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Biochemistry Supercurriculars?

Hi! I'm in Year 12 and I'm applying for biochemistry next year and I was hoping someone could offer some advice on what kind of supercurriculars would help me stand out. I live in a more restricted country so there are fewer internships/work experience so I was hoping there were other things?

I have done a few MOOCs and read some books but is there anything more specific?

Thank you so much in advance!

Reply 1

sana.u

Hii! I applied to do biochemistry this year and I can tell you what I did.

You can try looking for virtual work experience, I did one with AstraZeneca which was free to sign up and looked at drug discovery if you are looking for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. I also did a CREST Gold project, which is like an EPQ, and you can do it for any topic related to STEM and do different type of projects. I suggest doing that because it shows to universities that you took the initiative to undertake the CREST and also shows your passion for biochemistry. I also used the NewScientist, and I can also recommend you more books if you would like that!

Feel free to ask me anything else!

Reply 2

crazy_diamond

Original post by sana.u

Hii! I applied to do biochemistry this year and I can tell you what I did.
You can try looking for virtual work experience, I did one with AstraZeneca which was free to sign up and looked at drug discovery if you are looking for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. I also did a CREST Gold project, which is like an EPQ, and you can do it for any topic related to STEM and do different type of projects. I suggest doing that because it shows to universities that you took the initiative to undertake the CREST and also shows your passion for biochemistry. I also used the NewScientist, and I can also recommend you more books if you would like that!
Feel free to ask me anything else!

Hi I'm thinking of doing a CREST gold project. Can you please explain the process? Do I need to have a mentor for it and what kind of resources would I need?

Reply 3

sana.u

Hey! It's basically similar to an EPQ, where you undertake a project of whatever you want to look into, or use one of their prompts (if you see their website you can see that you can do lots of different kinds of projects, from experiments to science communication, and the full list of the prompts given, but again you can investigate whatever you want). You would have to spend around 70 hours on the project, so this would take a considerable amount of your time so as long as you are willing to put in the effort and find the project fascinating then it shouldn't be a problem! If you do think it might take a long time, then you can work in small groups and divide the tasks but make sure they are also willing to work till the end. This time includes planning the project, carrying out the project and reflecting on it at the end. For the mentor, I didn't have one but I would recommend one, but that doesn't mean you can't complete the project without one, it might be a bit harder depending on what you project is based on. For resources, it depends on what type of project it is and what you are investigating, because if its a research project then you may need access to lab equipment, but all you need would be access to a computer (as a basis, I just used my computer and iPad to conduct my science communications project).

If you would like me to tell you what I did, or have any more questions then feel free to ask!

Reply 4

crazy_diamond

Thank you for responding :smile:

I'm thinking of doing one during yr 13 summer or during my gap year. Would it be an issue if I did it alone? I'm not exactly sure what I want to do mine on I just know it would be something STEM related

Reply 5

aichen

Original post by sana.u

Hii! I applied to do biochemistry this year and I can tell you what I did.
You can try looking for virtual work experience, I did one with AstraZeneca which was free to sign up and looked at drug discovery if you are looking for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. I also did a CREST Gold project, which is like an EPQ, and you can do it for any topic related to STEM and do different type of projects. I suggest doing that because it shows to universities that you took the initiative to undertake the CREST and also shows your passion for biochemistry. I also used the NewScientist, and I can also recommend you more books if you would like that!
Feel free to ask me anything else!

What did you do for your Year 11 summer. I want to apply for biochemistry for uni but not sure what to do the summer before A levels?

Reply 6

bold_banana

Original post by sana.u

Hii! I applied to do biochemistry this year and I can tell you what I did.
You can try looking for virtual work experience, I did one with AstraZeneca which was free to sign up and looked at drug discovery if you are looking for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. I also did a CREST Gold project, which is like an EPQ, and you can do it for any topic related to STEM and do different type of projects. I suggest doing that because it shows to universities that you took the initiative to undertake the CREST and also shows your passion for biochemistry. I also used the NewScientist, and I can also recommend you more books if you would like that!
Feel free to ask me anything else!

Thank you so much!! I'll be sure to reach out in case I have some other questions (which I probably will lol)

Reply 7

sana.u

Original post by crazy_diamond

Thank you for responding :smile:

No its not an issue! I did mine alone and I was able to achieve gold so don’t worry!

Reply 8

sana.u

Original post by aichen

What did you do for your Year 11 summer. I want to apply for biochemistry for uni but not sure what to do the summer before A levels?

Honestly I didn't do anything in year 11 summer because I planned to do biochemistry at the start in Year 12. I would focus on the subjects you would be doing at A-Level, so going over GCSE content again or if your teachers have set summer work to do in preperation for A-Levels then do that. The reason i’m saying this is because to understand a bit of bicohemistry it would be useful to learn the topics that you learn at A-Level so you are able to grasp and understand certain topics of biochemistry better. Don’t stress too much about it, just enjoy the summer!