Hi guys! Today I'm talking about how I chose which course and uni to apply to.
I loved science as a kid, but initially my biggest intrest was Astrophysics.
However, in year 9, I had a great biology teacher who was really enthusiastic and inspired my intrest in biology
At that point I decided I'd study something related to biology
In year 11, I had to pick what subjects I wanted to do for IB, I did lots of research
Different courses had different subject requirements
At that point I found out about Natural Science, which allows you to pick and choose which areas of science you want to study
At that point, besides biology, I was also very interested in the environment, so I thought I could study both of those things together
So this course would really suit my interests.
I spent a long time looking at different universities that offered Natsci, and of course I found Cambridge
Cambridge is the top of the league tables for Natsci in the UK
So of course I wanted to apply there. However the competition is intense and I knew I was likely to be rejected.
Then in upper sixth (Y12) I read lots of science-related books and took IB biology. This made me realise I didn't actually like all of biology...
My favourite parts were DNA, genetics etc, the parts that were more related to Chemistry
At the same time I also had really good chemistry teachers that cultivated my interest and made me realise I wasn't so bad at chemistry after all
I did my EE on biochemistry as well and really enjoyed it, which also helped me make that decision
So at the end of lower sixth I totally changed my mind, decided I'd apply for Biochemistry instead
So I started looking into unis that offered Biochem. I loved the tutorial system at Cambridge, but the issue was, Cambridge doesn't offer Biochemistry!
There's only one uni that has tutorials and biochem! And that's Oxford.
I looked into Oxford and I loved the college system, and I also found that the oxford professors were doing fascinating research
Including lots of research into GM which is my favourite area of biochem!
Of course I knew that it would be very hard to get in, but we're allowed to apply to 5, so I was willing to take that risk.
