cs at ucl without fm

What do you think going to a top university will give you over a not top university? Serious question.

No further maths for cs application at top unis

No FM for application to computer science at top unis

I’m in year 12 and unfortunately achieved a grade 7 at maths gcse, i am currently taking Maths,Physics,Biology and am hoping to attend UCL for computer science, however my school offers rn but a grade 8 is needed,I can request to do it but I am VERY STRONGLY unadvisedly to do it.I feel like i can do it but they said it’s better to get an A* in each subject rather than maybe a a D or E in fm but i feel like that’s not the case and if i put in the time i could maybe achieve an A.What should I do?, because i feel like 3 A Levels isn’t strong enough so i was also thinking of maybe picking up econ or suttin to make my application stronger, but idk cause i want to be able to apply pretty confidently to top unis like ucl ,kings and durham.

You don't need it everywhere. Have you checked on The Uni Guide, or on their websites?

My son is at U of Manchester without it... UCL doesn't require it... https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/degrees/computer-science-bsc

I would focus on smashing the ones you can do well on.

Employers may be more keen to employ someone from Oxbridge/imperial than someone who went to other unis. Its unfair yh cause they could be equal in skill or the one who didn't go Oxbridge is better however it's just the reality.

If you have a specific employer you want to work for who specifically wants graduates from Oxbridge then fair enough. However, the truth is that employers are less interested in where people went because everyone has a 1st from Oxford these days. Instead they are much more interested in what you can do and what skills you possess. I was at a seminar lead by the head of recruitment for Europe in Siemens. He was less interested in grads these days and much more interested in apprentices because they turned up with a view to learning skills. All a degree does is show you can pass exams, a skill not required in software businesses.

And one last story. We turned a 1st honours grad from Cambridge in favour of a local lad from MMU. Turns out the Cambridge grad had no people or problem solving skills. So rather than focus on prestige, focus on yourself. People are much less interested in the tie you wear than you think.

(Original post by Africanbroda)yh but I've heard UCL is very competitive these days and not sure if I need the extra boost of fm

If you have only managed 7 in Maths GCSE, you will really struggle to do both Maths and FM for A-Levels and get A*s. You may end up getting lower grades in both because the workload becomes unmanageable.
A Level Maths is much harder than GCSE Maths, and you really have to love Maths to have 12 hours just in combined Maths lessons per weeks, for 2 years straight, plus a significant amount of self study.
A lower grade in FM will weaken your application, and the top unis all require A* in Maths for CS. A*A*A grades will look much stronger than A*A*AB for example, and an A in Maths will exclude you from most competitive CS programmes.

A level maths is not real maths anyway. It’s more like engineering/scientific maths. Computer science maths involves a lot of logic, A level maths includes a very very minimal amount of Logic and is mostly just plug and chug. My advice would be to do further maths as it is at least closer to real maths and what you may find at university level maths, especially skills like proof by induction.

Schools do not allow to take A-Level Further Maths on its own, without doing Maths as well (the clue is in "Further" part of the name). Also, all tops universities have a hard requirement of A-Level Maths with A*, so taking A-Level Maths is unavoidable for CS degree.

Back to the original OP question - the choice is between taking a single Maths A-Level or double Maths (+FM). For someone not absolutely enjoying Maths, the workload in double Maths will mostly will be unmanageable and unrealistic to achieve the required A* in Maths. I know 2 bright mathematicians who comfortably got 9s in GCSE Maths, attempted double Maths at A-Level, and ended up dropping FM part way through because the workload was unbearable and predicted grades would have been below A* for both Maths. Once back on single Maths, they both ended at A*.

What I meant was, yes OP should take further maths as per OP’s original question as it will prepare them better for their degree. However if they really don’t want to and lack the mathematical maturity (at the moment) then that’s fine as I don’t think any computer science degree course actually *requires* further maths, some of the top uni’s strongly recommend it but it’s not a requirement anywhere as far as I know. The only reason I suggested taking further maths is not necessarily for the application process but rather thinking of the bigger picture, it will make your first year much easier with that extra mathematical knowledge.