I've chosen Oxford (for Maths) - now, I've discussed it with my teachers and they said that I would have a very good chance of getting into either Oxford or Cambridge, so my motivation
isn't in that "I can't get to Cambridge". My reason for choosing Oxford was that it was simply so much nicer as a place. Cambridge was quite pretentious in comparison, and the fake gloss exterior at the Open Day was incredible - I've never quite seen anything so absurd!! Oxford seemed like a real place with real people that weren't just students - Cambridge is really, purely, a university town. Oxford is a much more lively place, and even though I don't go out much, the atmosphere at Oxford I think would win, hands down, against the atmosphere of living and studying in Cambridge. Also, the assumption that people make in saying that all Cambridge Mathmos are better than Oxford Mathmos is quite frustrating (I'm looking at you Generalebriety
)... Some very good Mathematicians (some of the best, in fact - Andrew Wiles and Steven Hawking to give 2 famous names) start out at Oxford, and then either move to Cambridge, or move straight into a job. And just because someone doesn't take STEP doesn't mean that they aren't good enough, in terms of natural ability, to tackle them. I think there's a lot to be said for Oxford Mathmos - I wouldn't be surprised if, after the Mathematics faculty is improved, Oxford closes the gap (as has been seen with differing departments at Oxford and Cambridge) quite significantly. Perhaps Cambridge should be ready to relinquish their "unparalleled" status within the next 5-10 years