bristol neuroscience

1.

I thought the course was pretty good due to you having a good amount of choice in the units you do, even from your first year. I'm not sure if they still run it but the Techniques in neuroscience unit in your 2nd year will feel really annoying whilst you're doing it, but if you don't do a lab based dissertation it's so vital and gives you a lot of knowledge of scientific laboratory techniques (funnily enough, one of my best units). I also had the chance to take a spanish unit in my 2nd year which counted towards my final grade which was amazing (I ended up getting a scholarship from the university to spend 2 weeks in the Amazon rainforest in Bolivia!).

2.

As someone who was more interested in the biological side of the degree, I really enjoyed units like neurophysiology, physiology, neuroanatomy, the heart in health and disease and neurological and psychiatric disorders. I struggled mostly with pharmacology but tbh all my exams up to 3rd year were multiple choice which made revision a lot easier - you just need to have a decent enough understanding of concepts so you can easily spot incorrect answers.

3.

Also, I loved writing essays. I have always loved long-form writing, and consistently got mostly firsts in all my essays. I know a lot of people who struggled with essay writing, so you really need to find a way to write good essays that work for you. The course is pretty good at things like helping you learn how to write, reference etc (loads of seminars and tutorials early in your degree) - PLEASE GO TO THESE.

4.

I'm currently applying for graduate medicine as I knew I didn't really want to go into the field of neuroscience specifically, but rather a neurology/psychiatry angle (and hopefully a PHD after medicine). It was either that or working in medical publishing.

5.

Yeah I am still pretty good friends with people from my course now, nearly 2 years after graduating. Because of how faculties work (Neuroscience is part of Physiology, pharmacology and neuroscience) you have lectures with lots of people who don't do neuroscience - for example, some of the people I spent the most time with other than neuro students were biomedical students, physiology and neuroscience with psychology. I would say even if it annoys you, it's pretty good to be in the course group chat. There will be lots of stupid questions all the time but it's a good way to have questions answered, especially during exam season.

6.

I didn't do a placement, tbh I didn't know anyone on my course who did, but if you have the opportunity to please do because the job market is no joke man... More likely to be kept on by the company when you graduate. If not, then please try and get summer internships once you start 2nd year - it makes you way more employable when you leave. Also, it sucks, but in your last year (especially the last term) make sure you're applying to graduate schemes!

1.

I thought the course was pretty good due to you having a good amount of choice in the units you do, even from your first year. I'm not sure if they still run it but the Techniques in neuroscience unit in your 2nd year will feel really annoying whilst you're doing it, but if you don't do a lab based dissertation it's so vital and gives you a lot of knowledge of scientific laboratory techniques (funnily enough, one of my best units). I also had the chance to take a spanish unit in my 2nd year which counted towards my final grade which was amazing (I ended up getting a scholarship from the university to spend 2 weeks in the Amazon rainforest in Bolivia!).

2.

As someone who was more interested in the biological side of the degree, I really enjoyed units like neurophysiology, physiology, neuroanatomy, the heart in health and disease and neurological and psychiatric disorders. I struggled mostly with pharmacology but tbh all my exams up to 3rd year were multiple choice which made revision a lot easier - you just need to have a decent enough understanding of concepts so you can easily spot incorrect answers.

3.

Also, I loved writing essays. I have always loved long-form writing, and consistently got mostly firsts in all my essays. I know a lot of people who struggled with essay writing, so you really need to find a way to write good essays that work for you. The course is pretty good at things like helping you learn how to write, reference etc (loads of seminars and tutorials early in your degree) - PLEASE GO TO THESE.

4.

I'm currently applying for graduate medicine as I knew I didn't really want to go into the field of neuroscience specifically, but rather a neurology/psychiatry angle (and hopefully a PHD after medicine). It was either that or working in medical publishing.

5.

Yeah I am still pretty good friends with people from my course now, nearly 2 years after graduating. Because of how faculties work (Neuroscience is part of Physiology, pharmacology and neuroscience) you have lectures with lots of people who don't do neuroscience - for example, some of the people I spent the most time with other than neuro students were biomedical students, physiology and neuroscience with psychology. I would say even if it annoys you, it's pretty good to be in the course group chat. There will be lots of stupid questions all the time but it's a good way to have questions answered, especially during exam season.

6.

I didn't do a placement, tbh I didn't know anyone on my course who did, but if you have the opportunity to please do because the job market is no joke man... More likely to be kept on by the company when you graduate. If not, then please try and get summer internships once you start 2nd year - it makes you way more employable when you leave. Also, it sucks, but in your last year (especially the last term) make sure you're applying to graduate schemes!