Do I need to study Further Maths AS level to do a maths degree at a good uni?
Hello there O_o Just joined (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
Scroll to see replies
Original post by Dobby
Original post by Dobby
Hello there O_o Just joined (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
No, Further Maths will serve you better than Sociology ever could. You could even do a Law degree with full science A-levels.
The only university courses you are really barred from are courses such as Medicine and Chemistry (for obvious reasons), so dropping Sociology for Further Maths would not make a difference.
Hence, drop Sociology and take up Further Maths.
Put it this way: if you're trying to argue that you're interested and enthusiastic enough about maths to study it at Cambridge, UCL or Imperial, and then you say '... but I wasn't enthusiastic enough about maths to study further maths', do you really think it will support the first statement?
You could actually do even a sociology degree without a sociology a-level; lose the sociology and do FM instead. Doing FM will actually increase your options far more than sociology would.
You could actually do even a sociology degree without a sociology a-level; lose the sociology and do FM instead. Doing FM will actually increase your options far more than sociology would.
Original post by Dobby
Hello there O_o Just joined (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
All top Universities look for at least an AS in Further Maths, where the competitiveness of your application is enhanced if you have a full A2 in Further Maths, when applying to a maths course.
There's nothing stopping you from the exam board side from taking an AS in your second year - quite a few people do, however, you're school may not allow you too.
Also, beware that if you're only taking the AS in second year, you won't have any real results to give to the University when applying via UCAS, so, I suppose this may be looked down upon slightly.
As far as I know (which isn't much as I don't look into Philosophy), the two subjects go nicely together. Obviously english is at the other end of the scale.
However, some universities such as Warwick only accept Further Maths as a fourth A level (this may not be the case for a straight maths course, however, it is for economics), so you may want to contact admission tutors from universities that you may be interested in going to.
Further maths is a very highly regarded subject by most, as admissions tutors know that it is a very rigorous course, and one of the hardest A levels that can be taken.
Hope this helps - if you have any questions then feel free to quote/PM me.
Original post by Dobby
Hello there O_o Just joined (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
First off, I'd take the poster above with a pinch of salt. Having said that, there are practically no courses which you would be at a disadvantage in applying to if you didn't take sociology. Unless you were applying for sociology. Maths is viewed as giving you greater transferable skills, whereas sociology is more about what you learn. FM would be beneficial for philosophy, but not necessarily for English. On balance, I'd go with FM.
Every thing I would like to say has been said.
Drop sociology it is seen as a soft subject. Do further maths its highly regarded. There has been students in the past in my college who got straight A's in their subjects but rejected from Unis like UCL LSE...because their subjects was seen as soft subjects even though some degrees such as law do not require you do particular A level.
Getting into Cambridge and Imperial is hard enough even with straight A 's at AS and straight A* predictions at A2s in physics maths chemistry and further maths. TRUST me there have been people who got rejected from these Unis with such grades. Maths degree is very competitive( but not impossible) if you want to do it at top Unis. It pays off too maths graduates skills are highly demanded.
If you are serious about going to these Universities then you should try to make your application as competitive as you can. Research research research about how to get into this unis and about the subject you want to study select highly regarded subjects is a good start. Good news speaking from experience it is not too late yet.
Drop sociology it is seen as a soft subject. Do further maths its highly regarded. There has been students in the past in my college who got straight A's in their subjects but rejected from Unis like UCL LSE...because their subjects was seen as soft subjects even though some degrees such as law do not require you do particular A level.
Getting into Cambridge and Imperial is hard enough even with straight A 's at AS and straight A* predictions at A2s in physics maths chemistry and further maths. TRUST me there have been people who got rejected from these Unis with such grades. Maths degree is very competitive( but not impossible) if you want to do it at top Unis. It pays off too maths graduates skills are highly demanded.
If you are serious about going to these Universities then you should try to make your application as competitive as you can. Research research research about how to get into this unis and about the subject you want to study select highly regarded subjects is a good start. Good news speaking from experience it is not too late yet.
Original post by im so academic
Hence, drop Sociology and take up Further Maths.
This
If you want to go to a "good" university like Cambridge, UCL etc to study whatever, you're better off dropping Sociology and taking up something else.
Original post by Dobby
Hello there O_o Just joined (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
If you really want to study mathematics at degree level, Id recommend taking further maths over sociology. If you really like social sciences (often seen as very soft subjects-On the contrary, I think they're serious subjects and just as difficult) as well as maths, you could do a maths and languages course (joint honours) which may well put you at an advantage in terms of post grad employment prospects.
You can definitely take further maths as a private candidate at most colleges offering it. You need to approach individual colleges to find out. Its better to take F maths to full A2 rather than AS if you have the opportunity to do it.
Original post by Dobby
Hello there O_o Just joined (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
So I'm in Y11, already have an A* in Maths GCSE and now I'm doing Additional Maths too. I'm still unsure what I want to study at university - though I know I definitely want to go. At my school sixth form you can only take 4 subjects max for AS level, and I've already picked out four: Maths, English (combined), Philosophy & Sociology.
However, I was googling it and apparently all the top universities like Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc have Further Maths at AS level as essential for entry - and without sounding too conceited or anything ^_^ I know I'm smart enough to go to the best uni's if I wanted to so I'd hate to be held back from doing so by not choosing FM, you know?
At the same time though, I'm not sure I do want to study Maths; I'm also really interested in English Lit, as well as Philosophy, though I haven't actually studied that yet so I can't be sure but it sounds really interesting.
So, my questions then:
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
I just don't know really, but I have to decide pretty soon so =S Help? (:
I'm pretty sure UCL require you to do full further maths a level. Trust me doing full further maths A2 is a big boost to your application over people who haven't done it. It also helps you in your general problem solving skills and maths ability. Having said that, I do know someone in my year who got into Nottingham for maths having just a single maths a level.
Original post by Dobby
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
Yes you could - as long as your sixth form allows you too. Its best to check this!
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
They might do - you'd have to check with the individual colleges and find out
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
No probably not, although for some courses, further maths is not counted as a separate A level, or is only counted as a fourth AS. You'd probably be fine though. And I *think* a high grade in that might be more highly regarded than a high grade in your sociology.
a) Could I study FM AS in my second year if I decided I did want to do Maths at uni at my sixth form?
Yes you could - as long as your sixth form allows you too. Its best to check this!
b) At another college? There are a few decent ones nearby who offer the course, but I'm not sure they'd let me do just the one subject in my second year, or would they?
They might do - you'd have to check with the individual colleges and find out
c) If I chose to drop Sociology and do FM instead, does that limit my options if I chose to do another subject altogether?
No probably not, although for some courses, further maths is not counted as a separate A level, or is only counted as a fourth AS. You'd probably be fine though. And I *think* a high grade in that might be more highly regarded than a high grade in your sociology.
Original post by joshgoldman
All top Universities look for at least an AS in Further Maths, where the competitiveness of your application is enhanced if you have a full A2 in Further Maths, when applying to a maths course.
There's nothing stopping you from the exam board side from taking an AS in your second year - quite a few people do, however, you're school may not allow you too.
Also, beware that if you're only taking the AS in second year, you won't have any real results to give to the University when applying via UCAS, so, I suppose this may be looked down upon slightly.
As far as I know (which isn't much as I don't look into Philosophy), the two subjects go nicely together. Obviously english is at the other end of the scale.
However, some universities such as Warwick only accept Further Maths as a fourth A level (this may not be the case for a straight maths course, however, it is for economics), so you may want to contact admission tutors from universities that you may be interested in going to.
Further maths is a very highly regarded subject by most, as admissions tutors know that it is a very rigorous course, and one of the hardest A levels that can be taken.
Hope this helps - if you have any questions then feel free to quote/PM me.
There's nothing stopping you from the exam board side from taking an AS in your second year - quite a few people do, however, you're school may not allow you too.
Also, beware that if you're only taking the AS in second year, you won't have any real results to give to the University when applying via UCAS, so, I suppose this may be looked down upon slightly.
As far as I know (which isn't much as I don't look into Philosophy), the two subjects go nicely together. Obviously english is at the other end of the scale.
However, some universities such as Warwick only accept Further Maths as a fourth A level (this may not be the case for a straight maths course, however, it is for economics), so you may want to contact admission tutors from universities that you may be interested in going to.
Further maths is a very highly regarded subject by most, as admissions tutors know that it is a very rigorous course, and one of the hardest A levels that can be taken.
Hope this helps - if you have any questions then feel free to quote/PM me.
This isn't true - my friend has a n offer for Warwick and is only doing three A2's, including further maths.
Drop the idea of doing sociology - those 'top' unis don't really think much of it - you'll stand a much better chance if you did maths or physics.
Or - you could do FM as a 5th AS
Or - you could do FM as a 5th AS
Continue doing Sociology, FM IS NOT NEEDED (contrary to what posters on here would have you know), Sociology is an easy A*.
What is preferred is different from what is essential. It is not essential, but like others have pointed it may be preferred or might help. It will give you an edge over other applicants. Sociology is a writing subject, so unless you are taking Maths and Philosophy or have an interest there, sociology will not help.
Original post by twelve
This isn't true - my friend has a n offer for Warwick and is only doing three A2's, including further maths.
For Economics? I find it hard to believe that as I've spoken to them many times about this.
Original post by joshgoldman
For Economics? I find it hard to believe that as I've spoken to them many times about this.
No for Maths. Thats what this topic is about isn't it?
Original post by joshgoldman
For Economics? I find it hard to believe that as I've spoken to them many times about this.
At any rate a strong skill in mathematics is a highly desirable trait for economics applicants I believe due to the quantitative nature at university.
Original post by chaz1992
Unless you want to do Medicine or Dentistry at Uni, Further Maths should be taken instead of Sociology.
You're saying you should take sociology instead of FM for Medicine or Dentistry? Personally I'd probably say neither would be ideal.
(edited 13 years ago)
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