Applying for Maths: Oxford or Cambridge?

I assume you meant:

Oxford - Less chance of getting an offer but higher chance of meeting offer.
Cambridge - Higher chance of getting an offer but harder to achieve offer.
Warwick - Easier than the two above to get an offer but again hard to achieve it.

The Warwick offer is considerably easier than the Cambridge one (and considerably harder than the Oxford one - although that is because Oxford entrants will have already taken their hard exam (the entrance test)).

I have got full UMS in C1 and M1 so far - it is not necessarily confidence in maths generally I lack, but doing well in STEP feels more of an unknown quantity. After experiencing BMO1, I know that the more 'creative' papers which do not just rely on remembering methods like at A level can be much more tricky!

Cambridge is better for maths

Hi,
I am in Year 12 and have been recently looking at whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge for Maths. I initially looked at Cambridge, but now I am slightly concerned about the differences in application processes. For example, I plan to also apply to Warwick, and if all goes really well I may receive offers from both Cambridge and Warwick (setting them as firm and insurance offers). My problem then would be that both rely quite heavily on STEP - which I feel is quite risky, because at the moment the STEP paper is an unknown quantity (I have looked at past papers, but without C3/C4 knowledge I don't know exactly where I would stand with them). If instead I chose a different insurance offer which did not rely on STEP, I would feel that it was a missed opportunity to go to the very top Maths universities.

On the other hand, if I applied to Oxford, I understand that the admissions test will have been done in November, so the offer by them would instead include A*s at A Level rather than STEP. I would still plan to take STEP, but at least then if it does not go well my offer does not heavily rely on it. So, my question is whether this is a thing I should be concerned about, or whether I should just worry about it nearer the time (I haven't even visited them yet, so I am jumping ahead a bit anyway)? If I did not meet firm and insurance offers requiring STEP, would I not be able to get a university place?

Thanks

Oxford simply isn't very well known for its mathematics, as especially its research isn't very leading. Warwick and Cambridge are about equal.

My personal take is that Cambridge is not noticably better for maths unless you are going to be roughly in the top 10% of Cambridge undergrads. It's arguable Oxford is better if you're going to be in the bottom 50% of undergrads.

And for what it's worth, my feeling on comparing the 1st year analysis exams at Oxford and Cambridge was that if anything the Oxford exams were harder.

Why would you aim to be in the bottom 50% of undergrads?

I've no idea. I didn't suggest anyone should aim to be in the bottom 50%. But of course the reality is that half of Cambridge students are in the bottom 50% of Cambridge undergrads.

For Oxford, you take the entrance test before you get an offer.