Random Samples of Study Experience in our Department
"Daunted about one of the subjects encompassed by MORSE? Then don't worry! The best thing about the degree is the ability to pick the modules you're most interested in after first year. I hadn't done any Economics beforehand and I found the Mathematics modules tough, however the excellent teaching and support system helped me through. The work is sometimes challenging but the future prospects and social side of University life make it worth it. I have had a great time here and I'm very glad I took the chance applying to an unfamiliar degree!"
Emily Smith, 4th year BSc MMORSE
Pictured presenting her 4th year dissertation about Quality assessment and improvement for high-dimensional genomic time course data
"Exciting, challenging and, most importantly, stimulating - this would be my answer if someone asked to summarise my time spent at Warwick in three words. Both university and Statistics department goes to great lengths to make sure all students get support for any issue they might have, which makes the learning process that much easier and also more enjoyable. However, university life does not stop when you finish all your homework here at Warwick! There are so much more thing to do and students have plenty of opportunities to join different student societies, sports clubs, or even create their own, if they don't manage to find any that fits their interests. These two sides complement each other beautifully making university life a great experience, which you do not want to end. However, after it ends and you graduate, you are left with amazing memories, great degree, and, most likely,with you dream job already lined up for you."
Zygymantas Sirka, 3rd year Bsc MORSE
"In spite of the super-long course title, this course is very flexible. The course title does not mean you have to do everything of what maths students or economics students do, but that you have the opportunity to specialise what you really like. The first year is pretty much a taster year, it sets the foundation for all streams. The next two years are very flexible and there are lot of optional modules available. The three-year study should provide you a good background of statistics which will be essential to your future career and further postgraduate study. The fourth year of study is optional provided that you marks are satisfied the requirement. It further extends your knowledge and you will do a dissertation project at master level. If you are thinking of pursing you career as an actuary, then I strongly recommend you do the extra year. Some modules are only available for MMORSE students and will lead to exemption of qualification. Only few universities in UK offer this opportunity.”
Renming Guo, 4th year BSc MMORSE
"Studying Morse has been a fully rewarding experience to say the least. The most unique feature about studying such a course is the pure diversification of subjects that you are able to study right from the offset. Whether your strengths lie towards maths, economics or statistics, as you progress through the degree you can specialise further and further into what interests you the most, a rare quality in a degree. The skills that I have developed have been extensive; being trained in various computing programmes and different analytical techniques will be fully utilised as I move professionally into the world of work. On the whole, choosing to study MORSE at Warwick has allowed me to prove to employers that I am a diverse candidate with a range of high skills and attributes, and would encourage anyone with immense drive and determination to apply for it."
Suchita Patel, 3rd year Bsc MORSE
"It certainly requires hard work and motivation. But it is worth it since it allows you to go into a wide-range of careers and is a degree that is highly-valued by employers. Doing an inter-disciplinary course like MORSE is great for keeping your options open."
Bethan Copsey, 4th year BSc MMORSE
Presenting her 4th year dissertation about using coalescent theory to model yeast reproduction
"The opportunities available have made all the difference when thinking about what to do after graduation. Between extra curricular activities and a research project, being involved has opened many opportunities. By the time I graduate I’ll have been a MORSE student for two years and a MathStat student for another two. If anything, I think this says how wonderfully flexible the course is without compromising on your ability to specialise. The optional modules, in particular the unusual ones, help make to most of your degree."
Tom Suchen Jin, 4th year BSc MMathStat
Pictured presenting his 4th year dissertation about Characterisation of CT noise in projection and image space (related to 3D printing)
"Coming into my first year at Warwick, I had a completely different view on mathematics than I do now. At A-level I much preferred my pure maths modules, whilst not really enjoying the statistics side of the subject – which I found to be a process of churning out answers without any understanding of the hows or whys. Not long into my first year however, I found out that pure maths was no longer concerned with calculations but rather rigorous proofs of quite abstract ideas and this difference is something I wasn't prepared for and as such, really struggled with. Statistics modules on the other hand, in complete contrast to A-level statistics, developed ideas which were motivated by examples in the worlds of finance, biostatistics and medicine to name but a few, and this turned out to be something I really enjoyed. There is also the option of studying a language as part of your degree, whether as a beginner or at a more advanced level, which I have availed of every year."
Liam Mohan, 4th year BSc MMORSE
What happens in a week?
Before coming to university, many sixth-formers wonder what a typical week during term-time looks like. Below is a sample timetable of a hypothetical student in term 2 of the first year. Of course, how a real student picked at random from the first year would spend that same week depends on a lot of factors including personal interests, learning style, working pace, biorhythm and random variation (this is not the name of a rock band but a technical term you will encounter in ST115 Probability and ST104 Stat Lab, if not before). The student in the example below would do most of the necessary individual work on the lecture content at home, while solving assigned problems. Another student may prefer to revise the lectures first, often in the library, and tackle the problems afterwards.
A module typically consists of lectures supplemented with some format of smaller group teaching such as tutorials, supervisions and computer labs with 5 to 20 students. Assignments are the key to learning, because learning about a mathematical area most of all means getting practice in solving problems. To illustrate this point: It may be interesting to follow lectures on ice skating, but the only way to actually learn how to ice skate is to do it. Assignments are often biweekly and the expectation is that students spend many hours on each of them. This sometimes brings up periods of frustration, which are compensated for by moments of euphoria when finally all the dots connect and a beautiful solution is constructed.
We strongly encourage students to work together during term and to stay in touch outside term during revision. Many of our students regularly meet in informal study groups to bounce off ideas about problem solving, go over the notes they took in lectures and support each other in many ways.
Compared with school, students enjoy a lot more freedom in structuring their week. With more freedom comes more responsibility for their own success. This applies even more outside term, where students have large blocks of unstructured time to revise for exams. More guidance can be found on the Study Advice page. A further source of information is provided by one of our students, Nikesh Lad, who has been sharing his views and experiences via a Warwick Student Blog.
