/sci/ - Science & Math

It is statistically harder to get into Clown college, than into Harvard or Yale.

How much money do you have

very, since a lot of smart people go there, so a lot of smart people want to go there, meaning they can choose the smartest of those smartest people, meaning a lot of very smart people go there, so a lot of smart people want- etc. etc.

>>4549598
Replace smart with rich (they are not mutually exclusive but rich is the more deciding factor here)

Doesn't matter what you go to as long as it's uni.
And DO NOT go into accounting or law.

>>4549601
>>4549596

Is money that much of a factor?

Im not obscenely rich, but I'd pay big bucks to have that sweet ivy-league logo on my degree.

>>4549605
Money is the only factor

>>4549606

>sourgrapes.jpg

Its more about your grades and potential than anything else.

>>4549606
Yes.
Harvard is a joke.
College is really a joke.
As long as you get into a school that has the program you want and will allow you to get the job you want that's all that matters.
Because the jobs will basically make the same amount of cash anyway.

>2012
>Not realizing tertiary education is largely of constant quality across all institutions despite their respective tuition fees

ISH...

>>4549609
What kind of dreamworld do you live in?

>>4549620
>>4549616
>>4549606
>>4549601
>>4549596

Sensors indicate that grapes are reaching pH 0.

Any respectable job won't give a fuck what place you went to as long as they have the program they're looking for in grads. Just try find an affordable place that's nearby with what you're looking for, as an Ivy League diploma is just a bragging point for dinner parties.

If you want law or medicine, your undergrad doesn't matter as much.(They are professional schools that require a BA/BS to enroll in)
You need top 1% of LSAT and a near perfect GPA to get into Harvard or Yale.(Unless you're black/mexican, then you can have like a 3.6 or a 165) For Med school you need about a 36 MCAT score and a great GPA.

You're okay with almost any US medschool(MD) as they all have high standards and are respected. Some people say law school isn't even worth it unless you get into a Top 14. Some people say Top 20ish.

>>4549609
It's more about how much money you can throw at them and who you know

>>4549635
>Harvard

>>4549628
Ivy = instant interview, thinking anything else is just retarded.

>>4549635
He did both Yale and Harvard didn't he?

>>4549641
Yes

lol @ people who think they will get a job based on educational qualifications alone when tons of experienced pros have flooded the jobs market. Prepare to wait tables whether you went to Yale or community college.

>>4549634

So Harvard/Yale Law is harder to get into than Harvard/Yale Medicine?

That dosnt sound right? I mean they're more well known for Law, but surely Medicine is a superior course?

>>4549649

>yfw you apply to be a waiter with your community college degree and a Yale graduate was chosen over you

Cambridge isn't really hard to get into. You just need high A level grades and the ability to seem vaguely intelligent at an interview. A levels are easy so this should be no problem.

>>4549659
you may need STEP exams as well as A levels

>>4549654
MCAT might be considered harder than LSAT. Just because you can qualify to get in, doesn't mean its any easier. Tons of kids get rejected from MIT with 4.0s and 800 math scores. If you go by pure numbers, theres more law school applicants than medschool applicants. and you need to score in above the 90th percentile on the LSAT to get into a decent school while a mid 80ish percentile on the MCAT will do fine. Both programs are incredibly selective, it would be like saying its easier to be chief justice than president.

>>4549666

STEPs only for mathematics

But its silly because Cambridge isnt known for mathematics.Youd be better off applying to MIT

>>4549667
On a side note, I recommend anyone with very high reasoning skills to take the LSAT. I was an engineering major that took the LSAT and I scored in the 99th percentile. Rather than ending up at a second rate PhD program, begging for scraps for the next 8 years of my life, I am going to go to a top tier law school, become an IP lawyer, make mad dosh and contribute to the sciences in my spare time.

>>4549682

Thats nice, except that its law and not medicine.

>>4549674
>Cambridge isnt known for mathematics

What the fuck am I reading?

>>4549674
>cambridge not known for mathematics

mfw

inb4 i have no face

Cambridge student here in my 2nd year studying Maths.

It's not all THAT hard to get in; I think my viewpoint is biased because I went to the top grammar school in the UK which routinely has 35-40 successful Oxbridge candidates every year, but still - some of the people here I wouldn't even consider overly intelligent; they are a combination of dedicated and, I presume, rich - and Maths is widely considered the hardest course to read at Cambridge. Some of the people taking Medicine etc are borderline retarded.

But honestly, apart from the STEP exams (which are a bitch and like nothing I'd ever encountered during A level maths), it's not too hard to get in as long as you're not a spaz in your interviews (this is assuming you're a UK candidate: it's probably significantly harder for externals).

For reference, I got straight A*s at GCSE and 5 As at A level (this was just before they introduced the A* for A level too)

>>4549674
cambridge is third in the world. ok so mit is second, but third in the world is a bit different to "not known for mathematics"

pic related wnats a word with you

>>4549711
unless you're at trinity, gtfo

if at trinity, brofist

>>4549674
MIT and Cambridge did a student exchange programme in Mathematics for a while, until Cambridge pulled out because MIT's department wasn't up to the same standard.

>>4549711

5A's at A levels?

You mean 5A's between AS and A levels?

What did you take?

Also, did you GCSEs a factor of consideration?

>>4549719
unless senior wrangler gtfo

if senior wrangler, brofist

>>4549719

Everyone at Trinity's a prick and something ridiculous like 85% of them went to private schools. Their social scene is shit and formal and all uppity and stuff, bun that. Full of absurdly rich aspies.

Also they have a very, I don't really know how to describe it... no-fun-allowed? culture. Say you're at a bash/club and you take some md or coke; if you go to Trinity they'll make a BIG deal of it.

>>4549728
plenty top schools give 5 A levels to students, especially if maths and further maths are 2.

if you can do maths well, it doesn't take much works at A level

>>4549741
>butt hurt jelly detected

i went to kings so, so i'm just joshing

>>4549741
>be on /sci/
>complain about people not being sociable
>complain about aspies

>>4549728

No, I mean 5 A levels. I took 7 AS levels.

For A2: Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, French.
For AS: All above + Arabic + English Lit.

I was pretty much fluent in French anyway and decent enough at Arabic without study, so I didn't have to go to classes for them or anything in school. English lit is ridiculously easy; I've never understood how anyone fails English if you ever just pick up a novel from time to time.

Some companies only hire grads from these upper division schools. Case in point... grad from ivy league school or equivalent goes on to manage a division in a large financial firm that only hires from these schools. Another grad in same field graduates from a very respectable state college and goes on to teach at a high school. Difference in salary..$100,000. But... the former works on an average of 60 plus hours a week and the former much less. Plus you have to consider the values associated with the job you are doing, if those things matter to you.

>>4549753
scuse me..later works less

>>4549750

I come on /sci/ for the bant. And dealing with aspies over the internet is far easier than every day in person - which, so far as I can see, is the only problem I've encountered doing Maths at Cambridge. Most everyone taking it is a typical geek and can't socially interact for shit.

>>4549760
>answers troll post
>claims not aspie

>>4549766

But if I didn't answer it you might have taken my silence for acceptance and then my name on /sci/ would be tarnished and you'd all think of me as an aspie which I'm not and every day when I come on here I would feel the judgement emanating from my screen into my gooch

Okay, Ive just visited the Cambridge website.

Apparently "typical offers require A*AA" at A levels,

Is this realistic at all?

>>4549778

What do you mean by realistic? It is realistic in that the majority of Cambridge (and Oxford and Imperial too for that matter) offers are A*AA these days. But I've heard of AAB offers and I've also heard of people with straight A*s being rejected.

Note that if you're taking double maths it bumps up to A*A*AA, not A*AAA.

>>4549783

Ah thanks. Thats a relief.

A*AA seems very achievable.

I was worried when you said you had 5 As. I dont even have 5 A levels.

Does age or number of attempts matter? Because I dont mind spending another year or two to retake the exam with additional A levels if thats what it takes.

>>4549788

Haha I only had so many because of languages and double maths - also that was before they introduced the A* at A level which meant that there was more competition as many people were getting AAA and there wasn't much in the way of differing between them,

Age definitely doesn't matter, re-takes is entirely dependent on who reviews your application I think. Some people view retakes as a sign of dedication and hard work, some less so. I would think that overall, if you retake and get good grades, it'd be better than if you didn't retake at all.

What are you planning on studying? Some courses are much easier to get into than others.

>>4549719
Choice of college has no effect on your education apart from the first two years of supervision which are babby mode anyway.

Just clearing up this misconception that people may have.

>>4549797
for maths anyway*

>>4549792

Well, naturally Im going to shoot for Medicine :x

>>4549801
>naturally
lol right

>>4549801

Why Cambridge if you're taking Medicine?

It's not even top ranked for Medicine like it is for other courses. Medicine is standardised by the same board for every university that does it - all universities are pretty much equal for Medicine, yet you'll have a harder time getting into Cambridge in the first place than other universities, even if Cambridge isn't the best for Medicine.

Honestly if I were you I'd apply to KCL or Edinburgh or Oxford or Imperial - all of which are at least slightly easier to get into than Cambridge. Also, KCL and Edinburgh are the top ranked for Medicine in the UK - not that it matters much; there's hardly any difference really. But the additional advantage of going to KCL or Imperial would be that you'd be in London, which is the only city worth living in in the UK, and that there are many more hospitals for work experience - you'd be hard pushed finding work experience in Cambridge compared to London.

Also, people at Imperial/Edinburgh/KCL are much more down to earth and fun and sociable than at Cambridge in my experience.

>>4549631

http://www.pnas.org/content/96/7/3455.full

pH can go into the negatives

if it were approaching 0 while in the negative region, the grapes would be becoming relatively less sour

just sayin..

>>4549810

Oh. Well I didnt know that. As you might reason from me asking these very questions, I havent done as much research into the matter as I would have needed before applying for anything.

What with all the hearsay elitism and exclusion, I just wanted to know if my ambitions were realistic at all.

Thanks for sharing your valuable insight, looks like I can just focus on getting the required grades and not worry about anything else for now.

>>4549810
UCL is better than KCL, and they have their own hospital UCH right next door. in fact a tunnel runs from the physics department of UCL, under gower street, to the basement of UCH.

I'm spending a semester at cambridge next year. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

>>4549948
Just a semester? Why?
I thought cambridge were kinda defensive with students from other universities?

>>4549752
>No, I mean 5 A levels. I took 7 AS levels.

Nice. I got into Oxford with 3 A levels.

>>4549810
>London ... is the only city worth living in in the UK

>>4549957
Because it is expensive for me. And there are a limited amount of credits I can transfer to my home school.

Speaking from experience, Cambridge isn't that difficult to get into
all it requires are high A-level grades (A*/A minimum) in 3/4 subjects, which isn't that hard
at the interview as long as you are passionate and determined they don't mind if you don't know everything
the extra tests are all pretty standard, (except STEP and the LSAT, which takes a bit more time preparing for)

shit is pretty easy. but they only want $$$$$.
i am pretty sure if they did an academic exam to get students,it would be full of indians & asians & mideasterners

>>4549978
grad is full of them already,i am talking about undergrad inb4 u counter my statement.every top tier uni has shitloads of foreigners in grad department