.

Have you visited both?

Oxford will require an interview where you will see the university. Bristol should do an offer holder day for you to have fone talks and see accommodation. Those should let you see what the course and universities are like.

i have applied for both chemistry at oxford and maths at bristol, but i am unsure about which course i should pursue if i were to (hypothetically) get an offer from both universities. my main concern regarding oxford is whether i would enjoy the social/nightlife aspect, and i currently have an offer from bristol.
i would greatly appreciate any advice, or insights about what the courses at either university are like!!

Oh, I didn’t know.
Maybe they will have an offer holder day as well?

How did you write a PS?

I would avoid Bristol given their issues with acccommodation. Where and what else have you applied to?

i wrote a ps about chemistry, and mentioned the applications of mathematics to chemistry briefly. i've applied for maths at edinburgh, bath, and manchester; my offers so far are for maths with an integrated masters at Bristol and maths with an industrial placement year at Manchester. It seems that a lot of unis don't really care about your personal statement for maths if you have 2 A*s in maths and further maths?

thankyou for your point about accommodation - i don't really know much about the situation in Bristol other than that it is very expensive. my mum said that Oxford would be best because I'd have guaranteed accommodation for four years and i think she's right!

i have applied for both chemistry at oxford and maths at bristol, but i am unsure about which course i should pursue if i were to (hypothetically) get an offer from both universities. my main concern regarding oxford is whether i would enjoy the social/nightlife aspect, and i currently have an offer from bristol.
i would greatly appreciate any advice, or insights about what the courses at either university are like!!

Thanks for the tag @The_Lonely_Goatherd

Hiya!

I’m a current first year chemist at Oxford (at St John’s college), so hopefully I can answer a few questions you may have.

Whether you will enjoy the social/nightlife aspect is something I couldn’t possibly answer as I don’t know you at all. I for one tend to steer clear of it (which is always an option if you discover it’s not for you) and I’m perfectly happy - there is no pressure to get involved if you don’t want to and there are plenty of societies you can join that will give you some nice things to do outside of study.

I think you should honestly consider whether you love chemistry enough to want to pursue it in the level of depth it is covered at and ask yourself whether you would truly prefer to study it over mathematics. Chemistry is a very intense course (but then again, so are practically all university courses) and Oxford throws you into the deep end, but the course can be equally rewarding.

At Oxford, most weekdays you will have 2 lectures in the morning (one starting at 9 am, the next starting at 10 am - both circa 50 minutes long). On two days on most weeks, you will have 6 hour long lab sessions from 11 am - 5 pm and on the other weekdays, your tutors will fit in your tutorials (which should each be around 2 hours long). The tutorial system is unique to Oxford and Cambridge and I honestly feel it is the best part of the course for learning. The tutorials have been some of the most productive hours I have ever spent studying and the tutors are always very happy to answer any questions you have (and they don’t judge you or consider any questions you have to ask “stupid”).

For some more insight into what chemistry at Oxford entails, it may be worth looking at this thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7412617

thankyou for your response, reading about the weekly structure of the course has helped me a lot, and made Oxford seem less daunting.

after thinking about why i applied for both courses my dilemma is over. although i do enjoy maths at school, i think this is just because i do well in the exams rather than because i enjoy the subject itself; after careful consideration, i believe the pressure of graduate prospects was the main reasons that i ended up applying for maths as a secure option.

outside of my a-levels, i have an interest in chemistry (unlike maths) + i have always enjoyed the subject so, if i do get an offer, i think firming it would be what is right for me.
however, if i don't get an offer from Oxford then that is fine because someone else will deserve it more!!

thankyou to everybody who responded to my query - i have made a decision for now

Okay. It’s pleasing to hear you’ve made a decision.

I am guessing you’ll want to start thinking about how best to prep for your interviews so as to give yourself the best possible chance of getting in. I for one used C3L6 and RSC chemistry olympiad round 1 problems to cover the problem-solving aspects and taught others various concepts in chemistry to get practice with articulating my thinking.

I've never participated in an Olympiad before, because i haven't had the opportunity, so that sounds like a good idea!! i will definitely have a look at some Olympiad questions.

this might sound odd, but (because my a-levels are in maths, further maths, chemistry, and psychology) i was wondering if i should make sure I'm up to scratch on GCSE physics in case something i'm asked requires that knowledge? we were given a formula sheet when i sat my GCSE, so (other than what I've covered in mechanics) I've never really learned any physics.

I strongly doubt you need to worry about not having studied much physics previously. Your interviewers should know which A levels you are taking and will probably avoid asking you any physics questions because that would be unreasonable.

If you are doing further mechanics, you’ll have covered how to calculate kinetic energy (which is probably the only thing from physics I can possibly envision coming up that you won’t have addressed in your A level chemistry lessons).

okay thank you, i do study further mechanics