to adapt to any new/degree level pieces of information they may throw at you and link these to your existing knowledge.
the most useful book would be why do chemical reactions happen. you certainly won't understand much of what's going on at this point, but it will at least have allowed you to have perhaps seen some of the diagrams they will present you with before.

Reply 17

CheeseIsVeg

Volunteer Team

Original post

by Jannatul 123

Hi so i wanted to know how many days a week did u have classes for the 1st or 2nd year and how many hours a week,?

Monday to Friday. Many hours. Remember you will have teaching labs in first and second year.
First year it's about 3 hours of labs every week.
Second year it steps up to 6 ish hours of labs.
Usually each semester you have 4 modules and 2 hours of lectures per week for each module and then additionally 3 tutorials or workshops spread over 2 weeks

Check out a typical timetable by asking at an open day.

If you're wondering about commuting or having a job alongside a chemistry degree, please don't do it! You probably only have time for a very flexible student job but in my experience, chemistry is a very demanding work-study-heavy degree. You will find it very hard commuting in for many 9am starts and you will have a tough time finishing your work if you get a proper job alongside your studies!

Reply 18

hss_2004

Hi!!

What course are you applying for?
BSC Chemistry

What universities have you applied to?0
St Andrews (got a reduced offer), UCL (offer), Nottingham (reduced offer), Kings (reduced offer and Southampton (offer)
Grades
A-level predicted:
Chemistry - A*
Biology - A*
Geography - A*

GCSES: 999888776

I was prior a Med applicant so I used some of the hospital work experience and linked it into Chemistry, Newham college essays, extra readings and my netball as extra-cirriculars.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 19

Brownie854795

Original post

by 𝓖𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓪𝓭𝔂

Hi This is the Chemistry applicant thread for the 2022 start.

So will start this off so feel free to answer below and anything else you wish to add

What course are you applying for:
What universities are you thinking of:
A level / BTEC/ IB / Higher predicted grades:
GCSE grades:
Extra curriculars:

Hi! I'm applying for MChem or MSci at Oxford, York, Warwick, Bath and Birmingham.
I'm predicted 4A*s in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further maths A levels, and my GCSE grades were 10 9s, 1 8 and an A (but I didn't actually take any except for the one A so who knows what I'd actually have gotten). In terms of extracurriculars, I play flute and do a couple of orchestra sort of things, am a girl guiding young leader, have volunteered at my local vaccine centre, am working towards my gold DofE, am on my Sixth form's council and have a part time job at a local takeaway.
For my supercurricular things I've done HE+ including the project (did anyone else do that? I got my feedback a while ago and it took me a while to work out what the scoring system meant 😂), the lectures and the mock seminar, the RSC's school's analyst competition, I've read a few books and magazines and academic papers, done a couple of chemistry related MOOCs and I am currently enjoying listening to the periodic table podcast (I believe it's been around a while but I only discovered it a few months ago). Does anyone have any recommendations for other chemistry supercurricular stuff or preparation for interviews (if I get one) etc?