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

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rbnphlp

ok one small question ,when you started out did you have time issues like finishing in time.. I take almost 1hr and sometimes more to complete a whole question ..

Yeah, that sort of thing comes with experience. If you're aiming for a 1/1 (you know what all the cool kids get :cool:

) then you only need to cut it down to an average of 45 :rolleyes:

mins, and you'll do way better than that come June. :rolleyes:

Reply 1181

rbnphlp

My Alt

Yeah, that sort of thing comes with experience. If you're aiming for a 1/1 (you know what all the cool kids get :cool:

) then you only need to cut it down to an average of 45 :rolleyes:

mins, and you'll do way better than that come June. :rolleyes:

thanks for the advice :smile:

Reply 1182

AnonyMatt

rbnphlp

thanks for the advice :smile:

Don't forget, some material from II from earlier years includes further maths, and also topics that have been removed such as matrices.

I did what Swayum suggested. I worked my way down the STEP I papers, then back up the II papers because I think you need to 'think' more for the older papers.

Reply 1183

Scallym

I'm actually feeling a lot better about STEP now. :p:

I caned a II paper yesterday, and III is coming along nicely too.
Has anyone else found that after months of painfully working through papers, it's all started slotting together all at once?

Reply 1184

AnonyMatt

Scallym

I'm actually feeling a lot better about STEP now. :p:

I caned a II paper yesterday, and III is coming along nicely too.
Has anyone else found that after months of painfully working through papers, it's all started slotting together all at once?

I do!
This week I stopped doing STEP papers because I'm so frustrated by not being able to finish a question, or not being able to do more than 2/3 on a paper.
I instead worked on A level papers to reinforce my knowledge, and now I'm doing much better, now that I have both experience and technique.

Reply 1185

refref

Are you people just doing a past paper while timing yourself?

I've been doing about a question a day for the past 2 months...not timed.

Reply 1186

username219321

I used to do them timing myself, but I just do invidual questions now mostly.

Reply 1187

username219321

Scallym

I'm actually feeling a lot better about STEP now. :p:

I caned a II paper yesterday, and III is coming along nicely too.
Has anyone else found that after months of painfully working through papers, it's all started slotting together all at once?

Kind of - I didn't do anything on STEP for around 2 weeks then when I came back to it again found I can now do atleast 4 questions on most papers.

Reply 1188

benched

only just recently (last week) started work for STEP/AEA

so I should just: get my hands on all papers possible and start on STEP I and work my way up till I want to switch my course to film studies?> :tongue:

Reply 1189

Skadoosh

I'm not looking forward to the next few months. AT ALL.

Reply 1190

Horizontal 8

You cambridge people go ahead and have fun... I'll stick to just worrying about the AAA :p:

Reply 1191

PhyMath

8 Horizontal

You cambridge people go ahead and have fun... I'll stick to just worrying about the AAA :p:

The Aberdeen Appointments Agency ?

Reply 1192

around

http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk./user/stcs/courses/dynamics/lecturenotes/section6.pdf

Question 23, footnote 31.

you have been warned

Reply 1193

refref

Related to the above post, is anyone else concentrating on pure questions rather than mechanics? (and by that I mean, is anyone else only doing pure questions and no mechanics questions what so ever?)

Reply 1194

username219321

I haven't done much mechanics recently but have done a lot. One thing I've found is most mechanics questions either really easy, or I can't see where to start (especially the older ones as I've only done up to M2)

Reply 1195

around

refref

I did that last year in STEP III, but that's because I didn't do enough Mechanics modules (and definitely not enough stats modules) to consider doing any of the mechanics questions.

I wouldn't go into a paper with the 'i'm only doing pure questions' attitude though; sometimes one of the mech/stats questions is easy marks (as happened in STEP II last year).

Reply 1196

Swayum

matt2k8

Can't speak for III, but for I and II you'll find that mechanics questions can be pretty repetitive, so it's well worth practising them since there's a good chance something very similar will come up. In particular, they love a kinematics questions (you know, a ball is thrown from a cliff at an angle blah with speed blah, find blah blah).

Reply 1197

refref

But because the pure questions are at the start, I will try them first? When will be the point in the exam where I will go 'Ok , ill try a mechanics question now'. It's hard to know when you cant answer a qusetion without looking at it for quite a few minutes...

if you understand what I mean.

Reply 1198

Nytram12

My school has said to the two of us who would need to sit the STEP papers to meet the conditions of a Warwick offer that we have to pay for the exams ourselves. I was just wondering if they are allowed to do this seeing as we have never sat the exam before, neither of us have failed any exams and it is a requirement for getting into University?