physics (undergrad) at oxford!!!

hi! i’m currently a year 12 doing maths, chemistry, physics, and EPQ.
my gcse grades are: 999999888
my AS mock results are: AAA
i have 2 parts to my question ahahah
1. is it realistic to apply to oxford with my stats? i am doing a placement at an engineering company in february and i have applied to oxfords uniq summer school aswell as one through sutton trust at edinburgh uni. i have also got a silver in the senior maths challenge and will be doing the senior physics challenge in march/april.
2. would it be realistic for me to apply for physics at oxford without doing further maths? my maths abilities are strong (near full marks in the mock in mechanics and pure), but i know that physics is a mechanics-heavy subject and i imagine this is only emphasised at oxford.
3. how are people able to afford living there? my household income allows me to have a £4,700 annual loan and the average living cost is said to be around £16,000. i know that unlike cambridge, oxford allows you to work a part-time job, but i was wondering if anyone could give a sort of breakdown of how they manage to afford living there.
thank you!

hi! i’m currently a year 12 doing maths, chemistry, physics, and EPQ.
my gcse grades are: 999999888
my AS mock results are: AAA
i have 2 parts to my question ahahah
1. is it realistic to apply to oxford with my stats? i am doing a placement at an engineering company in february and i have applied to oxfords uniq summer school aswell as one through sutton trust at edinburgh uni. i have also got a silver in the senior maths challenge and will be doing the senior physics challenge in march/april.
2. would it be realistic for me to apply for physics at oxford without doing further maths? my maths abilities are strong (near full marks in the mock in mechanics and pure), but i know that physics is a mechanics-heavy subject and i imagine this is only emphasised at oxford.
3. how are people able to afford living there? my household income allows me to have a £4,700 annual loan and the average living cost is said to be around £16,000. i know that unlike cambridge, oxford allows you to work a part-time job, but i was wondering if anyone could give a sort of breakdown of how they manage to afford living there.
thank you!

hi! i’m currently a year 12 doing maths, chemistry, physics, and EPQ.
my gcse grades are: 999999888
my AS mock results are: AAA
i have 2 parts to my question ahahah
1. is it realistic to apply to oxford with my stats? i am doing a placement at an engineering company in february and i have applied to oxfords uniq summer school aswell as one through sutton trust at edinburgh uni. i have also got a silver in the senior maths challenge and will be doing the senior physics challenge in march/april.
2. would it be realistic for me to apply for physics at oxford without doing further maths? my maths abilities are strong (near full marks in the mock in mechanics and pure), but i know that physics is a mechanics-heavy subject and i imagine this is only emphasised at oxford.
3. how are people able to afford living there? my household income allows me to have a £4,700 annual loan and the average living cost is said to be around £16,000. i know that unlike cambridge, oxford allows you to work a part-time job, but i was wondering if anyone could give a sort of breakdown of how they manage to afford living there.
thank you!

Oxford doesn’t allow part time jobs (except for the odd thing like paid work at open days), and tbh you would struggle to cope with the workload.
However studying in Oxford is a lot cheaper than most places. Accommodation in colleges is usually heavily subsidised, as is the food, so you are not dealing with private rental prices. The terms are only 8 weeks long so you are paying less rent. The colleges also have generous student support funds for anyone experiencing hardship. And of course there is time to work in the vacations, especially over the summer.

Have you looked at the PAT questions? Most of them will be based on A-Level Maths and A-Level Physics of course but if you have done A-Level Further Maths with FM1 and FM2 on Pearson Edexcel you would find it much easier to 'thrive' in the interviews at Oxford!!! 😉 Besides, it is not too difficult to self-study A-Level Further Maths.
@TypicalNerd studied A-Level Further Maths and AS-Level Biology during his re-application gap year to Oxford for Chemistry at St. John's College, Oxford and succeeded.

by “self-studying further maths” do you mean me going over the entire course alone? would this be helpful or should i focus just on my a levels and the PAT? should i ask a teacher to help me with learning some of the further maths course?

by “self-studying further maths” do you mean me going over the entire course alone? would this be helpful or should i focus just on my a levels and the PAT? should i ask a teacher to help me with learning some of the further maths course?

Have you talked it over with anyone at school? Oxford applications go in in Oct, so you have about 8 months to do 4 a levels + epq (assuming you take further) where one of your a levels would be started 5 months late. In addition, youve got to cover pat and youve got to cover stuff like isaac/.... which would make up the supercurriculars to go in the personal statement and form your knowledge for your interview. At best, its going to be very hard work, at worst unachievable.

There are about 6 YouTube channels for A-Level Further Maths and 10 for A-Level Maths. Also, the Pearson Edexcel textbooks include the examiners' worked model answers in PDF files. So, FM1 and FM2 won't be too difficult for you. Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial strongly prefer A-Level Further Maths.😉 I suggest using the solutions if you get stuck, and you don't need a teacher since the model answers are so good and detailed step by step.

i asked my physics teacher at our parents evening whether i should do any further maths myself if i want to study physics at university and he said there was no point, not even for oxbridge, but i imagine that oxbridge strongly prefer physics applicants to have done further maths. i do regret not taking further maths now but i’m not sure if it’s too late at this point to try learn any myself ready to apply for oxford.

Its one of those ones where, for whatever reasons, its hard to get on the physics (natsci) at oxbridge without it, assuming your school offers it. Personally, Id say a 1/2 job would almost be worse than not doing it as youd not really have any predicted grades etc in time for an oct application and youd seriously eat time from any other physics pat/isaac/... supercurriculars. It would be hard for an interviewer etc to give you credit for self study without any independent assessment to back that up.
One thing youve not really mentioned is whether youve hit isaac (for instance), though youve mentioned that youve the physics challenge coming up. How much time have you spent on these sort of supercurriculars?

so my school isn’t very good with the challenges ahaha. for example with the SMC we were only told the day before that we were entered into it, and i’ve heard other schools prepare their students. the physics challenge was recommended to me and another student in my class by my physics teacher, and he said that he can prepare us beforehand but other than that, supercurriculars are left for us to do independently. so far i’ve gotten some work experience and went through a competitive selection process to get a placement at an engineering company. i’ve applied to oxford’s summer school as well as one through sutton trust at edinburgh uni. i’d love some advice as to what other things i can do to help boost my application? i have also achieved a grade 6 in music singing and was in my schools choir, though i doubt this adds much to my application?

ah so most people wouldn’t struggle to afford living there?

so it would be a good idea to go over the content by myself to get an understanding of further maths? i might try this then especially during the summer holidays. i’m just worried that trying to learn some of this might take away focus from my other subjects, unless learning further maths won’t be too much of a time-consuming idea.

The BicenMaths, TLMaths, ExamSolutions and HindsMaths all on YouTube: cover all of A-Level Further Maths on the Edexcel examboard. There really are no excuses for not achieving at least an A grade or A* with practice questions.
You will get stuck in the Physics interviews if you have not done CP1, CP2, FM1 and FM2 sadly so!!! ☹️
Without A-Level Further Maths, you're limiting your chances for success in applications to Oxford and Imperial.

What would he "get stuck in the Physics interviews if you have not done CP1, CP2, FM1 and FM2"?

thegeek888 is on his account some bloke who failed his A levels twenty years ago and has vague plans to re-sit them some time within the next few decades. He hasn't been anywhere near an Oxford interview. He's not a reliable guide to the admission process.