When I was doing my A'levels and looking around for a degree that I wanted to do, I noticed how many "chemistry with..." subjects there were. Some of these were quite straightforward such as chemistry with analytical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry; others were less obvious such as with French, business, management, accountancy, education, law...the list goes on. I chose Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry because at the time, that was where I thought my future would be. However when I got to university, I realized that the first year was pretty much the same for everyone (give or take a couple of modules) regardless of what "chemistry with" subject they were doing. Once we got into the course, and chemistry became our lives, day in and day out, we got to experience aspects of the subject I had never even thought existed at A'level. I also noticed the migration of my friends from one 'chemistry with' course to another, with the university only too happy to accommodate such changes. It led me to question what exactly was the point of applying to the chemistry with ... course? It forces sixth formers who only have the experiences of the A'level syllabus to pick an area of chemistry that they think they want to study, then allows them to change their minds once they have started the course. It seems to me that somewhere along the line, this is costing money....even if it is only someone in an office somewhere having to update one line on the database at the registry. If most people are doing it, I would imagine that this could take some time.

On the other hand, it gives the A'Level student some idea of the different areas of chemistry that it is possible to work in, just by reading a prospectus. It sparks an interest in the subject and allows all different students to picture themselves having a future that involves chemistry, whether it be analytical, computational, polymer, medicinal...etc. This leads me on to another question: Why should it be left to a university prospectus to inform students about the many aspects of chemistry that are available? I think that more areas should be included in the syllabus at a lower level to allow an interest to be nurtured at a younger age. This would inevitably lead to more people pursuing chemistry, who at the moment consider the subject too hard, or boring. This would boost university admissions for the subject without the university having to resort to designing more and more elaborate courses just to get the students attention - what will be next chemistry with ballroom dancing?!

Learn more about this author, Alexandra Mowbray.
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