Maths at oxbridge

Ive been thinking about going for an undergraduate degree on maths but ive been wondering if its actually possible. Im from the UK and my grades wont be a limiting factor by any means but i havent really accomplished much outside of school in regards to challenges and olympiads and stuff (my best accomplishment being a silver in the SMC). People always tell me that only crazy geniuses can study maths at oxbridge but Its either maths or i have to study engineering at that seems boring XD.

Reply 1

sparklydinosaur

3

I’m assuming that you’re in year 12 given that the Oxbridge deadline for 2024 entry has already passed. This means that you still have the whole year to do supercurriculars for your personal statement and to prepare well for the entry exams, which Oxbridge will care about the most! Of course there will be crazy geniuses at Oxbridge studying maths but it doesn’t mean that everyone is, you definitely still have the ability to make a strong application :smile:

But even if you don’t get accepted to Oxbridge it’s much better to do a degree you’re really passionate about at a really good university than go to Oxbridge for something you’re not passionate about

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 2

{Moss}

20

Original post by sparklydinosaur

I’m assuming that you’re in year 12 given that the Oxbridge deadline for 2024 entry has already passed. This means that you still have the whole year to do supercurriculars for your personal statement and to prepare well for the entry exams, which Oxbridge will care about the most! Of course there will be crazy geniuses at Oxbridge studying maths but it doesn’t mean that everyone is, you definitely still have the ability to make a strong application :smile:

But even if you don’t get accepted to Oxbridge it’s much better to do a degree you’re really passionate about at a really good university than go to Oxbridge for something you’re not passionate about

Wonderfully put!
Even without competitions there are still plenty of things you can do to show your interest, such as reading up on things outside of the normal curriculum, creating some coding projects, etc. What Oxbridge really look for is passion, and that often comes with hard work. It's not easy to get into them, but if you check out some other threads plenty of people say they're surprised by how much work people do put in, (as sparklydinosaur says) not being the 'geniuses' you may expect.
Again as the above states, passion is the major thing here, and what's most important is applying to something you enjoy :smile:

.
Best of luck!

Reply 3

Tbc_losis

OP

2

Damn Tysm. U guys r about to make me cry😢

Reply 4

Muttley79

20

Original post by Tbc_losis

Damn Tysm. U guys r about to make me cry😢

Talk to your Maths teachers. What support will you get with MAT/STEP? Do they think you have the ability to do well at these?

Look at the books you could borrow from the library. You could start with popular maths books by Rob Eastaway such as 'Why do buses come in threes? 'How long is a piece of string?' or 'The hidden maths of sport' https://robeastaway.com/books

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 5

Tbc_losis

OP

2

Original post by Muttley79

Talk to your Maths teachers. What support will you get with MAT/STEP? from the library/Maths dept library. Do they think you have the ability to do well at these?

Look at the books you could borrow from the library. You could start with popular maths books by Rob Eastaway such as 'Why do buses come in threes? 'How long is a piece of string?' or 'The hidden maths of sport' https://robeastaway.com/books

Imma add them to my reading list🤝

Reply 6

Will_W

14

In regards to people saying you have to study engineering, maths degrees can give you a great baseline for many jobs that are stem related. What you will study might be highly theoretical, but maths graduates are sought after for their problem solving abilities and are known to generally be pretty smart. Im a second year maths student at Bath for example, and Bath is known for its year-long work placements that students across a variety of disciplines get. Combine that with a maths degree and you should have really good job prospects, and experience in a field that you're interested in so you can get a feel for it. So remember that it is worth looking for internships/placements while at uni.

Not sure about Oxford but I will say as far as I am aware Cambridge don't care that much about personal statement, though it still needs to be decent. Offers are much more based on how well you perform on the interview at Cambridge, and the part that's really hard is actually meeting the offer of grade 1 in STEP 2 and 3. If you're serious about Cambridge, I would start to look into preparing for STEP as early as possible, given you've covered the content in a given question (STEP database will help you with that).

Reply 7

Tbc_losis

OP

2

Original post by Will_W

In regards to people saying you have to study engineering, maths degrees can give you a great baseline for many jobs that are stem related. What you will study might be highly theoretical, but maths graduates are sought after for their problem solving abilities and are known to generally be pretty smart. Im a second year maths student at Bath for example, and Bath is known for its year-long work placements that students across a variety of disciplines get. Combine that with a maths degree and you should have really good job prospects, and experience in a field that you're interested in so you can get a feel for it. So remember that it is worth looking for internships/placements while at uni.

Not sure about Oxford but I will say as far as I am aware Cambridge don't care that much about personal statement, though it still needs to be decent. Offers are much more based on how well you perform on the interview at Cambridge, and the part that's really hard is actually meeting the offer of grade 1 in STEP 2 and 3. If you're serious about Cambridge, I would start to look into preparing for STEP as early as possible, given you've covered the content in a given question (STEP database will help you with that).

Step 2 and 3 papers are based off of further maths content that I haven’t learned in school yet (because mine has a weird system where we only start it in yr13). Do you think it would be worth it learning the necessary content know whilst I’m in yr12 then so I can start preparing ASAP?

Reply 8

Will_W

14

Well I meant trying STEP 1 papers first. I forgot that STEP 1 was discontinued. Doing STEP 1 questions will help you get used to the question style of STEP papers.

Reply 9

melancollege

17

Original post by Tbc_losis

Ive been thinking about going for an undergraduate degree on maths but ive been wondering if its actually possible. Im from the UK and my grades wont be a limiting factor by any means but i havent really accomplished much outside of school in regards to challenges and olympiads and stuff (my best accomplishment being a silver in the SMC). People always tell me that only crazy geniuses can study maths at oxbridge but Its either maths or i have to study engineering at that seems boring XD.

Hi, I study Maths at Cambridge and I wouldn't worry too much. I only considered applying to Oxbridge after getting my A-Level Maths results (I did it in Year 12 as my college would do all of Further Maths in Year 13) so you're already ahead of me. I've previously spoken to my DoS (Director of Studies) and he said that what they're looking for is really just Mathematical ability and aptitude. Obviously, it's great to do relevant supercurriculars such as Olympiads but don't worry too much. If you can, I'd just say to do as much Maths as you can, including STEP practice and other things. Reading books is great if you're particularly interested in them, but I'd say actually doing Maths is significantly more beneficial. I only mentioned one book in passing on my PS and that was only to segue into talking about something else (I can't remember exactly what, it's been a while).