Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Prepping for Oxford chemistry?

Hi! I've just finished A-levels and in-between holidays and nights out this summer I thought it might be a good idea to get a headstart on prep to start Oxford chemistry in October, as I've been told the reading list comes quite late! I'm not looking to do anything intensive, especially not right away, but I wondered if anyone had any good resources or suggestions of areas that are good to be confident in/familiarised with?

Reply 1

TypicalNerd

Original post by apolaroidofus

Chemistry spans a wide range of areas, so it’s probably best to cherry pick a few areas in particular that interest you the most.

In terms of books, I’d really recommend looking at getting hold of the book “chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry” for starters as it definitely bridges the gap between A level and first year undergraduate level chemistry well and it’s a very accessible book to read.

I’d expect Shriver + Atkin’s Inorganic chemistry, Atkins’ Physical chemistry and Clayden’s Organic chemistry to come up on the reading list, because they always do, but I’d probably wait until uni actually starts before getting any of these books, as you are more likely to get them for a reasonable price buying them directly at the uni (that is assuming past reading lists are correct in giving this guidance).

In terms of other methods of preparation you could try, perhaps occasionally revisiting some of the material you covered at A level would be prudent - especially in chemistry and pure mathematics. You may also find some videos on YouTube that nicely summarise some more advanced chemistry to give you a reasonably good introduction to undergraduate level chemistry- Professor Dave Explains has some nice ones imo: https://m.youtube.com/@ProfessorDaveExplains/playlists

But most importantly, make sure over the summer that you take some time to yourself to relax.