#physnatsci

I think you should go for Bio, because all three modules are ones that BioNatScis take fairly regularly, and I think you’d have a better chance of getting to grips with A Level Biology than Physics if you were going through it in your spare time. Depending on the college, you might end up with interviews on maths and chemistry, with very little of the other sciences, because of your A Levels, but bare in mind that you may well end up being asked why you didn’t take a third science for A Level, so if you get an interview that’s an answer to prepare in advance.

So I think that technically you would count as a PhysNatSci with that combination, as you’ve got two physical sciences (and as such wouldn’t be able to take Mathematical Biology as your maths option). However, for interviews, you often will have to state in advance the options that you’re considering so that the interviewers can see what you’re interested in so the most relevant people interview you. I can’t say for certain, but with your A Levels and a biochem focused personal statement I would have thought the interviews would lean more towards the biology end of the spectrum, as that’s what you’ll have covered in school, but even if your interviews were fully bio based, you’d still be able to take Materials in first year if you wanted to upon arrival.

Hmm I’d say it would probably be advisable not to take Maths A without further maths if you’re going to be a BioNatSci. A lot of PhysNatScis who get in without further maths (or an equivalent) obviously have to take Maths A anyway, but I know that further maths is really useful for doing well in the course. As a BioNatSci, a lot of the stuff that they teach in Maths A is not particularly relevant to anything else you study, whereas maths for biologists goes through a lot of the stats and things like that that will come in really handy. So, yeah, I’d say most people who take Maths A have further maths, and a very small minority of BioNatScis end up taking Maths A, as it’s much less relevant. However, if you do get in and end up coming here, that’s the sort of discussion you could have with your DoS to see their thoughts on your particular situation.

Thank you - it’s really good to have advice from scientists of different disciplines.

Other than that I don’t have any specific tips, as I didn’t have to do anything like it, so if we’ve got any first year NatScis around that could let us know how they prepared, please do send in tips.

So having spoken to a couple of physicist friends, a lot of people seemed to apply to (or mention) Manchester, Durham and Lancaster (I think for Physics by itself). In terms of other unis that run Natural Sciences courses, UCL, Nottingham, Bath, Exeter all have pretty good courses, but I don’t know enough about specifics to say if they’re also good for Physics.

OK - to me that sounds like a good solution, as you can decide at the end of Year 12 what course you’ll apply for and therefore which three subjects to keep. What do our helpful experts think?

I’m wondering if it’s possible for you to do a subject combo that would keep both doors open for a bit longer: @physnatsci helpful experts, would physics/maths/english literature be an ok combination for our anon for doing sciences? (I’m fairly confident it would at most unis, but Cambridge might be more demanding)