The Student Room Group

Bristol or King's (Chemistry)

I’ve received offers from Bristol and King’s for Chemistry MSci with a year in industry but I’m not sure which to put as my firm.

I like the course better at Bristol, especially the modules involving computational chemistry, but I’ve never been to Bristol and the offer holder days are fully booked so I won’t be able to attend so I’m not sure if I would like it there. I also heard that the university is full of posh people and has little cultural diversity and I wouldn’t like to be in that environment for 4 years.

On the other hand, I’ve been to KCL for a summer school and I loved it and had so much fun but it’s ranked quite low for chemistry so I’m wondering if that means the teaching quality is worse there. The course doesn’t particularly stand out to me either. However, I believe that the placement year at KCL allows you to gain experience in any industry, not just the chemistry industry, which might be useful in case I decide that I want to pursue a different career in the future. I also heard that graduate salaries are higher for those who went to KCL.

If anyone could tell me more about what the University of Bristol is like, please let me know! If I do decide to pursue a career that isn’t chemistry related, does university ranking still matter?

I’ve received offers from Southampton and Birmingham too so if anyone has any information on those universities please let me know but my top 2 choices are Bristol and King’s.
Original post by tishhha
I’ve received offers from Bristol and King’s for Chemistry MSci with a year in industry but I’m not sure which to put as my firm.

I like the course better at Bristol, especially the modules involving computational chemistry, but I’ve never been to Bristol and the offer holder days are fully booked so I won’t be able to attend so I’m not sure if I would like it there. I also heard that the university is full of posh people and has little cultural diversity and I wouldn’t like to be in that environment for 4 years.

On the other hand, I’ve been to KCL for a summer school and I loved it and had so much fun but it’s ranked quite low for chemistry so I’m wondering if that means the teaching quality is worse there. The course doesn’t particularly stand out to me either. However, I believe that the placement year at KCL allows you to gain experience in any industry, not just the chemistry industry, which might be useful in case I decide that I want to pursue a different career in the future. I also heard that graduate salaries are higher for those who went to KCL.

If anyone could tell me more about what the University of Bristol is like, please let me know! If I do decide to pursue a career that isn’t chemistry related, does university ranking still matter?

I’ve received offers from Southampton and Birmingham too so if anyone has any information on those universities please let me know but my top 2 choices are Bristol and King’s.


Always choose the course you prefer.

You could go to have a look around Bristol in your own time before you make a decision or ask if there is a waiting list for offer holder days. There are also some online guides:

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/virtual-bristol/undergraduate/

Rankings really don't mean anything to employers. It's the skills you develop during your time at uni that do.

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