Oxford Chemistry Students and Applicants

It would only be something straightforward like a Friedel-Crafts reaction. Maybe find an A level syllabus and see which mechanisms students are expected to know. (e.g. here)

Hi, I was talking to an Oxford graduate the other day and he said he didn't think the teaching for chemistry was good at all. Just wondering if a current undergraduate could give me a second opinion? Please be completely honest.

Great, thank you. May I ask which college you are at?

How important is Further Maths for chemistry at Oxford? And, if highly important would an AS in it be sufficient?

You definitely don't need further maths for Oxford chemistry. I'd say it's the most useful third A level (with maths and chemistry being the essential first two) but the maths course it taught from scratch when you start here. As long as you're happy with doing maths, it won't matter that you haven't covered quite as much as some other people.

To be honest, if you did the right module combinations for further maths, you could cover the vast majority of the first year maths for chemistry before you even got here, so you don't need to worry about it suddenly becoming very abstruse just because it's university-level work.

Ahhhhhh I see !
What modules might they be if you know ?
And I was just a bit unsure of whether or not it would reduce my chances of getting into the course or not. Just don't want to mess up the initial application .
Thank you though!

If you did the further pure modules and some differential equations, you'd have covered most of it.

Does anyone have any experience with the tutors at St. Hugh's? Are they any good?

Does anyone have any experience with the tutors at St. Hugh's? Are they any good?

I didn't go to St Hugh's but I've shared a couple of their tutors.

Inorganic: I had Mike Laidlaw for my first year. He is a good tutor, he's an expert at awkward silences but the work he set and the explanations he gave in tutorials were always pretty clear.
As has been said, Luet Wong is a superb lecturer, if his tutes are half as good he'd still be excellent.

Physical: I had Mark Ford for 3rd year and he was very helpful. Sometimes goes into a lot more detail than might be required but that is not such a bad thing. He enjoys finding different ways to explain things to the lecturers, which is sometimes hard to follow but can be very useful if you didn't get the lectures. I haven't come across Jeffrey Harmer.

Organic: Malcolm Stewart is in charge of the organic labs as well as being a tutor. He seems very popular with students in his lab role but I've never had him for tutorials (I went to Wadham by the way) Stuart Conway was a pretty good lecturer (considering how unpopular chemical biology seems to be within my year) but I've not had him for tutes.

Sounds acceptable, to say the least. Thanks!

I have a final, more general, question. I personally enjoy the inorganic/physical aspect of chemistry far more than the biochemical aspect of it. I've seen on the website that some biological chemistry is done throughout the course but it's hard to tell how much this is. How would you classify the amount? I've been contemplating making Imperial's Chemistry and Molecular Physics my top priority in order to avoid the biological parts.

In first year, you have to answer one bio question on the organic paper (out of 6). After that, you don't have to answer any more bio questions for the rest of the time you're in Oxford. Indeed, most people don't; the bio side of the course is not well-taught so people often don't even learn it. The consequence of this is that the bio questions get easier every year in an attempt to encourage more people to answer them, but it doesn't seem to make any difference!

That's acceptable. Thanks for the help!

In first year, you have to answer one bio question on the organic paper (out of 6). After that, you don't have to answer any more bio questions for the rest of the time you're in Oxford. Indeed, most people don't; the bio side of the course is not well-taught so people often don't even learn it. The consequence of this is that the bio questions get easier every year in an attempt to encourage more people to answer them, but it doesn't seem to make any difference!