Course Decisions...

[sam161]

Hi, just looking for some advice right now I 'spose.

I'm in my first year at college, and I want to go to uni. I'd like to do something chemistry/science based or possibly maths, but I have no idea what.

Firstly I wanted to do medicine, but for whatever reason, it doesn't appeal so much. I personally just think it might not be for me. I like the idea, but I'm not sold, per se.

I've been considering the following general courses:
Biochemistry - sounds like a good choice especially if wanting to go into research such as drugs/medicine research and general stuff like that.
Pharmacology - more of a choice for wanting to, well, go into pharmacology?

But, even then, there are loads of courses with slightly different names, and I can't make sense of what I want to do, let alone decide on the name of the course hehe

======

So, I'm just looking for general advice really. I would like to go into the research side maybe, or maybe into the pharmacology side of things. Either way, I'd like there to be quite a bit of practical work, with a lot of understanding required. Something like research really does appeal - I just can't really make sense of what I need to do NOW.

If it helps, I'm taking Chemistry and Maths at A level (in AS year at the moment) as well as music and computing a levels.

Thanks very much, sorry for the rambling on lol!

[giella]

No offence meant, but why are you here if you don't want to do medicine?
Anyway, only you can make the decision about what to do. I don't know what you like or dislike or what your goals are.
If you want to do research that decision is years away yet. None of the decisions made now necessarily affect the rest of your life. However, if you do want to do something practical, maybe look at chemical engineering or chemistry as a sandwich course, with a year in industry.
Talk to your careers adviser maybe, but I don't think you're going to find many answers from a group of would-be doctors if medicine isn't your goal. Try the student room.

[sam161]

I am considering medicine. But for some people it is black and white what they want to do. Most people here being in that frame of mind.

Careers advisers (or any that I've met) do tend to be pretty naff. Most don't know anything about any science related courses.

And this is "General" career advice =]

Thanks anyway. I just wanted to know more about what goes on with the not-actually-medicine-but-related courses hehe

And yeah, I could give TSR a try. Just figured here makes sense, seeing as talking to people with a science/medicine based focus would be better than, well, TSR.

[giella]

LOL! Yeah, on here that's kind of a slap with a wet salmon in the face. Biochem and biosciences are just most people's backups on this board. No one here is really going to be able to relate to you as your goals ultimately diverge from everyone else's.
Try UCAS course search. If you're unsure about a course, just place your bets on the university. Think of it this way: a good science degree [2.1 or above] from a good university will open doors for you. If it's chemistry you're interested in, I'll recommend the University of York, my alma mater as the go to place. Their programme is really diverse and there's a lot of things you could combine your study with. Have a look at their website:
The University of York
Times Online | News and Views from The Times and Sunday Times has some good advice in its education section, as do both the Guardian and the Independent.

[sam161]

Thanks, yeah, I've been looking through UCAS a lot.

I'll take a look at what York offers though, cheers.

[rjm]

Alot of the biomedical sciences/pharmacology/physiology/biochemistry etc courses will overlap with modules that are generic and modules that are specific at a given uni. Often the 1st year is more generic and after that you get to chose what you want to do, often the degree you chose at the beginning may not be the degree you chose to graduate with at the end (ie, some places may allow you to chose do you want physiology, or physiology with nutrition or biomedical sciences). For some people the exact degree title may impact on the industry they want to go into at the end of uni, for others they wont care. Most sciency degrees do a dissertation of some kind, some are lab projects, some are "library" projects - more like an extended essay.

Suggest:
1. careers advisors
2. try and get some work experience, maybe with a pharmaceutical company, or research lab of some kind so you can get an idea of what sort of thing they do. Careers advisor may be able to advise you of places locally that will take you for this.
3. Use this year to go to uni open days, talk to the people there about your interests and take their advice on whether you have to follow a specific degree course or whether they offer more generic courses with later specialisation.

Good luck.

[sam161]

Thanks - I was looking a bit more into pharmaceutical based options, as that was something that came up on a career test. It's quite an attractive idea, but I'm not sure if it's something I want to be doing. From some people's experiences, it sounded quite boring (if you work in retail)

Sometimes I quite like the idea of medicine, but I'm not sure if it's the right idea for me because as much as I think I want to do it, I don't think I'm motivated enough.

But something based in research really appeals. But I'm not sure of what the pay is like. Not that Im completely centering my decisions on salary, just curious hehe.

I'll do some more digging, thanks.