Oxford PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) Students and Applicants

OK I kind of did nothing during this year (Yr 12) so I anticipate a B in Chem but an A in all my other subjects (see sig. for details). Should I abandon hopes of applying to Bio NatSci?

I'm thinking that I may apply to Cambridge for CompSci w/ NatSci instead cos the B in Chem won't be so bad in comparison.

No, not any more...

I am reluctant to drop chemistry, but became rather fed up of it at school of recent. Is it particularly crucial/relevant to further specialisation in physics?

No.

I became fed up of it in school and although the course style is different to A-level I also became fed up of it in Cambridge. There are very minor things which occasionally come up in physics that you may not have seen if you didn't do chemistry but nothing important or difficult to learn that I can think of.

Well out of those I only did Physics (and Maths A) but I see no reason why it isn't. I'd have rather done evolution than chemistry in hindsight.

I get the impression that compsci is probably the most useful course to go alongside physics as long you can cope with it. If you carry on doing physics you will learn some C++ in 2nd/3rd year and although as far as I know you don't learn C++ in compsci, programming skills should be fairly transferable. A fair few people struggle a bit with the programming in physics or find it time consuming, so prior programming knowledge either from compsci or self teaching should make it fairly easy. And programming/computing is pretty much now an essential skill for physicists.

I keep getting the feeling that I'm wasting my summer not preparing myself for next year, so any current phys NatScis got any insightful suggestions as to what I could do over the next few months for preperation? Ive got bucket fulls of general books that i want to read but if theres anything more specific that would be useful...

I will probably pick

Physics
Chemistry
MMS
Maths B

Thanks

For physics, the Feyman lectures are very good, probably only worth getting volume I and possibly II though, since the third is about quantum mechanics, and I get the feeling it's approached differently now as opposed to in the 60's, when it was written.

For physics, the Feyman lectures are very good, probably only worth getting volume I and possibly II though, since the third is about quantum mechanics, and I get the feeling it's approached differently now as opposed to in the 60's, when it was written. "Feynman's tips on physics" is worth getting, IMO, since it contains quite a few mechanics problems that I think quite well bridge the difference in style between A-level and 1st year physics.

For maths, I would recommend this: there's some stuff that would be interesting and useful to read up on before you arrive, and I found it useful throughout the year, since sometimes the way it explained things was clearer than the lecture notes (obviously that's a bit of a matter of personal taste, but I think other people found the same).

Didn't do chemistry or materials, but "Why Chemical Reactions Happen" seems a common recommendation for chemistry, and I don't think there's much really to prepare for materials.

Other things: it might be worth looking at some STEP papers, or learning something simple like python and having a go at a few of these: http://projecteuler.net/

On the other hand, don't make any of that feel you have to rush out and buy loads of books: college libraries are well-stocked generally, and it's possible just to rely on the lecture notes for physics and maths, and probably for the other two as well.

Thanks!

I have quite a bit by Feynman as I read alot of that pre-interview, so might go over some of that again.

Read Why do Chemical reactions happen so chemistry appears fine.

Ive hunted around for that maths book and all the reviews seem to imply that physics students treat it as some form of bible so I might get that.

Also going to see if i can complete a bit of project Euler using python as well as that doesnt seem too daunting, not sure im brave enough for STEP though...

I got the one recommended in the reading list. It's pretty good and doesn't mince its words. It has some interesting stuff, although struggling to get the hang on partial differential equations and fourier transforms.

Wrt Feynman, ditto.

Is WDCRH a good read?

I got the one recommended in the reading list. It's pretty good and doesn't mince its words. It has some interesting stuff, although struggling to get the hang on partial differential equations and fourier transforms.

Project Euler looks a bit of a mare, bar the first one or two problems.

STEP is doable in quite a lot places. It looks worse than it is, but is still brick hard.

I wouldnt even really class it as a read, its really quite painful to go through and is basically a textbook.

Whats the one recommended on the reading list?

Ive pretty much given up on Euler after getting through a couple, so just trying to get the hang of python a bit.

If a book was rubbish should I mention it in my PS ... I spent a lot on it and a long time reading it.

iI know this is a stupid question but will an Theatre Studies A-Level compensate for a lower grade in another more academic one if I take four -i.e I get AAABa with one A in Theatre.

Just wondering how much leeway there will be if I dont get the grades next year... It would be really horrible to get (dreams!) a place and then lose it!

If you took four A-Levels would the offer still be AAA or AAAA?

Also: I just got my subscription to this thread back..