… by Jonathan / from Bristol / MMath Mathematics / 2nd Year (UG)
When it came to choose what to do after sixth form, for me I felt there was only one choice. Maths. Maths at university. It was the subject I had enjoyed most at school, and the one I found most interesting. With this conviction of studying maths I began the hunt for a university.
Once I had developed some sort of shortlist, I decided it was the time to visit some of these places. First on my list was the wildcard, St Andrews in cold, drab Scotland – very different and far away from my West Country home. So one early morning I got a flight to Edinburgh, and from there a train to St Andrews. This initial experience of mathematics at university would go on to influence much of my thinking about applying to study maths. On the train back to Edinburgh, after my day at St Andrews, I began the mental conflict that would go on until halfway through my first semester of university. This conflict was of two parts; firstly do I want to study maths? And secondly, am I good enough to study maths?
As my train arrived into Edinburgh I had some hours until my flight home, so I decided to go for a walk around. This walk eventually took me to the University of Edinburgh Central Area. Raining and dead quiet (as it was the Easter break), I immediately liked it here and decided it would be one I should add to my university shortlist. I also had come to the weak conclusion on this walk of mine that maybe it was just that St Andrews wasn’t for me and that I should continue my search to study maths.
Weeks and months passed by in which I continued with my A-Levels. During this time I continued to visit universities and yet each, in one way or another, individually hammered home another thought that maths wasn’t right for me.
Finally, it came to the much-anticipated open day for Edinburgh. I flew up the night before to get a chance to see some of this beautiful city. During the open day, I realised that whilst the university and the prospect of studying here excited me, I once again felt that I couldn’t be certain that maths was what I wanted to do here. So, for the first time in this whole process I considered other prospects and I went to a talk in the School of Economics. It was here where I began to understand the vast amount of flexibility that is offered by the University of Edinburgh (in which few of my other current university choices compared). I could study outside courses (i.e. modules in other subjects) in my first and second year and see what subjects like economics are like at university-level. By studying these other subjects, it was sometimes possible to change degree programmes.
This completely changed my thought process about university and I knew I needed this flexibility in my degree. Once I got home from the open day, I didn’t have long before the UCAS deadline, and I decided to completely revamp my application. I changed every university on my list except Edinburgh, and tried to find the most flexible courses in mathematics and economics in the country. I also decided that I’d apply for a joint honours in maths and economics instead of just maths, to keep my options as open as possible. My new list comprised of universities I hadn’t even considered until then, but deep down, I just wanted to go to Edinburgh.
Once I submitted my application, I began the waiting game. I felt happy with my choices, despite the impulsiveness of it all. Edinburgh was the last of the universities to get back to me, and with great satisfaction I accepted their offer.
Fast forward to A Level Results Day. I woke up late, just making it in time to get to my school to pick my results up, but by this point I didn’t care what they were, because UCAS had already confirmed that I’d be going to the University of Edinburgh to study an Economics and Maths degree.
Starting my time at Edinburgh, I really enjoyed my first semester courses. Studying ‘Introduction to Linear Algebra’ (one of the maths courses) created an interest in an area of maths I had hated during my A-Levels. Conversely, ‘Economics 1’ was so different to any economics I had studied previously. Despite doing a joint honours degree, I still had the time to study another outside subject and like many I chose a language. I chose Swedish, and I really enjoyed studying something so new to me.
As I got further into the semester, I found I would procrastinate significantly less when it came to doing work for maths, compared to economics! By having the chance to study more than just maths at a university level I learned at last that I wanted to do a degree in mathematics. Finally understanding this, I started the simple process to change from MA Economics and Mathematics, to MMath Mathematics. I am now starting my second year as a mathematics student.
What I had been able to do at Edinburgh was to, in a way, experiment with my degree choice, and that was exactly what I needed to do in order to know what to study. With this level of degree flexibility, I had the opportunity to study the same Year 1 courses as any single honours Mathematics or Economics student does, as well as additional options. Had I reached the conclusion that I’d rather just study economics or that a joint honours was best, these avenues were also open to me.
To finish this ramble, everyone has a different experience when finding a university and a subject to study. But for those uncertain, the flexibility offered by a Scottish degree is a great option worth considering.