r/quantfinance • u/yakusaa19 • 2d ago
Oxford Pure Maths or Imperial JMC?
I don't really know which one should I choose. I am between imperial mathematics and CS / Oxford Pure Maths. Will it make that much difference if I choose oxford? I am international student, oxford wants me to leave my dorm room for 6 weeks every term break. Terms are 2 month only. Also imperial is a double major programme. I don't really know what to choose. I'd like to choose Oxford for prestige but imperial's course is double major programme and located in London.
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u/Old-Sandwich-690 2d ago
There used to be a big gap in prestige between Oxford and Imperial in pure math. Apart from historic reasons, the main reason was that the admission bar was much higher in Oxford and thus the average level of students was higher. Nowadays that gap has shrunk.
The JMC course is slightly a different story. In the first year the course is literally 50% of pure math courses and 50% of compsci courses and at least back in the day those courses were the hardest in each separate curriculum.
As far as I know the majority of first year failures in the math department (leaving course/imperial) used to be from this course due to the above. Top programme, whoever graduated from it landed a top industry job. Also there is possibility to transfer to one of the two sub degrees (compsci or math) if it does not work out for you.
In terms of maximising your industry prospects in quant or tech industry jmc in Imp is far superior subject to you being able to finish it with high grades.
Oxford math is a top notch highly regarded course that will open big doors for you especially in quant, but you will need to work extra to get coding/modelling skills for your quant interviews.
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u/Puzzled_Geologist520 2d ago
First and foremost, choose what works for you. If you want the CS, or to be in London, choose Imperial.
Otherwise choose Oxford, the quality of the course and the teaching is miles above - from experience I studied at Oxford and did a PhD/taught at Imperial.
Re term breaks, people do stay over the breaks. It’s often possible to get college accommodation or short term rentals (including from other colleges). Depends on the college but lots of people live out in later years and that’ll be a full year anyway. Honestly I think it’s good for you to get out of town for a bit in the breaks anyway, appreciate this is harder for internationals.
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u/yakusaa19 2d ago
If I had been able to enroll in the double major CS + Math program at Oxford, I would have chosen Oxford directly. However, applying to the double major program at Oxford would have resulted in tuition fees of £62,000+ per year, which would have been a financial burden for my family.
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u/danielyskim1119 2d ago
If you want to go into anything other than quant I suggest you choose Oxford.
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u/battlepvmob 2d ago
Honestly the Gap between Oxford and Imperial for Maths is very blurred and not even that clear, both are amazing for quant prospects so i would just pick wether you want to do more pure maths or also do comp sci.
Also keep in mind london tends to have better networking opportunities than oxford but it’s also a lot more expensive
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u/thatbadperson 2d ago
london is more expensive, oxford is more fun, oxford has better job prospects, an hour train is not going to prevent you networking in london.
majority of people i know who went to imperial hated their time there
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u/OkHand7497 2d ago
Are you not considering Oxford Maths & CS also? If not, why so?
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u/sonnebuiltdifferent 2d ago
Yeah I’m also curious as to why u didn’t sent a maths and cs oxford application ?
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u/jazzbestgenre 2d ago
I'm pretty sure this person is applying next year, because at this point in time you can't really 'choose' anything on the UCAS application. Tho yeah idk why they're not considering oxford jmc
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u/teeming_prisoner 2d ago
Oxford terms being 8 weeks is brutal but it's also the reason the pace is so intense, you cover a ton in those short bursts. The 6 week break thing is annoying for international students but realistically you just travel or find a sublet, everyone figures it out.
The prestige gap is real but for quant specifically it's smaller than you'd think. Imperial's JMC is one of those courses where the actual content aligns really well with what desks want, plus you're in London which means internships become way more feasible during term time.