Physics vs Engineering (Oxford vs Cambridge)

Honestly, I'm stuck on the same ground. It is really impressive considering that you are doing 5 A-levels! I was thinking of applying for physics at Oxford but then changed my mind to (aerospace) engineering at Cambridge and now I am stuck between both of them and medicine, so I guess you aren't alone. Also you mentioned 'Physicists tend to make considerably more', I'm guessing that is wage-related? From my personal research and also just listening to people, engineers tend to make more but honestly I could be wrong

I'm in the exact same position as you. It's like you described me. Only different is I do computer science instead of chemistry and did an epq instead of spanish. I'm now regretting not choosing chemistry as I misjudged how useful it can be for the future

Great to hear I'm not alone! Yeah, I meant wage-related but I could be wrong too; engineering tends to have a lot of pathways to management and entrepreneurship from what I've gathered but physicists tend to earn more off the bat and getting a physics degree seems like the best pathway for innovation (which is fairly lucrative if you come up with a good patent). But again there's lots of conflicting data I'm quite stuck.
Having to consider medicine as well must be a pain, what A levels do you do?

From what my friends have told me Computer Science seems like more of a niche A level but in a physics context I'd imagine it'd be way more useful than chemistry (especially for data analysis and generally in electronic engineering). What's your EPQ about?

Yeah, I always tend to find that sometimes the students with the most potentials are the ones that are most uncertain which is rather surprising. From my personal research, some websites go on and on about how amazing physicists are (which let's be honest, they are) but then some other ones just be like 'yeah.. its a good degree to have but u don't get many jobs'. So it is a hard decision, to be honest. I am currently taking A-level Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics (wish I did further too) with predicted A*A*A*A*. What field of engineering are you considering?

t was quite an odd epq. It was exploring whether ( and how) and iron man suit could be created in real life.but it turned out pretty well. As you mentioned, I think innovation is pretty important for my future career so I want to choose the degree which allows for more creativity,whether that is engineering or physics

Well electronic engineering seems the most interesting, specifically making robots and understanding components so you can make something useful and understand the systems that are basically in control of everything. Though on the flipside mechanical engineering's focus on the macro side of machines seems more practical and can be applied to a greater range of problems. I though mechatronic engineering would solve the indecision between the two but apparently it's just seen as a worse version of both, why bother getting a mechatronic engineer to solve a problem a mechanical/ electronic engineer would probably be better equipped to solve?
Finishing all of A level Maths has been the only upside to further so far; the starting modules are called "decision maths" (at least for my exam board) and it's really dry. Learning about sorting algorithms and stuff that seems unnecessary to have cluttering the brain, biology seems much more interesting.

That sounds awesome! Tony Stark's career is actually quite similar to what I want mine to be (only less corporate and more tinkering). I'd love to read your EPQ if you'd let me, sounds really interesting.

Well whatever you choose to do, you will do great. And haha, I don't understand how a combination of subjects is worse than taking them separately, like Engineering physics. I think there's something along the lines of 'double degrees' where you study 2 degrees at the same time. That seems like a very appealing idea to me but it's not common in Uk, compared to some European countries.
Biology indeed is really interesting but it can be a pain in the ass specially if your brain is more numerical rather than literacy based

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm sure you'll do great in whatever you pursue too. I thought having a mechatronic engineering degree or applied physics or engineering physics would be more useful since you get the best of both worlds but apparently that's not how its seen (according to my physics teacher though not a bulletproof source). It seems like specialising early (especially for research based careers) is more useful than having a blend, though research will have you going outside your expertise anyway so the emphasis on specialising seems weird.
Yeah biology is definitetly more memorisation, one of the reasons i chose chem instead for the 4th choice, I would hate to lose marks on an exam because i didnt know that one s p e c i f i c word or a specfic way i had to phrase something

Yh same. Though it seems unlikely, I would definitely like to have a similar career. Yeah you can read it but idk how to send it to you?

Thank you! I think your teacher is a good source since I have found the same news on google after some research. HAHA, at this point certain keywords are drilled into my mind so if I see a question on let's say cardiology/hemoglobin, I will immediately start to think of key phrases that they L O V E

I've been trying to figure this out for 2 months.
I've been set on Engineering since around the end of year 11 (specifically mechanical and electronic). I love understanding why things work, I love theory, I love mathematically rigorous and intuitive explanations. My spare time is basically entirely devoted to reading about physics and tinkering with an Arduino Set I saved up for. My ideal (and probably heavily romanticised) job would involve designing prototypes or improving designs for a range of projects with a team of people, working with others from all over the place, travelling, learning more about science and yeah making a decent amount of money too. I thought that Engineering would be the best degree for this but after looking online a lot (A LOT) and talking to my physics teacher it seems like Physics seems like the best way to go.
Apparently, the physics in engineering degrees is quite diluted relative to a physics degree which kinda sucks. Some other points from what I've gathered include:
-physicists tend to have the most freedom with the technical details in projects
-research physicists have a lot more room for career progression, their work is more academic
-it's much easier to go from physics to engineering than engineering to physics (just in case I have a crisis mid-degree)
-Physicists tend to make considerably more

So right now I'm leaning most towards a physics degree since it seems to be closest to what I'd want but I would really appreciate some more input into the choice between the two. I've done the most research into engineering unis so I've basically neglected Oxford in favour of Cambridge since their engineering course has the better reputation. But if I want to do physics Oxford seems like the better choice (since I can only study physics via natural sciences at cambridge).
Anyway, this has been long enough, thanks in advance for your advice!

PS I got 12 Grade 9s and an A at GCSE, I do A level Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths and AS Spanish and I'm predicted A*A*A*A*A

Honestly, I'm stuck on the same ground. It is really impressive considering that you are doing 5 A-levels! I was thinking of applying for physics at Oxford but then changed my mind to (aerospace) engineering at Cambridge and now I am stuck between both of them and medicine, so I guess you aren't alone. Also you mentioned 'Physicists tend to make considerably more', I'm guessing that is wage-related? From my personal research and also just listening to people, engineers tend to make more but honestly I could be wrong

yeah same I do Physics maths further maths and music and I cant pick between physics at oxford or music/engineering at cambridge welp

I've been trying to figure this out for 2 months.
I've been set on Engineering since around the end of year 11 (specifically mechanical and electronic). I love understanding why things work, I love theory, I love mathematically rigorous and intuitive explanations. My spare time is basically entirely devoted to reading about physics and tinkering with an Arduino Set I saved up for. My ideal (and probably heavily romanticised) job would involve designing prototypes or improving designs for a range of projects with a team of people, working with others from all over the place, travelling, learning more about science and yeah making a decent amount of money too. I thought that Engineering would be the best degree for this but after looking online a lot (A LOT) and talking to my physics teacher it seems like Physics seems like the best way to go.
Apparently, the physics in engineering degrees is quite diluted relative to a physics degree which kinda sucks. Some other points from what I've gathered include:
-physicists tend to have the most freedom with the technical details in projects
-research physicists have a lot more room for career progression, their work is more academic
-it's much easier to go from physics to engineering than engineering to physics (just in case I have a crisis mid-degree)
-Physicists tend to make considerably more

So right now I'm leaning most towards a physics degree since it seems to be closest to what I'd want but I would really appreciate some more input into the choice between the two. I've done the most research into engineering unis so I've basically neglected Oxford in favour of Cambridge since their engineering course has the better reputation. But if I want to do physics Oxford seems like the better choice (since I can only study physics via natural sciences at cambridge).
Anyway, this has been long enough, thanks in advance for your advice!

PS I got 12 Grade 9s and an A at GCSE, I do A level Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths and AS Spanish and I'm predicted A*A*A*A*A

I've been trying to figure this out for 2 months.
I've been set on Engineering since around the end of year 11 (specifically mechanical and electronic). I love understanding why things work, I love theory, I love mathematically rigorous and intuitive explanations. My spare time is basically entirely devoted to reading about physics and tinkering with an Arduino Set I saved up for. My ideal (and probably heavily romanticised) job would involve designing prototypes or improving designs for a range of projects with a team of people, working with others from all over the place, travelling, learning more about science and yeah making a decent amount of money too. I thought that Engineering would be the best degree for this but after looking online a lot (A LOT) and talking to my physics teacher it seems like Physics seems like the best way to go.
Apparently, the physics in engineering degrees is quite diluted relative to a physics degree which kinda sucks. Some other points from what I've gathered include:
-physicists tend to have the most freedom with the technical details in projects
-research physicists have a lot more room for career progression, their work is more academic
-it's much easier to go from physics to engineering than engineering to physics (just in case I have a crisis mid-degree)
-Physicists tend to make considerably more

So right now I'm leaning most towards a physics degree since it seems to be closest to what I'd want but I would really appreciate some more input into the choice between the two. I've done the most research into engineering unis so I've basically neglected Oxford in favour of Cambridge since their engineering course has the better reputation. But if I want to do physics Oxford seems like the better choice (since I can only study physics via natural sciences at cambridge).
Anyway, this has been long enough, thanks in advance for your advice!

PS I got 12 Grade 9s and an A at GCSE, I do A level Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths and AS Spanish and I'm predicted A*A*A*A*A