Are extra-curricular activities important for applying for maths

I'm going into year 12 this year and at the end of the year we were given application forms to Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and the Millenium Volunteer's scheme, so i was just wondering how important are these when applying for maths for degree

Reply 1

wilkinson42

It doesnt matter what degree you are doing - the universities love to see that people undertake extra-curricular activities. We were told before writing personal statements for UCAS that we should write down as many extra activities as possible because this makes your application stand out and shows you have an extra dimension rather than just academic.

They show that you can interact with others in a social environment (a major part of university), can have commitment to activities and can 'manage your time' because you have completed them whilst in full time education.

Duke of Edinburgh is a brilliant opportunity anyway whether you are doing it to put on your uni application or not - wish I had been able to do it at my school.

Reply 2

SsEe

I suppose it depends where you apply. I got offers from Oxford, Bath, Sheffield, Bristol, Manchester and Durham with barely any ECs. I think I mentioned playing trumpet, chess and having some "position of responsibility" at school.

I think things that would stand out are:

Any further reading you've done - especially text books aimed at first year undergraduates. They want to see that you have an idea of what you're letting yourself in for! Uni maths is a whole different ball game to A level.

Maybe things like the maths challenge, BMO and similar.

Reply 3

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cvat

why on earth are you applying for maths? i hope you've done your research and know what you will be letting yourself in for? it is completely different to alevel maths, and i did it for a year at oxford and dropped out after realising how different it was and realising how much i hated it. i've wasted two years of my life because i chose a wrong degree the first time around - just try and make sure you don't fall into the same trap i did :smile:

Reply 4

SsEe

rockclimber

Don't try and put the OP off doing something just because you didn't like it.
I agree with doing research though. And it's this that will stand out in an application.

A level maths is all about methods. You learn how to differentiate, how to find turning points, how to solve differential equations etc.

Uni maths has that too, but is mainly about laying down a firm foundation to everything with rigorous definitions and proofs to ensure that your methods really do work. Also it's about abstracting things that you already understand, like the integers or real numbers, to form more general systems that are sometimes a lot easier to study. You can then use what you learn about the more abstract system to answer more difficult questions about the object you started with.

Reply 5

cvat

yeah i was just planning that closer to the time i'd do more further reading, i don't see why i shouldn't apply for maths i just don't have the time to do many extra curricular activites

Reply 6

SsEe

Only do ECs if you want to do them for their own sake. I think you'd be wasting your time doing them just to make your maths application look shinier.

Are extra-curricular activities important for applying for maths

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