Physics and Philosophy Applicant Thread

Hi, I'm Julie, and I haven't seen anyone else post one of these so I thought id just do it myself...

Physics and philosophy is quite a niche (in my view) combination of subjects and I must admit, a couple of years ago I scoffed at the idea of studying it. A family friend had just applied for maths and philosophy - and I thought it was the silliest combination that made utterly no sense. Now, however, physics and philosophy is undoubtably my dream course and I am so grateful for all the opportunities that led to that realisation! Im starting this thread mostly to give me peace of mind that there are other people out there applying for the same course (only 3 people applying for physics at uni in my year, including me - its looking quite grim) and to just give people the opportunity to find others interested in studying it at uni.

Ive seen everyone else put these so...
• A level / BTEC / IB / Higher / Advanced Higher subjects and predicted grades?
• Which universities are you thinking of applying to?
• What supercurriculars did you do
• Why are you interested in studying physics and philosophy?

Ill go first!
- I study advanced higher maths, mechanics, physics and English! bit of an odd subject combinations and a ton of work - but it feels a lot easier than taking only pure sciences - I love english! Im also doing my schools philosophy module which is super fun. I did highers last year and got 5As (English, maths, computer science, physics, human biology)

- Not too sure yet (UCAS should be done by next week so I better get thinking) but ill probably apply to KCL...

- For philosophy it was mostly reading icl - though that did help me in an essay competition that I managed to perform well in. Citing for that thing was a nightmare. For physics it felt easier to find stuff but living in Scotland, I actually found it insanely hard to find physics related opportunities so a lot of the things I did when I was visiting London. i.e. going to lectures and seminars. This sent me down some interesting rabbit holes - I met some great people in Edinburgh! + online courses and random opportunities that popped up along the way.

- Im applying for physics and philosophy (and I am aware this will sound really cringe) because they tackle the same questions. Im someone whose strength lies in writing, but I dont know if im particularly fascinated by the texts we learn about in English - I just really like communicating through writing. Philosophy on the other hand - wow. If money didn't matter and we were all back in ancient greece and women were allowed to have a voice, I see myself purely going down this route. However, the ideas we talk about in physics make me more curious, and I dont mean that to say they're more important than the ones in philosophy. So I guess the thing I like about philosophy is how it's communicated and discussed - and after that the questions themselves. I actually used to hate physics and it was the first subject I was sure of that I wouldn't study (I made my mind up very young after hearing that the experiments were just wind tunnels and dropping sheets of paper) - its funny how things work out.

Good luck to everyone else applying! cant wait to hear about where everyone is off to and if anyone has offers!

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 1

NettlesAndThorns

Hiya! I'm Anna, and I was going to study PhysPhil as well! I'm applying for straight Physics now (and I'm hoping to branch off into PhysPhil in maybe a master's degree??) and I was totally in the same boat! To me, Physics and Philosophy both try to answer the biggest questions, so they go completely hand in hand, but my friends were bemused by my choice. It's a rarer course, for sure, but trust me, there are still applicants - you aren't alone!

I study Maths, History, and Physics (A*A*A predicted) with an AS Further Maths (A) - people tend to get confused by my merging of humanities and STEM but I love History so much! And physics ofc!

I've been lucky enough to already have offers from Liverpool (ABB), Sheffield (AAB) and Bath (AAB - contextual) - 3 universities I adore, and 1 rejection from Oxford (oh well!). Now I'm just waiting for Edinburgh 🙂 Supercurriculars-wise, I've done lots of reading, a course on Cosmology from the OU, and 4 days' work experience at an observatory. I remember finding it so difficult to find digestible philosophy books that would still look impressive on a PhysPhil application, so you've got my sympathy there!

I've wanted to study Physics since I was very little, because it always felt like I could ask impossible questions and get impossible answers; in the feeling of being swamped in a Universe far more complex than we could ever dream of, Physics gives you a little toolkit to understand some of it. The strangeness of Physics and it's enduring complexity, even as we unravel more of it, will always draw me back in. Same thing can be said readily of philosophy!

Good luck on your application - you seem like an AMAZING candidate

Reply 2

Juli_ette

Original post

by NettlesAndThorns

Hiya! I'm Anna, and I was going to study PhysPhil as well! I'm applying for straight Physics now (and I'm hoping to branch off into PhysPhil in maybe a master's degree??) and I was totally in the same boat! To me, Physics and Philosophy both try to answer the biggest questions, so they go completely hand in hand, but my friends were bemused by my choice. It's a rarer course, for sure, but trust me, there are still applicants - you aren't alone!
I study Maths, History, and Physics (A*A*A predicted) with an AS Further Maths (A) - people tend to get confused by my merging of humanities and STEM but I love History so much! And physics ofc!
I've been lucky enough to already have offers from Liverpool (ABB), Sheffield (AAB) and Bath (AAB - contextual) - 3 universities I adore, and 1 rejection from Oxford (oh well!). Now I'm just waiting for Edinburgh 🙂 Supercurriculars-wise, I've done lots of reading, a course on Cosmology from the OU, and 4 days' work experience at an observatory. I remember finding it so difficult to find digestible philosophy books that would still look impressive on a PhysPhil application, so you've got my sympathy there!
I've wanted to study Physics since I was very little, because it always felt like I could ask impossible questions and get impossible answers; in the feeling of being swamped in a Universe far more complex than we could ever dream of, Physics gives you a little toolkit to understand some of it. The strangeness of Physics and it's enduring complexity, even as we unravel more of it, will always draw me back in. Same thing can be said readily of philosophy!
Good luck on your application - you seem like an AMAZING candidate

Congratulations on your offers - thats incredible!! I am applying to Bath (for pure physics too) as I went over the summer and loved the atmosphere and how beautiful the city was! I love your A level combination - history looks like an insane amount of work 😭 A physphil masters degree sounds amazing, I love how philosophy is one of those things you can revisit anytime and you'll be able to continue to exploring through your bachelors - at all the open days I went to I always found at least 2 physics students that took philosophy modules! Hope you hear back from Edinburgh soon - good luck! (side note: im completely biased but I LOVE their physics department so so much)

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

A guide to the Oxbridge application process

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.

Try out the app

Continue on web