[poopnoddy]

I study Chemistry Maths German and Biology at AS level and will definitely be studying Chemistry and Maths at A-Level.

I enjoy studying both and have been thinking about a chemistry degree or a Chemical engineering degree, but decided against the latter due to it having a lot of design/physics components to it.

So now it's between Maths and Chemistry, and a joint honours degree isn't feasible as only a few universities do it, and only 1 in which i would consider applying to. (Leeds)

I can see myself being an accountant/banker etc in the future and was wondering exactly how hard a maths degree is?

[poopnoddy]

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[martinix]

I guess it depends a lot on at what university would you like to study... On average a Chemical engineering degree would probably give a slightly better job prospects and maybe it wouldn't as much work as a maths degree.

[Tomcrease]

To do a maths degree you will want to do at least further maths AS, or you won't stand a chance at getting into a good uni, and if you do study maths without the further maths A level you will be doing a lot of catch up.

[poopnoddy]

(Original post by Tomcrease)
To do a maths degree you will want to do at least further maths AS, or you won't stand a chance at getting into a good uni, and if you do study maths without the further maths A level you will be doing a lot of catch up.

I'm sure only imperial ask for further maths? I'm think of like ucl leeds newcastle nottingham and sheffield


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[Marsha2112]

(Original post by poopnoddy)
I'm sure only imperial ask for further maths? I'm think of like ucl leeds newcastle nottingham and sheffield


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No, all the 15 ones ask for it and the rest prefer it. I know UCL do fo sho.

[obbsidian]

The good thing about maths degrees is that they can be very flexible. You can often take modules from computer science, stats, business, economics and physics among others so that it is something to consider.

On the other hand, maths is often considered one of the hardest degrees at a top uni, and most people find they need to do quite a lot of work to get by so make sure you really enjoy maths before choosing it!!

[Tomcrease]

(Original post by poopnoddy)
I'm sure only imperial ask for further maths? I'm think of like ucl leeds newcastle nottingham and sheffield


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sorry I didn't see you had a list, and I believe they all require or 'recommend' further maths to an extent. I know for a fact ucl requires it as ucl is also asking for STEP papers next year as well, and good luck doing STEP without any further maths. I was in exactly your situation. I didn't do further maths in my AS year then decided I wanted to do maths at uni and thought it only sensible to pick it up, and I'm so glad I did. I ended up doing the full A level in 1 year, waiting on results now. if you have the option and still want to do maths come September please pick up at least the AS and look on ucas for entry requirements, I would, but It's hard on a phone. I know the top 20 would expect it. ucl does. Bath, bristol, Warwick, imperial, Lancaster, Durham, Manchester (I think) Surrey, Southampton I know all want it. If you want to do maths at uni why not do it?

[dom99]

(Original post by Tomcrease)
To do a maths degree you will want to do at least further maths AS, or you won't stand a chance at getting into a good uni, and if you do study maths without the further maths A level you will be doing a lot of catch up.

thats not true, further maths would help but certainly wont make much difference in regards to "catch up". First year is designed to get everyone on a level pegging and as long as you do the work it wont make much difference. I did maths physics and geography at A-level and thought first year was a doddle

[dom99]

(Original post by Tomcrease)
sorry I didn't see you had a list, and I believe they all require or 'recommend' further maths to an extent. I know for a fact ucl requires it as ucl is also asking for STEP papers next year as well, and good luck doing STEP without any further maths. I was in exactly your situation. I didn't do further maths in my AS year then decided I wanted to do maths at uni and thought it only sensible to pick it up, and I'm so glad I did. I ended up doing the full A level in 1 year, waiting on results now. if you have the option and still want to do maths come September please pick up at least the AS and look on ucas for entry requirements, I would, but It's hard on a phone. I know the top 20 would expect it. ucl does. Bath, bristol, Warwick, imperial, Lancaster, Durham, Manchester (I think) Surrey, Southampton I know all want it. If you want to do maths at uni why not do it?

But true I do accept that these days (I applied 4 years ago and it was different then) it would be better to have it purely to get into a better uni

[poopnoddy]

(Original post by dom99)
But true I do accept that these days (I applied 4 years ago and it was different then) it would be better to have it purely to get into a better uni

Yeah some recommend it and at some (UCL and imperial i think it's compulsory)


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[Tomcrease]

(Original post by dom99)
thats not true, further maths would help but certainly wont make much difference in regards to "catch up". First year is designed to get everyone on a level pegging and as long as you do the work it wont make much difference. I did maths physics and geography at A-level and thought first year was a doddle

(Original post by dom99)
But true I do accept that these days (I applied 4 years ago and it was different then) it would be better to have it purely to get into a better uni

I am thinking less in terms of catch up (since I haven't started uni yet I don't know) but more in terms of getting into a better ranked uni. If the applications people have someone with further maths and someone without I'm fairly happy to guess they would pick the one with further maths, not because it makes them necessarily better at the subject but because it shows they have more enthusiasm towards it. which in the end is what I feel counts. I had a Cambridge interview for maths and they grilled me on why I didn't originally take further maths AS and asked how I knew it was right for me so soon, why hadn't I done it originally. I didn't get an offer in the end, and I am glad because I would never have hit the step requirement. Which is another note for the OP, if you apply to imperial, bath, warwick, ucl look at step papers, it is not easy and requires a lot of practise.

However I can't argue with you that I'm sure the OP will be fine without further when going for a non top 10/20 uni. I'm just saying it can't hurt your chances to take it. Some unis may also relax your offer if you do take it for instance AAB instead of A*AA I know one uni does, off the top of my head I can't remember which, maybe Surrey?

[ttoby]

Have a look at http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki...y_requirements

Many of the top universities would give lower offers to people studying further maths, and some go as far as to require it either to AS or A2. But then there are also plenty of universities that don't ask for further maths but many of them wouldn't be so highly ranked.

On their websites, a few of the higher ranked universities say that if further maths was offered at your school but you didn't take it then that would impact negatively on your application. So in your personal statement you would probably want to justify why you didn't take further maths before and why you changed your mind.

Also, you mentioned that there weren't many universities offering joint honours degrees. What you could consider doing is looking at the lists of module options offered and see if anywhere allows you to take chemistry modules (or just any module from another department) as part of a maths degree. I know Warwick allows this but their offer for people with AS further maths is quite high so I don't know if that would suit you or not. You could also look for chemistry degrees that let you take maths options but I don't know how common that is.

[BillLionheart]

I thoroughly recommend studying as much maths as you can before starting a maths degree and even a nodding familiarity with the material in AS further is a help. That said plenty of students do fine on a maths degree without doing FM, they just work a bit harder in the first year and catch up.

As for the original question you should do a maths degree if you love maths and you are good at it. If not you will find that many other degrees are easier and you may well enjoy them more.