The course in general
How many contact hours do you have in the average week?
Chemistry - 25; Law - 12. (NB. My course is a four year joint honours degree in Chemistry and Law. Chemistry is studied in years one and two, and Law in years three and four).

Ideally, what 3/4 subjects would you recommend doing in order to be in the best position for your course?
Chemistry (needed), Maths and Physics (desirable), and then anything else.

Explain the things you wish you'd known about your degree before you applied:
Chemistry: (i) The fact that only one third of the first year is made up of 'chemistry'. The rest of the year is spent doing optional units which were not particularly chemistry related and were not always enjoyable. (ii) The importance of maths and physics. Two whole units in second year are dedicated to physical chemistry and theoretical chemistry. (However, it should be noted that the courses provided in first year to try and get students up to speed in both physics and maths were excellent). Law: The lack of choices in final year was understandable, but the compulsory units in my final year were quite difficult and considering that year counted towards half of my degree, not being able to choose more units was definitely a disadvantage.

Describing your average day
Explain how your day is made up. For example, do you have labs/seminars/tutorials/lectures?
Chemistry: A typical Chemistry day is very long! I very often had days lasting from 9am-5pm, with a combination of lectures and tutorials. In second year, a whole day each week is dedicated solely to practicals in the labs. Law: Much fewer contact hours compared with Chemistry. I would often only have a maximum of two hours of lectures/tutorials/seminars per day and had at least one day off a week.

How much extra work/reading are you required to do out of lectures?
Chemistry: There is a reasonable amount of extra work that is usually not compulsory, but is definitely worth doing to keep on top of the course. Not too much extra reading is required, but referring to textbooks can be useful (and is often necessary)! Law: Lots of extra reading. You can get by just doing the basics, but the more reading you do the better.

Is there anything else you think is relevant or that you would like to add in respect of your course?
As far as I'm aware, the Law with Chemistry course is no longer running at Bristol University which is a shame. However, courses of a similar nature still exist at other universities and based on my experience, I would definitely recommend them. Having done both law and chemistry, I've noticed the drastic difference between them regarding the marking of work. Chemistry answers are either right or wrong and therefore there can be little dispute over the marking. However, in law, the mark awarded can be very much down to the individual marking the piece of work. This can be frustrating and so therefore I would advise prospective students, if they know who will be marking their exam/coursework, to understand how that particular person likes answers to be set out and follow that structure. It is the best way to avoid dropping marks over what can often seem like a very trivial thing.

The best and worst parts of the course
What do you like best about your degree programme?
The complete contrast between Chemistry and Law. The skills acquired by studying Chemistry have also been useful in a legal environment.

What do you like least about your degree programme?
The long hours and early starts on the Chemistry side; the lack of tutor contact on the Law side.

Academics and course content
What do you think of your university's academics and facilities?
Both the academics and facilities for Chemistry and Law are, in my opinion, excellent. The Chemistry labs are something Bristol University prides itself on.

Explain how you expected your course to be and how it compares to how it actually is. Give an outline of the content of the course.
The course is pretty much how I expected it to be and that's perhaps why I have enjoyed it so much. However, because of this unique course, I had far fewer options to choose from in my final year which, although understandable, was a little disappointing.