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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Physics at Uni, poss Oxbridge?

41 replies

YetAnotherMum · 11/09/2010 20:38

My son is good at physics/maths and would like to study physics an university.

He's academically good (A* in maths A2 in year 12, As in AS physics/chemistry/biology, with 100% in physics and not far off in the rest). However he can hardly string a sentence together so I can't imagine him coming over well at an interview. Also he only got a C for English Lang for GCSE.

Would it be better for him to try for Oxford which requires an exam, or Cambridge which I don't think does. He's at a comprehensive so won't get any special training in sitting the Oxford exam.

Any comments welcome.

OP posts:

lostFeelings · 16/09/2010 00:39

probably this is the reason - writing takes practice too

that's why I wouldn't worry

he can write about sience, cos is not wooly :)

he just has to have more believe in himself and trust his abilities

my nephew is in the second year of his Natural Sciences Tripos in Cambridge, he loves it

had he not got his place he would have chosen Physics in Imperial College

elvisgirl · 16/09/2010 02:03

I did physics at Oxford, didn't apply to Cambridge as I thought the Cambridge tripos thing would be harder!

Do you still have to chose colleges at Oxbridge as well? Some colleges are more popular than others so theoretically you could increase chances of getting in by chosing carefully (these would generally be the smaller ones, ones furthest out from the centre, newest ones & ones that used to be women only). But overall it's basically luck of draw so not worth getting too hung up on.
(Interesting that there are some other actual physicists on mumsnet too! I alwaya feel like such an oddball, having worked in physics too until DS)

minervaitalica · 16/09/2010 08:40

Please do not discourage your son on the basis that he would not "fit in" in Oxbridge. My DH was a very shy, working class boy from a failing comprehensive in a very rural area, comedy accent - he showed up in jeans and t-shirt at the interview when everyone else was in suits. He got into Oxford for physics no problem, went and had a really good time becasue he found a lot of like-minded people who just loved science.

As your son, he also believed he wanted to do research (astronomy) - but ended up doing an internship at NASA and decided it was not for him, so went into actuarial work, which he really enjoys (something to do with modelling extreme events like pandemics etc).

He would say that there are a lot of good physics department around the country (he mentioned Leicester too), and if your son is definitely sure he wants to do research, then they are fine. However, if he wants to keep his options open professionally, then Oxbridge/Imperial/Durham or Russell Group are probably a better bet than a redbrick (all but the most technical employers have no clue which physics/maths/engineering dept. is best - they just rank the universities).

stubbornhubby · 16/09/2010 08:46

go to oxford or cambridge if he possibly can.

of course he'll fit in - the physics labs are full of, well, physics geeks from all different backgrounds, Brideshead was 100 years ago (and even then it was a story)

Rightly or wrongly Oxbridge will confer advantages for the rest of his life. And he'll have a great time.

Bonsoir · 16/09/2010 08:46

Is your son not interested in Engineering degrees? If he's good at Physics and Maths, he should enjoy Engineering, and it's more vocational than a pure Physics degree.

larrygrylls · 16/09/2010 08:48

I studied physics at Cambridge (starting as Natsci and finishing in theoretical phys in yr 3). There were a LOT of very geeky kids there whose forte was not speech! Having said that, it is tough. I was way top of a very academic boys' public school in North London and got about the best A level and S level grades, but found it really tough from 2nd year onwards.

I would not let the interview discourage your son at all. It will be a sciency interview, based on understanding of concepts and making educated guesstimates. If he really likes the subject, he will walk it.

What I loved about Cambridge was the campus atmosphere. You really do make friends for life (and bright ones), regardless of your background.

Original poster

YetAnotherMum · 16/09/2010 14:15

Bonsoir - I did ask him about Engineering, but from a brief glance at the courses, there seem to be quite a lot of team working and speaking to other people - put him right off! But I think he's more interested in the actual pure physics at the moment, rather than the application of it.

larrygrylls - my son is not afraid of hard work, but has liked being top of his class. So it will interesting to see how he gets on at university and is one of many bright kids. I hope that he will enjoy being among like minded people, even if he doesn't come out with the best degree ever.

With all the positive replied about how great Oxbridge is, it is starting to make me feel pretty nervous. Previously I wasn't bothered whether he went there or not.

OP posts:

larrygrylls · 16/09/2010 16:27

YetanotherMum,

Good luck with him. Please let him go for the best he can achieve. He will not regret it. It is a long time (graduated 1986) since I went but, if you (or he) needs any info, just let me know. I am happy to share my experiences etc.

stubbornhubby · 16/09/2010 16:39

what larrygrylls said.
go for it.

Original poster

YetAnotherMum · 23/12/2010 00:27

Just to let you know that my son has got an offer from Oxford for Physics! Can't quite believe it. Thanks to everyone for their earlier encouragement.

OP posts:

LondonMother · 23/12/2010 08:12

Gosh, that's good news! Well done to him and good luck with the rest of this year and his time at Oxford!

My son may be applying to either Oxford or Cambridge next year and is also not the most talkative person around, so it's very encouraging to hear that your son coped! The lack of talk is likely to be a bit more relevant in my son's case, though, as he will be going for an arts/humanities subject, I think (he hasn't made up his mind). Oh well, they're very experienced interviewers...

Original poster

YetAnotherMum · 24/12/2010 16:05

LondonMother - if it's any help my son only talked physics and maths at all his interviews - so didn't have to be good at social chitchat. So as long as he can respond to questions about his chosen subject all should be well.

Good luck to him too...

OP posts:

bitsyandbetty · 26/12/2010 13:37

Well done to your DS.

snorkie · 26/12/2010 22:08

Well done to him , I'm sure he'll enjoy his time there. Thanks for updating too. How did he find the exam and which college did he go for?

Original poster

YetAnotherMum · 28/12/2010 12:08

He found the exam fine - the maths fairly straightforward and the physics a bit more difficult but not too bad. Perhaps the maths was easier as he'd already done the A2 maths exam.

He went for Worcester college on a fairly random basis by brousing online info. He liked the fact that Worcester allows you to live in for all 4 years, and that the physics dept said that they are taking more state school pupils than previously.

It probably didn't matter too much which college he'd chosen as all the physics entrants had an interview from a second random college.

OP posts:

snorkie · 28/12/2010 14:05

Worcester is a lovely college and one of the most oversubscribed so he must have done very well indeed. I'm sure he'll enjoy his time there and you should be very proud of him too .

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