Hey I’ve gotten an offer from St Andrews to study in their MChem Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry with External Placement program, which for a long time has been my top choice, but recently I’ve been debating whether UCSB’s CCS Chemistry/Biochemistry program might be the better choice. I’m aware that both schools are pretty different and I thoroughly like both, since at its simplest, I’m just looking for a place that has a welcoming and close-knit community where its easy to make friends and where there are people with many different interests (of course great academics are my priority in addition to this).
What I’m really looking for is someone who might be familiar with the Chem/Biochem major at the CCS since I’ve found very little specifics on it (a lot on physics though!). Also, regardless of where I go, I do want to pursue postgraduate studies (even with MChem) so I really wanted to see what anybody thought about the ability that each program would provide me with to go to top schools for postgrad (in my mind I’m thinking Johns Hopkins, MIT, CalTech, etc.). I’m really afraid of making the wrong decision, and in the end it may just come down to the financials (I still haven’t heard from UCSB about that), but as of now with no information on that, anything you guys might know or have to say would be hugely appreciated!!