CK402 (bio&chem)

Laur33

I've been looking at courses in UCC and I'm thinking about applying for CK402 (biological and chemical sciences) this is the course I'm most interested in but I want to hear more about it from people thay actually do it.

So if you do this course or know about it somehow could someone tell me how difficult the maths is because I'm not great at maths but i love science and i seem to have to do maths with any course I'm interested in

How many boys and girls normally do this course? like is there a lot more boys than girls?

I am only doing biology for leaving cert, will this put me at a disadvantage?

Even if you don't do this course could anyone doing science in ucc let me know what it's like, thanks!:)

Corkgirl95

I am doing this course and highly recommend it, especially if you love biology and chemistry.
(I know that's pretty self explanatory, given the course name, but you'd find some people put down CK402 on their CAO just for the craic, and end up dropping out.)

I found the maths very nice; difficult for some individuals. It varies, from person to person. Higher Level Maths might be an advantage, but 90-95% of what we covered in UCC Maths were new to all of us. If you put in the work, read the examples done in class, and practice regularly, you'll no doubt do well in the two maths modules. Same goes for the biology, chemistry and physics modules.

I didn't do Leaving Cert Physics, and found it really difficult at the start of the year. Doing exam papers is very helpful because you'd know what to look for in the notes, and get a sense of what questions they might ask. I wish I had done that earlier in 1st year, but there ya go!

I also highly suggest going to all of your lectures, especially Maths and Organic Chemistry, because you actually take down notes off the whiteboard or overhead projector. Other lecturers usually do Powerpoint presentations, and upload them online. (Do attend them, too! Even if you just sit there, and only listen occasionally, you'll be surprised how much information you actually retain.)

There are tutorials every week for maths, chemistry and physics. They're not compulsory but they're really good in terms of covering practice questions and exam papers. We also had PAL (Peer-Assisted Learning) sessions. As far as I remember, there's only a certain number of people they can take in, depending on how many tutors they have, but there's no harm in applying anyway!

There were about 250 people in my class, and maybe 3:4 boy-girl ratio? I'm not really sure. Since there are so many people in the course, chances are you'll meet a new person every day (at least for the first few months). You'll also probably make really good friends in your labs!

To sum up, it is a great course! It requires quite a bit of work, but it's all worth it. Be wise with your time, try not to procrastinate too much because, otherwise, the work just piles up. Don't let the first few weeks fool you into thinking it's too easy. It's not. Things can escalate quickly at uni!

Now, enough with the scary stuff, and I'll say: enjoy it! You'll meet some of the best, like-minded people in the course. UCC is also such a beautiful campus, with plenty of things to do, so make the most of your time while you're there. Like they all say: the four years will fly!

Best of luck in your Leaving Cert, career choices and all! If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask here or PM me.

Laur33

Corkgirl95 wrote: »

I am doing this course and highly recommend it, especially if you love biology and chemistry.
(I know that's pretty self explanatory, given the course name, but you'd find some people put down CK402 on their CAO just for the craic, and end up dropping out.)

I found the maths very nice; difficult for some individuals. It varies, from person to person. Higher Level Maths might be an advantage, but 90-95% of what we covered in UCC Maths were new to all of us. If you put in the work, read the examples done in class, and practice regularly, you'll no doubt do well in the two maths modules. Same goes for the biology, chemistry and physics modules.

I didn't do Leaving Cert Physics, and found it really difficult at the start of the year. Doing exam papers is very helpful because you'd know what to look for in the notes, and get a sense of what questions they might ask. I wish I had done that earlier in 1st year, but there ya go!

I also highly suggest going to all of your lectures, especially Maths and Organic Chemistry, because you actually take down notes off the whiteboard or overhead projector. Other lecturers usually do Powerpoint presentations, and upload them online. (Do attend them, too! Even if you just sit there, and only listen occasionally, you'll be surprised how much information you actually retain.)

There are tutorials every week for maths, chemistry and physics. They're not compulsory but they're really good in terms of covering practice questions and exam papers. We also had PAL (Peer-Assisted Learning) sessions. As far as I remember, there's only a certain number of people they can take in, depending on how many tutors they have, but there's no harm in applying anyway!

There were about 250 people in my class, and maybe 3:4 boy-girl ratio? I'm not really sure. Since there are so many people in the course, chances are you'll meet a new person every day (at least for the first few months). You'll probably also make really good friends in your labs!

To sum up, it was a great course! It requires quite a bit of work, but it's all worth it. Be wise with your time, try not procrastinate too much because, otherwise, the work just piles up. Don't let the first few weeks fool you into thinking it's too easy. It's not. Things can escalate quickly at uni!

Now, enough with the scary stuff, and I'll say: enjoy it! You'll meet some of the best, like-minded people in the course. UCC is also such a beautiful campus, with plenty of things to do, so make the most of your time while you're there. Like they all say: the four years will fly!

Best of luck in your Leaving Cert, career choices and all! If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask here or PM me.

Thank you so much this was so helpful and from what everyone's said this course look so good there's no doubt I'm leaving it as my first choice!

Thanks about the good luck for the leaving cert by the way! I'm so worried I won't get my points but I just finished English Paper 1 and it went well

Corkgirl95

Laur33 wrote: »

Thank you so much this was so helpful and from what everyone's said this course look so good there's no doubt I'm leaving it as my first choice!

Thanks about the good luck for the leaving cert by the way! I'm so worried I won't get my points but I just finished English Paper 1 and it went well

That's great! I'm very glad I helped, and that English Paper 1 went well for you. I'm sure you'll be fine with the rest of your exams too.
You're welcome. I might see you around campus in September so!