The Natural Sciences thread

[Malbecfan]

Inspired by the lovely people on the Oxbridge parents, I thought I would make one solely for NatSci parents.

DD1 studied PhysNatSci at Cambridge, specialising in Materials Science and is now into the 3rd year of a PhD there. DD2 is in her Masters year studying BioNatSci at Leicester.

Feel free to join and share the wonderful and strange world of our fab DC!

@OneDivineHammer tell her to contact her supervisor and see if they can have a meeting or chat before the exams. I'm sure that any supervisor would be glad to hear of one of their tutees struggling BEFORE the exams, rather than afterwards.

When my DD was a fresher, one of the lecturers appeared to make little sense. DD and her supervisions buddy went to their supervisor and begged for help. The supo rolled their eyes and said they couldn't believe the lecturer was still there as they had complained every year. So it might not be your DD misunderstanding after all.

Thanks @Malbecfan - I might suggest this. Tbf to her lecturers, though, things mostly made sense before Christmas, apparently - she’s just taken her eye off the ball since. 🤦‍♀️

Question for @Malbecfan : I think our DD’s are at the same college. Mine is a 3rd year and has decided to stay on for a Masters in Earth Sciences, possibly followed by a PhD. Was yours happy she decided to stay in-college for her PhD? Mine is definitely more comfortable with the familiar.

@OneDivineHammer Hope your Dd s tests/exams went ok?

Dd had 2 out of 3 results back, she did fine, I think it’s quite reassuring for her that she feels worthy of her place at C, it’s difficult not to feel like an imposter amongst other very academically bright students. One of her supervisors gave her a negative / harsh end of term report, she suspects because he doesn’t like her (her other reports from the other 3 were all very good) , because of all the time tabling clashes she had at the start of term and she had to escalate it to get it resolved in time….it was very stressful.

@pepperaunt my DD was encouraged by her college to apply there for her PhD, perhaps because they wanted her to supervise freshers. She applied there and to a smaller college closer to her department, but her UG college accepted her, and she thought "better the devil you know". She hasn't lived in for any of her PhD; she was there regularly when she was supervising but doesn't go that often this year. However, it is still good for us to be able to send stuff for her to the Plodge there as there isn't always someone in at her house.

So, to answer your question: yes, she is happy being at the same college, but she has chosen to rent privately with friends since starting her PhD.

@Teriyakieverything that's really good to hear. Don't worry about the one less good result - the DoS will soon realise if there is a personality clash/issue over the timetable or your DD can't do it (almost certainly the former). When my DD did her first year of supervising, she had one arrogant guy who basically thought DD was stupid. She has learned sarcasm from the master (me lol!) and turned it on full-blast, but this guy wouldn't stop. So DD had an informal chat with the DoS who just happens to be Head of a large department and a fellow at her college (and she gets on well with him) who described the guy as "an arrogant shit" and told her to keep doing what she was doing as the other students were very appreciative. You don't get to be a DoS without having a pretty good idea of who is good and who is more dodgy.

@Malbecfan thank you!

@Malbecfan some men do have their egos and arrogance. I think dd is dealing with it by ignoring it and doing her best, she got above 70% for that particular exam, which contradicts the written end of term report somewhat. So, as you say, where the issue lies should be obvious to the DoS.

Dd is thinking about helping out in summer schools. I don’t think she understands how competitive a job application process is…yet…she seems to think that if she applies for something, she will most likely get it, so it’s just a case of her applying for it iyswim. We said that if she doesn’t get it, she’ll have to work in the local Costa Coffee or MacDonalds in the summer.

@Teriyakieverything DS volunteered with the CHAoS (science outreach) summer roadshow. If your DD has a week or two free over the summer before or after her paid work, it's both worthwhile and fun.

He also had a (paid but only one hour a fortnight) job as a STEM SMART mentor in his second year.

@Teriyakieverything please don't stress about summer work. I think doing any sort of paid work, particularly something interacting with the public is really important. My DD2 (non-C) has struggled to get any sort of internship throughout her university life, due partly to Covid and the fact we live in a rural area where people come to retire - science-based jobs are in short supply here. However, DD2 used to run the ice cream shop in the absence of the owners and last summer did countless front-of-house shifts at a busy beach cafe. One of DH's friends who is a recruiter in Europe for a large company said that being able to do a whole summer in a cafe shows resilience, team-work and a string work ethic. DD's course will show her science skills.

@Malbecfan @Ironoaks yes, totally with you that doing something that has lots of social interactions is important for building those skills and confidence. That’s why we thought the summer schools help would be good, and fun. The CHAos volunteering also sounds fun. I’d rather she does cafe work, than a data entry clerk work, for example. To be honest, working in an ice cream shop would be her dream job…she s a regular at Jacks Gelato….

Aww @Teriyakieverything that's good. Except the bloody ice cream shop shut down in 2021 when the previous owners sold up. The new owner has built on an enormous extension at the back (heaven knows how they got planning permission as it dominates all the properties around it) and the shop has remained shut. So the cafe started selling ice cream, and as an experienced "scooper", DD often ran that counter in the summer (til she got RSI from scooping but had always been fine as a teen...!)

Hello
hope you don’t mind me popping in. My DS has a NatSci offer. I wondered if there were any tips you might give?

at the moment we’ve got a reasonably new Mac book and iPad Pro with pencil that he could take. Would that be suitable or do they have to have laptops that run specific software. I think they will be picking earth sciences. Biology. Chemistry in first year.

is there anything else specific to the course that they would find useful? I am trying to organise a big list to purchase as soon as we know they’ve got the grades!! or even anything quite basic that your YP had found really useful.

They will be in one of the central small colleges so I am already conscious that we need to be efficient with packing.
Thanks.

@Anon2190 congratulations to him on the offer!

The thing he'll need most as a first year NatSci is a diary / calendar app and good time management skills.

There isn't much in the way of specific equipment but here are a few things that come to mind...

Gown: He'll need an undergraduate gown. Which design to get and when / how to order it will depend on the college, so wait and see what they say about this.

Formal wear: The dress code for matriculation and other formal events depends on the college. DS has to wear a dark lounge suit with white shirt and 'sober' tie (we interpreted this as non-novelty). Your DS can search online for past matriculation photos from his college to get an idea.

Kitchen equipment: I would go quite minimalist to start with. The gyps (mini kitchens) in most colleges don't have ovens.

Course equipment: This will be available from the relevant department. DS's cohort were given free lab coats (donated by and branded with the logo of a petroleum company, which he was unimpressed by).

Stash: The students don't tend to wear university-branded items (that's for tourists) but college-branded hoodies, puffer jackets etc are very popular. These are expensive, as is sports team kit (made to order rather than mass-produced) so might be an idea for a Christmas gift if you celebrate that.

@Ironoaks has done a great job! After results day, DD was invited to join a Facebook group which was a really good way of asking questions and "getting to know" other freshers. Don't go mad buying lots of kitchen stuff until they know what is likely to be available in the gyp and indeed if they will be self catering or not.

I think I bought DD a book that was written by James Keeler which was on an Oxford reading list - funnily enough he turned out to teach quite a lot of her lectures and she has done some supervising for him. I think it's called "Why Chemical Reactions Happen".

DD just had a generic Windows laptop. She only needed specific software in her Masters year and that was provided for her (or a laptop with it on was loaned to her). Most of her packing was clothes but she did acquire lots of plants which needed to be transported home every vacation. Her college did have parking, although Freshers drop off was rather a challenge, but we never had any issues after that even though she lived on site for 4 years.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it. In the meantime, good luck to your DS.

@Ironoaks @Malbecfan thanks for your really useful tips. In some ways he’s really organised but in others he’s not and I can imagine him coming home at Christmas and mentioning that everyone else had seven different coloured ring binders - one for each day - and it made their life so much easier. (Obs made up example). He hates shopping so he wouldn’t think to go buy some himself. Iwlll be impressed if he does some food shopping!

Unfortunately we don’t live particularly close and I can’t work out if it’s better to stay overnight when we drop him off or if I arrange to come up after a couple of weeks to bring up anything he’s forgotten and take back anything that’s cluttering up his room

this is all assuming he gets the grades!

😂 DS did actually colour code his subjects in first year, and it helped. It avoids the scenario where you've trekked half way across Cambridge to a Physics lab before realising that you've only brought your Materials stuff. He has ADHD though. I'm sure your DS will be fine.

@Anon2190 congratulations to your DS. DD is in her third year. First year is absolutely intense. One thing I’d add to others’ advice is to make sure he finds an extracurricular activity he enjoys. DD plays netball and lacrosse and it’s been a lifesaver in terms of stress reduction.

@Anon2190 no problem. DD had 4 different coloured files, one for each of her 1st year subjects. When she was in the 1st year of her PhD I was instructed to bring the yellow lever arch file of notes so she could refer to them for running her supervisions (tutorials).

Also @Anon2190 because of the distance and timings from Devon, I often used to stay over. Whilst the central hotels looked lovely, I needed somewhere with parking so generally used either the Premier Inn or Travelodge at Orchard Park. It was only 10-15 minutes to DD's college, 9 to her house now, and worked for our budget.

ilovebreadsauce
I wouldn't have gone that far but did debate whether to start a "non-Cambridge" natural sciences thread 😁

The OP has a DD studying natural sciences at Leicester, so I think they're aware...

Thanks @Ironoaks .

@ilovebreadsauce , my opening post states that both my DC are NatSci students, in different institutions. I can hardly help it that other people who have come here only seem to want to post about Cambridge.

I had an interesting chat with a y13 student yesterday who has applied for Human Sciences. There is definitely some cross-over with NatSci. He is waiting to hear from UCL; also applied to Oxford (rejected after interview). He wants to study a combination of Biology with some Psychology and Anthropology, so it was interesting comparing that with my BioNatSci DD.

That combination sounds really interesting

I think there's a lot of interest in courses where you can mix and match elements @Ironoaks . DD1 wasn't sure enough about Materials Science to apply for it as a degree course even though it's what one of my cousins studied and she and DD get on very well. However, once enrolled, that's her chosen specialism. DD2 was probably more certain whilst at school but her degree has been more broad-based. She has studied modules on Astro-Biology for example.