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Maths @ Oxford

Hi, Im thinking of applying to Oxford to do Maths but I am not sure about which college to apply to. I have an independent school background but I was told that some colleges favour state school applicants. I have tried to find out more about this but I don't think it's the kind of thing colleges want to admit to! From looking at both the official and unofficial prospectus I quite like the look of St John's, is this a good choice? :confused:

I would really appreciate any help!

Reply 1

redcat

emma87

Hi, Im thinking of applying to Oxford to do Maths but I am not sure about which college to apply to. I have an independent school background but I was told that some colleges favour state school applicants. I have tried to find out more about this but I don't think it's the kind of thing colleges want to admit to! From looking at both the official and unofficial prospectus I quite like the look of St John's, is this a good choice? :confused:

I would really appreciate any help!

St. John's has a good reputation for maths, is big, pretty, rich, geeky, highly academic and has a high proportion of state school people. I doubt they would discriminate against independent school people if they were talented - all tutors want the best people regardless of background cos they've got to actually teach them for three/four years, innit. Some colleges have a lot of state people because a lot apply, largely because those colleges have a rep for having a lot of state school people - it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

John's is also usually pretty oversubsribed, but as many people on here keep saying, that is possibly not a reason against applying. If you're good, you'll certainly get in somewhere, the maths department ALWAYS - it's a formal policy -- makes sure candidates are interviewed by at least two colleges so nobody good gets lost in the shuffle.

It might mean you'd end up somewhere you didn't intend, but if you think you're pretty good, why not take the chance on applying where you want? A close relative of mine, who will remain unidentified so he doesn't kill me for violating privacy, applied to a popular and beautiful college for maths, and they had four applicants for every place that year, and he got in anyway. This person is now constantly smug about the fact that he rejected the advice of relatives to go for a less popular college.

Back on the subject of colleges for maths, I seem to have heard that St. Hugh's has a good rep for maths. It's quite pretty, but kind of far from the centre. Merton is also meant to be good for maths, but very very spoddy. I think Anne's is meant to be good for maths, it's kind of dumpy but has a very good atmosphere, from what I've heard. This is all from stuff I've heard people say. I asked my relative who does maths at Oxford what college was good for maths and he said 'anywhere.' So he was no help at all. You'll like anywhere you go though, they all do the same maths course, and it's all Oxford, and any Oxford college is going to be fun and garner you more kudos later in life than a lot of other places anyway, so don't stress too much about college choice.

But finally, is there any chance you can go to Oxford and actually walk around and look at the colleges quickly, before you apply? My relative chose the college I mentioned because he actually saw it live and he would not have really thought about it otherwise as its brochure entry was not that exciting.

Reply 2

hiroki

apply to whichever college you like the look of most. im going to st. johns to do maths starting this october. so basically i was in exactly the same boat as you a year ago. if u have any particular questions, get in touch.. email/msn is

[email protected]

im in japan at the mo, so ull either have to catch me in uk mornings on msn or email me!

hiroki

Reply 3

mussed

Anne's is excellent for maths - I went for an open day and very nearly applied as the tutors were so nice! Basically, though, I just picked a college at random by what I felt at home with, and if you're getting the vibe *g* for St John's, then apply there.

Maths @ Oxford

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