The &quot;Are my grades good enough for Maths...&quot; Thread

Would several B's at GCSE effect me too much? For things like Medicine and Economics it does.
Thank you

Reply 501

Original post by multiplexing-gamer

Would several B's at GCSE effect me too much? For things like Medicine and Economics it does.
Thank you

It's hard to say ... Your AS grades and predicted grades are a lot more important - GCSEs tend to be used more as one of the factors to distinguish between candidates with similar AS grades. If maths didn't get a good grade at GCSE then that is likely to count against you, although this would depend on the university.

Reply 502

I just heard of the UKMT, and might do it at AS. I have a few questions about it:

1. Do a high proportion of Maths applicants apply to Uni with it?
2. Is it hard? (concepts etc)
3. Who teaches it you, do you have to self teach?
4. Do a lot of people take it, would it help me a lot?

Reply 503

Original post by multiplexing-gamer

I don't know how many people take it. It's more about using the maths you know to answer unusual styles of questions - if there are any new concepts introduced then these would be briefly explained in the questions.

When I took it I didn't really do much preparation, although if you wanted you could perhaps see if you could find some sample questions online to get an idea of the style and to get some practice.

It would definitely help your application - unis like to see maths-related stuff on your personal statement and this would really fit that. Plus, if you don't do well then you don't have to mention it at all.

Reply 504

lucas13

maybe not for cambridge but enough for warwick and imperial

Reply 505

GreenLantern1

Original post by multiplexing-gamer

Would several B's at GCSE effect me too much? For things like Medicine and Economics it does.
Thank you

Well look who it is....Alex :colondollar:

Hopeful mathematician then, I see. And I would say not too much but you haven't even done your GCSEs yet, so don't worry now!

Btw *Affect not effect. :colone:

Reply 506

Original post by GreenLantern1

Well look who it is....Alex :colondollar:

Hopeful mathematician then, I see. And I would say not too much but you haven't even done your GCSEs yet, so don't worry now!

Btw *Affect not effect. :colone:

Hey GreenLantern, didn't see you there lol :colondollar:

How do you know the difference?

Reply 507

Original post by multiplexing-gamer

Hey GreenLantern, didn't see you there lol :colondollar:

How do you know the difference?

Affect is a verb - so I affect something.
Effect is a noun - so I have an effect on you.

Reply 508

Original post by officeface

Affect is a verb - so I affect something.
Effect is a noun - so I have an effect on you.

Oh right, thanks lol

Reply 509

TheMagicMan

Original post by officeface

Affect is a verb - so I affect something.
Effect is a noun - so I have an effect on you.

Affect can be a noun roughly meaning emotion

Effect can be a verb meaning cause :tongue:

Reply 510

Original post by TheMagicMan

Affect can be a noun roughly meaning emotion

Effect can be a verb meaning cause :tongue:

Damn.. at what point did I leave the maths forum and stumble into the etymological corner? :frown:

I guess I'll stick to numbers :P

Reply 511

TheMagicMan

Original post by officeface

Damn.. at what point did I leave the maths forum and stumble into the etymological corner? :frown:

I guess I'll stick to numbers :P

You know that we mathematicians strive for accuracy above all else :tongue:

Reply 512

Original post by TheMagicMan

You know that we mathematicians strive for accuracy above all else :tongue:

We strive for knowledge, accuracy just happens to be a by-product of our fastidious natures :P

Reply 513

alibee

Original post by officeface

Damn.. at what point did I leave the maths forum and stumble into the etymological corner? :frown:

I guess I'll stick to numbers :P

Awww your definitions are what you need for day to day usage. I'd never use those words in their other context. You'd rarely come across them.

Reply 514

Miyata

I'm in my first year of college and still didn't get results from my 3 exams which I sat in January, so I'm not looking for a firm advices yet, but I just wanted to ask few questions and it seems this thread would a good place for that. Firstly, I'm at uni I want to do computer science, but there are many different courses, two of which are just computer science and other one is computer science + maths. What's the difference between these two? I'm doing Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Computing. Next year I plan to drop chemistry, because I only picked it as I needed 4 choices, and I didn't like economics so I swapped it with chemistry. I'm still good at it, I got an A in gcse chemistry (I did core science, additional science, physics, chemistry and biology). So the question is, is the maths and further maths regarded as one subject by top unis? Because I plan two keep those two and computing, and I saw somewhere saying further maths and maths regarded as one subject so I started worrying a bit. I know unis look at maths for computer science, but because I am doing computing they will obviously look at it too. So what if I will achieve lowest grade in it out of the three? I'm doing WJEC board for computing and I actually find it hard we are doing Unit 1 this june and Unit 2 were have to create a solution for Greenparks reward scheme. Because we have to document everything before we start doing the programming, and we barely know any coding yet, it's hard to document it, because I miss out a lot of things which I don't that I will be using. I'm not really confident in our teacher's style, as we soon will start coding and really we barely know anything needed for creation of the program. Plus the theory is hard... There's a lot to learn, and without practice it's easy to forget about it. So would it affect my unis decision, as they will think that I'm not dedicated enough if I would get a lowest grade in a subject I want to do at uni?

Reply 515

Original post by Miyata

So the question is, is the maths and further maths regarded as one subject by top unis?

If you're looking at a degree in computing or maths or both, maths and further maths will definitely be regarded as separate A-Levels and most universities in the upper tier will want you to have both of them completed at A-Level.

Reply 516

Original post by Miyata

If you do computer science and maths then half of the modules you do will be maths modules and the other half will be computer science modules.

I'm doing Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Computing. Next year I plan to drop chemistry, because I only picked it as I needed 4 choices, and I didn't like economics so I swapped it with chemistry. I'm still good at it, I got an A in gcse chemistry (I did core science, additional science, physics, chemistry and biology). So the question is, is the maths and further maths regarded as one subject by top unis? Because I plan two keep those two and computing, and I saw somewhere saying further maths and maths regarded as one subject so I started worrying a bit.

I know for medicine, unis either don't count further maths or it's not weighted highly - you may have read something over there. But for computer science and/or maths, having further maths is very beneficial and it will definitely count as two subjects.

I know unis look at maths for computer science, but because I am doing computing they will obviously look at it too. So what if I will achieve lowest grade in it out of the three? I'm doing WJEC board for computing and I actually find it hard we are doing Unit 1 this june and Unit 2 were have to create a solution for Greenparks reward scheme. Because we have to document everything before we start doing the programming, and we barely know any coding yet, it's hard to document it, because I miss out a lot of things which I don't that I will be using. I'm not really confident in our teacher's style, as we soon will start coding and really we barely know anything needed for creation of the program. Plus the theory is hard... There's a lot to learn, and without practice it's easy to forget about it. So would it affect my unis decision, as they will think that I'm not dedicated enough if I would get a lowest grade in a subject I want to do at uni?

Have a look at the unis' websites - they will specify the grades that they will want.

Reply 517

Miyata

Original post by officeface

Original post by ttoby

If you do computer science and maths then half of the modules you do will be maths modules and the other half will be computer science modules.I know for medicine, unis either don't count further maths or it's not weighted highly - you may have read something over there. But for computer science and/or maths, having further maths is very beneficial and it will definitely count as two subjects.

Have a look at the unis' websites - they will specify the grades that they will want.

Thanks officeface and ttoby
That relieved my stress a bit xD So if I would do maths + computer science course I would come out with 2 degrees? Does it mean each course would be smaller, or it's same as taking up two courses and if I would've chosen only computer science it would same computer science as in the course computer science + maths? Or if I would've chosen maths it would identical to the computer science + maths? That would mean I would've have to put in double the effort. I don't really get it as why there are two courses. If I want to be a programmer (I'm not sure exactly whom I would want to be, something to do with computers, but on higher end of salary), which would would be better to chose?

Reply 518

non

Original post by Miyata

Your choice on which you choose but you come out with one degree and for maths and comp. The applied maths modules are usually replaced with computer science modules so you don't do stats and mechanics but you do pure maths and comper science. I think.

Reply 519