This article was written by a tutee studying Chemistry at Oxford University. She is focusing on what language students, humanity students and art students can’t tell you.
Life as a scientist, is hard.
Although this differs from university to university, as a chemist, my typical timetable is:
7:45 a.m. wake up: a bit too early for a university student.
8:49 a.m. run to lectures, like really run
9:05 a.m. – start of the first lecture: where on average 50% of it is a blur or too difficult to follow.
10:05 a.m. – start of the second lecture
11:03 a.m. – sign in for labs: where the demonstrators ask you endless questions
13:00 p.m. – lunch break: depending on the lab you do, you might only have 30 minutes break; if you’re lucky you get a 2 hour lunch break.
17:00 p.m. – theoretically the end of labs, but nobody takes this long, unless you’re an unlucky first year in Physical chemistry labs.
After labs – post-lab write up: possibly the most difficult part, most people struggle to understand what the questions even mean; and if you’re a first year, you also have to learn how to use linear regression programme from scratch.
When we don’t have labs, we have tutorial work and question sheets to do, as well as several tutorials to attend per week. So yes, we have about 25 contact hours per week, which is 20 hours more than a humanity student.
So why would anyone want to choose to do a science degree? The honest answer is, most people choose it because of their passion in science. It might sound cliché, but many of us just find it fascinating and satisfying. As scientists, you’re able to pioneer the research that you are interested in.
If you are reading it as an A-Level student, don’t let the busy schedule put you off applying! Going into my third year of university, I can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed my degree so far and am even considering doing a PhD. Although there have been times when I have doubted my degree choice, but ‘I wish I didn’t choose…as a degree’ seems to be one of the most common phrases used at university. No matter what degree you do, when you continue to struggle with a question after hours of trying, or when you are still in the library when your friends walk past after a night out, I think it is safe to say that most people will start regretting their choice of subject.
Some might think that being a scientist means you are geeky and boring, but this is untrue! Despite the heavy workload, we somehow manage to find time to have fun as well – great time management, clearly another life skill learned. Since humanity students have fewer contact hours, their reading lists are proportionally longer. We definitely have as much fun as all the language and humanity students; medics are famous for their long freshers’ week and their mad nights out. The common image of eccentric scientists spending day and night in labs is far from reality. Most of the students aim to finish as early as possible when it comes to lab work, sometimes it can even become a competition.
If this isn’t a good enough reason, science degrees have excellent graduate prospectus. According to the Telegraph, in the top 12 degree subjects for getting a job, 6 of them are scientific degrees; this is further supported by HerCampus, which shows that 5 out of the top 10 employable majors are science related. As well as these, according to the tab, in the top 20 worst subjects for worst job prospects, not single one of them is a science degree. A lot of skills and knowledge you learn during your degree are practical and transferable. Due to their usefulness, medics, mathematicians and engineers are also ranked as some of the best people to live with as a university student.
Whether you are in your first year of A-Level or about to apply to university, or even as a GCSE student, a science degree is definitely worth considering! It may seem daunting at first, but I can assure you, as long as you enjoy it, you will have an amazing time at university.
Resources:
http://www.hexjam.com/uk/sex-relationships/the-best-people-to-live-with-ranked-by-degree-subject
http://www.hercampus.com/career/jobs-internships/10-most-employable-majors
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