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BEST uk universities for mathematics?

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Reply 60
Original post by reallytired
Whether dugdugdug's views are correct or not, there is no need for personal attacks.

Your comment that he / she knows nothing is clearly wrong
and you've dug yourself a whole.

If dugdugdug really knows nothing, how did you come about to challenge his views? He has clearly expressed them enough for you to object, so at the very least he can write English.

IMO is for school level and the Chinese have won it multiple times. These very students go on to local unis so with an intake of world class students, that surely raises the bar and hence the overall standard of the uni concerned.

Of the 100 or so unis in the UK, the entry standards for the top uni, whatever it is and the bottom uni are very different. Is it so difficult to appreciate those with higher calibre students will offer a more demanding course than those with lower calibre students?

These columns should be reserved for expressing personal opinions and hopefully help those that need advice. Personal attacks are not needed and waste space.


It's not wrong.

The implication he is implying is this:

chinese win IMO (true) => these students will go to university to do maths (not necessarily true) => these students are 'good' at university maths (not necessarily true, define 'good') => chinese universities are good for maths (silly implication)

there's no evidence for any of this, he is just talking out his ass

furthermore, take note of the thread title, all of this is irrelevant
Original post by Blutooth
Quite easy to see from this that you are not at university, haven't applied through ucas and don't know what the fudge you are talking about. You can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge.

Edit: Just to remind those negging, this was the guy who said Warwick was as good as Cambrige and better than Oxford for Maths. Warwick is good, but there is quite a gulf between cambridge and warwick undergrads, exemplified in the difference in offers 1,1 in STEP 2, 3 vs a 2 in STEP 1. Cam has too many alumni too eminent to count. Oxford has the MAT, taken a year before STEP and also has Andrew Wiles and fields medalists amongst its alumni. I know quite a few at Oxford who have got 1,1 in STEP 2,3. Warwick is ofc very good, but not quite as stellar as the others imho. Cam> (by a bit) Oxford>(by a bit more)Warwick.

The poster hasn't even been through the application process let alone been taught at the above universities. How would he know what maths at Cambridge or Warwick is like? Now, i'm not saying he shouldn't comment because he hasn't been to COWI but the fact he doesn't know what he is talking about is evident from his posts.

That was quite a lot of rant for a couple of negs. Oh well, I suppose that's what life on tsr comes down to in the end :tongue:.


I think you'll find that I mentioned the fact that generally, people will apply to Cambridge over Oxford for Maths due to the fact that you can only apply to One.

I've also mentioned why my opinion is why it is, due to the fact that I've asked friends, and others who attend the Three institutions, as well as visited said places.
Reply 62
Original post by Ryan-Hetherington
I think you'll find that I mentioned the fact that generally, people will apply to Cambridge over Oxford for Maths due to the fact that you can only apply to One.

I've also mentioned why my opinion is why it is, due to the fact that I've asked friends, and others who attend the Three institutions, as well as visited said places.


It may be true (last year 1280 applied for 250 places for cam, 927 applied for 172 places for oxford) but it's a meaningless statistic given the percentage of successful applicants.
Reply 63
Original post by Ryan-Hetherington
The saying I've been told is something like "If you want prestige, you go to Oxbridge. If you're AMAZING at Maths, you go to Warwick"

My top Four in order would be:
Warwick 1st
Cambridge 1st
Oxford 3rd
Imperial 4th


lol. On a maths thread.
Reply 64
Warwick. But it's super hard (alot of people study all day!) so you might not be suited.
Original post by z0tx
lol. On a maths thread.


:facepalm:

He is putting them as joint first!
Reply 66
Original post by GreenLantern1
:facepalm:

He is putting them as joint first!


Then it should be 1st - 1st - 2nd - 3rd
Reply 67
Maths league tables for 2013 suggest that Oxford is the best at Maths, ahead of Cambridge.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Mathematics
Original post by LordFishlock
Maths league tables for 2013 suggest that Oxford is the best at Maths, ahead of Cambridge.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Mathematics

It also places St Andrews at 3rd, ahead of Warwick and Imperial; and places LSE very highly even though they don't run a straight maths course... This just reflects how useless league tables really are - the only part I agree with is that the gap between the two Oxbridge maths courses is negligible - They are both of extremely high quality and it's utterly pointless to try and choose a 'winner' between them, even moreso based on league tables alone.
Reply 69
Original post by z0tx
Then it should be 1st - 1st - 2nd - 3rd


No it shouldn't - 3rd means there are 2 above you, regardless of whether those two are equal or not. It was right as it was.

That said, on the original question - Cambridge. The tripos is tough. Part III (the optional MMath year if you did the previous parts in Cam, called something different if coming from elsewhere) is world renowned as being extremely good preparation for futher academic study (read "very hard"). From what I've heard, while Oxford and Cambridge's first three years are fairly comparable, Cambridge Part III is significantly better/more challenging. As far as quality of teaching is concerned, supervisions/tutorials are a much better teaching method than what other universities provide. Warwick, while good, doesn't live up to the same standard.

Read how the league tables calculate their overall scores, and you'll see why they can't be relied on.
Reply 70
Original post by LordFishlock
Maths league tables for 2013 suggest that Oxford is the best at Maths, ahead of Cambridge.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Mathematics


Holy ****, Aberdeen went from 35 in 2012, to 13 in 2013.
Original post by z0tx
Then it should be 1st - 1st - 2nd - 3rd


OMG. Please get off the mathematics forum right now!
Original post by pbsjohnz
Holy ****, Aberdeen went from 35 in 2012, to 13 in 2013.


Some improvement eh!

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