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Maths at uni a good idea?

I do maths, further maths, physics and chem and really enjoy all of them, but I prefer the theoretical parts more and find lab work in the sciences quite tedious which is why I'm leaning towards doing a maths degree (I would be sad to give up the chem and phys though). At the end of Y12 I sat C1, C2, C3, FP1, M1, S1 and D1 and they all went pretty well. I'm aiming for A*AA, might be able to scrape A*A*A.

I was just wondering what peoples experiences were like with maths at uni cus I heard it was quite different to maths at A level? After really enjoying the maths a level would it be better to go for a course like engineering? idk
If you don't get a comfortable A*A* you'd probably struggle at the very best unis (COWI plus UCL) but with A*AA you may do well at the likes of Durham etc

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carolinehj
OP
11
Original post by TheRandomGenius
If you don't get a comfortable A*A* you'd probably struggle at the very best unis (COWI plus UCL) but with A*AA you may do well at the likes of Durham etc

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Durham is my first choice but their standard offer for maths is A*A*A :frown:
You can really enjoy Maths at A-level and really hate it at uni because they are two different things, as you've heard already.

The main thing to check is Algebra and Analysis and whether the idea of studying those things appeal to you. Have a look at some introductory stuff if possible, or a kind of summary/examples of some topics. Some people like it but not everyone does. Thankfully I do a course where there's enough choice to study things that aren't algebra or analysis after halfway through the second year, but that's not always the case.

I do like however the choice of studying some accounting, finance, econometrics, marketing, physics, computing etc here and there throughout the course. It's a nice break from maths.

It is quite a difficult degree to do but very much possible to do well in if you work really hard and keep on top of everything. It's usually a case of get everything right in the exam and you score highly.
Reply 4
Avatar for carolinehj
carolinehj
OP
11
Original post by SeanFM
You can really enjoy Maths at A-level and really hate it at uni because they are two different things, as you've heard already.

The main thing to check is Algebra and Analysis and whether the idea of studying those things appeal to you. Have a look at some introductory stuff if possible, or a kind of summary/examples of some topics. Some people like it but not everyone does. Thankfully I do a course where there's enough choice to study things that aren't algebra or analysis after halfway through the second year, but that's not always the case.

I do like however the choice of studying some accounting, finance, econometrics, marketing, physics, computing etc here and there throughout the course. It's a nice break from maths.

It is quite a difficult degree to do but very much possible to do well in if you work really hard and keep on top of everything. It's usually a case of get everything right in the exam and you score highly.


Thanks for the advice :smile: I've had a look and it definitely looks do able but just quite boring. However most courses I've looked at have a lot of choice in second and third year, and also you can usually do a non-maths module in first year.

So the question is whether it's worth doing the boring stuff for a year and a half and then having the ability to branch out into the stuff I really love, or to do a different degree like engineering. Tbh the analysis part doesn't exactly thrill me but if I don't do maths I don't really know what else I'd do?

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