Oxford Chemistry Students and Applicants

Ok, thank you. Also, which college would be the best for chemistry, especially for organic? I am looking into Magdalen, Lincoln and St. Hugh's for now...

Reply 1481

BJack

19

Original post by Thy Lord

Ok, thank you. Also, which college would be the best for chemistry, especially for organic? I am looking into Magdalen, Lincoln and St. Hugh's for now...

The Magdalen tutors are very good as a whole, but it's our physical tutors who are particularly exceptional. JMaydom can tell you all about the Lincoln tutors. auceye made a post a few pages back giving some opinions of the St Hugh's tutors he's had (here).

One of Magdalen's tutors also gives us tutorials for the first year maths course. Some colleges have taken it upon themselves to teach the first year maths; others leave it to the department to sort out teaching. I was very glad to have a competent, experienced tutor for the maths course. So that's something else to consider.

Reply 1482

Lethe07

Would A-Levels in Chemistry, Maths and Biology with an AS in Further Maths be sufficient?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 1483

Wim

8

Original post by Lethe07

Would A-Levels in Chemistry, Maths and Biology with an AS in Further Maths be sufficient?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Yes that would be sufficient, see this table: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/courses_and_entrance_requirements/table.html

Reply 1484

Lethe07

Ah thank you :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 1485

Thy Lord

3

Original post by BJack

The Magdalen tutors are very good as a whole, but it's our physical tutors who are particularly exceptional. JMaydom can tell you all about the Lincoln tutors. auceye made a post a few pages back giving some opinions of the St Hugh's tutors he's had (here).

One of Magdalen's tutors also gives us tutorials for the first year maths course. Some colleges have taken it upon themselves to teach the first year maths; others leave it to the department to sort out teaching. I was very glad to have a competent, experienced tutor for the maths course. So that's something else to consider.

Thank you for the answer. What about the interview there? How tough is it? Do they put more accent on a specific branch of chemistry (I read that some colleges, like Balliol, give preference to Physical Chemistry, for instance)? Are there mathematics questions on the interview?

Thanks a lot. :smile:

Reply 1486

BJack

19

Original post by Thy Lord

Thank you for the answer. What about the interview there? How tough is it? Do they put more accent on a specific branch of chemistry (I read that some colleges, like Balliol, give preference to Physical Chemistry, for instance)? Are there mathematics questions on the interview?

Thanks a lot. :smile:

The aim is for the interview to be challenging however good you are. Mine started off quite gently but got fairly complex by the end, looking at stuff that's beyond the A level course.

I had two interviews, one that focused on physical chemistry and maths, and the other focused on organic and inorganic chemistry. The maths was not difficult — there might have been some very basic calculus but I'm not even sure there was that. It's more important to be comfortable with rearranging expressions, making approximations within orders of magnitude, that sort of thing. (e.g. if you were asked, "How much does the atmosphere weigh?" you could say, "Well, let's say the atmosphere has such and such pressure and temperature throughout. Assuming it has a height of whatever, we can use the volume of sphere to calculate the volume of the atmosphere, then use the ideal gas formula, etc., etc." And then maybe they could make it more complicated by asking you to consider a pressure or temperature gradient and you'd have to do a bit of integration, or something like that.)

I wouldn't worry about the possibility of colleges focusing on a particular branch, not least because the questions they ask can change from year to year. So if Balliol asked lots about phys chem last year, maybe they're going to drop more organic questions this year.

Reply 1487

username1107833

2

Original post by BJack

I wouldn't worry about the possibility of colleges focusing on a particular branch, not least because the questions they ask can change from year to year. So if Balliol asked lots about phys chem last year, maybe they're going to drop more organic questions this year.

I heard that Balliol generally prefer physical chemists (if that's what they're called lol). I just checked their website:

[h="4"]"College requirements[/h]As above, except Balliol considers Physics highly desirable."

I have also heard of a student who got asked "what is coulomb's law?" and he replied he didn't do physics and they just ignored what he said and repeated the question...needless to say he didn't get in. Infact I think I've heard of that story here on TSR, earlier on in this thread ahah.

Reply 1488

BJack

19

Original post by theCreator

I heard that Balliol generally prefer physical chemists (if that's what they're called lol). I just checked their website:

[h="4"]"College requirements[/h]As above, except Balliol considers Physics highly desirable."

I have also heard of a student who got asked "what is coulomb's law?" and he replied he didn't do physics and they just ignored what he said and repeated the question...needless to say he didn't get in. Infact I think I've heard of that story here on TSR, earlier on in this thread ahah.

Saying that physics is highly desirable is stupid, because the physics course is taught from scratch once you get here, and very little of A level physics is relevant for the chemistry course. The best physical chemist I know didn't even take A level physics! But if that's their college policy, it's probably best to avoid Balliol if you don't have physics.

Reply 1489

Jeykayem

7

Original post by BJack

Saying that physics is highly desirable is stupid, because the physics course is taught from scratch once you get here, and very little of A level physics is relevant for the chemistry course. The best physical chemist I know didn't even take A level physics! But if that's their college policy, it's probably best to avoid Balliol if you don't have physics.

Yeah, that is daft. :s-smilie:

One of my Chemistry friends didn't even do GCSE Physics and went on to get a 1st in their Part II project...in Physical Chemistry. :rolleyes:

Reply 1490

username1107833

2

Original post by BJack

Saying that physics is highly desirable is stupid, because the physics course is taught from scratch once you get here, and very little of A level physics is relevant for the chemistry course. The best physical chemist I know didn't even take A level physics! But if that's their college policy, it's probably best to avoid Balliol if you don't have physics.

If you don't could I just ask you what it's like studying at Oxford? I mean putting aside the huge difficult workload coupled with short, intense terms do you get any free time during the year to just relax or do other things you enjoy? Is it possible to manage say being part of a club or team, while doing all the work? The impression that I got in general is that you, and other students, study like 8 hours a day, and although you have short terms you spend most of it revising for the final exams leaving you only the summer (if that) to relax. Is it as hard as you imagined?

Reply 1491

BJack

19

Original post by theCreator

If you don't could I just ask you what it's like studying at Oxford? I mean putting aside the huge difficult workload coupled with short, intense terms do you get any free time during the year to just relax or do other things you enjoy? Is it possible to manage say being part of a club or team, while doing all the work? The impression that I got in general is that you, and other students, study like 8 hours a day, and although you have short terms you spend most of it revising for the final exams leaving you only the summer (if that) to relax. Is it as hard as you imagined?

I actually did very little work (maybe 10 hours a week towards tutorial work, if that, plus whatever there was for labs and lectures) and am going to end up with a 2.1. If you were more motivated to get a top degree result, it would be wise to work harder than I did.

I know people who have been heavily involved in university-level music, sport, other societies... The only issue is that the more time you spend doing other activities, the better-organized you have to be about getting your work done. It's certainly possible to get all the work done to a good level by working productively from 9-5 six days a week. And that gives you time to do things in the evenings and a day off to get well-rested before the week ahead. But as I said, the issue is getting into a good rhythm, which I never did.

As long as you aren't completely useless for the first two years (and my work wasn't much better than that for at least some of the time), you can do well by just pulling your socks up and revising hard from March in 3rd year until finals are done.

Reply 1492

Powerhead

On another note - anyone recommend a college to try to apply for DPhil in Chemistry/Chemical Biology?

Reply 1493

username913907

10

Original post by BJack

I actually did very little work (maybe 10 hours a week towards tutorial work, if that, plus whatever there was for labs and lectures) and am going to end up with a 2.1. If you were more motivated to get a top degree result, it would be wise to work harder than I did.

I know people who have been heavily involved in university-level music, sport, other societies... The only issue is that the more time you spend doing other activities, the better-organized you have to be about getting your work done. It's certainly possible to get all the work done to a good level by working productively from 9-5 six days a week. And that gives you time to do things in the evenings and a day off to get well-rested before the week ahead. But as I said, the issue is getting into a good rhythm, which I never did.

As long as you aren't completely useless for the first two years (and my work wasn't much better than that for at least some of the time), you can do well by just pulling your socks up and revising hard from March in 3rd year until finals are done.