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Higher education

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Original poster

Maths at University

67 replies

autrejour · 22/04/2021 15:25

My son is in Year 12 studying Maths, Further Maths , Physics and Economics at A level. He does not know what he wants to do career wise but he would like to pursue some kind Maths subject at University. I know we will need to start looking soon for courses and Universities and I would like to help him but completely lost on where to start. He is also quite sporty.
Would you wise ladies be able to help ? What are good Maths subjects for good career prospects and also which Universities should we be looking at. Sorry, just started looking and a bit clueless.

OP posts:
UserTwice · 22/04/2021 15:31

Pretty much every university will offer a Maths degree where they will most likely have to study some core subjects at first and then be able to specialise later, once they work out which areas of maths they are interested in.

Or he can consider a degree in Maths+something else (where the something else is something he is interested in!).

Maths in itself does not necessarily lead directly to a specific career, but just having a maths degree would be a very well regarded stepping stone into many careers e.g. IT.

PresentingPercy · 22/04/2021 18:24

Maths is a very sought after degree. You do not want to look at every university though. With FM, he doesn’t need to look below the top 20. Even the top 10 could be possible. Be aware that the very top universities require an additional test. Look at the Maths courses at Warwick for a good overview.

Maths and Physics is also brilliant for Engineering. Mechanical, Civil, Automotive, Electonic etc. Plenty of jobs around. Sheffield is great for Engineering and looking at their courses might interest him.

Another option is Economics. LSE is London is a good starting point to explore this at university but Bristol and plenty of other universities are great.

There would also be Management degrees. One of the best is at Bath University. Is he interested in business management?

Most universities offer excellent sport (not sure about LSE). If he’s keen on sport, Loughborough university has courses in all the subjects I’ve mentioned.

My friends have had DC go to Warwick, Cambridge and Exeter for maths. All very happy.

One last question: isn’t the school giving him info on choosing a course and university? You need to look for virtual open days. Also look at The Complete University Guide for the best universities for each subject.
Hope the search goes well.

HuaShan · 22/04/2021 18:48

Top tier universities for Maths are Oxbridge, Imperial Warwick and Durham, St Andrews. Manchester, Bath Nottingham and Birmingham are well regarded too and have excellent industry links. Most offer joint courses, Maths with Computer Science or Warwick has Maths with Finance and Economics (can't remember the actual course title!).
For Oxbridge, Warwick Imperial your ds,will need to prepare for STEP or MAT tests and other universities may offer reduced offers based on results in these tests. NAT is taken in the autumn of Y13, STEP at the same time as A levels.

MyVisionsComeFromSoup · 22/04/2021 18:55

DD1s advice (MMaths graduate) for employability, would be to do as many statistics modules as possible, that was where the jobs were when she graduated a few years back. And she's desperate for decent maths grads who really "get" stats for her team at work, as there's not that many out there it would seem.

Also if anywhere he's looking at asks for STEP, get as much practice in as possible, as soon as possible, as STEP is tough.

BeginningBridge · 22/04/2021 18:57

My ds is currently a 4th year at Warwick doing MMaths. He is very happy there and just had a good job offer. I am happy to answer questions about Warwick.

But a lot depends on the grades your ds is likely to get. Some unis like Warwick have a lot of flexibility in the structure of their Maths degrees and allow students to do a mix of modules from other facilities.

PresentingPercy · 22/04/2021 21:09

If the school isn’t proactive, where can the DS do Step practice? This might be problematic for “clueless” OP. However there are other universities!

Cornishmumofone · 22/04/2021 22:05

Would he be interested in Maths with Actuarial Science? www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/mathematics-with-actuarial-science-degree-bsc

MarchingFrogs · 22/04/2021 22:36

STEP: www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/step/preparing-for-step/

Would he be interested in something like MORSE (Maths / Operational Research / Statistics/ Economics)?

warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/statistics/courses/morse/

These are Mathematics degree courses which integrate the study of pure mathematics and statistics with their applications to economics, finance and management. These are core skills required in modern business analytics.

Also offered at Southampton.

.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 23/04/2021 00:14

DD is a mathematician in her second year at college in the US. She's doing a mix of Computer Science and Math courses. She loves it - a lot of the courses overlap.

Her boyfriend is studying Computational Data Science and also loves it.

PresentingPercy · 23/04/2021 06:39

Where could DS get Step tuition? Hopefully a decent school teaching FM would know about this and help but there seems to be little engagement at the moment and it’s near to the end of y12.

FTEngineerM · 23/04/2021 06:42

Another vote for engineering; there are so many different fields and it’s essentially applying mathematics/physics to real world applications.

Very very interesting and varied career choices available and I think I read in demand at the moment.

Needmoresleep · 23/04/2021 07:01

Which interests him more. The physics side of maths or the economics/statistics side.

If the latter he should look at MORSE at Warwick and various degrees at the LSE including Maths with Economics, which give the option of switching to Econometrics and Mathematical Economics for the third year. Or allied subjects such as Actuarial Science. As a PP suggests, graduates with strong statistics skills are in high demand.

Middersweekly · 23/04/2021 07:32

Engineering incorporates most of your DS’ A-level subjects. University of Southampton has some of the best Engineering facilities in the country

Economics if he prefers the more mathematical side. LSE would be a front runner there.

thesandwich · 23/04/2021 07:42

There is a great thread in this section about maths activities for a dc interested in Cambridge - sorry can't link with excellent suggestions for STEP prep and taster days etc which would help. pallando I think is the expert.

Needmoresleep · 23/04/2021 07:57

The most mathematical economics courses are at Cambridge, UCL, LSE and Warwick. All worth a look if that is where his interests lie, as it is likely that their maths courses will be in a position to offer a good range of statistics type options, or, as with MORSE or EME there will be degrees where the two intersect. DS at LSE took the same courses whilst enrolled in an economics degree, as he would have done from a maths with economics degree (eventually graduating in EME). He took more maths courses than his friend studying engineering at Imperial, though obviously very different maths.

Fireflygal · 23/04/2021 08:30

What are his likely predicted grades? GCSE results and has he achieved well in UKMT, Gold and above?

This will help rule in/out if he should go for Oxbridge, Warwick.

Advice is to choose the course first and then the Uni. Would he like to study away from home or near home, city or campus. This helps to narrow down Unis

Has he looked at the Student Room, forum?

Bluntness100 · 23/04/2021 08:33

Agree, what he’s studying is just part of this, what are his predicted grades?

PresentingPercy · 23/04/2021 08:52

I feel I need to say that Engineering is essentially problem solving. Being mathematical is not the only attribute. Understanding the problem in the first place is vital. Then it’s a case of applying engineering principles. People who think it’s all about maths are wrong. This is why people can be great engineers without being brilliant at maths. Yes, plenty of jobs.

Needmoresleep · 23/04/2021 09:00

Surely Percy, this depends on the type of engineering. Some seem very maths heavy.

Etulosba · 23/04/2021 10:09

Surely Percy, this depends on the type of engineering. Some seem very maths heavy.

I wouldn't recommend engineering if you are not keen on maths, and more maths.

Yes, engineering is problem solving and it is possible to be an engineer without being brilliant at maths, but you need to be comfortable with it at quite a high level.

Incidentally, engineering won't necessarily lock you into engineering as the only career. Quite a high proportion of our graduates end up in finance. I'm sure it is the same elsewhere.

1678bfj7 · 23/04/2021 10:22

Maths is an excellent subject and can lead to many careers - academic, industrial maths, banking, science, business. Most graduate programmes, in any field, for example, want numerate analytical graduates, which basically means Science, Tech, Engineering, Maths. So a maths degree or other STEM degree is one of the most career-useful subjects to study.

Someone with a maths degree from a good university is going to have a lot of opportunities, and it really won't restrict him.

There are also other STEM degrees which require a lot of maths - the multiple types of engineering, from civil, mechanical, through to electronics (which will lead to well paid 'tech' jobs), physics degrees, geophysics etc. Does he prefer theoretical maths, or applied maths. If he likes theory then I'd probably look more at maths and physics degrees, if he likes applying in the real world and problem solving, then look at engineering, geophysics etc. Statistics-heavy courses are also popular with business, finance, civil service etc.

Economics - I would probably only do economics at a top tier university.

1678bfj7 · 23/04/2021 10:24

Sorry that wasn't very clear - I mean that there are economics courses at all types of university, but they are not all equal. So if I were to do an economics degree, I'd want to make sure it was at a university with a good reputation for economics, and a well-known name.

FTEngineerM · 23/04/2021 10:29

Engineering is essentially problem solving. Being mathematical is not the only attribute

Yes I totally agree with you but that’s a skill that can largely be taught through maths; some of the super complex math problems taught in 3rd year and post grad topics can’t be solved in one step.. just like real word engineering problems they require knowledge to be drawn from several different areas and used where appropriate to take a step by step approach at solving the problem.

The two, problem solving and maths, IMO go hand in hand. That’s not to say you’re a shite problem solver if you’re bad at maths of course but maths certainly develops that skill.

ILoveFlumps · 23/04/2021 10:33

DD2 is doing her MMaths at Surrey University. She also has no idea on career path yet, but hopes to have an epiphany at some point.
She's also very sporty, and plays very high level in her sport, and Surrey have a great Sports Programme too.

LondonMischief · 23/04/2021 10:41

My DS is planning on styling Maths with the aim of getting into finance/actuary/ accounting etc.. Maths at Warwick would have been one of his choices.
He has just had a look at MORSE at Warwick. Would a maths personal statement do if he applied for MORSE at Warwick rather than Maths, as his other choices elsewhere would be for Maths.
Also I see the entry requirements for MORSE is a lot lower than for Maths. Does this suggest that MORSE is not as sought after compared to Maths at Warwick?