Undenominated Science 2nd year

Cocolola

Hey guys.

So I'm just after getting my results for 1st year and I passed (yay!). We made our subject choices a month ago and I picked Microbiology, Zoology and Biochemistry. But I actually did quite well in Physics so now I'm unsure about my choices again!

Basically just looking for opinions on the above subjects from anyone who's done them or knows someone who done them. Work load, hours, teaching staff quality, general level of interesting stuff covered etc.?

I'll probably stick with my choices anyway, but just wondering really.

Thanks all.

MadYaker

I've done Microbiology and Biochemistry. Just finished 3rd year, haven't got my results yet but I think I did well.

I prefer micro. I found the subject matter to be less complex and the practicals easier and more enjoyable than biochem. I can't remember what all the lecturers were like.... mostly because I didn't go to many lectures but I crammed before exams and still did well. I enjoyed the practicals, its mostly a continuation from the stuff you did in first year. Lots of culturing cells and that kind of thing.

I don't like Biochem which is unfortunate because my degree is pretty much based on it entirely. I found the lectures to be boring and hard to get my head around. Its definitely a harder subject, the practicals are longer and more difficult and the write ups contain a lot of calculations which can be a bit difficult at times. The staff that you are dealing with are generally a nice bunch of people. I found some of the lab assistants were a bit useless. Often when asked questions during the lab they wouldn't be able to help. As you can see I don't like biochem, but some people love it. It depends on the individual, just because I don't like it doesn't mean you won't.

If you have any more specific questions I'll try to answer them.

For both subjects you have to do a lab exam at the end of each semester based on the what you did in the practicals throughout that semester. For micro this was easy. The biochem one was harder however. You really needed to have a good understanding of all the practical work and the calculations involved. I think a lot of people in my year underestimated the difficulty of this exam and get screwed.

Your write ups are worth 30% of your overall grade and the written exam is worth the rest. Id recommend you really focus on making your lab book as good as possible because that 30% is easy marks that will help you a lot at the end of the year. Don't skip any practicals. You lose easy marks if you do.

dropping_bombs

I'm just after finishing 4th year so I'll give a quick insight to what I know.

Of the three you picked I only did Biochem, up to third year. Biochem is interesting but can be difficult and the labs were beyond terrible, but I think they have changed them due to feedback. As a whole I found the lecturers to be fairly good; some were amazing (3 I can think of off the top of my head) and 2 were crappy, unfortunately these 2 gave us a disproportionately high amount of lectures. One thing about Biochem is that employment opportunities are plentiful and it is a great subject to have if you want to go into a PhD, it is core to a huge amount of areas.

The most important thing is to do what you like though, I know this is obvious advice but seriously if you do something you hate in 3/4th year you probably won't finish your degree or will end up with a mediocre result and have effectively wasted 4 years. The last 2 years of science are hard and you've to put a lot of work in, so if you are doing something cos you were good at it once and don't really like it youcould be in trouble. First year course work is not an indication of course work in later years.

mockshelp

I am also going into 2nd year undenominated science. If anyone has done 2nd year chemistry or 2nd year earth and ocean science please post here to tell me what you thought of them. Thanks.

Celestial12

I'm also going into second year. I choose Botany, Chemistry and Microbiology. I think we get confirmation of our choices in July.

Good to hear Microbiology is not too difficult and enjoyable for the most part. With the Biology subjects in particular I'm not entirely sure of what to expect next year, we didn't go into much detail this year, only spending six weeks on each of the core sections, so we may not have formed an accurate perception as to what further study into each topic will entail. Has anyone on here studied Botany? It would be great to get some insight as to what it's like.

I'm kind of nervous about Chemistry, but I did well this year so I should be OK. A lot of people have stated that every subject gets much more difficult next year, so we'll just have to wait and see... It's best to go with what you're interested in.

Mockshelp, I know you asked me about EOS before... Study it only if you're sure you want to. I was torn between it and Chemistry but went with Chemistry in the end, thank god I did because my Chemistry result was so much better. To be honest, I haven't heard of anyone doing well in EOS this year. They marked us all extremely hard and I think it may be to put people off studying it beyond first year due to the limited space available in second year. I got a B in it but I was very disappointed with the result.

Cocolola

Thanks for the detailed posts, appreciate them!

Ya the thing is, I was expecting to love Biochem this year as the subject matter is fascinating but I didn't like it at all. Now I'm not putting all the blame on the lecturer, but holy crap he was boring, made it so uninteresting.

I picked it for 2nd year for a couple of reasons; I figured it would tie in well with Mirco and possibly Zoo, as pointed out it's good to have it for employment and post grad studies and also this year they changed it so that all three subjects (i.e. Biochem, Micro and Zoo) share a sub module, Molecular and Cellular Biology that's worth 5 credits so I was free to take on half subjects to the value of 10 credits. I picked French but I think that was a mistake, I did French over 9 years ago and I don't remember being that good at it. But anyway.

I'm really looking forward to Micro, I loved it this year and was disappointed we only had a handful of lecturers and labs. But I'm really interested in it and would hope to pick it for my degree. There was one gentleman lab tech who was amazing, so nice and helpful. Hope he's still there next year.

Zoo I picked as my "sure what the heck" subject. I did enjoy it this year (bar the practicals, would it have killed them to provide gloves!) and the staff were all great, especially Dr. Allcock, I want to be her :pac: but I've heard it can be quite difficult with all Latin names and classifications and all that.

Celestial12

Cocolola wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed posts, appreciate them!

Ya the thing is, I was expecting to love Biochem this year as the subject matter is fascinating but I didn't like it at all. Now I'm not putting all the blame on the lecturer, but holy crap he was boring, made it so uninteresting.

I picked it for 2nd year for a couple of reasons; I figured it would tie in well with Mirco and possibly Zoo, as pointed out it's good to have it for employment and post grad studies and also this year they changed it so that all three subjects (i.e. Biochem, Micro and Zoo) share a sub module, Molecular and Cellular Biology that's worth 5 credits so I was free to take on half subjects to the value of 10 credits. I picked French but I think that was a mistake, I did French over 9 years ago and I don't remember being that good at it. But anyway.

I'm really looking forward to Micro, I loved it this year and was disappointed we only had a handful of lecturers and labs. But I'm really interested in it and would hope to pick it for my degree. There was one gentleman lab tech who was amazing, so nice and helpful. Hope he's still there next year.

Zoo I picked as my "sure what the heck" subject. I did enjoy it this year (bar the practicals, would it have killed them to provide gloves!) and the staff were all great, especially Dr. Allcock, I want to be her :pac: but I've heard it can be quite difficult with all Latin names and classifications and all that.

I didn't particularly like Biochemistry either to begin with, but once it came to study week and I really started working at it I really started liking it. In terms of opportunities it's probably one of the best subjects to choose because it ties in with so many others. I think the lecturer played a huge factor in making it uninteresting and boring. We were essentially reading from the manual everyday and he kept droning on... Very dull! I can't do Biochemistry this year as I did Earth and Ocean instead of Physics, but I'd probably have gone for it if I could have.

During the advisory session, one of the lecturers at the microbiology table told me that she did Zoology as her undergrad degree and not to worry too much about what we choose because there's plenty of time to change path later on if you want to. One thing people don't realise is that so many of the subjects tie in together, there's more than one way of reaching the same destination.

I was considering French too but it's been years since I've studied it so decided against it! I heard Zoology is quite tough too but if you have the interest that's half the battle. I didn't like it at all. I don't think any of the topics are going to be as hard as they've been made out to be. At least I hope they won't be!

cool4cats17

Micro is the way to go

thechemputer

Just finished my degree, in which i took Biochemistry in final year and did relatively well.

Biochem in fourth year is quiet different to biochem in second and third year, so don't base your opinions on that, and that goes for probably any subject. It is much more focused and streamlined, which makes a huge difference as you aren't torn between differing areas. I personally i found it very interesting. It largely moves away from the whole DNA replication and protein folding stuff on to more interesting topics like x chromosome inactivation and in depth cell cycle. I would say it is certainly tougher than micro in parts, and it would seem their are more phd and masters opportunities with a good degree in biochem, as the graduates are broadly more quantitative and analytically minded.

The take away from this is, your subject choice in fourth year is miles away from what the subject was like in second and third year. If you feel like your genuinely interested in something but feel disillusioned by crap lectures in second and third year, don't let it sway your choice overall. The more focused nature of fourth year makes a huge difference, and study becomes largely enjoyable.

So for someone in second year i would say look to fourth year. The main thing you need is a good 2.1 or 1.1 degree in fourth year in an area you have interest in. That will open up all doors. You don't want to be in fourth year in a subject you picked because it was easy, having no interest in it and coming out with a ****e pass degree. Believe i know a few people who have fallen into that trap.

sammyjo90

mockshelp wrote: »

I am also going into 2nd year undenominated science. If anyone has done 2nd year chemistry or 2nd year earth and ocean science please post here to tell me what you thought of them. Thanks.

I did the Biopharmaceutical Chem course so i did mainly Chemistry for the four years...broken up into Organic, physical, inorganic and some random bits thrown in really...most people tend to find a discipline they find easier than others..so if you like maths then 2nd year physical is definitely gonna be your strong point because of all the kinetics and thermodynamic equations..etc ..if you know your curly arrows and chemical structures then you'll find organic a breeze.. didnt really do too much inorganic throughout my course but its not too bad in 2nd year from what i remember..something about orbitals and crystal structures..
also the practicals are a bit longer..and that little bit harder but your phd demonstrators are normally a helpful bunch so don't be afraid to ask stupid questions!

i also did 2nd year biochem...a lot of work! hope you can remember pathways and stuff! i wasnt very good at that! found 1st semester of 4th year good though cause it was more chemistry based!
hope this helps!

sammyjo90

also zoology in 2nd year has a very high fail rate...so you better like work if u wanna pass! ( sorry its harsh but i speak the truth!)