TLDR: No
Cath wants to say: Since writing this post I have switched courses to study mathematics, so maybe some of my points here are wrong.
I applied for PPE because I really cared about topics like global health and development, animal welfare, poverty, and war. I found philosophy to be my only reprise, and I really wanted to figure out what it meant to live a moral life. I also knew that PPE at Oxford was the “EA degree” and knew a lot of cool smart EAs who did PPE.
I initially wanted to switch courses to maths at the start of the year. I decided against that.
Reasons I wanted to study PPE at Oxford
- I am really good at my subject. I received a collections prize and prelims prize, meaning I was first in my cohort. I got an easy first in PPE, and ranked very high in my cohort/degree. I don’t think I could have competed gotten a First for my prelims if I had done maths.
- I am able to complete my PPE work quickly. For my first year, that was 2 essays a week, 1-2 problem sheet, and three 1-2h tutorials. This gives me a lot of free time to work on stuff that I care about, like AI safety research.
- I don’t think that studying PPE has significantly stopped me from getting an AI safety job. I’ve done pretty interesting research, been invited to work on AI safety, been accepted to technical camps, etc.
- I think that I would probably get more opportunities if I studied maths?
- I am quite risk averse
- Since I was set on PPE while applying, I didn’t have much maths supra-curricular activities that would have made me stand out, so I probably wouldn’t have gotten accepted. On the other hand, I was fairly sure that my PPE application would be very competitive. I prioritise studying at Oxford more than studying maths at Oxford.
- I did not want to switch because I didn’t know whether that would be possible. My tutors strongly advised me against switching and told me it was very impractical. I also didn’t know if I would like studying maths full time, or whether I would get a first.
- I really like some of the stuff I study. I think its very meaningful and important (especially philosophy and politics). I love reading Marx, thinking about liberalism and imperialism, and thinking about what makes your life go well. I don’t find maths that fun.
- PPE gives me a lot of flexibility. I could do policy research, finance, consulting, NGOs, operations, academia, and I could also easily pivot into technical stuff after graduate by getting a Masters. I like having my options open and being flexible.
Reasons I do not want to study PPE at Oxford
- I dont like economics as much as I thought I would (see PPE Courses), and I ended up picking the technical papers anyway.
- I am pretty good at technical stuff (maybe comparable to the average maths student at Oxford?), so perhaps I would have done well at maths. I don’t know.
- Signalling purposes. I think that a maths/CS degree from Oxford has a much stronger signalling effect for technical jobs (mathsphil and CSphil maybe equal or slightly less). PPE is much stronger for signalling if you want to do anything else, especially PPE at ChCh.
- Getting access to the CS department would be nice, although I have a lot of friends to let me in.