Chemistry or Natural Sciences

I am currently in year 12, studying Maths, Biology and Chemistry.
My favourite subject is Chemistry, but I am interested in some parts of Biochemistry.
I am struggling to decide between NatSci and Chemistry, but I have written pros and cons for both:
NatSci:
pros- can do chem and biochem, can specialise later, do not have to choose
cons- might not like all the first year options and end up studying something I hate, have to do ESAT
Chemistry:
pros- no admissions test, there are biological chemistry options modules, would get more knowledge in all areas of chem, it is my main passion
cons- what if i don't like it at uni?, less biochem

If anyone is studying these subjects, please let me know how you find them and if you have any advice to give me!
Also, if I applied for NatSci but wanted to specialise in chemistry, would it be okay for my personal statement to be solely chemistry-based?

Thank you

Reply 1

UtterlyUseless69

Original post by KKS12345

I am currently in year 12, studying Maths, Biology and Chemistry.
My favourite subject is Chemistry, but I am interested in some parts of Biochemistry.
I am struggling to decide between NatSci and Chemistry, but I have written pros and cons for both:
NatSci:
pros- can do chem and biochem, can specialise later, do not have to choose
cons- might not like all the first year options and end up studying something I hate, have to do ESAT
Chemistry:
pros- no admissions test, there are biological chemistry options modules, would get more knowledge in all areas of chem, it is my main passion
cons- what if i don't like it at uni?, less biochem
If anyone is studying these subjects, please let me know how you find them and if you have any advice to give me!
Also, if I applied for NatSci but wanted to specialise in chemistry, would it be okay for my personal statement to be solely chemistry-based?
Thank you

Firstly, which universities are you looking at and do your (current) predicted grades or your grades attained in assessments meet or exceed the entry requirements?

Secondly, chemistry at uni is much different from what you are used to at A level. At A level, it’s really quite basic and you can do well by simply memorising a mark scheme. At uni, you will have to memorise quite a lot, but it’s the understanding of the material that is assessed that matters the most. You also study a wide number of areas, including mathematics, physics and biological chemistry to support your studies in chemistry and you will pick up IT skills when you do computational chemistry (this is done in second year where I study).

My understanding is that you now answer structured questions instead of writing a personal statement as such. In the section on supercurriculars, I would suggest staying safe and writing about areas where chemistry and biology overlap and how/why they fascinate you if you do apply for NatSci. You can of course make this more chemically orientated, but it’s probably not worth risking coming across as disinterested in the other areas you will be applying to study.

I am a chemistry undergraduate who has just finished first year- feel free to ask me any questions about undergraduate chemistry and why I chose it over (physical) NatSci.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

mitostudent

Original post by UtterlyUseless69

Firstly, which universities are you looking at and do your (current) predicted grades or your grades attained in assessments meet or exceed the entry requirements?
Secondly, chemistry at uni is much different from what you are used to at A level. At A level, it’s really quite basic and you can do well by simply memorising a mark scheme. At uni, you will have to memorise quite a lot, but it’s the understanding of the material that is assessed that matters the most. You also study a wide number of areas, including mathematics, physics and biological chemistry to support your studies in chemistry and you will pick up IT skills when you do computational chemistry (this is done in second year where I study).
My understanding is that you now answer structured questions instead of writing a personal statement as such. In the section on supercurriculars, I would suggest staying safe and writing about areas where chemistry and biology overlap and how/why they fascinate you if you do apply for NatSci. You can of course make this more chemically orientated, but it’s probably not worth risking coming across as disinterested in the other areas you will be applying to study.
I am a chemistry undergraduate who has just finished first year- feel free to ask me any questions about undergraduate chemistry and why I chose it over (physical) NatSci.

Hiya, I'm also a year 12 interested in a chemistry degree, how did you find it? What were your favourite and least favourite parts of the course? I was quite concerned by the amount of time spent in the lab.. which is a HUGE jump from A-level, so how did you manage that? 🙂

Reply 3

UtterlyUseless69

Original post by mitostudent

…how did you find it?

First year was pretty intense and involved very little in the way of recapping A level - it was straight into the deep end with new content or material covered in much greater depth than at A level. It was equally as rewarding as it was challenging, however, as getting through a long afternoon in the lab or completing a lengthy tutorial sheet or lab report always felt great.

(Referring to the jump from A level and different learning approaches involved):

Adjusting to university wasn’t too problematic in my case as I got myself used to independently studying outside of class at A level - so much so that I had previously taught myself the entirety of A level chemistry before starting in year 12 and the vast majority of A level maths and around half of physics before year 13. I would suggest taking some time during summer (not an awful lot - you do need to relax) to pick one or two year 13 topics from each of your subjects to try teaching yourself and using TSR and other sources like PMT to check your understanding and to give you an idea of what methods work for you when studying independently.

At uni, of course, lectures and tutorials/seminars will be your main means of learning outside of independent study. I found trying to listen and write notes simultaneously in lectures to be quite difficult. I usually didn’t take notes in the lecture, would go back to my room afterwards and then jot down anything I remembered from the lectures and verify the accuracy of what I remembered against the textbooks and lecture recordings. This was quite an effective method, but in hindsight I think I probably should have had more frequent discussions with my coursemates about the lectures and what we understood by the explanations given.

Favourite and least favourite parts of the course:

I personally really enjoyed the synthetic side of chemistry (organic and inorganic), but found physical chemistry and the maths rather dull.

Labs:

The labs were very variable. Labs involving a synthesis appealed a lot and often were a fascinating means of seeing how the theory discussed in lectures could be verified. Other labs, however, could be quite monotonous and involved long waiting times. The solvatochromism experiment was exceptionally boring as 90% of it was just pipetting chemicals lol.

Because we have access to the lab manual, we could see the methods that we were expected to follow for each given lab and so we could highlight important details. This was especially useful when making sure we had all the data necessary for the write ups, keeping our fume cupboards organised and when disposing of waste chemicals correctly. My understanding is that later on in the course, you design your own experiments (though you are given the aim of the experiment beforehand), though. If this is the case, when writing the instructions, make them as concise and clear as possible.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by KKS12345

I am currently in year 12, studying Maths, Biology and Chemistry.
My favourite subject is Chemistry, but I am interested in some parts of Biochemistry.
I am struggling to decide between NatSci and Chemistry, but I have written pros and cons for both:
NatSci:
pros- can do chem and biochem, can specialise later, do not have to choose
cons- might not like all the first year options and end up studying something I hate, have to do ESAT
Chemistry:
pros- no admissions test, there are biological chemistry options modules, would get more knowledge in all areas of chem, it is my main passion
cons- what if i don't like it at uni?, less biochem
If anyone is studying these subjects, please let me know how you find them and if you have any advice to give me!
Also, if I applied for NatSci but wanted to specialise in chemistry, would it be okay for my personal statement to be solely chemistry-based?
Thank you

Hi,
I'm currently studying natural sciences at Lancaster University (physics and environmental science). I've really enjoyed it so far as I've been able to study modules that I'm really interested in and this helped to keep me motivated throughout my degree. After first year, I was able to balance my subjects exactly how I wanted to. In my case this meant taking 80% physics and 20% environmental science. The huge degree of flexibility is one thing that attracted me to natural sciences, but this does vary from university to university so it's worth checking how it works at the universities you're interested in.
Also, at least at Lancaster, at the end of first year you are normally able to switch onto a single honours course (e.g. chemistry or physics) if you realise that you are a lot more passionate about one subject than the other (and you've taken enough modules in that subject area during first year.)
In terms of personal statements, I mainly tried to focus mine at the intersection of maths and physics. I applied for three natural science courses, a physics course and an environmental science course so I definitely understand the struggle of making your statement relevant to all your courses. I would say as long as you can demonstrate your enthusiasm for science, many universities that provide natural science courses will be aware that you may be applying for other courses as well and won't mind you focusing more on one science.
Hope this helps,
Becky (Lancaster university student ambassador)

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