The big fat STEP megathread (NOT for getting help with maths questions)

Hashshashin

What did people think of III/2003? I did it today under timed conditions (my second paper III) and got 1, 3, and 8 out fully and three quarters of 2 and 6 out.

I think in comparision to others it's probably about average difficulty, maybe slightly harder. Never done it under timed conditions, but I've done questions 1, 4, 5, 8 and 10 before.

Reply 381

Hashshashin

13

tommm

I think in comparision to others it's probably about average difficulty, maybe slightly harder. Never done it under timed conditions, but I've done questions 1, 4, 5, 8 and 10 before.

Ah, OK. Cool.

Being on a gap year has its advantages - I have no excuse not to do all the STEP papers I try under timed conditions! :yep:

Reply 382

qgujxj39

17

Hashshashin

Ah, OK. Cool.

Being on a gap year has its advantages - I have no excuse not to do all the STEP papers I try under timed conditions! :yep:

I've left III 2005 and 2006 untouched so that I can do them as mocks :yep:

Reply 383

Hashshashin

13

tommm

I've left III 2005 and 2006 untouched so that I can do them as mocks :yep:

I'm leaving III 2004-2008 untouched so I can use them as mocks! I'm been playing around with 1999-2003 lately (all three papers), next I'm going to hit the mid '90s. :cool:

Have you done II/2003? I found that much harder than III - thank god I don't have to take paper II as well!

Reply 384

qgujxj39

17

Hashshashin

I'm leaving III 2004-2008 untouched so I can use them as mocks! I'm been playing around with 1999-2003 lately (all three papers), next I'm going to hit the mid '90s. :cool:

Have you done II/2003? I found that much harder than III - thank god I don't have to take paper II as well!

I think I've done 6 of the pures from II/2003. It's about the same difficulty as the III paper methinks.

Reply 385

DFranklin

18

SimonM

On how STEP papers are marked:

Siklos

Originally Posted by Dr Siklos
STEP questions are marked out of 20; no bonus marks, no alphas and betas, no extra credit for supposedly `neat' solutions. Borderlines are based on total marks and no other information from the scripts is used in the grading.
The scripts of the Cambridge applicants are available for Directors of Studies to see in August, so that they can decide whether to accept an applicant who has not achieved the required conditions.

Of course, that still leaves "little credit is given for fragmentary answers" open to interpretation.

But my opinion (which I've posted before, but I have more and more evidence adding up to support it), is that you don't get particularly penalized for incomplete answers. That is, if a question has 4 parts of equal difficult, and you can do 3 of them, you'll get roughly 15 marks out of 20.

To be honest, looking at how people say they've done in the exams, and the marks they then end up with, I think "little credit is given for fragmentary answers" is not, shall we say, an entirely accurate statement.

Reply 386

Hashshashin

13

DFranklin

To be honest, looking at how people say they've done in the exams, and the marks they then end up with, I think "little credit is given for fragmentary answers" is not, shall we say, an entirely accurate statement.

Perhaps it's an attempt to encourage people to focus on no more than six questions? There were quite a few comments in the examiners report about how attempting 8/9 questions should be heavily discouraged as (unless you're brilliant) you just won't have the time to make significant progress on any of them.

i.e 8/20 on 8 questions = 48/120 = 2/3 borderline
16/20 on 4 questions = 64/120 = 1/2 borderline (1 on III)

Reply 387

DFranklin

18

Yes, but that is covered by "You will be assessed on the six questions on which you gain the highest marks".

I mean, given the people who are sitting the exam, I think they can be trusted to work out that there's no real point doing more than 6 questions (unless you've done the best you can on 6 questions and still have time left).

Reply 388

dave730

I'm reaching the same conclusion as you, DFranklin, and this also explains why there is so much reticence regarding the policy on marking part-answers. We've got the statement that fragmentary answers get little credit, and that's about it. We get detailed hints, official solutions, and examiners' reports, but no proper mark scheme has ever been published, as far as I'm aware.

When they say 'fragmentary', they don't necessarily mean 'part'.

With regard to encouraging people to do 6 questions unless they're "brilliant", this isn't the whole of it. On p.11 of the 2008 mark scheme they say that those who abandon a question after a brief start, having decided they were unlikely to make progress on it, are sometimes being sensible when they hand in part-answers to 7, 8, or 9 questions. They do say this only applies to the minority of such candidates though.

Dave.

Reply 389

dave730

The taste of crême brulée had barely left my lips, when a canary looked up from the fountain in Great Court and confided the true reason why STEP is called "STEP", and the top achievement is called an "SS".

It's not a legacy reference to a "sixth" term. Nor is an "SS" called an "SS" because of anything to do with "scholarships".

The names arose because Stephen Siklos called the exam after his first name (STEPhen), and the top grades after his initials (SS). In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of practically every mathematician who has ever had the to chance to do likewise. In particular, think of which famous Swiss-German mathematician chose the letter 'e' as shorthand for Napier's constant. :biggrin:

PS - why can't I get a smiley to show up in a post? The disable function under "Miscellaneous Options" is unchecked...

Reply 390

Hashshashin

13

dave730

The names arose because Stephen Siklos called the exam after his first name (STEPhen), and the top grades after his initials (SS)

There used to be STEP papers in many other subjects such as Chemistry, Physics and even the arts subjects. Are you trying to tell me that they were all named after a maths fellow at Jesus?

Reply 391

The Muon

2

dave730

The taste of crême brulée had barely left my lips, when a canary looked up from the fountain in Great Court and confided the true reason why STEP is called "STEP", and the top achievement is called an "SS".

It's not a legacy reference to a "sixth" term. Nor is an "SS" called an "SS" because of anything to do with "scholarships".

The names arose because Stephen Siklos called the exam after his first name (STEPhen), and the top grades after his initials (SS). In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of practically every mathematician who has ever had the to chance to do likewise. In particular, think of which famous Swiss-German mathematician chose the letter 'e' as shorthand for Napier's constant. :biggrin:

PS - why can't I get a smiley to show up in a post? The disable function under "Miscellaneous Options" is unchecked...

I would disagree with the STEP naming as we know for a fact that STEP stands for Sixth Term Examination Paper because they actually tell us that - no matter what the origins are (they may well have originally been as you say) that is what they now stand for. As for SS - you could be right - lord knows what S stands for.

Also the smileys which do not have a colon at each side will not work in posts. It is a fault that has happened since the update of the site around 3 months ago I think.

Edit: I did not see the intended humour :dunce:

Reply 392

TheUnbeliever

16

I'm pretty sure he was joking...

Reply 393

dave730

Hashshashin

There used to be STEP papers in many other subjects such as Chemistry, Physics and even the arts subjects. Are you trying to tell me that they were all named after a maths fellow at Jesus?

Er yes, 'course I am. That was why I put the big grinny smiley by the post title and wrote the cod-poetic lead-in - to make the argument more persuasive! :woo:

Reply 394

Pimpin Juice

11

Quick question guys. Would 2 perfect solutions get you a two in STEP 1? Also, what constitutes a "good" solution?

Reply 395

Hashshashin

13

Pimpin Juice

Quick question guys. Would 2 perfect solutions get you a two in STEP 1? Also, what constitutes a "good" solution?

No - well in 2002 it would have, but that's the only year from 2000 to 2005 where you'd get enough marks. Three good solutions would get you ~50/120 which is usually 2/3 borderline on II.

Reply 396

The Muon

2

Pimpin Juice

Quick question guys. Would 2 perfect solutions get you a two in STEP 1? Also, what constitutes a "good" solution?

You're really looking for 5+solutions for S, 4 solutions for 1, 3 solutions for 2 and 2 solutions for a 3.
A good solution is one that answers the question in all eventualities and that gets to the answer in a quick and tidyish fashion.

Reply 397

TheUnbeliever

16

Pimpin Juice

Also, what constitutes a "good" solution?

One of the descriptions claims 4 'essentially complete' questions will typically gain you a 1. The questions are marked out of 20, and I think the 1 boundary tends to be around 70, so that gives 17/18 as a rough guide.

The highest mean mark for a question (by coincidence, the best-done applied and pure questions shared this mean mark) in the 2008 STEP II paper was 14.

The grade boundaries and examiner's reports are both available from the STEP site.

I see, cheers guys.

OP

The Muon

You're really looking for 5+solutions for S, 4 solutions for 1, 3 solutions for 2 and 2 solutions for a 3.
A good solution is one that answers the question in all eventualities and that gets to the answer in a quick and tidyish fashion.

A good solution is one which answers the question.

The rest doesn't affect the script at all unless you miss your offer and the tutors at your college are making a decision on who to admit

The big fat STEP megathread (NOT for getting help with maths questions)

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