Oxbridge?-not sure about it, just wondering

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>The numbers (which I believe are all that matters)</p>

<p>SAT I: 800 CR, 720 M, 760 W and 770 CR, 760 M, 750 W</p>

<p>APs: Calc BC, Bio, Comp Gov Pol, US Gov Pol, US History, Language and Comp. all 5s. Will have also a Macroeconomics and Statistics course from state university (As). Will take Physics, Chem, Lit Comp, German APs next year (could be conditional based on these?)</p>

<p>SAT IIs: Math II 800, Bio 790, USH 800, might take chem, if i do, prbly get 750+</p>

<p>Which is better for sciences/engineering? (Oxford or Cambridge) and how good are my chances?</p>

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<p>OK the numbers are all fine, but the interview is much more important. </p>

<p>As for sciences and engineering... here goes. Cambridge does not offer individual sciences (i.e. Physics, Chem, Bio etc) in the first year of study. You will study 'Natural Sciences' with either a physical or biological concentration. For the remaining years you will have more chance to specialise and eventually do research in one area. <a href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/natsci/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/natsci/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Oxford only offers seperate sciences, there's no equivalent to NatSci. The courses offered are Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Experimental Psychology, Physics, Physics and Philosophy, Physiological Sciences, and PPP (Psychology, Philosophy, Physiology). There are also degrees with pure science components, e.g. Archaeology and Anthropology (Cam also offers this), Human Sciences. There are also courses in Comp Sci at both Ox and Cam that I didn't list. </p>

<p>OK, Engineering! Cam offers Chemical Engineering, (General) Engineering, and Manufacturing Engineering. General Engineering offers a wide foundation in many areas with the choice to specialise later, and also emphasises language proficiency (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, German etc.). </p>

<p>Oxford offers Engineering Science and EEM (Engineering, Economics and Management). Engineering Science allowes specialisation into various branches in the later years of study. </p>

<p>I'm not going to answer "which one is better" because I'm a) biased and b) convinced it doesn't matter. You have to decide based on the course content, because the offerings at each are very different. E.g. there's no point applying to Oxford if what you actually want to study is NatSci. And there's also no point applying to Cambridge if Experimental Psychology is your ideal course. </p>

<p>If you genuinely can't decide, flip a coin and if you don't like the result, pick the other one ;)</p>

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<p>thanks a lot =)</p>

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<p>I don't think it would be much of a stretch to say that Cambridge is the best university in the world to study science. The alumni speaks for itself - Francis Bacon, William Lawrence Bragg, James Chadwick, Charles Darwin, Paul Dirac, Stephen Hawking, Lord Kelvin, James Clerk Maxwell, Isaac Newton, Bertrand Russell, Ernest Rutherford, J.J. Thomson, Alan Turing, and much more. I don't think there are many universities that can boast a science alumni base better than that.</p>

<p>P.S. Does anyone know if Hawking is still a professor at Cambridge?</p>

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<p>I'd say MIT/Caltech would give Cambridge a run for their money..</p>

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<p>I think Hawking is still there, but he doesn't teach undergrads any more. He still supervises PhD students though.</p>