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Oxford Chemistry Students and Applicants

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Well, I don't really know how extended projects work, but if you're interested in physical bits of chemistry, I suppose you could have a go.
Otherwise, I meant that, if, God willing, you get a place, you should do some physics over the vacs, to learn/remember it.
Reply 1121
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237829
Original post by fudgesundae
Hi, I am interested in applying for Chemistry at oxford this year. I know that some colleges highly recommend that students study A level Physics. However I am only doing Maths, Chemistry and Biology, can anyone tell me which colleges are less strict on candidates doing A level physics.

Also would studying M1 rather than S2 next year help me at all?


Well, I'm at Hertford and at least two of my friends doing Chemistry haven't done Physics at A-level. If you have any more questions about Hertford or anything you want me to ask those friends that do Chem, just pm me.

As to the M1 - S2 choice, M1 is going to help you out a lot more in Chemistry because in your first year you do have a Maths course which does involve some things from that module like Newton's Laws of Motion etc., and so it would be much more beneficial. In addition, S2 being a stats module at A-level isn't going to be done very well, in the sense that it's only recipe based learning and not concept based learning and understanding, so I would avoid it anyway.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 1122
Avatar for teakay
teakay
Original post by Powerhead
Well, I don't really know how extended projects work, but if you're interested in physical bits of chemistry, I suppose you could have a go.
Otherwise, I meant that, if, God willing, you get a place, you should do some physics over the vacs, to learn/remember it.


thanks, sorry, last thing, do you know of any books which are good for reading around the subject? I don't know where to start really
Reply 1123
Avatar for Martik
Martik
9
Sorry but are there any decent jobs in chemistry?.... I have an offer for it, but I'm thinking of doing another year for physics.. since I enjoy it much more, and presumably I will get a much better job from it... I've talked to so many people who have done a chem degree and then decided to do something else because of the poor job market... hmmm
Reply 1124
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BJack
19
Original post by teakay
thanks, sorry, last thing, do you know of any books which are good for reading around the subject? I don't know where to start really


Why chemical reactions happen is at a good level. That's all I read.
British Chemistry Olympiad past papers, IChO past papers are good, and International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad ones (especially the last ones - if you understand Russian, or can hunt them down in English).

@Martik: If you want to stay in the sciences, chemistry, I suppose would leave you better off, as you can have money pouring in from pharma, defense, and materials.
Reply 1126
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teakay
Original post by Powerhead
British Chemistry Olympiad past papers, IChO past papers are good, and International Mendeleev Chemistry Olympiad ones (especially the last ones - if you understand Russian, or can hunt them down in English).


Are those papers doable with only AS knowledge?
Original post by teakay
Are those papers doable with only AS knowledge?


The British Chemistry Olympiad probably, I don't know how much is AS. The papers are on the Royal Society of Chemistry website. Read through them, and do the problems, and read up on the areas you like/find difficult.
I have an offer for Chemistry at Oxford but I'm really worried that I might have just missed out on the A in chemistry (Of all things). I just had one bad day in that exam. Gaah. The wait is really frustrating. I sincerely pray I got it but what are the odds that if I just miss the grade they might be lenient, especially if other grades are high?
Reply 1129
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cpchem
14
Original post by Longorefisher
I have an offer for Chemistry at Oxford but I'm really worried that I might have just missed out on the A in chemistry (Of all things). I just had one bad day in that exam. Gaah. The wait is really frustrating. I sincerely pray I got it but what are the odds that if I just miss the grade they might be lenient, especially if other grades are high?


Everyone has that vague fear; don't worry about it, you'll have got the grade!
Original post by Isabobble
Well done then :smile:! I know of a couple of people that failed theirs this time, one from my college, I feel so bad for them because it wasn't (as far as I could tell) down to laziness at all. But more massive relief that I don't have to retake any - was so convinced I'd have to...

Looking forward to next year? With my awful lab skills I imagine the practical course will be a bit of a nightmare :redface:.



Original post by BJack
Thanks. :h: We managed to get no retakes between us, so that's nice. But the prospect of having labs that count is rather daunting — I think it'll call for some serious studying for supplementary subjects.


If it makes you feel any better, I (and some other people in my year) preferred the Physical labs this year compared to 1st year, mainly because there was a greater emphasis on having to have covered the relevant topic before doing the experiment. I know that, for the first year experiments, you're technically supposed to read up on stuff you don't know about, but in second year you have (almost) completely free rein over which experiments you do when, so this isn't so much of a problem. My Physical tutor did all of the spectroscopy tutes in Michaelmas Term and, although I found it really confusing and frustrating at the time, it did mean that I had a vague enough understanding of it to tackle the experiments before the lecture course started late in Hilary Term. I guessed the spectroscopy experiments (of which there are a significant amount) would become quite popular once the lecture course was over! :ninja: If you want a head start on that, save copies of Mackenzie's lecture notes before Hilary, because he took them down at the start of the lecture course and uploaded them again one by one after each lecture. :ninja:

My Organic failure at Prelims certainly wasn't down to laziness either; all of my tutors were pretty shocked, in a sympathetic way! Now Organic is my best and favourite subject (65% :biggrin: ) and I'm thinking of continuing it to Postgraduate level. :redface: I also got 60% in Inorganic :smile: and 51% in Physical :s-smilie:.

What supplementary subjects are you thinking of doing? :smile:
Reply 1131
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BJack
19
Original post by Jeykayem
What supplementary subjects are you thinking of doing? :smile:


We've been told to take Quantum Chemistry and I'm also interested in History and Philosophy of Science. But then a&h pharm chem looks interesting / potentially useful too.... :s-smilie:

Re labs, I think that should definitely help, yes. Groping around looking for what two things we should be plotting and what inferences we should be drawing was no fun, although if I do it all properly next year, my lab book won't end up being nearly so neat. :frown:
Original post by BJack
We've been told to take Quantum Chemistry and I'm also interested in History and Philosophy of Science. But then a&h pharm chem looks interesting / potentially useful too.... :s-smilie:

Re labs, I think that should definitely help, yes. Groping around looking for what two things we should be plotting and what inferences we should be drawing was no fun, although if I do it all properly next year, my lab book won't end up being nearly so neat. :frown:


You've been told to take Quantum? :eek::s-smilie: You can always go to both the Quantum lectures and the A&H lectures. Some people I know did this even though they already knew they were definitely going to do A&H, they just thought the Quantum lectures would be useful to go to anyway.

Ah, I'm afraid there will still be plenty of 'groping around looking for what two things [you] should be plotting and what inferences [you] should be drawing' I just meant that it's nice to not be forced to do a practical before the relevant lecture course has happened. There are several experiments that require only 1st year knowledge (mainly thermodynamics and kinetics, if I remember correctly). Unfortunately, even after you've done the lecture course and the tutorials for a particular topic, any corresponding practical can still be confusing! I thought I was going along the right lines with the nitrogen emission practical, until a demonstrator approached me at about half past three and said, sympathetically, "Yeah, it's not looking good is it." This left me thinking 'What! I've just spent the past two hours trying to get the graph to look like that! :mad:'

The experiment timetabling for Inorganic is almost as rigid as it was in 1st year, but because the demonstrators explain everything so well, it isn't as much of a problem if you haven't done the lecture course yet.
Reply 1133
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BJack
19
Original post by Jeykayem
You've been told to take Quantum? :eek::s-smilie: You can always go to both the Quantum lectures and the A&H lectures. Some people I know did this even though they already knew they were definitely going to do A&H, they just thought the Quantum lectures would be useful to go to anyway.

Yes, I think that's why we've been told to take Quantum.

Ah, I'm afraid there will still be plenty of 'groping around looking for what two things [you] should be plotting and what inferences [you] should be drawing'


Oh well, never mind. :h:


...


...


:cry:
Any idea who will be lecturing the Quantum Course?
Reply 1135
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BJack
19
Original post by Powerhead
Any idea who will be lecturing the Quantum Course?


I'm just glad to know who won't be doing it. :woo:
Reply 1136
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cpchem
14
Original post by Powerhead
Any idea who will be lecturing the Quantum Course?


Quantum supplementary? David Manolopoulos, Brian Howard, William Barford and Carmen Domene again, I would assume.
Reply 1137
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BJack
19
Original post by cpchem
Quantum supplementary? David Manolopoulos, Brian Howard, William Barford and Carmen Domene again, I would assume.


"again"? I thought it used to be Grout.
Reply 1138
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cpchem
14
Original post by BJack
"again"? I thought it used to be Grout.


I've never heard of Grout teaching it.
Hi! I'm looking at applying for 2012 entry, and I was wondering - which college has the best 'chem rep'? I was looking at Hertford, Brasenose and Corpus...
Oh, and I'm doing Chemistry, Maths, English Lit, Philosophy (which I've just dropped), and next year, Physics AS and A2 in a year :/
Thanks :smile:

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