Emma - Natural Sciences (Biological)
Name: Emma Newbat
Subject: Natural Sciences (Biological)
Year: 3rd
A-levels: Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, AS English Literature
What does your working week entail?
In the first and second years, I had 9-12 lectures per week, about 12 hours of practical work and 4 supervisions.
It sounds like a lot, but is actually quite manageable, and there tends to be less extra reading than in other
subjects because so much of the material is taught in lectures. In general, we got set around 2-3 essays per week.
The third year is very different from the first two years, and the amount of contact time depends on which subject you do.
As a Zoologist, I have 6 lectures per week, so I have a lot of free time, although there is a fair amount of extra
reading to do for the lectures and each term you have to spend time on project work. There are no set
supervisions and essays, so it relies a bit more on self-motivation to do work!
How easy was the transition from A-level to the first year of your degree?
The transition from A-level to the first year was fairly easy. In some of
the modules, the first couple of lectures are revision, which lets you
settle in a bit. The main transition is not in terms of the difficulty of the
material, just in the quantity that you are expected to know. It can
seem like a lot at first but it gets a lot easier to deal with!
How easily can you fit social activities into your working week?
Really easily with some planning – the only potential
problems were sports practice in the afternoons when I had practicals.
But a lot of college sport is very chilled out, so even if you have to miss
practices sometimes, it doesn’t stop you playing. In terms of social
activities in the evenings, there is never so much work that you can’t
go out and have a good time….it’s just a case of not leaving work
to the last minute and planning ahead a bit!
What sort of things did you talk about in your interview?
I had two scientific interviews and one general interview.
In the scientific interviews, I was asked some general science
questions, which were just from my A-level syllabus. I was also
given some problems to work through…like being given a bone
and asked to discuss its features. Most of the interview
focused on how you think and work through problems as
opposed to how much you can remember. It’s definitely worth
keeping abreast of current issues in the news, and maybe having
read one or two science books, although I did that and was never
asked about it! The last interview was quite general, with
standard questions like strengths/weaknesses, why Cambridge,
why Christ’s, why Natural Sciences, what are your specific interests in the field etc.