Physics at uni

[dearydeary]

Hi everyone

My son wants to study physics at uni and he is predicted two A stars and an A.

Anyone care to share their DC experience? Any good tips?

We have looked Durham/Warwick and he is also thinking Edinburgh/St Andrews/Lancaster/Exeter.

Still debating between them and also considering accommodation costs.

Thank you 😊

Liverpool. With As is maths, physics and chemistry she said there were probably higher ranking unis, but she likes that it was a Masters of mathematics and loves Liverpool. Sheffiels chose not to run the one she applied for there due to low numbers.

Leicester an underrated uni IMHO as I have said before haha.

Not RG so I think it can be overlooked, but it's a long-established uni in a big, buzzing city with good nightlife and shops, centrally situated so easy to get to from home (unless you live in Cornwall or northern Scotland). DD went there and had amazing support from her dept (English not physics tho). Halls accomm is a few miles out with a nice villagey feel nd very cheap like lots of options less than £100pw. Private rentals are cheap too, Very diverse student population as well.

My ds, who wants physics and Spanish, liked Leicester better than Loughborough. He found Loughborough very busy and sports orientated which is not him at all. Currently it's Lancaster and Leicester in the running for him.

No MFL at Loughborough now anyway, sadly, so that’s a non-starter if Spanish is a must. Big up for Leicester :D

DD in third year of theoretical physics at Birmingham and loves it. Really lovely campus, big well- resourced department and lots of support

What were they impressed by?

My son is studying physics at Durham. The general feedback I’m getting is the course is excellent with many contact hours and lectures. Overall standard of teaching seems very good. Challenging. Lots of maths in first year and he felt slightly disadvantaged for not having further maths but he coped and did very well in his end of year exams. He loves university life and is very happy. I was surprised he opted for Durham because he had his heart set on a big city. At the last minute he decided to attend the offer holders open day and he loved it immediately. Important to visit. We

DS has just started at Leicester studying physics. It was his first choice despite having offers from Warwick, Birmingham, Loughborough and Sheffield because he liked the feel of it over them.
I know nothing about physics, but he told me today that the stuff that they have covered so far is ‘really cool’. He really enjoys astro and the fact that the national space centre is in the city and has strong links with the uni was one of the pluses for him.

Son is visiting next week and looking forward to it. Sounds like a good place to study 😊

What is the accommodation like after 1st year?

Selly Oak (right next to campus) is great and home to students from all the universities in B’ham. It’s safe and there is plenty of accommodation- basically a giant student village

Sounds great.

DS visiting next week and seems keen based on what he has seen online. He also like Durham 😊

That it was well structured in terms of labs and projects. The university itself seemed friendly. If you are into the space stuff, it's a great place to be.

DS did MPhys at Manchester with a year in University of California. Not sure if they still do it. He was a straight A student and wanted a top university but he also wanted to be in a city so based his choices on that. Durham/Warwick would not have suited him

What about Imperial? Was the student support an issue?

He didn't look at Imperial.

Yes we went to Manchester yesterday (lots of stairs) DS2 liked it but I thought York open day was better.

DS felt UoM was in the running along with Warwick, but re Warwick he has concerns re living out y2-3/4 - doesn’t fancy living in Coventry and commuting! We’ve not been to York though he lied the team at a Uni fair his college took them to.

I think we are at the open day fatigue stage so daren’t suggest it (York was where I went and I loved it - the city and the uni)

DS2 did Oxford information day with DS1 who is currently there (different subject) Durham (we just visited city not university) lovely, York, Manchester and the next one is Birmingham. I didn’t go to university myself so it’s all very exciting for me but I can’t think about both of them being away without getting upset. York accommodation was just year 1. The only thing that put him off about Manchester was interviews in person not online.

Glad I found this thread. DS wants to do Physics next year. We're in Scotland. He's thinking of Manchester and Edinburgh as his top two and then Birmingham. We went to a Manchester open day in the summer and he loves the city. I was impressed at the University Campus being so near the centre - rather than the science campus being away from the rest of the university.
We live near Edinburgh and it probably wouldnt have been his top choice but it has Physics with a year abroad he fancies and its a city - which suits him better than small town I think.
We're off to St Andrews open day next week as thats on his list as well. I did further degrees at both Durham and St Andrews and hated the small town posh thing and I'm worried I have put him off. I did arts subject so science might be different. So trying to go with an open mind next week.

DS is studying physics with nuclear physics at Nottingham Trent University, not an outstanding physics uni but he really struggled at A Level due to personal circumstances.

He is really enjoying it. The first year is pure physics then as you progress you can add in medical/nuclear/astro and specialise or continue in general physics.

😯 interviews? they didn’t mention that at all at the open day yesterday! eek!

Yes it’s a Wednesday in January.

Our youngest is currently studying Physics at St Andrews. It’s a relatively small department (relative to other universities) which makes it friendly and close knit. The lecturers are excellent and seem to really care about their students.

My daughter was Direct Entry to second year and doesn’t feel it affected her friendship group at all as her friends are mixed across subjects and ages due to her clubs & societies memberships.

While StA’s doesn’t operate a collegiate system it does have lots of smaller halls which are very sociable and organise events for the students. My daughter opted for catered as this meant she ate with others every day and made friends quickly. In terms of private rentals, accommodation can be more expensive than some cities but she’s managed to find local rentals each year. I shall be sad when she finishes as I’ve loved visiting her at StA’s and she’s had a fantastic time

Decades ago I did physics
what I found was the course content was so very different between universities

some did much more options including cross disciplinary options , others were very rigid

the course content should matter as much as the town or city I think , especially as physics tends to have a lot of lectures and labs - you spend a lot of your time in the course -

and some course have very little practical which if you enjoy practical would be a bind

DS is at Imperial doing Physics - I don’t think this was one of the unis that OP was looking at but happy to share some info on this. He has been very happy here and enjoyed the course. Typically first 2 years the modules are similar across unis. More choice in 3rd year as far as I understand.