Experimental Psychology or Mathematics - Oxbridge

Whilst your AS %ages are good for Cambridge maths it is expected that you would be in the 90%+bracket for further maths AS so you may not get an offer
If you apply to Warwick, Bath, Cambridge, Bristol and Durham you will only have one university which isn't after STEP. (Durham who want A*AA).
STEP is used to differentiate between top maths students and therefore would only suit you if knew everything in your maths syllabus well.
Maths tends to be far more competitive than psychology so I would recommend psychology if you have your heart set on Oxbridge.

I would say, judging by your grades, applying for psychology would be wiser if you really do want to go to Oxbridge.
Maths: For Oxford you'd have to take a maths test before you get called for interview. It is extremely difficult and people from my college who got almost 100% in both maths and fm failed to be called for interview. For Cambridge, they look at your UMS modules. Maths is one of the most competitive courses at Cambridge. Most maths candidates will have almost 100% UMS average for both maths and fm. Although your UMS is good, it will not stand out at Cambridge. Even if you did receive an offer, you have to take STEP. Only 50% of mathmos with offers from Cambridge manage to meet their STEP offer. Also, I think Oxbridge prefer another mathsy A-level subject apart from Maths such as physics or chemistry and you do not have that.
I think even though psychology is deemed as 'easy', studying it at Cambridge would be very rewarding because it is the best university in the world. Your UMS in terms of what they're looking for in the average psychology candidate is excellent and the extra curricular things you mentioned are very good for Cambridge and also interesting. I think the tutors will be interested to hear about the roles you played in drama.
In my opinion, you have a much better chance at getting into Oxbridge with psychology, but if you prefer maths, then go for it!

Hey,

I've always had a vast interest in both psychology and maths and I always figured that one day I'd just know which one I prefer and want to study.

My AS subjects were Maths, Further Maths, English Language and Drama & Theatre Studies (so probably not a typical mathematics applicant). I got AAAA, all around 95% apart from F. maths which was high 80's. My GCSE results were 6A*s and 6As.

I took these subjects because I enjoy the science and theory of mathematics as well as the essay based English and Drama. I think my subjects could easily lead into Psychology because of the science side of Maths and in English Language there is a large emphasis on Language and Gender and Language in Children. Also, in Drama & Theatre Studies, I played a variety of characters with different mental illnesses, which added to my interest in Psychology.

I read a lot of science / psychology related books and magazines, such as New Scientist and various books. I've always been good at maths and people expect me to do it; people I know perceive psychology as a soft subject and not worth paying £9000 a year for.. I know people on here that I've never met can't tell me what I should do, but I'd really like opinions!

I'm thinking of applying to Oxford or Cambridge, Bath, Durham, and possibly Bristol or Warwick. If applying to Durham, I'll apply for Mathematics with Psychology. Please give me some advice!

The route into psychology at the two universities varies quite substantially, so it'd be worth deciding which route is best for you. Oh, and EP at Oxford definitely isn't soft

As others have said, Oxbridge mathematics is very competitive (and therefore extremely challenging to get into - either STEP or MAT are both regarded as tough, even for gifted mathematicians), and most applicants will have better UMS scores than yourself (although your grades are very good, obviously! ) This might sound harsh, but if if you choose to apply for maths to top universities, you'll be against people who have wanted to study maths all their lives, whose only interest is mathematics, who achieved ~99% in all of their maths modules, and whilst you'll stand out as a multi-talented and unusual applicant, it might not be enough. I think it's probably fair to say that your A-levels lead more naturally into psychology, which I believe is actually an incredibly interesting "social science" and certainly wouldn't be viewed as a soft degree if you achieved it at a top university like those you've selected, and since you seem to be leaning more towards it, I'd definitely say go for it; your strong maths skills will give you an edge, as will your high UMS scores in English Language and Psychology. May I ask whether you're planning to drop a subject or keep all four to A2?

I'd advise you to decide on the course before picking the uni. What if you pick psychology because you've got a better chance of oxbridge, but then fail to get in?

Not harsh - I needed to hear it! Thanks for your advice . I'd just like to correct you - I haven't actually taken Psychology for A Level.. but yes, I am planning on dropping Drama & Theatre studies so my A Levels will be Maths, Further Maths and English Language. I hope to achieve A*A*A.

Oh, sorry! My head's a bit all over the place at the moment Good choices, and I really hope you get the offers & grades you want. I took Maths & Further Maths to A2 as well, and I'm also about to be a fresher at Cambridge (NatSciPhys), so if you have any questions about either of those, I'll do my best to answer if I can

Your intelligence evidently exceeds mine and I am therefore not qualified to give you advice.

Experimental psychology sounds fun though. In a vaguely psycho way.

I wouldn't agree that my intelligence exceeds yours or anything like that - from the data at hand, we really can't tell. GCSEs and A Levels are not a good indicator or intelligence . But I completely agree that Experimental Psychology sounds incredibly interesting!

It's nice to hear someone say it's not soft - wish some people I knew thought this too! Haha.

EP isn't soft at all. Maybe Psych at some other unis is but I know the course at Ox has a lot of neuroscience in it and (it's good that you like maths) they do a lot of stats as well.

I gather that to do it at Cambs you have to do Nat Sci though, as they don't have a direct EP course. I may be wrong, this is just what I have been told by Psychologists here