Please talk to me as though I'm 2 - guidance about Cambridge for Maths

[AFingerofFudge]

Hi - I'm completely in the dark about how to go about supporting DS2 who is in the first year of Sixth Form doing Maths, Further Maths, French and Music. He is saying that he would like to do Maths at Cambridge but I have no idea where to start in terms of what he should be doing at the moment to help his chances of getting there.
He goes to a state comprehensive and as the Maths teacher confirmed to me today, no one has gone to Oxbridge to do Maths. Very few have gone to Oxbridge at all. I love his school, some of the departments are excellent, the pastoral care is great, but one of the weaknesses is the maths department.
Purely by chance we have found a maths tutor for DS2 -at his request - to help solidify his learning at school, and because maths is his hobby so he enjoys it, and the tutor mentioned a "step" program.
So today I asked the head of maths this same question I have just asked here, and about step and she said I could find some info if I googled it but they wouldn't be able to do anything "extra" with him. Not that I was asking.
So I would just like to ask, what steps should we be taking now if we're thinking of him applying after the summer?
By the way, we have seen there's a maths open day at Cambridge on the 25th April so will go to that.
Thanks!

Good point bubbles - for DS2 we just want to support him and help him understand his options wherever he decides to go. He's quite clear in his own mind that he wants to do Maths, just not the where. Academically he is up there but he struggles with common sense stuff and has some sort of difficulties expressing himself and understanding things although we've never gone for a diagnosis on this. He just needs a bit of directing and help thinking out what to look at but it's very much us supporting him to help him make his own decisions.

I didn’t mean to suggest for one moment he shouldn’t have a go at a top flight course. Nor was I persuading him to do something else! It’s just that being top of your own school or even being pretty good when compared to others doesn’t mean DC can get in when they compete against so many overseas candidates and it’s difficult not to be disappointed if it doesn’t go well and confidence can be dented. So this really means you need to evaluate the other universities carefully so sensible choices can be made for the five slots available.

In terms of choosing a college, I didn't do maths, but I decided i wanted to a college that satisfied the following:

1. good reputation for my subject (and a reasonable number of students studying it)
2. size - somewhere in the middle size wise (veering more towards smaller than larger)
3. old college, ideally on the backs (i thought that if i was going to Cambridge, i might as well go the whole hog on the tradition side)
4. not too public schooly (relatively)

This enabled me to compose a short list of about 3 which I visited and tried to get input from whoever i could on the feel of the colleges, social mix etc ( this is much easier these days with social media, and also more stats being published re % of state school pupils)

Narrowed it down to one clear favourite and no regrets!
Although i went to a state school in a relatively poor part of the country, my school sent a surprising number of Oxbridge so i was able to get a bit of a feel from the school on colleges based on where past pupils had gone. In addition, they did try to spread the applications around the colleges as they seemed to think this would maximise number of pupils from the school who got accepted, so one of my friends who could not decide between two was pointed by the school in the direction of one because someone else from the school was applying to the other one.

I honestly don't know anyone who regretted the college they ended up in, but i do know one person who was pooled to an all girls college and decided not to take it up. That wont happen to your DS though!

You have been given a lot of good advices already.

Lastly, getting a 2:2 from Trinity College Cambridge in Maths can end up being problematic on the jobs front as so many employers want a 2:1.

That was me. Interview invitations weren't rolling in. I didn't have trouble with Civil Service application process, but I ended up in another job I enjoyed.

Oxbridge maths is quite another league in terms of pace and difficulty of course. I had undiagnosed ADHD at the time and putting in big actual effort on consistent daily basis was a challenge for me and I wasn't genius enough to get away with lack of effort, unlike some people on my course :) However I am in minority - state schooler who got in but didn't get 1st/2:1. For most putting in work without sacrificing other aspects of life pays off.

Then I did Masters at one of the top universities that wasn't Oxbridge and it turned out I could do the subject in sleep. The pace is definitely slower, which can allow time for deeper understanding of Maths and to think beyond homework if you love the subject.

Also I wouldn't sweat too much on college choice unless there are specific interests - every college I saw had great campus life. Inter-collegiate system is what makes Oxbridge and York special.