Bath and Bristol

We visited the Bath spa on Friday night, meaning to buy a twilight session, but they were all booked up. So we had a shorter session and more expensive package and it was still good - especially the steam rooms with different aromas and heats and foot baths.

We ate Sally Lunn Bath buns for tea, which are something amazing - huge as a tea plate, but light as a fairy cake, and delicious with cinnamon butter - I'm glad we found that café.

We made a quick wander round the Roman Baths yesterday morning before visiting daughter. So I need to come back because there wasn't time to see everything.

Daughter's fine physically, intellectually, academically and socially - I think. She grumbled mildly about hall food and ate a splendid meal with us in a fish restaurant. We talked lots, and then husband drove us into the city where we explored shops like the new precinct, and bought a piece of jewellery that she'd seen. Husband showed us some of his old haunts so daughter knows even more shops to explore in the years that she is there.

Maths at Bristol

Daughter must have chosen well - I see Bristol maths department comes really high in the Times Good University rankings
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Mathematics&x=31&y=7&sub=22
being beaten only by Oxford and Cambridge.

Visit to Bristol university

Daughter & I have been to see various maths departments in universities, including Warwick, Bath, Surrey and Bristol. They offer more or less the same but ask for different A-level grades. Warwick, for instance, asks for four grade As, ie AAAA.

Yesterday we went to see maths dept in Bristol. She has to make a firm choice of university and a back up choice in case she doesn't get the grades for her firm choice.

Choosing a university

• reputation
• course
• flexibility
• type of uni: collegiate (Oxford, Durham), campus (Bath, Warwick), city (Bristol, Birmingham), metro (London)
• accomodation
• cost of living
• abiltiy
• teaching
• social life
• geographical situation

And an admissions tutor amplified on these various aspects of choice.

Where do maths grads go next?
You can't tell long term, so Bristol can only say of its recent graduates

• 30% in finance
• 20% in further study
• about 15% other
• 12% industry

Requirements are AAB results in A-levels. Bristol is turning away people with predicted AAA but only single maths.

Studying maths at university
Activities include:

• lectures
• tutorials
• problem classes
• homework
• practical sessions

In the first year you expect to do units totalling 120 credit points so as to sample all aspects of maths.

If you go on to a MMath, it's a four year course, but with the master's being mainly taught components.