A level vs AS level further maths for Comp Sci at competitive uni

Hey there,

I'm trying to figure out what courses I would like to do at college (in advance), to lead on to doing Computer Science at a leading university. I am currently aspiring to Oxbridge / Imperial, and am achieving 9/8s at GCSE level. I totally understand I may not reach this goal, but I will continue to aspire for it.

I am looking to do A-Level Computer Science, A-Level Maths, and one other subject (economics, physics etc.). I also understand that these unis value further maths, and will look to do it in some form. I am wondering, as somebody who mostly enjoys maths, whether I should take the A-Level Maths + Further Maths course, which is two a-levels or if the unis would still value taking a one year AS level further maths?

Additionally, which uni would you reccommend for a more practical approach to CS? Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial or something entirely different.

Thanks in advance

Reply 1

Teruko

10

They definitely value the full A-level much more than the AS; on Cambridge's website they explicitly state that if you were offered the chance to take the full further maths A-level, they expect you to take it (and that you should only do the AS if you didn't realise that you would need further maths until it was too late)

As for which one, I'd say either Cambridge or Imperial. I chose to apply to Cambridge since it was a more theoretical course (and London is an awful and expensive area to live in by comparison) and it was somewhat higher on the league tables.

As someone who was predicted 4A*s but did not take Further Maths, I got rejected from Cambridge: so take Further Maths! The single maths A-level is quite pathetic in all honesty so you'll be able to breeze through that in less than a year probably.

In my interview they even asked me some questions about year 2 further maths topics that I had never done before... while the questions were definitely doable, having done at least the whole A-level would have made thinge wayyy easier, especially for the TMUA

Reply 2

thomasemery

OP

1

Original post by Teruko

They definitely value the full A-level much more than the AS; on Cambridge's website they explicitly state that if you were offered the chance to take the full further maths A-level, they expect you to take it (and that you should only do the AS if you didn't realise that you would need further maths until it was too late)

As for which one, I'd say either Cambridge or Imperial. I chose to apply to Cambridge since it was a more theoretical course (and London is an awful and expensive area to live in by comparison) and it was somewhat higher on the league tables.

As someone who was predicted 4A*s but did not take Further Maths, I got rejected from Cambridge: so take Further Maths! The single maths A-level is quite pathetic in all honesty so you'll be able to breeze through that in less than a year probably.

In my interview they even asked me some questions about year 2 further maths topics that I had never done before... while the questions were definitely doable, having done at least the whole A-level would have made thinge wayyy easier, especially for the TMUA

That’s really helpful, thank you.

A level vs AS level further maths for Comp Sci at competitive uni

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