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Should subjects be capitalised?

4

I have written my personal statement to apply for mathematics, but a fairly trivial question remains. Should I write the subject with a capital letter or not!? :confused:

I have always written it as "Mathematics" but was recently told by a friend that this was in fact incorrect and that the word should not be treated as a proper noun. If you could give your opinion and whether or not you capatilised your subject in your PS, I would be very grateful.

Many thanks for your help.

Reply 1

Champagne Breakfast

16

Not entirely sure. I think when you talk about it as a course you capitalize it, but as a general discipline then not?

Reply 2

im in a coma

Surely it is to be capitalised if you are referring to the name of a course, as that would be a noun?

Reply 3

Knogle

16

mjw

Surely it is to be capitalised if you are referring to the name of a course, as that would be a noun?

Ditto. Capitalisation depends on the context the word is being used in.

Reply 4

Fleece

15

mjw

Surely it is to be capitalised if you are referring to the name of a course, as that would be a noun?

Well it's a noun anyway, just depends if it's classed as a proper noun.

Reply 5

Madprof

12

When refering to a course, 'Mathematics' is the name of that course and so is capitalised. However, 'mathematics' the discipline is not a proper noun and needs no capitalisation (not that I stick to that).

Reply 6

ShaneP

OP

4

Madprof

When refering to a course, 'Mathematics' is the name of that course and so is capitalised. However, 'mathematics' the discipline is not a proper noun and needs no capitalisation (not that I stick to that).

Okay - that makes sense. Thanks for your help.

Reply 7

Juno

20

Just be consistent

Reply 8

kateykat

Personally I wouldn't capitalise "mathematics" in a personal statement unless I was pointedly referring to the actual name of the course, which basically backs up what Madprof said. It's only really necessary to use capitalisation for subjects if they're language based, for instance "English" or "French".

Reply 9

nikki

9

sea_song

Personally I wouldn't capitalise "mathematics" in a personal statement unless I was pointedly referring to the actual name of the course, which basically backs up what Madprof said. It's only really necessary to use capitalisation for subjects if they're language based, for instance "English" or "French".

It looks really weird if you say something like "I have always wanted to study Mathematics at university" or something. Would you say "I have always wanted to have Purple Wallpaper in my bedroom"? :wink:

Reply 10

ShaneP

OP

4

nikki

It looks really weird if you say something like "I have always wanted to study Mathematics at university" or something. Would you say "I have always wanted to have Purple Wallpaper in my bedroom"? :wink:

Hmmm - I never refer to the actual Mathematics course in my PS, so I guess the need to capitalise never arises. And it doesn't seem weird having it uncapitalised in any context I use it in, so there's no real need.

Thanks for your help. :yy:

Reply 11

espo

7

nikki

It looks really weird if you say something like "I have always wanted to study Mathematics at university" or something. Would you say "I have always wanted to have Purple Wallpaper in my bedroom"? :wink:

Ha ha!! Quite right.

Reply 12

Reading Room

9

sea_song

It's only really necessary to use capitalisation for subjects if they're language based, for instance "English" or "French".

What about 'English L/literature'?! Big or small 'L'? :frown:

Reply 13

guccilittlepiggy

14

English Lit

Reply 14

michaelbenson

12

Easy as ABC

What about 'English L/literature'?! Big or small 'L'? :frown:

I tend to follow through, and capitalize Literature too. Sort of like only capitalizing the first word of a famous city; "New york city", for example, doesn't look quite right. But as previously stated whatever your choice make sure you are consistent throughout your personal statement and don't switch from alternative forms of capitalization. Or, else. :p:

Reply 15

Esquire

1

It's Mathematics, obviously.

Reply 16

kateykat

Easy as ABC

What about 'English L/literature'?! Big or small 'L'? :frown:

I applied for English Literature and used a small 'L', but I don't know why I did this...I think if I were to apply for it now I would capitalise both letters, simply because it is actually the name of a subject within the broader discipline and is therefore a proper noun.

Ahh, I know why I didn't capitalise it. Looking back it was because I was talking about literature in general at first rather than the subject and when it came to talking about the actual subject I thought it would look strange to suddenly capitalise the second word. To get round this I would make it blatently obvious that you're talking about the subject by saying something like: "the study of English Literature". Or perhaps if you're speaking about literature generally then just say "literature" rather than adding "English" before it, then capitalise "English Literature" to convey the fact that you are actually referring to the subject.

I don't know if that really makes sense or not! If you're really unsure about your personal statements then try visiting http://studential.com/personalstatements/default.asp It really helped give me ideas when I was writing mine. :smile:

Reply 17

FredTA

1

Sorry to dig up a super old thread, it came up on google as the first result, but if I say " I'm taking Maths Physics and Computing A-Levels and want to go on to study Computer Science at university" Is that grammatically corrct?

Reply 18

PQ

Universities Forum Helper, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post

by FredTA

Sorry to dig up a super old thread, it came up on google as the first result, but if I say " I'm taking Maths Physics and Computing A-Levels and want to go on to study Computer Science at university" Is that grammatically corrct?

No. You're taking Mathematics A level not maths. You shouldn't use contractions (I'm) in formal writing.

This isn't a sentence that should be in a personal statement or application - all of this information is already available elsewhere.

Should subjects be capitalised?

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