Today you got a rejection for studying Physics at Oxford, what do you do?
Study physics at Cambridge
>>7695072
If he's at the undergrad level he can't apply to both.
become an hero
DONT STUDY PHYSICS MY FRIEND
>>7695066
Nothing because I want to study maths, not physics.
>>7695077
this desu i'm all "but what about conformal black holes on an expanding spacetime?" and i dont have a job
>>7695066
become a social-worker in san bernadino.
>>7695077
I should have studied English.
Undoutedbly top of the year in English > Almost top of the year in Maths/Physics
>>7695066
go to countries that actually contribute to physics, like switzerland
Oxford has not replied to my Maths application yet...
But apparently that's normal for the college I am applying to so I hope I'll get in.
>>7695074
why?
>>7695066
How does this feel?
>>7695150
Do you really think no one here can decode a bar code?
>>7695076
this
>>7695150
I feel like your 1s look retarded
>>7695150
>goes to Oxford
>goes on /sci/
well I guess we know that getting into oxford is just luck.
>>7695171
not really very useful without the Uni database. Also I dont really have any social media to hack or shit like that
>>7695150
are you that girl who posts on /lit/?
>>7695181
Not really, I don't actually use /sci/ either. First time I have been here in months
>>7695150
what college senpai? [spoiler] i bet its a shit poorfag one like somerville [/spoiler]
>>7695139
The university application system in the UK doesn't allow you to.
It's a way of making the number of applicants to Oxford and Cambridge more manageable.
>>7695150
>not physics and philosophy
enjoy your thinking and understanding, STEMdrone
>>7695194
Cropped it out as there are so few physicists at each college and I want to stay anonymous. Its one of the famous ones though
>>7695074
What the fucking fuck is this shit?
>>7695150
I would've been happy for you had you not been that fucking smug.
>>7695178
There's a fuckload of 4channers that go to Oxbridge.
Regards,
a miserable anon doing physics at Cambridge
>>7695066
>oxford
You don't care moch about quality of your education, do you? Consider yourself lucky, you can actually study physics now, instead of politics.
>>7695230
I have been here for a while, I didn't actually apply this year. If you are OP, then just nail your physics course at some Russel group Uni and you should easily be admitted into Oxbridge for a PhD
>>7695294
But they don't really do good research. They got good PR, but they're not better in terms of research than an average university.
>>7695294
That wasn't OP, this is OP. It seems like I'll be ending up at Warwick since UCL's acceptance rate is 1:11, so it's unlikely I'll be going there, statistically at least.
We talking a first from a top 10 uni being enough for a PHD at Oxbridge?
>>7695259
That's one of the biggest things. Instead of being part of the elite along with all the other top-tier /sci/ lurkers I'll instead be somewhere like Warwick. Is there much call for /sci/ meet-ups there?
>>7695315
publish a paper, you'll get to any phd program, really. Oxes will be sucking you off for that.
>>7695315
>Warwick
My brother.
>>7695315
They usually take the top few people from the other top 10 unis if they apply. Warwick first with some lab experience/good internships etc should get you in unless you fuck up somewhere
>>7695314
True, especially in the lower tier there are better Unis outside of the Russel group. Just used it as a short for upper-middle to top tier Uni
>>7695315
>Is there much call for /sci/ meet-ups there?
Never seen one. I did see /lit/ do a spontaneous Oxford meetup not long ago.
I don't think the people here are too keen to meet up but that might just be my aspie self.
>>7695315
UCL acceptance rate doesn't really mean anything though. Everyone and their dog thinks they have a shot at UCL, so most of these 11 people won't actually be serious contenders. Expect more like 2-3 decent people per place.
>>7695336
Why does UCL think it's such a bigshot?
Got an offer from them a couple of years back but they wanted me to attend a compulsory open day.
No other uni has such a silly thing.
>>7695344
They want to be Oxbridge-tier, but just look pathetic whilst doing it. At least Imperial and Edinburgh are a bit more dignifies about trying to improve
>>7695178
You're retarded.
>>7695349
There's nothing wrong about wanting to be Oxbridge-tier, but you're absolutely right that the way that they're going about things makes them look a bit silly.
>>7695350
The pacing at different unis is very different.
I know someone who goes to a uni that was 7 places behind mine at the time, and he's learning stuff in third/fourth year that I've already done in first.
>>7695350
>>7695355
>The pacing at different unis is very different
That and the tutorials which allow you to even hold that pace. The fact that everyone is really motivated pushes you quite a lot as well. And don't even get me started on all the resources / societies / talks etc that come with being at Oxbridge
>>7695344
Exeter does (one of the other unis I applied to), but since Surrey already gave me an offer, which I can now use for my insurance choice, there's little point putting in effort to go Exeter's mandatory open day.
>>7695359
15k/year after oxford degree, no joke.
>>7695359
The tutorials/supervisions/societies/resources/talks/people/whateveryoudamnwant at Warwick are amazing, for maths at least.
Studying there honestly feels like a top class uni. You get pushed hard and the maths degree received is all the more non-trivial for it.
>>7695361
Are there any particular perks of going to Exeter university?
I've personally gone to no open days despite the compulsory UCL one (flat out turned them down).
>>7695373
They recently invested a ton of money into improving everything science/Physics related, which pushed them up in the rankings somewhat.
Other than that I wouldn't really know what to tell you.
>>7695373
hills, lots of hills
>>7695369
I have never been to Warwick so I can't really do a direct comparison. Warwick is quite a good Uni though so I would expect it to do quite well as far as resources go. Studying at Oxford is often likened to drinking from a fire hose, and, to stay in the metaphor, drinking from a slightly smaller fire hose probably won't feel that different actually.
>>7695150
OP BTFO
>>7695336
This. All these applicants aren't actually desperate to study there. When I applied all the applicant first choice was Oxbridge then Imperial and UCL was somewhere joint with Warwick, Durham, Bristol etc
>>7695350
It's prestige. They take masters applicants and PhD candidates from ex-polytechnics all the time so it's really dumb to bust your arse to get there at 18 especially when that is the part of your tertiary education where the name of your professor doesn't matter in the slightest.
>>7695066
Well if no other place will take me then I'd mope around and be sad all the time.
That's what I'm doing now.
No point in an heroing since I'm already dead inside.
>>7695116
I got an interview on the 13th for Maths at St Hilda's
good luck lad
>>7695066
Oxford Brookes will have you! Same city so it's still Oxford right???
>>7696662
>I study at Oxford................ Brookes
There are harder universities than Oxford to get into to be fair, like those that require STEP grade 1 or above. It's definitely achievable by most people but it requires a lot of practice.
>>7695150
>fountain pen
My old chap
>>7696686
Feels jolly good
>>7696574
Most people who apply to Oxford just want to take the entrance exam for fun
It would be nice to get in though, but Warwick's just as good if not better.
>they fall for the Cambridge/Oxford meme
you're all faggots
t. Physics major in King's
>>7696678
Don't Oxford require MAT/PAT?
Also the interview process kills a lot more applicants than Cambridge does; if you get through the Oxford interview you're likely to get through the whole process.
>>7696835
The MAT is easier than STEP, from personal experience with pretty much all the recent MAT papers and dozens of STEP papers.
The Oxford interview cuts lots of people out but I doubt it cuts out more than Cambridge, especially for maths where 50% are cut out due to basically failing the MAT or not getting predicted A*A*A (they say they look at GCSEs but I doubt it. Got an interview with no A*s at GCSE so it can't be that important) compared to only 20% of Cambridge candidates getting cut out before interview. I'd be surprised if the number of students applying to Oxford is almost double that of those applying to Cambridge, especially for maths and physics. Where do you find this info?
>>7696852
I'm talking about maths by the way
I assume it's similar for physics. Even if you don't get an interview, it doesn't mean that you're cleverer than the people who don't; I'm almost certain a friend did better in the MAT than me but he didn't get an interview, so I'm assuming his personal statement was pretty poor.
>>7696852
My info came straight from my maths teacher for further maths at the time (this was three years ago mind you), and some from the Cambridge Easter STEP school.
I personally didn't look at the MAT and I'm not questioning its difficulty (may that be easy or hard).
>>7696876
Yep, I'm talking about maths too.
I would like to stress that I personally didn't apply for Oxford, but the Cambridge interview wasn't too difficult.
Made mistakes under stress, answered only 1 question in the pre-interview test and said things like pi is 3.41 but got an offer regardless.
The GCSE criteria from Oxford is also why I didn't apply.
>>7696904
If you study maths or physics your GCSEs (yes, even your maths GCSEs) don't matter that much as long as you have the predicted grades, no matter where you go. Even Oxford. It almost all depends on your MAT/PAT score and your predicted grades.
I've looked at some Oxford interview questions and most aren't that tough, I assume we're supposed to answer most of them. Most of them only ask for some FP2 knowledge or discrete maths. Maybe a mechanics question to test intuition. Also is there a STEP school? I've just been doing past papers and didn't really read the booklet or anything. Would you recommend something like that?
I'm doing a mock interview this monday at a private school, sounds fancy. I'll see how it goes.
>>7696615
If you're Oxbridge tier but don't make it in, I suggest NOT going through clearing. Instead, take a gap year and reapply to somewhere you want, rather than some university you know that you're much better than.
For maths:
>me and friend get cambridge offers
>we don't make it
>he goes through clearing fast and grabs Lancaster, rank 9 at the time
>I check out clearing late, not really wanting to go anywhere other than Cambridge still
>Sussex accepts me
>mfw rank 54
>everyone is telling me to just go to uni
>decline Sussex
>take year out
>pick up a gf and get place at warwick
>warwick wants a B in physics and a 2 in any step
>mfw my friend is in third year and I've done most of his stuff in my first year
I feel sorry for him too he's a great guy but his university is terrible. First year was literally a rehash of A-Level.
I can understand them wanting to get everyone to the same level, but warwick had a first year core module called Foundations just for that. No need to spend an entire year on that same shit.
Poor third year hasn't even studied norms or uniform convergence in analysis yet.
>>7696926
I'm very worried about getting an oxbridge offer but getting A*A*B maths further maths and physics. I did the lowest in my class in the practical so I'm redoing that but I just don't have the aptitude for it. It would be a huge kick in the face to miss out on an offer from one of the best universities in the world.
>>7696930
This is precisely how I felt when I didn't make it.
I got a disgusting A*A*C.
Took a month or so to pull myself together to be honest, but right now I'm very happy with where I am. Wishing that I was in Cambridge doesn't even cross my mind.
Point is, you're Oxbridge material, so even if you fail to get into uni this year, you're top class material, so just reapply for the following year.
>>7696937
What were your subjects?
>>7696941
Maths, further maths and physics, applied to do maths.
The C was in physics. Being the little shit I was back then, I didn't study at all for physics.
Did additional further maths but they didn't include it in the offer.
>>7696945
now I'm really worried...
how do you even revise for physics? Do you just write notes?
>>7696950
What's the worry over in particular?
Yes, I wrote notes. First time in my life writing notes too since for maths A-Level you don't need to write notes at all, and to my surprise it helped massively with learning the material.
>>7696930
>A*A*B maths further maths and physics
this will be a major problem in your application unless either your schools average is really shit or you have some insane track record of mathematics challenges and prices
>>7696975
That raises a good point:
A*A*B anon, are you applying to do physics?
>>7696980
I'm applying to do maths not physics
anyway, that's what I'm worried about getting- my predicted is A*A*A with the A in physics but I'm not too confident about the practical and to some extent the actual tests...
>>7696982
Are you confident with your maths though?
I know quite a few people who got A*A*B and still got in anyway.
>>7696985
I'm very confident in my maths.
>>7696988
You should be more than fine then.
If you excel in STEP no one will care if you make the physics grade or not. But don't put extra pressure on yourself by failing physics.
I had people crying silently in my STEP exam.
>>7696791
bitter: the post
>>7695066
go on with life and wonder why i asked to get in a school outside my price range by miles. then masturbate
>>7697046
Price range?
Is there a uni for less than 9k a year?
Could anyone tell me if it's hard to get into l'ecole polytechnique as an international? Have studied at a university with a good, but not great, reputation. Slightly above average grades but I've done lots of volunteering and have a lot of work and leadership experience.
>>7697046
Can't you just get a student loan?
>>7697046
Pretty much all UK Unis charge £9k per annum. Because most Oxford colleges offer cheap accomodation on site Oxford is actually more affordable than many shit tier London Unis
>>7695336
This is pretty accurate. Oxbridge acceptance rates look relatively high especially for the sciences because they are self-selecting.
>tfw from a country with no good university
>tfw if you were born in another country you could go to these fantastic universities instead
feels bad man
>>7696791
Ladies and Gentlemen we have our first UCL reject
>>7697046
Spotted the American.
imperial just rejected me lads
for BIOSCIENCES though so I'm sure none of your smart boys care :'(
>>7697226
Oxbridge has about 1/3 international students and they have similar acceptance rates as domestic students. Just go for it
>>7697073
>tfw international student so I have to pay international rates and a college fee as well
>>7697244
microbiologist here, i care
don't let this get you down, and always remember why you chose your study.
>>7697226
Not the right mindset bro.
Here in Bongistan we're all massively not racist, so I'm sure you'll get on great. Most of the good unis only care about grades, outside knowledge, and english. work on those three, and make sure they remember you if you're interviewed, and you'll do great. also try and make your story as bleak and pitiful as possible, it'll be a good bonus.
>>7697255
York and Exeter have both given me AAB so I'm deliberating which to go too, as putting both down seems stupid with identical grades. I think York is the better uni (only just), but Exeter are dishing out a Specialism in Infectious Disease which I would love to get my hands on.
>>7697264
I'm an aspiring Epidemiologist, thanks for the kind words homie.
>>7697255
NZ, already completed my undergrad, feels bad seeing how much quicker things are done overseas. Not many research opportunities here too, makes it really hard going for grad schools when your undergrad uni is not that great and you don't have much research experience to compensate
>>7697278
Yeah, York is marginally the better uni, but in the end, you're going to spend a good deal of your life there.
Go for where you think you'll thrive and enjoy the course.
If you get a first, it won't matter whether you did it at York or Exeter.
>>7697280
Got a good friend in NZ and you guys seem to enter uni a year ahead of us in the UK.
But there are plenty of unis here that very much welcome international students, had a third year come from NZ to Warwick last year.
>>7697244
As op, I can empathise.
>>7695361
I go Surrey
Anything you want to know?
>>7697559
do you know anyone by the name of Alex Rutland? Hes doing music I think. I went to secondary school with him and he really is just the biggest cunt imaginable.
I applied for PPE at oxford and got rejected. I assume its because my highschool grades are shit, but I'm not sure I would have even taken the offer if I'd gotten it because I don't actually want to do PPE. I've been slacking off for most of highschool because I moved to America from England and hated it. This is the first year I took challenging classes, and it turns out physics is actually really interesting and enjoyable. Anyway, because of shit grades but good test scores, I'll probably end up at an unimpressive uni (Umass Amherst) and try to transfer into Oxford to do physics and philosophy after my first year. What should I do to prepare for that? Do you think they will care about my HS grades? Will they care that I already applied for PPE and got rejected? Any tips for the PAT? Do I even have a chance if I'm not literally the second coming of Newton?
sorry for the blog post, no one in my social circle knows anything about this stuff.
>>7697652
Oxford Physics student here
>What should I do to prepare for that?
You should probably start reading some books around it, maybe start with "Thinking Physics" by Lewis Epstein, then "QED" by Richard Feynman. "The Chicken from Minsk" is probably perfect, although its mostly about mathematical problems. Also look at the Harvard Physics Problem of the week online and try to do some of those as well. As I am just doing normal Physics I can't really give any advice about the Philosophy part. Be aware that they mostly cut out labs and some of the Physics and replace it by Philosophy, so especially in the first two years its more of a Mathematical Methods and Philosophy degree.
Do you think they will care about my HS grades?
They will use your grades in combination with your PAT to determine whether or not you get an interview. To which extend it counts after that is hard to tell as they will likely use some combination of your school and your University scores instead of just your final exam grades.
Will they care that I already applied for PPE and got rejected?
No, they really don't care. The tutors interviewing you might not even know.
Any tips for the PAT?
Do a lot of past PAT papers and aim to do 80% of the content in 1 hour, so half the time to do the actual test. Revise the British A-level physics curriculum as that's what the PAT is based on. Do some past Senior Maths challenge papers as well, or even take part in it - the tutors will love a gold medal and maybe even you having advanced a round
>>7697686
Whoops, forgot the
>
for the last 3 questions. Just imagine some beautiful greentext there
>>7695259
Mathmo at Cambridge reporting in
>>7696937
Everyone doing maths at Cambridge got A*A*A* or A*A*A*A*.
I know a guy who got 6 A*s
>>7697686
thanks senpai.
>>7697709
They made my offer with A*A*A, but granted that my predicted grades were A*A*A*A*.
>>7697915
I've heard that the A*A*A candidates are usually the ones who end up getting thirds, with seconds and firsts generally only being attainable to those with more A*s.
Source being Cambridge itself.
>>7698662
A*A*A is their standard offer I think. Generally they will make you a lower offer the more they like you, so that won't actually correlate in the way you described. As far as actual achieved grades go it might very well be true though
>>7698662
This could very well be true indeed. I've also heard (from Cambridge themselves too) that those that breeze through their first year with a first are more likely to drop out or do badly in the following years because they've not learnt how to struggle (which is one of the point of first year).
>>7695066
Suicide. Lol
