Which South East University for Maths and Science?

p4radox said:
My interviews were all on one day. Any reputable university will probably ask you for interview, it's not unusual.

I didn't prepare for my interviews. There's no way you can do and you're not expected to.

I had no paper set by the college, some colleges do, some don't. I think Oxford send a paper to your school for you to complete.

He's already said that he expects As in his A levels.


This is the problem: for some reason people have these crazy ideas about Oxbridge, but it's really not that unusual apart from having extremely high academic standards.
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The type of interviews are very different to anywhere else (I had 5 interviews at 5 reputable universities, and none were like one would be at Oxbridge)

There is a big difference between getting A's and getting 270+/300 (270 is probably an underestimate, it's really more like 285+)
 
Ben M said:
The type of interviews are very different to anywhere else (I had 5 interviews at 5 reputable universities, and none were like one would be at Oxbridge)

There is a big difference between getting A's and getting 270+/300 (270 is probably an underestimate, it's really more like 285+)
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The interviews are very different, yes. But that's about the only major difference between the Oxbridge application and one at any other Uni. It's not completely different, as you first claimed. I don't mean to sound rude, but it's misinformed opinions such as yours which put decent people off applying at Oxbridge, when otherwise they would.

Out of interest, who told you there were 5 day interviews for which you needed to thoroughly prepare, and entrance exams?
 
p4radox said:
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Out of interest, who told you there were 5 day interviews for which you needed to thoroughly prepare, and entrance exams?
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My friends who were all gone for between 3-5 days when they went for their interviews.

Most were 3/4, one was sunday-thursday, he'd applied for Economics (or PPE I'm not 100%)
 
People only stay at oxford for interviews - cambridge is just on one day. Also saying you can't prepare for them is not accurate. Public schools have extra lessons and mock interviews to better prepare their students for oxbridge applications. This does make a difference.

Maybe this is all a bit off topic though!
 
I'd suggest Imperial too. It's a top university. It's in central London so social life is what he makes of it. I'd advise staying in halls the first year then he could move back home once he's made good friends. If he wants to stay in the SE why doesn't he just apply to a few then leave the actual choosing till later on? He could apply to UCL, LSE, Imperial...

Hope he enjoys his time anyway :)
 
Science an Maths in London = Imperial.

I take it he's good enough, so that's the only one. I'm at UCL and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. But it would come 2nd to Imperial.

If he's bright then forget QM as its not good enough if he's good.

King's comes 3rd.

Good luck to him and tell him not to worry about it all, as he'll get whereever he wants if he is capable enough!
 
I can confirm when I went for my interview (god nearly 10 yrs ago now) it was just one day - just 3 45mins interviews over the course of the day - nothing that difficult...

I dont think theres any real prep required to do an Oxbridge interview - if you are bright enough then the exam/test should be fine and its still mainly about the interview...

The interviewers are probably the nicest people you will meet too :D

And if p4radox can get in their entry requirements are slipping ;):p.

I knew quite a few Mathmos at Cambridge and they were bloody bright - think the intake in my college year supposedly had IQs in the 160+ (lets ignore the debate on measuring intelligence though ;))

Getting back to the OP - Id always consider Imperial the best in the Maths and Physical Sciences

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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It seems as if Imperial would be his best choice then, if he gets good enough grades of course.
He's got a few questions specifically about Maths that he'd like some help with if possible:

Will there be any entrance exams?
Is further Maths important?
What books and preparation would be best?
+ any other general Maths stuff would be welcome:)
 
JohnnyG said:
He's got a few questions specifically about Maths that he'd like some help with if possible:

Will there be any entrance exams?
Is further Maths important?
What books and preparation would be best?
+ any other general Maths stuff would be welcome:)
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As far as FM goes, the Imperial website says:

we strongly encourage you to take Further Mathematics and an AEA/STEP qualification if these options are open to you, as competition for places is intense.
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I would guess that boils down to "it's pretty unlikely we'd let you in without FM to at least AS level".

That's partly based on what I'd do if I were admissions tutor: as much as anything else, the FM A-level gives a much better idea what maths at university is like than the standard A-level; if your son hates FM, better to find out now than after a year or two at uni.

As far as other preparation goes: is he in the first or 2nd year of his A-levels?
 
JohnnyG said:
It seems as if Imperial would be his best choice then, if he gets good enough grades of course.
He's got a few questions specifically about Maths that he'd like some help with if possible:

Will there be any entrance exams? In my interview I was asked some basic stuff about me and my personal statement and a few (maybe 4/5 maths questions).
Is further Maths important? I think further maths is very important and I don't recall many people on the course who didn't take it, just a few. They didn't struggle or anything but it is just easier if you have it and I am sure it will help with the entry process.
What books and preparation would be best? There is a book by Martin Liebeck, who is a professor there, called A Concise Introduction to Pure Mathematics that is quite good preparation. Although, I don't think it is necessary and he could do well enough just looking for stuff on google or asking around on the ask nrich forums.
+ any other general Maths stuff would be welcome:)
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Is your eldest the same age as his gf and will she be going off to uni as well? My gf and I both went to uni at the same time and we're about an hour or so away from each other. See each other a couple of times a week (mostly at weekends) and it works fine so if that's his reasoning for not moving out, he's a little bit off the mark. I can't stress enough how much I've changed and grown up thanks to moving out and having to deal with stuff on my own, rather than being at home and having the follks there if stuff goes wrong.
 
If he goes to Imperial the whole living in halls thing has some big cons especially if you live an hour from the college. Some of the halls are in the region of 20 - 30 mins commute from the college making them seem pointless compared to the commute from home and factoring in the £100+ a week he'll be paying.

The maths department is very good though. I do Computing and we share a building with the Maths department and this year 3 of my 10 modules are maths modules. All the course notes provided are really good but I've always though most of the maths lecturers seem very unenthusiastic (sp?) and just trudge through the notes.
 
Applying to Cambridge doesn't have to take over his life. Try and convince him to do it, it'll be the best thing he's done.
 
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