This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Cambridge Maths Students and Applicants

Are there any mathmos who opted for the straight maths route (i.e. not natsci or maths and physics) who are intent on becoming theoretical physicists?

From what I've gathered, the Cambridge maths course > any physics degree if you're interested in TP.

I'm sure there are quite a few that either start off with this intention and carry it through (and quite a few who end up doing other kinds of maths instead), and also quite a few who don't have that plan/have no idea what they want to do, but end up doing theoretical physics anyway.

The point is that after first year, you're free to chooses courses (with of course, a warning that there are some courses that are key to a mathematician's development, and should probably be taken), so it's incredibly easy to do what you've just described.

I couldn't possibly comment on how the maths course compares to other physics courses.

Reply 3921

shamika

16

Original post by Apologetic Cube

Are there any mathmos who opted for the straight maths route (i.e. not natsci or maths and physics) who are intent on becoming theoretical physicists?

From what I've gathered, the Cambridge maths course > any physics degree if you're interested in TP.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2801773&page=49&p=49881139#post49881139

I also seem to remember a conversation between some people here (ages ago) where they left it at NatSci for particle physics (and something else... Condensed matter theory?) and Maths with applied options for everything else. I don't think it was quite a consensus though - the two people discussing were maths and NatSci, each unsurprisingly advocating their choice of degree.

Reply 3922

Xenorebrem

11

Original post by physicsmaths

yes at first. Now ive given up all hopes of any physics because of my low A.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Good riddance.

Reply 3923

JosephML

2

Original post by Apologetic Cube

Thanks for getting back to me.

Can I ask, despite the fact there is an abundance of theoretical physics courses available in part III mathematics, how does it compare to part IB and part II? Obviously if you opted for the Mathematics and Physics option you'd be doing just as much physics as the NatSci students who picked physics, but when it comes to part IB and part II, are mathmos able to specialise/focus *solely* on theoretical physics areas? Or would it be mandatory for them to do a lot of pure maths/applied maths other than TP, as well?

Regardless of how naive this will sound, seeing as I'm not even in university yet, I can see myself being interested in particle theory; the likes of string theory, QFT etc. Interestingly, one of the guys in this area that I spoke to said that mathmos often have an advantage over natsci/physics undergrads when it comes to post-grad because they had a strong background in topics like group theory which are essential to understanding these areas of TP.

Here are the course lists for IB and II:

http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/course/coursesIB.pdf

http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/course/coursesII.pdf

There's plenty of Physics to keep you going. In my opinion, if you want to go into theoretical physics you're best off just doing straight maths in Part IA. The Dynamics and Relativity course covers a decent chunk of NatSci IA physics and in more depth too since then assume you know more maths - for example I don't think the NatScis reformulate Newton's Laws of motion in non-inertial frames and nor do they do 4 vectors for special relativity.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3924

JosephML

2

Original post by Apologetic Cube

Thanks.

What about when it comes to part IB and part II? Would you recommend sticking to the maths tripos or switching over to NatSci?

Yeah, always stick with maths - the physics gets better as the course progresses.

Reply 3925

TirnanF

3

•

I read today that the average first year Maths undergrad in 2013 had an average of 598 UCAS points. Isn't this incredibly high, as the typical offer is A*AA or A*A*A?

4A*'s is only 560 UCAS points.

EDIT: for Cambridge only.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3926

Jasey

6

Original post by TirnanF

•

I read today that the average first year Maths undergrad in 2013 had an average of 598 UCAS points. Isn't this incredibly high, as the typical offer is A*AA or A*A*A?

4A*'s is only 560 UCAS points.

EDIT: for Cambridge only.

Probably includes IB and other international qualifications. E.g. 45 points in the IB = 900 UCAS points

Reply 3927

harr

15

Original post by TirnanF

•

I read today that the average first year Maths undergrad in 2013 had an average of 598 UCAS points. Isn't this incredibly high, as the typical offer is A*AA or A*A*A?

4A*'s is only 560 UCAS points.

EDIT: for Cambridge only.

Mean or median? (Potential scores are bounded below.)

In my experience, people tend to do three proper A levels and an AS, with Further Maths on top. A*A*A*Aa comes out as 600.

Not everyone does that many A levels (you shouldn't feel that you have to in order to get in), but quite a few do more (I got 720 in the days before A*s, and I'm hardly exceptional), particularly once you add in stuff like General Studies.

Edit: Thought 598 sounded a bit low.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3928

username937760

16

Original post by TirnanF

•

I read today that the average first year Maths undergrad in 2013 had an average of 598 UCAS points. Isn't this incredibly high, as the typical offer is A*AA or A*A*A?

4A*'s is only 560 UCAS points.

EDIT: for Cambridge only.

It depends on how you view it. If you are doing Maths at Cambridge you are very likely to score at least 3 A* grades (Double Maths, Physics) which nets 420 points before even considering 4th subjects, extra AS subjects, and various other non-academic qualifications which net you points - A fairly decent proportion of mathmos have some level of proficiency with at least one musical instrument, for example, which will inflate the scores as well.

For what it's worth I have 620 UCAS points and have no extra curriculars which contribute UCAS points so can easily see why the average is so high.

Reply 3929

username937760

16

Original post by Igooo

C1 - 100
C2 - 100
C3 - 98
D1 - 95
S1 - 94
M1 - 90 (cosine rule? never heard of it)
FP1 - 83 (I know it's pathetic)

Worth giving application to Cambridge (Queens') a shot? Or better try Oxford since it's obviously easier to get into?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Definitely good enough for a competitive application. Not having heard of the cosine rule is a bit odd as you should've done it at GCSE. Is there a similar gap in knowledge for the FP1 score? This is mostly curiosity as it is clearly an outlier anyway.

As an aside though I don't think it's fair to say Oxford is easier to get into. They have a significantly different system with the MAT (Which is easier but should be, you take it over half a year early) and I think that the truth of the matter is actually that Oxford is much harder to get an offer from, but if you get the offer then it is much easier to meet it.

Noble

...

To the best of my memory you're an Oxford mathmo so perhaps you can weigh in.

Reply 3930

TirnanF

3

Original post by DJMayes

It depends on how you view it. If you are doing Maths at Cambridge you are very likely to score at least 3 A* grades (Double Maths, Physics) which nets 420 points before even considering 4th subjects, extra AS subjects, and various other non-academic qualifications which net you points - A fairly decent proportion of mathmos have some level of proficiency with at least one musical instrument, for example, which will inflate the scores as well.

For what it's worth I have 620 UCAS points and have no extra curriculars which contribute UCAS points so can easily see why the average is so high.

Yes I understand now. For a minute I thought that 4A* grades at A level would be insufficient and began to worry.

Reply 3931

Slumpy

16

Original post by TirnanF

•

I read today that the average first year Maths undergrad in 2013 had an average of 598 UCAS points. Isn't this incredibly high, as the typical offer is A*AA or A*A*A?

4A*'s is only 560 UCAS points.

EDIT: for Cambridge only.

Scottish system, so my AAAAaa was 624 (IIRC) before you counted standard grades (in my day, they counted for Scotland :P ) or ECs. 600 average sounds easily believable, given I know a sizeable number of people will've hit 5 A-levels anyway.

Reply 3932

newblood

19

anyone doing maths at downing?

Reply 3933

ukdragon37

14

Original post by TirnanF

•

I read today that the average first year Maths undergrad in 2013 had an average of 598 UCAS points. Isn't this incredibly high, as the typical offer is A*AA or A*A*A?

4A*'s is only 560 UCAS points.

EDIT: for Cambridge only.

Original post by Slumpy

Scottish system, so my AAAAaa was 624 (IIRC) before you counted standard grades (in my day, they counted for Scotland :P ) or ECs. 600 average sounds easily believable, given I know a sizeable number of people will've hit 5 A-levels anyway.

I think I totaled mine up once with all the bits and bobs in the Scottish system and it came to 1000+ points... but in the end all Cambridge cared about for me was the standard offer. :dontknow:

Reply 3934

newblood

19

Original post by ukdragon37

I think I totaled mine up once with all the bits and bobs in the Scottish system and it came to 1000+ points... but in the end all Cambridge cared about for me was the standard offer. :dontknow:

did you get in?>

Reply 3935

ukdragon37

14

Original post by newblood

did you get in?>

I've came out the other side for a year already :tongue:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3936

newblood

19

Original post by ukdragon37

I've came out the other side for a year already :tongue:

cor blimey nice

Reply 3937

TirnanF

3

Original post by ukdragon37

I think I totaled mine up once with all the bits and bobs in the Scottish system and it came to 1000+ points... but in the end all Cambridge cared about for me was the standard offer. :dontknow:

How on earth did you get 1000 UCAS points?

Reply 3938

ukdragon37

14

Original post by TirnanF

How on earth did you get 1000 UCAS points?

Exactly due to what people previously said: lots more Advanced Highers (A-levels) besides the standard offer, extra Higher (AS) subjects, musical instruments exams, and at the time Scottish Standard Grades (GCSEs) and vague categories like "Core Skills" in the Scottish Qualifications Authority framework also counted for points.

But of course what mattered at the end was just the standard offer.

Reply 3939

Slumpy

16

Original post by ukdragon37

I think I totaled mine up once with all the bits and bobs in the Scottish system and it came to 1000+ points... but in the end all Cambridge cared about for me was the standard offer. :dontknow:

I think I only hit slightly under 900 points, but got ABB12 as my offer (and I and II for STEP), so I'm gonna call the easier than standard offer a win :p:

Cambridge Maths Students and Applicants

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you