Best things to put in a maths personal statement

bill-e

As the title suggests, what would the best things be?

thanks

Reply 1

x_dwin_ffeimys_x

That you enjoy solving problems :p:

so realte that to your part time work or something

Reply 2

PhyMath

Basic formula: Change it as you see fit.

.Start with why you think you are suited to the subject, why you want to do it at uni etc

.What parts of the A level syllabus you have enjoyed and why.

.Books you have read about the subject area, what did you enjoy about them? (Don't give a book review and list the content of the book)

.Work experience related to the subject.

.Outside interests.

.Final paragraph which sums it all up and leaves them with a bang.

Reply 3

inksplodge

My friend wrote about why he enjoyed maths, and then wrote a lot about his outside interests - DofE and his sports achievements, musical achievements etc. He got offers from Bristol, Manchester, Leicester, Sheffield and Leeds :dontknow:

Reply 4

bill-e

what examples of work experience would be best for maths to put on PS?

Reply 5

MikeL230

Talk about your love for Drama.

Never fails to impress.

Reply 6

x_dwin_ffeimys_x

bill-e

what examples of work experience would be best for maths to put on PS?

you could have w/e leading to skills needed for maths!
maby w/e with an accountant :confused:

Reply 7

keekee107

MikeL230

Talk about your love for Drama.

Never fails to impress.

Good advice. :yep:

It got me all my offers.

Reply 8

Aout

I got offers from everywhere I applied (though admittedly mine was half a physics statement as well), and I just said why I liked maths (challange, satisfaction of solving problems, etc), what books I'd read, and what extra-curriculars I've done, and the skills they've taught me (eg, organisation, working in a team, learning on my own, first aid, etc), then linking to how they're relevant to maths.

Reply 9

Swayum

You don't need any work experience. Have a look at these PSs:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Category:Mathematics_Personal_Statements

Reply 10

Antimatter

How much you love Art.
Seriously, it doesn't matter, but feel free to post the finished article in PS help and we'll give you an honest opinion and try to make it better :smile:

Jess

Reply 11

w4rtorn

how does saying - i supported GCSE year 11 students and taught further maths at AS level to year 12 students for a number of weeks - sound for work experience. and i dont mean how does it sound as in grammar or wording, but as an idea to put in for the work experience bit.

Reply 12

Swayum

w4rtorn

Don't state it. You need to relate it to how it helps you as a mathematician (e.g. let's you keep up with different parts of the syllabus/mathematics stripped from the A-level like proper geometry) and/or how it demonstrates an interest in maths. This isn't law/medicine/dentistry where you need practical experience/have a career planned out already.

Reply 13

bavink

A proof of the Reimann Hypothesis would go a long way if you can squeeze it under 4000 characters or 47 lines :P

Reply 14

Echolife

The most important thing to get across is why you love the subject.

LOLL

Original post by Aout

Did you apply for joint honours Maths and Physics courses?

Reply 17

piguy

Here's how I structured my maths PS (I applied this year and have offers from Cambridge (Maths with Physics), Imperial, Warwick, UCL & Bath)

Introduction: General overview, e.g. "I am passionate about studying Mathematics at university... [example of something I found interesting]"

Paragraph 1: Academic stuff [I applied to Cambridge, so talked about doing extra modules, grades already achieved etc. though I suppose this isn't quite necessary for some maths personal statements]

Paragraph 2: Examples of problem solving within maths [Maths challenges / competitions / BMOs / doing STEP / wider-reading which consisted of looking at problems e.g. UKMT books]

Paragraph 3: Examples of problem solving outside of maths [e.g. Science challenges / competitions / olympiads / involvement in school societies]

Paragraph 4: Examples of general interest in the area [General Wider-reading / public lectures / masterclasses attended / work experience...]

Paragraph 5: Short conclusion

I suppose non-Oxbridge applicants will probably swap in paragraph 1 on academic stuff for a paragraph on extra-curricular things, though Cambridge really want to see more 'super-curricular' stuff so I focused more on that - though frankly at any university I hardly see many admissions tutors caring if prospective maths students did DofE or not etc. So it's certainly not necessary to have a section on that (though many people do anyway).
Also a lot of universities aren't that picky about personal statements these days since they know teachers and parents 'help' write them for a lot of students; just make sure it's half-decent - e.g. last year Warwick, one of the top uni's for maths, gave 90% of their maths applicants offers, so obviously it really doesn't have to 'stand out from the crowd' as teachers will go on... it just has to be reasonably sufficient.