Did i choose the right course??

alancork

I threw down CK402-biological/chemical-on da CAO in jan,ne1 here doin it???is it any gud/interestin/borin etc??

filo87

I'm in first year Biological and Chemical Sciences at the moment.It is a good course,with a great choice of degree options.
The biology side is probably the most interesting part of the course.Chemistry and maths are fine but most of the class find physics difficult and quite boring.Hours are pretty long,especially in the first term where you'll usually have 1-3 labs a week.It gets better after Christmas though!
It's a great course but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're genuinely interested in science!Hope that helps and if you want any more info just ask!

blipp

Hey Alan,
I did this course. It's a pretty well run course. Can do a Biology(Micro, Biochem, Neuroscience, Zoology, Ecology, Plant Science etc) degree or a Chemistry (Straight chem or chem of pharmaceutical compounds). The first year is 20 credits of bio, 15 each of chem and physics, 10 of maths/applied maths. Most people in my year had done 1, 2 or 3 of the sciences.

In second year you specialise out a small bit and in third year you choose which route you want to go. Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

It's really hard to choose what you want after the LC!!

Nytfevr

Hey Alan,
I did the course and HATED it! Dropped out in second year and a lot of my friends want to drop out but won't cos of parents etc.. To summarise the course is highly unsociable, you'll probably just be hanging around with your friends from school who are also doing the course. It's simular to arts in that there's around 300-400 in your course. The hours are pretty rediculous (you will be starting at 9 every morning), and won't be finishing until 5 most days with maybe 2 hours off. In second year you're talking about starting 8.30 if you choose the anatomy modules. On friday I didn't finish until 6 and trust me if you like you thursday nights out the 9 start friday morning is a killer. Like I said earlier the class isn't very sociable you will have labs alright which is really the only place you'll meet people, so basically my advice would be join up to a few clubs. We seldom had class parties - I went to one about 20/400 turned up for it! As for the standards, if you did Chemistry and Physics for the leaving you're sorted, otherwise get friendly with a few geeks. A lot of people has the impression that second year would get better but I thought it got much worse. The course only 'really' begins in 3rd year when you start to specialise and you get to know your class then. If I was you i'd choose a specialised science course depending on which area of science you want to focus on, hope this helps!!

Drakar

You probably shouldn't pick your course based on how many hours of drinking it allows you, or what time in the morning classes start at. Have a look through the module content and see if this is something you might be interested in (in the later years of most courses you have to be interested in the subject to motivate yourself which ensures you'll get on well).

And yes it's definately very difficult to decide what to do after LC. You could try one of those aptitude tests (though they can be unhelpful for some), or have a chat with career guidance people if they have them in your school. Alot of people end up working in areas unrelated to their degrees though so don't get *too* worried about it (though picking the right course for you is definately a good start if you can).