Cambridge doesn't seem to suit me: advice please!

So basically I'm hoping for some advice. I had a pretty poor first term, and I've pretty stressed over the break as well, so I'm weighing up my options. The tl;dr version is in bold.
I feel like if it was only one or two of these then I might be able to muddle through but I don't really think any of it suits me. So, am I alone? Can it get better? I'm seriously considering trying to transfer to my insurance choice, Mathematical Physics at Nottingham. I know it doesn't have the "prestige" but I think a little less pressure and a course I have a chance of enjoying would give me a much better chance.

Help! Any opinions are appreciated and I will try to answer questions.

i cant help you with much of that, and good luck with whatever you decide. just one thing though- the party scene is the norm at most unis so it can take longer to weed out those who dont want to go clubbing. a lot of students wouldn't want to go to the pub too regularly all evening as this would cost £££ as a pint costs more than alcohol bought from the supermarket which can be taken home.

To be honest by my 3rd/ 4th year at Cambreezy ( I was literally running things socially ( club scene/ societal positions).

I guess Cambridge was intimidating initially. I remember my 1st DOS meetings where all of us in my subject met. My DOS was like "some of you will find this course straightforward, whereas others will struggle all the way through"!

And it was a struggle all the way through for me all 4 years ....

at least you made it though

Yeah point in case... If I made it thru Cam, then perhaps the OP should be inspired to make it thru cam?

there is no point in them struggling through 4 years if they know now they might be happier elsewhere

*3 years.

I suppose but one has to take the long term view, probably in 20 years time, this point of our lives will be so critical to where one ends up. & you don't wanna left on the scrap heap!

I'd have to do pure in IB Maths

[*]I'm struggling with the work. Not liking it probably doesn't help, but the pace is too fast and I got behind very quickly. I understand most of lectures (or so I think) but then have no idea what to do on the examples sheets and have to spend even longer sifting through notes to try to get a handle of what's going on.

[*]I don't like the social side. I'm no party animal, and would rather have a quiet drink at a pub, but everyone else seems to either be focused on work, at some kind of society event, or getting completely bladdered.

[*]I don't particularly care about the subject. Everyone else on my course seems to be genuinely interested in maths, can reel off a dozen digits of pi or e.

...

Cambridge doesn't carry half the weight it used to. Neg away, but it's true.

Tbh, Cambridge was a hard route for me personally, I found the step up from A level to 1st year huge !!!

But fair not, passing a cambridge degree is not easy feat... Think of the prestige post uni.

(Footnote: I've read through the first page of this thread and there are a lot of people with kneejerk reactions saying you should drop out or change course immediately. I don't think you should take such drastic action, you're just expressing common concerns that many students at Cambridge and other universities have, especially in the early stages of their course. It's like in the relationships forum where everyone says "break up with him/her now" when the OP has a problem that can probably be fixed!)

You can avoid it almost completely if you want (from personal experience).



It gets better. You've gone directly from an environment where you easily understand everything without much effort to an environment where the work is much more difficult and there are parts you can't do. It takes time to adapt!



You sound very similar to me! I've made some great friends who I can hang out with quietly or sit in our college bar with or whatever. It can take a while to fall into a group of friends with similar tendencies. Don't worry.



It does feel like this sometimes. There are some people like this, but there are also many others that feel like you. Hopefully when you start to specialise a bit more you'll find an area of maths that really interests you.

(Footnote: I've read through the first page of this thread and there are a lot of people with kneejerk reactions saying you should drop out or change course immediately. I don't think you should take such drastic action, you're just expressing common concerns that many students at Cambridge and other universities have, especially in the early stages of their course. It's like in the relationships forum where everyone says "break up with him/her now" when the OP has a problem that can probably be fixed!)

If by IB you mean Investment Banking and you intend to be a quant, you definately need to know stochastic calculus and so analysis (a branch of pure maths) is unavoidable.

In fact you''ll be hard pressed to get into a quant position at any decent IB without a PhD in maths (not any PhD but analysis, stats or applied), theoretical physics or something similar.

If by IB you mean Investment Banking and you intend to be a quant, you definately need to know stochastic calculus and so analysis (a branch of pure maths) is unavoidable.

In fact you''ll be hard pressed to get into a quant position at any decent IB without a PhD in maths (not any PhD but analysis, stats or applied), theoretical physics or something similar.

If by IB you mean Investment Banking and you intend to be a quant, you definately need to know stochastic calculus and so analysis (a branch of pure maths) is unavoidable.

In fact you''ll be hard pressed to get into a quant position at any decent IB without a PhD in maths (not any PhD but analysis, stats or applied), theoretical physics or something similar.

Part "IB" is the second year of the Cambridge maths course (pronounced "one-bee").

Ah the tripos!

But surely everyone should know that regardless of which uni you attend for maths, owing to the watered down standards (in the UK at least) over the years starting from school onwards, in order to gain a complete thorough grounding, there is very little choice at uni, certainly not until way in the latter part of the second / third years?

So even in part IB you would still have to do Pure and Applied maths.

You can avoid it almost completely if you want (from personal experience).

It gets better. You've gone directly from an environment where you easily understand everything without much effort to an environment where the work is much more difficult and there are parts you can't do. It takes time to adapt!

You sound very similar to me! I've made some great friends who I can hang out with quietly or sit in our college bar with or whatever. It can take a while to fall into a group of friends with similar tendencies. Don't worry.

It does feel like this sometimes. There are some people like this, but there are also many others that feel like you. Hopefully when you start to specialise a bit more you'll find an area of maths that really interests you.

Here's a checklist of what you should do.

1. Remind yourself when you applied to university what the reasons were for applying for the course you're on and the university you're at.

2. Whatever the reasons to part 1. (eg great surroundings, interesting course, brilliant prospects), are they still the case?

3. If yes to part 2, then persevere but seek help, else look for an alternative.

<snip>

Sometimes a good tip for working out what to do is to work backwards. Ask yourself where you want to end up after graduating, and hopefully that'll point you in the right direction for your next step.

Whatever you choose to do, be 100% committed. Constantly changing your mind is not going to help and only wastes time.

Have a read of this article in from the Daily Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9601544/Why-Oxford-and-Cambridge-might-not-be-for-you.html

Do not feel pressured to stay, your happiness is the most important thing. I learned this the hard way. I spent many years working in a career that I never wanted to do. Others thought I had a great job, I chose my own hours, had a six figure income, massive bonuses, company cars, loads of perks and benefits and an amazing social life. The problem, I was not happy. One big mistake I made was that my pride would not let me quit, I was always determined to carry on, and no matter how bad it got and how depressed I became I just kept going.
I tried to talk to people but they never seemed to listen, either that or they could not believe I wanted to walk away from a career that others would give their right arm for.
3 years ago I finally decided enough was enough, I walked away and decided to follow my dream. I went back to college, started my own business and I will be going to uni in September (another dream I missed out on). I have less money, an old car and a lot less of many other things and I have never been happier. It is unlikely that I will ever earn as much money again as I did before or move in the same social circles and I just do not care.

I have known many former Oxbridge students, of all of them the two happiest are one that dropped out in his second year and is now a family man and runs his own IT business, the other graduated with 1st class honours and now lives in New Zealand where she breeds alpaca's. There is far to much importance placed on being an Oxbridge student to be successful. Success is waking up in the morning and looking forward to the day ahead, success is being excited about going to work, success is looking forward to the future with excitement, success is going to bed and sleeping contentedly all night.

Life is too short to waste it doing something you do not enjoy. Good luck with whatever you decide and I am sure it will work out for you.

I don't like the course. I opted for Maths with Physics because I don't particularly like pure maths but equally didn't want to have to do many experiments. It turns out that I have to do a lot of both of those things, and there's no real way of avoiding them both until at least third year - I'd have to do pure in IB Maths and experiments in IB Physics.

I'm struggling with the work. Not liking it probably doesn't help, but the pace is too fast and I got behind very quickly. I understand most of lectures (or so I think) but then have no idea what to do on the examples sheets and have to spend even longer sifting through notes to try to get a handle of what's going on.

I can't get away from the work, either. There's just too much of it, and whenever I have a break from it, I'm either worrying about not having done enough or I have no energy to do anything else. At home I like to read, I have an interest in programming and quizzes (hence the username) but in college I feel lethargic.

I don't like the social side. I'm no party animal, and would rather have a quiet drink at a pub, but everyone else seems to either be focused on work, at some kind of society event, or getting completely bladdered. And of course, nursing a pint is a bit of a time sink, and time is a luxury. I played in the college orchestra, but it felt like a wasted two hours every week, and went to pub quizzes on Sundays, which frankly were the only thing I genuinely enjoyed all term.