DS attended Uni Open Day - now a bit overwhelmed by subject chosen.

Cardelia

When I did my Chemistry A-level, the difference in standard between the various syllabuses was very large. It took the entirety of the first year at degree level to bring everyone up to the same standard. Some students had to work hard because a lot of the material was new to them, others had an easier time of it because they'd covered it at A-level. But nobody really struggled - well, at least until the second year which was a huge step-up in standard.

If chemistry is what your son really wants to do, then I wouldn't be overly worried that the presentation went over his head. A 'B' grade at A-level is perfectly good enough to get on most courses these days and it should prepare him just fine for the course content.

What I would say is that Bangor is not one of the better chemistry departments out there (which is putting it kindly...) and your son may benefit in the long term by looking at different places to study.

dora37

Cardelia wrote: »

When I did my Chemistry A-level, the difference in standard between the various syllabuses was very large. It took the entirety of the first year at degree level to bring everyone up to the same standard. Some students had to work hard because a lot of the material was new to them, others had an easier time of it because they'd covered it at A-level. But nobody really struggled - well, at least until the second year which was a huge step-up in standard.

If chemistry is what your son really wants to do, then I wouldn't be overly worried that the presentation went over his head. A 'B' grade at A-level is perfectly good enough to get on most courses these days and it should prepare him just fine for the course content.

What I would say is that Bangor is not one of the better chemistry departments out there (which is putting it kindly...) and your son may benefit in the long term by looking at different places to study.

Thanks for that - interesting regarding Chemistry at Bangor......obviously did a good sales pitch on Saturday

pavlovs_dog

if you are interested in such rankings dora, i believe the times publish them each year. there is also a student satisfaction survey, which is based on the students' views and experiences.

i would say not to let yourself get too caught up in the rankings though. i declined a place at a redbrick univeristy because i just did not like the feel of the department. it was my first choice until i went to the open day. similarly, i went to an open day with a friend - bangor by coincidence - thinking i would hate it. quite the contrary, i loved the place from the second i stepped off the train. however whilst i loved the location and the course, i was ultimately deterred by how inaccessable it is from where i live. it was imoprtant to me that i could get home easily should i choose to.

i rejected another uni because the campus was ridiculuosly laid out. its funny what can tip the balance!

dora37

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

if you are interested in such rankings dora, i believe the times publish them each year. there is also a student satisfaction survey, which is based on the students' views and experiences.

i would say not to let yourself get too caught up in the rankings though. i declined a place at a redbrick univeristy because i just did not like the feel of the department. it was my first choice until i went to the open day. similarly, i went to an open day with a friend - bangor by coincidence - thinking i would hate it. quite the contrary, i loved the place from the second i stepped off the train. however whilst i loved the location and the course, i was ultimately deterred by how inaccessable it is from where i live. it was imoprtant to me that i could get home easily should i choose to.

i rejected another uni because the campus was ridiculuosly laid out. its funny what can tip the balance!

We have already looked at the rankings - however whichever ones you look at are different - even The Times and Sunday Times ratings are different! They are a consideration, however not the be all.

So mainly, we have advised DS to do some research prior to Open Days and then to see what he feels/thinks when he has been to them. For all the research you do, I still think that 'gut feeling' has a bearing too!

He has looked up a few others and is now also going to look at Liverpool and Birmingham (the others don't do a Year in Industry)......so there's no stopping him now!!! Eventually, he will have been to Manchester, Bangor, Sheffield, Liverpool and Birmingham Open Days.

QuirkyChemistry

I have just finished my second year in chemistry at Southampton University, which I would really recommend, although looking at where your son's looking may be too far away. I would probably agree with what Cardelia says. The first year will be a good chance to get everyone up to spec and chances are there will be a good lecturer willing to help with any particular difficulties. Second year is a massive step up but if your son really enjoys chemistry then it should be OK. I will say that degree is very different to A level in terms of what is covered (my experience from doing Edexcel) and that may be why the talk went over his head.

Regarding small/big unis - If your son goes to a big uni but chooses a small halls to stay in or a small chemistry department then that may be just as good for him. I would recommend looking for a department that doesn't have a huge chemistry intake as it's easier and more friendly in smaller groups in my opinion.

I wouldn't necessarily be too worried about the calibre of the university. There are worse than Bangor but the key thing is that a chemistry degree is a very good degree to have and if he is keen on chemistry then he can choose to do a PhD under a top notch professor but that's a way off now.

Anyway, good luck. I think you're giving the right advice as it's the gut feeling that's important. Feel free to contact me with any more questions.

Stubert

I personally wouldn't go on rankings at all in the sense that most of the rankings take into consideration mainly research. Which for a lot doesn't really affect undergraduate teaching but I guess for a lot of people that is the impression of the uni they have, hence going to a russell group uni looks good and as a result those unis look better to employers etc.

Pros and cons of everything!

NickiM

Can't advise with Chemistry but on open days, the people try and give a flavour of the subject. I do history, but my brother went on a maths talk and they were going on about platonic solids (or something?!) and I know that nobody had a clue what they were. So go to as many open days as possible, because they really do help shape your opinion, do as much research as possible and good luck

melancholly

hmm.... for chemistry, rankings may not be as important as for some other subjects. lots of chemistry departments have closed down so you can't study it everywhere anyway. it's also a subject that isn't taken by many students and that should be a huge advantage at graduation in itself.

Oldernotwiser

dora37 wrote: »

Thanks for that - interesting regarding Chemistry at Bangor......obviously did a good sales pitch on Saturday

That's a really excellent point and something that prospective students should always bear in mind. Open Days and prospectuses are marketing tools and should always be considered with the same mentality as any other major purchase. I don't mean that education is a commodity but universities need to recruit students to fill their places and this is particularly true for less popular institutions and courses.

Cardelia

QuirkyChemistry wrote: »

I have just finished my second year in chemistry at Southampton University, which I would really recommend

I would not recommend Southampton's chemistry department if you intend to study as an undergraduate. I've heard from more than one external academic who has a very low opinion of the undergraduate course content, saying it's not as rigorous as other universities. I'm not sure exactly how true this is, but if you intend to go onto postgraduate study then this may have an influence further down the line.

The department and staff are all very good and it's certainly one of the nicest departments I've worked in, but I feel people should be aware that some in academia may not view a Southampton degree as equal to the likes of Imperial, Durham etc.