Applying for Physics : Your thoughts?

Hey Roomies. After a bit of deliberation I think I've managed to whittle my choices to do Physics in 2007 down to six.

Imperial - MSci w/Theoretical
Warwick - MPhys
Manchester - MPhys w/Astro
Bristol - MPhys w/Astro
Leeds - MPhys w/Astro
UCL - Msci w/Theoretical

My predicted grades are A,A,A,B in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths respectively. My idea was to have two universities with average offers of AAB+, two with ABB and two with BBB or lower, which is the absolute minimum I should get, really.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts, particularly on the following points:

I chose UCL because I'd really like to study in London, but do you think Royal Holloway would be a better choice?

I like the look of Warwick, but do you think I should switch it for Durham, which seems slightly more prestigious but more difficult to get into? Do you think it would be a wasted choice?

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

D x

Reply 1

Wangers

have you considered physical NatSci courses? you could have ashot at Oxbridge with those grades - if you want a challenging course

but those choices sound reasonable - go for it

Wangers

Reply 2

boywithathorninhisside

I thought applying for Oxbridge might be a wasted choice without all A grades, and I'm far more interested in the Physics side of it, anyhow. But thanks for the encouragement :smile:

Reply 3

jumpshiftbite

Hallo, I'm applying for physics too (including Imperial, Warwick and UCL).

I can't say which is better out of UCL and Royal Holloway, but I've applied to both but I'd rather end up in UCL out of the two. I've been to an open day at Royal Holloway and the students taking me round admitted that there wasn't really much to do there due to the location of the university (not in very close proximity to anything interesting, I'm told). The buildings are stunning though, on the other hand. But anyway, I'd say UCL is a pretty sound choice.

I'm applying for Durham - I personally would love to end up there. You're probably right about it being harder to get into because it's a very good university, and has the college systems and pretty buildings and all that. But with your grades, I wouldn't say it was a "wasted" choice by any means. Perhaps the B in maths could be a concern considering you're applying for physics, and would be up against lots of the students who are rejected from Oxbridge and apply to Durham as their second choice. Warwick has an ace reputation too, so there's no urgency to change your decision. I don't think a degree from Durham is miles better than one from Warwick to be honest.

Hope i've been at least slightly helpful!

Reply 4

boywithathorninhisside

More than helpful jumpshiftbite, thanks for the advice. I'd like to put Durham down, especially since I read somewhere it wasn't particularly oversubscribed (could be wrong) but I've heard they pay special heed to your GCSE grades (mine weren't stunning) and I'm deliberating whether a Uni with lower entry requirements would be a better choice in case I don't do so well. Nightmare!

Reply 5

kellywood_5

Jumpshiftbite is right about Royal Holloway; it's only about an hour away from London by train, but it's in a tiny little village, so if you want to study in London, I'm guessing it would be far too quiet and isolated for you! UCL has a better reputation as well. As for Durham, I think you should go for it. It probably is slightly harder to get into than Warwick, and they do tend to care about GCSEs more than other unis, but I don't think physics is that competitive and your predictions are excellent.