Oxford Maths Students and Applicants
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Original post by bilal95
When you talk about weird and thinking based questions in the interview, do you mean weird maths problem solving questions or weird worded questions such as (What is the color of the whiteboard? or Would you rather be an apple or an orange?). And what are the other general questions they ask (non-maths based) ?
Original post by Noble.
You'll be there to do the maths questions and that's all they'll care about.
This. "A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems". Would you ask a toaster whether baked beans are better cooked on the hob or in the microwave?
EDIT:
Out of curiosity, which would you rather be? I think I'd be an orange. They're a bit thicker-skinned
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by LtCommanderData
This. "A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems". Would you ask a toaster whether baked beans are better cooked on the hob or in the microwave?
EDIT:
Out of curiosity, which would you rather be? I think I'd be an orange. They're a bit thicker-skinned
EDIT:
Out of curiosity, which would you rather be? I think I'd be an orange. They're a bit thicker-skinned
It's sort of simple. Orange juice tastes nicer than apple juice. Therefore I'd prefer to be an apple as there would be a smaller probability of crushing myself and subsequently attempting to drink myself.
Original post by officeface
It's sort of simple. Orange juice tastes nicer than apple juice. Therefore I'd prefer to be an apple as there would be a smaller probability of crushing myself and subsequently attempting to drink myself.
But if you were an orange, you'd be firstly on a tree with loads of other oranges and later probably in a bowl of other oranges, so you could drink all of those!
Now I want some orange juice and don't have any
Original post by LtCommanderData
This. "A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems". Would you ask a toaster whether baked beans are better cooked on the hob or in the microwave?
EDIT:
Out of curiosity, which would you rather be? I think I'd be an orange. They're a bit thicker-skinned
EDIT:
Out of curiosity, which would you rather be? I think I'd be an orange. They're a bit thicker-skinned
Orange all the way. They're brighter, and more cheerful, and you'd have a higher chance of growing up in a warm country.
Just wondering - should we assume that we're going to have to do the practice problems for new students? Or do some tutors set different summer work instead, or none, or certain sheets? Also, the sheets seem really weird - half the questions are incredibly easy and the other half I'm stuck on. Is this normal?
In other news, my procrastination from revision seems to have reached new levels.
In other news, my procrastination from revision seems to have reached new levels.
Original post by anyone_can_fly
Just wondering - should we assume that we're going to have to do the practice problems for new students? Or do some tutors set different summer work instead, or none, or certain sheets? Also, the sheets seem really weird - half the questions are incredibly easy and the other half I'm stuck on. Is this normal?
In other news, my procrastination from revision seems to have reached new levels.
In other news, my procrastination from revision seems to have reached new levels.
Nobody in my year at my college did it, but then it turned out that we were meant to have done it but they had forgotten to send the email telling us to do so. I don't think all colleges ask you to do them, and I don't think all of those that do expect you to finish them all. It can't hurt, though, and there's a decent chance you will be expected to do them, so if you want to do them anyway, go for it. Not having done them myself, I can't really say how useful they would be.
If I remember rightly, some people were discussing these problems last year in this thread, so if you get particularly stuck feel free to ask us lot.
This is thinking ahead a bit, but when do we normally get mods results back? And how do we get them?
Everything you need to know is on the most recent notice to candidates, available at
www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/Notice_to_cand_Mods_1.pdf
Notification of Results
The Moderators hope to finalise the class and pass lists byWednesday 11th July. After 11th July, to find out your results you may log on to the Student Self Service at www.ox.ac.uk/current_students, for which you should have a student self service user ID (printed on your university card) and password. Neither Schools staff nor Mathematical Institute staff can give results over the telephone.
www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/Notice_to_cand_Mods_1.pdf
Notification of Results
The Moderators hope to finalise the class and pass lists byWednesday 11th July. After 11th July, to find out your results you may log on to the Student Self Service at www.ox.ac.uk/current_students, for which you should have a student self service user ID (printed on your university card) and password. Neither Schools staff nor Mathematical Institute staff can give results over the telephone.
I was thinking of combing through the lecture notes and making a list of all the theorems that I might be expected to know (and know by name) for mods, and know how to prove, just to make it easier to focus revision by looking down the list and seeing what I'm less sure on. Before I spend the time, does anyone know if such a list already exists/has anyone made one already?
Cheers for that.
Original post by RichE
Everything you need to know is on the most recent notice to candidates, available at
www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/Notice_to_cand_Mods_1.pdf
Notification of Results
The Moderators hope to finalise the class and pass lists byWednesday 11th July. After 11th July, to find out your results you may log on to the Student Self Service at www.ox.ac.uk/current_students, for which you should have a student self service user ID (printed on your university card) and password. Neither Schools staff nor Mathematical Institute staff can give results over the telephone.
www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/Notice_to_cand_Mods_1.pdf
Notification of Results
The Moderators hope to finalise the class and pass lists byWednesday 11th July. After 11th July, to find out your results you may log on to the Student Self Service at www.ox.ac.uk/current_students, for which you should have a student self service user ID (printed on your university card) and password. Neither Schools staff nor Mathematical Institute staff can give results over the telephone.
Cheers for that.
Original post by LtCommanderData
I was thinking of combing through the lecture notes and making a list of all the theorems that I might be expected to know (and know by name) for mods, and know how to prove, just to make it easier to focus revision by looking down the list and seeing what I'm less sure on. Before I spend the time, does anyone know if such a list already exists/has anyone made one already?
Cheers for that.
Cheers for that.
I suppose you could work from the synopses (e.g. here (which I think you can access without logging in), but I would recommend making the list yourself. That way, you look through the whole course at least once and understand how things build on top of one another a bit more, rather than just knowing a bunch of theorems. It really doesn't take long to do, either.
Although, having written all that, I've just realised I'm probably a week or two late...
Hello guys,
For the current undergrads (and prospective undergrads hoping to start this year I guess), would you say some work needs to be done "brushing up" my maths before starting university? Or is little knowledge assumed at the beginning of the course? I kind of want to enjoy my last summer of doing nothing before uni, but also don't want to be at an disadvantage compared to other students at the beginning of the course.
Also, during university (part of the maths course or otherwise) are there any opportunities to be taught programming (e.g. languages such as C++, Java, etc.) for inexperienced students? I understand this may not be examined/ related to the courses, but would be very useful.
For the current undergrads (and prospective undergrads hoping to start this year I guess), would you say some work needs to be done "brushing up" my maths before starting university? Or is little knowledge assumed at the beginning of the course? I kind of want to enjoy my last summer of doing nothing before uni, but also don't want to be at an disadvantage compared to other students at the beginning of the course.
Also, during university (part of the maths course or otherwise) are there any opportunities to be taught programming (e.g. languages such as C++, Java, etc.) for inexperienced students? I understand this may not be examined/ related to the courses, but would be very useful.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by twig
Hello guys,
For the current undergrads (and prospective undergrads hoping to start this year I guess), would you say some work needs to be done "brushing up" my maths before starting university? Or is little knowledge assumed at the beginning of the course? I kind of want to enjoy my last summer of doing nothing before uni, but also don't want to be at an disadvantage compared to other students at the beginning of the course.
Also, during university (part of the maths course or otherwise) are there any opportunities to be taught programming (e.g. languages such as C++, Java, etc.) for inexperienced students? I understand this may not be examined/ related to the courses, but would be very useful.
For the current undergrads (and prospective undergrads hoping to start this year I guess), would you say some work needs to be done "brushing up" my maths before starting university? Or is little knowledge assumed at the beginning of the course? I kind of want to enjoy my last summer of doing nothing before uni, but also don't want to be at an disadvantage compared to other students at the beginning of the course.
Also, during university (part of the maths course or otherwise) are there any opportunities to be taught programming (e.g. languages such as C++, Java, etc.) for inexperienced students? I understand this may not be examined/ related to the courses, but would be very useful.
I would say it's very likely that your college will send you some work to do over summer that will require some revision of your A-level material, but it's not going to take more than perhaps 3-4 full days (or, more likely, a couple of hours a day for a couple of weeks). If your college doesn't send work, I'd recommend perhaps looking at a couple of past A-level papers as a means of revision anyway.
However, I don't think the purpose of this is to ensure you know certain facts, but rather to get you back into the habit of thinking about maths and ensuring you're not 'rusty'. The first couple of weeks will recap a lot of material from A level (in particular complex numbers, matrices) but at a fairly swift pace - you might not have a problem with the actual material, but coming round to a new way of thinking about problems and adapting to the higher volume of work is easier if you're in a good problem-solving mindset.
As for programming, there are pretty limited (read: not really any) opportunities for pure mathematicians to learn the sort of languages used in software development (e.g. Java, C++). However, you'll use the maths-based programming language MatLab, and in third and fourth years you can take a couple of Computer Science modules, including Functional Programming, in which you study the language Haskell - not much use for coding a computer game, but very interesting theoretically and useful in certain mathematical applications.
Sorry for going on a bit!
hi, i really want to apply but i have a few questions,
the Aptitude Test in Mathematics, is that the only like extra exam you have to do to get in? i looked on the web and it only mentions that. and this exam is the year your applications get sent off? which is going to be this year for me. it's so different for Cambridge... they have to do STEP which is after all of your final A2 exams right?
it seems easier to do the oxford one but i could be wrong.
and how do you actually get entered for this Aptitude Test for oxford? do you automatically get to do it if you just apply or is it something else?
last thing, how do people fail to get an interview? because that seems like the biggest part of getting into the uni. is it the AS grades or personal statement or...? i did the original three AS, maths, fm and phy and got AAA. i also did law and got a B, one mark away from a A, but im obviously dropping that (actually, i already have).
the Aptitude Test in Mathematics, is that the only like extra exam you have to do to get in? i looked on the web and it only mentions that. and this exam is the year your applications get sent off? which is going to be this year for me. it's so different for Cambridge... they have to do STEP which is after all of your final A2 exams right?
it seems easier to do the oxford one but i could be wrong.
and how do you actually get entered for this Aptitude Test for oxford? do you automatically get to do it if you just apply or is it something else?
last thing, how do people fail to get an interview? because that seems like the biggest part of getting into the uni. is it the AS grades or personal statement or...? i did the original three AS, maths, fm and phy and got AAA. i also did law and got a B, one mark away from a A, but im obviously dropping that (actually, i already have).
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by cooldudeman
hi, i really want to apply but i have a few questions,
the Aptitude Test in Mathematics, is that the only like extra exam you have to do to get in? i looked on the web and it only mentions that. and this exam is the year your applications get sent off? which is going to be this year for me. it's so different for Cambridge... they have to do STEP which is after all of your final A2 exams right?
it seems easier to do the oxford one but i could be wrong.
and how do you actually get entered for this Aptitude Test for oxford? do you automatically get to do it if you just apply or is it something else?
last thing, how do people fail to get an interview? because that seems like the biggest part of getting into the uni. is it the AS grades or personal statement or...? i did the original three AS, maths, fm and phy and got AAA. i also did law and got a B, one mark away from a A, but im obviously dropping that (actually, i already have).
the Aptitude Test in Mathematics, is that the only like extra exam you have to do to get in? i looked on the web and it only mentions that. and this exam is the year your applications get sent off? which is going to be this year for me. it's so different for Cambridge... they have to do STEP which is after all of your final A2 exams right?
it seems easier to do the oxford one but i could be wrong.
and how do you actually get entered for this Aptitude Test for oxford? do you automatically get to do it if you just apply or is it something else?
last thing, how do people fail to get an interview? because that seems like the biggest part of getting into the uni. is it the AS grades or personal statement or...? i did the original three AS, maths, fm and phy and got AAA. i also did law and got a B, one mark away from a A, but im obviously dropping that (actually, i already have).
Yeah STEP for Cambridge, Warwick, Bath (and probably a few others) is in the Summer, at the same time as your A level exams.
The Oxford system is less pressure at exam/results time, because you don't have that extra test. 50% of those who get Cambridge maths offers don't meet the offer.
The main thing to do to get an interview is to do well in the MAT.
could some people who got into oxford to do maths show me their personal statement please. i have absolutely no idea how to write one and i can't really ask my teachers since college is still closed. i wanted to get a head start so i posted here.
i just want to see what to include and the structure and length of the successful ones, even though from what i have heard, the PS is like the least important thing to get an interview.
i just want to see what to include and the structure and length of the successful ones, even though from what i have heard, the PS is like the least important thing to get an interview.
(edited 11 years ago)
This might help? There's bound to be at least one Oxbridge one in there.
http://www.studential.com/personalstatements/getpscourse.asp?type=34
http://www.studential.com/personalstatements/getpscourse.asp?type=34
Original post by Woostarite
This might help? There's bound to be at least one Oxbridge one in there.
http://www.studential.com/personalstatements/getpscourse.asp?type=34
http://www.studential.com/personalstatements/getpscourse.asp?type=34
hey thanks for that, are PSs supposed to be that short? on that web, they are only like half a page, i thought they were meant to be like 2 pages...?
Quite a lot here as well: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Category:Oxford_Personal_Statements
The majority of the maths test checks that we understand why the results of GCSE Maths and Core 1&2 are true, and whether we can apply them to slightly different situations.
Thus the main thing is to learn derivations for the methods that were used in those exams, and know how they work.
There are a few patterns of what to expect:
Question 2 has always been an exercise in algebra.
Question 3 has always involved graph theory and calculus
Question 4 has always been on geometry
Question 5 has always involved no prior knowledge from the syllabus.
It is helpful to write more than calculations in your working, giving very brief annotations such as "Let l be |AB|. l=|b-a|=[...]"
STEP-like formality is not required. There's three or four happy years to do all that.
In addition to the formulae from Core 1 and 2, it may be helpful to remember that the perpendicular distance from (x0,y0) to the line ax+by+c=0 is given by |ax0+by0+c|/(a2+b2)1/2
This is present in the A-level formula book in vector form.
Thus the main thing is to learn derivations for the methods that were used in those exams, and know how they work.
There are a few patterns of what to expect:
Question 2 has always been an exercise in algebra.
Question 3 has always involved graph theory and calculus
Question 4 has always been on geometry
Question 5 has always involved no prior knowledge from the syllabus.
It is helpful to write more than calculations in your working, giving very brief annotations such as "Let l be |AB|. l=|b-a|=[...]"
STEP-like formality is not required. There's three or four happy years to do all that.
In addition to the formulae from Core 1 and 2, it may be helpful to remember that the perpendicular distance from (x0,y0) to the line ax+by+c=0 is given by |ax0+by0+c|/(a2+b2)1/2
This is present in the A-level formula book in vector form.
(edited 11 years ago)
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