Biological Natural Sciences - Natalie Lawrence

'I really enjoyed my time doing NatSci at John’s. The first year is quite intense in Natsci, but I got a lot of support from the College in terms of teaching and guidance. Being in a large college means that there are many other people doing the same subject, so organizing supervisions is much easier. Many supervisions are in college, because John’s has so many biology fellows. Though I did not get involved much, there is also a large John’s NatSci community, the Larmor Society with things such as a big annual dinner, bookselling scheme and regular speakers.

Biological Natural Sciences is a brilliant course, and I enjoyed it increasingly as the years went on. You get more and more choice of what direction you want to take and subjects you study, with the ability to completely avoid all lab work or take maximum advantage of the excellent facilities, as you choose. You can also do as broad or narrow a range of subjects as you wish. I took zoology in my final year, doing the conservation, animal biology and behaviour modules, all of which I really enjoyed. I found that, after a brief encounter with the ‘easy maths’ module in the first year, my ineptitude with mathematical matters did not hinder me in the slightest, and I could follow a course which really suited me.

The department and course is extremely well run, you will never have a situation where your lectures don’t match your supervisions, or you can’t find the book you really need in the library. The syllabus, facilities and teaching are all geared to really help you learn, while giving you a broader outlook than just exams. That said, exam term is never fun.

Aside from good teaching at John’s in biology, it is a great choice of college. The initial reasons I had for choosing John’s were the very central location (you never need a bike to get anywhere), and the fact that it is well resourced and has very good accommodation for all three years.'

- Natalie Lawrence, graduated 2010