Do I have a Chance at Maths at University with no Further Maths?

Some unis will be immediately off-limits. For example Warwick will require the A2 in further maths. Durham will also require the AS unless your school doesn't offer it
http://www.furthermaths.org.uk/?section=universities&page=maths_entry

I would advise doing the entire Further maths A-level during your gap year, this means a) your maths will not become rusty b) you'll be just as prepared as your fellow peers who start uni at the same time. It's also more maths, typically more interesting maths so why not?

Maths is fun.

Yes.

I'm in your exact same position, one year on, so I couldn't be in a better position to answer your question really.

I too did A-levels in Maths, Biology and Chemistry (dropped Physics after getting A at AS). I initially took AS Further Maths too but dropped it after three weeks as I was convinced I didn't want to go any further with maths at that point (very much regret that decision now). However, I always intended to take a gap year after college to get a break from education and maybe travel a bit so I had plenty of time to come to the natural realisation that in fact I did want to take maths further. So I knuckled down in my final exams, just about scraped an A in Chemistry, miraculously got an A* in Biology and most critically got that crucial A* in Maths.

Since then I've been working at a supermarket for 8 months, saving up money for my backpacking trip around Europe (I leave at the end of April). I applied to study Maths at Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Exeter and Lancaster and received 5/5 unconditional offers - despite no Further Maths. Got three open days in the next few weeks to make my mind up.

WOW, that was brilliant. Well done and thanks for the input. What did you originally intend to do?

Well in my first year for some reason I thought I wanted to get into medicine actually. I did a two-week placement at a hospital in the summer and honestly came out of it genuinely inspired. So I started my second year at college, dropping Physics and taking the EPQ (extended essay on cancer treatment). With Medicine you have to apply pretty much straight away and after it had been sent off I pretty much put it out of my head for a few months. It wasn't until March that I heard back from two of the unis - getting invited to interview - and essentially had a little breakdown aha. I realised I'd just been going along with it and it wasn't really what I wanted to do at all. I deleted my application, dropped EPQ and just kind of didn't think about uni again until summer. With the pressure off I just put uni out of my mind and focused on my exams. It was over these months that I came to my natural realisation that Maths is really the only subject I've ever truly enjoyed and genuinely interests me.

So yeah, here I am. I will say though, I'm self-tutoring myself Further Maths now and I only have 8 weeks until I leave the country for three months so I wish I'd started preparing for uni much earlier. Then again I've always liked making things difficult for myself.

That situation is pretty much like mine. I done w/e over the summer in 2 GPs and applied for medicine. I done my EPQ on prostate cancer treatment! But I have not received any offers as of yet and its really making me think about what I want to do, partly because I've not received any offers. If you don't mind me asking. how much have you spent on exams and resources etc?

This is just spooky. Are we the same person?? lol

But you're only considering Maths as a back up if you don't get any offers for Medicine?

Not sure what exams and resources you're referring to. I resat BIOL4 in the summer after getting a D in January (thus why my final A* in Biology was such a miracle) which cost me about £20. I did the UKCAT as well at some point which cost me like £80. Obviously applying for uni the first time round cost me £25. And then this year applying again another £25. This year I'm using a book to self-tutor myself called Engineering Mathematics by KA Stroud which set me back a good £40.

Can't think of anything else, is that what you were after?

Yeah, Thanks!
Yeah, may be. I would need to think about it though, and see if I can go through all the stuff. But I would also need to think about what I really want to do.
What made you diverge from medicine and to maths?

I'd say a gap year is plenty of time to get through all the stuff. No need to stay at college either. Self tutoring for the win. What else would you get up to on a gap year if you took one? Earn some money? Do some travelling?

When I ditched my medical ambitions it was more like an epiphany. In all honesty I have always strived for excellence academically and kind of just wanted to do the best, most impressive degree. There was no passion. I kind of just got swept up in the idea. When I faced the prospect of being interviewed to become a doctor and passionately conveying why it was what I wanted to do... I realised it just wasn't.

So I didn't change my mind from Medicine to Maths. When I withdrew my application it was more of a panic thing. I sort of jumped ship at the last minute. I didn't have a backup plan. I didn't even think about it again for months. A maths degree has always been an option for me but it wasn't actually until I started revising for my final exams that actually considered it. From there it just made more and more sense. Like I say, a very natural gradual realisation.

You should've applied for maths in the first place then