Chemsitry Oxford University

If people weren't able to balance doing sports (and all other manner of things) at Oxford with the short and intense terms, they would not exist there - and yet by all accounts it has a pretty thriving sporting and social club community.
I think you may be overestimating the importance of the specific college you are at, particularly given Chemistry is probably going to have a large amount of department based teaching. Overall I think they are more similar than different barring architectural aesthetics and practical considerations like costs of meals and rent and so on.
That said @The_Lonely_Goatherd went to Worcester I think (given for a different subject) so might be able to give more insight into collegiate life there and Oxford in general

Thanks, I understand your point about the colleges, I'm just worried about fitting in I guess. Ive heard that chemsitry is one of the most intense degrees at Oxford so I wonder if it thw best learning environment for me or whether I should go to another university.

I'm thinking about applying to do Chemistry at Oxford. I love the college system and the research intense 4th year but I'm worried that I may not like maths enough to do it? Also, the intensity with the 8 week terms- would I still be able to do sport like hockey and others without getting really burnt out? I don't want to ruin my university experience because it's too intense but nor do I want to have a bad chemistry degree. When visitng on the open day I virtually fell in love with Worcester college, and ive heard that colleges can basically make or break the experience, so if i got an offer, i probably wouldnt go if it wasnt the right college (worcester isnt the only nice one so it could be others). The others I am applying for are Bristol, Imperial, Warwick and Bath.
Any advice? 🤞

Thanks, I understand your point about the colleges, I'm just worried about fitting in I guess. Ive heard that chemsitry is one of the most intense degrees at Oxford so I wonder if it thw best learning environment for me or whether I should go to another university.

Thanks, I understand your point about the colleges, I'm just worried about fitting in I guess. Ive heard that chemsitry is one of the most intense degrees at Oxford so I wonder if it thw best learning environment for me or whether I should go to another university.

Hiya! Woosta (Worcester) music alumna here
Could I probe what you mean about worrying about "fitting in" and what it is about Worcester that makes you so confident you'd fit in there? In my opinion/experience, the 'make-or-break' nature of a college comes from the people in your cohort (and the years above and below you) and the tutors at that college, rather than the more static features of the college (architecture, library facilities, etc.). The undergraduate body of a college will change every year as one year graduates and a new year group comes in, and is something you have no control over or little way of knowing/anticipating in advance. As for the college teaching staff, that too can change at any given point. I had a friend who applied to St Anne's College for music in the same year that I applied to Worcester, because she was desperate to study with the tutor there. She did get a place at St Anne's and was delighted... but by the time she came to start in October, he had changed universities!
I guess what I'm trying to say is there are too many variables you can't control. An Oxford degree is an Oxford degree and, while I of course agree that Worcester is the best Oxford college out there, it is oversubscribed (as previously mentioned). I think it would be foolish to apply to Oxford but only accept the offer if it's a college you've already decided you like. It's quite rare for people to not end up fiercely loyal to the college they end up studying at (remember around 25% of Oxford students study at a college they didn't apply to originally!).
If you can let us all know what it is you mean about fitting in, maybe we can allay some of those fears!

Let me help you visualise what a weekly workload looks like.
Each weekday, you can expect two hours of lectures from 9 am to 11 am. On Wednesdays, this is it. You can spend the rest of the day as you see fit, though I’d recommend alternating bursts of studying and having breaks. You thus have 10 hours of lectures a week.
On either Mondays and Tuesdays or on Thursdays and Fridays, you will have labs. These are each timetabled from 11 am to 5 pm, so 12 hours of labs a week.
On whichever of the above isn’t used for labs, you’ll have tutorials. These typically last between 1 and 2 hours and you can have anywhere between 1 and 4 tutorials a week. I think most colleges have 2 a week, so let’s call it 4 hours of tutorials a week. You will need to complete a tutorial sheet in advance of each tutorial and I’d say it’s worth giving each tutorial sheet 3 hours in all.
In all you can expect to have 32 hours of work per week (excluding what extra time you consider necessary for additional study). Really and truly I’d recommend aiming for 48 hours per week, which should leave you plenty of time to eat, sleep, socialise etc.
Edit: I forgot to account for lab reports. I’d also allocate 3 hours to each, so call it 38 hours of work per week (excluding extra stuff you deem necessary). Ideally try to find an extra 10 hours over the rest of the week for extra study and fit sports etc around that.

Hiya, i can see i was a bit ambiguous there. I wasn't just referring to worcester when I said fitting in, overall what I was referring to was the reputation, private school intake, strictness and traditions. I am from a state school but did go to an all girls grammar school for a year and left because I found the social situation struggling (many private school people attend grammar school). I also didn't want to go to a particularly conservative college (if there are any), and would like to have a more friendly college which is good for sport. I hope that clears it up😅

Ahhh, I did wonder if you were referring to private school intake or not. I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience of the girls' grammar school. I can see how and why that would make you wary. I've heard similar things about those type of schools near me (I live local to Tiffin Girls' in London!).
Fwiw (and I say this as a comp-educated state-schooler, who went to Worcester when it had the fourth biggest private school intake! So I'm not being naive or obtuse to what you experienced/are worrying about), I do genuinely think mixing with private school students in an Oxbridge college environment is a different kettle of fish to an all-girls' grammar school. The latter can be an incredibly cliquey (and single-sex education comes with its own level of *****iness anyway!), whereas the overwhelming majority of private schoolers (in my experience. And I'm talking about the big public schools too, like Eton!) at Oxford and Cambridge wouldn't ever think of belittling someone due to where they went to school or their accent or anything else. Once you're at Oxford, it's actually quite difficult to tell what type of school someone went to unless you directly ask them. I was so sure my male friend E had been to a boarding school, and only found out several Oxford terms into our friendship that he was comp-educated like me!

That's really reassuring, I didn't want to relive the original experience, so thank you.

That's really helpful
Did you find you were able to easily cope with that work load and that there was a lot of support?

That's really helpful
Did you find you were able to easily cope with that work load and that there was a lot of support?

...and do you think it would still be fine for me even if I am not massively keen on maths (but am still predicted A*)? Thanks!

I guess it depends on how un-keen on maths you are. You clearly know enough to be able to access the material taught on the course, so it will be mostly a matter of attitude.
If you absolutely despise maths and have absolutely no desire to go beyond A level, then you will have difficulty passing the preliminary exam and therefore being able to progress beyond the first year. I also think that level of apathy would make physical chemistry a no-go and thus I’d reconsider even taking a chemistry degree.
If you don’t enjoy maths but are able to stomach learning some more long enough to get through the first year, you’ll be fine. You need only pass the prelim exam in it and most of the maths learnt in the course will cease to be of much use. I did say questions assessing maths content only can be asked in the part IA physical paper, but you don’t have to answer them (you need only answer 6 of the 8 questions set and the miscellaneous question usually has one optional maths part in it if maths even shows up, that is).

That's really helpful. I definitely wouldn't say i despise maths, some of it I like and some I dislike but I can cope with it especially if I actually come to properly understand the applications of it in chemsitry.

Would a chemistry degree at Oxford make you just as employable in industry as Imperial/ Bristol, or is it mainly research and further study?

It should make you just as employable - all chemistry degrees in the UK that have RSC accreditation are considered to give you all the adequate skills for employment. Oxford, Imperial and Bristol all have RSC accreditation as far as I know.
Whilst I do recall most Oxford chemistry graduates go on to pursue further study or careers in research and academia, that’s without doubt more a matter of them being invested in chemistry than not being employable anywhere else.