Applying for Maths: Oxford or Cambridge?

That's definitely not true. I don't know how much Cambridge care about GCSEs, but Oxford really don't care.

An oxford rep told me that at a university conference in london.

shut the **** up

it might be true that cambridge care less (despite having a point system) but unless you have really bad gcses (i am talking no a*s, no as, some bs but mostly cs and ds, which are bad in terms of applying to any top universities) they don't care. They are much more concerned with the test scores and interview performance.

I don't know why he said that. You shouldn't decide on which one to apply to based on your gcses.

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

Well if you want do very well in your maths degree and be around people who are as much talented as you, so you keep working hard with this competition then Cambridge, who cares if its STEP paper or not.... just do well..
Plus i highly recommend you doing further maths ................ and cambridge also prefer students with around 95% ums marks, my mate got an offer to Cambridge and he got 100% for maths, further maths and physic..... these are going to some of the smartest people in the country and world, so u gotta do what you gotta do

university of greenwich is ranked 6th for maths in THE GUARDIAN, so greenwich is best university, no?

university of greenwich is ranked 6th for maths in THE GUARDIAN, so greenwich is best university, no?

I always find the guardian rankings come out with quite weird rankings. I did take a look at the course and it doesn't look amazing.

They once had Bangor and Hull in their maths rankings - think Bangor was top 10 - despite neither uni having a maths degree!

Plus i highly recommend you doing further maths ................ and cambridge also prefer students with around 95% ums marks

Yeah, but everyone doing maths at Bangor and Hull ends up getting a Fields medal.

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

They once had Bangor and Hull in their maths rankings - think Bangor was top 10 - despite neither uni having a maths degree!

From my limited sources, oxford is easier to get into, but Cambridge has a much better global reputation and as a result is a much harder course.

actually what happens is:
Oxford=harder to get an offer, easier to achieve the offer
Cambridge=easier to get an offer, harder to actually fulfill it due to STEP requirements

I agree with the achieving the offer comment

but in terms of actually getting an offer, oxford is still easier.
In my school, 8 people got into oxford and 1 for cambridge, and they were all advised for oxford as its easioer

Lies! Granted high UMS will look fabulous, but they certainly don't expect 95%+; I had 79 in D1 () and have a Cambridge offer, and I know someone who got about 50-ish in his D1 and also has a Cambridge offer. It would obviously help to get the best UMS you can, but as long as you're in the nineties with the majority of exams, other elements of your application are as important. (It's worth noting that the autopool criteria are 7A* or more and 92%+ in your 3 best AS subjects - so they certainly don't automatically disqualify you unless you have around 95% or the like.)