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

miml

Thanks.

Thats good to know given the 1 boundary is 71, and the magical 2 boundary is 61. Although I think this year's paper will be harder... :o:

if you have the answers/paper plz pm them. (reminds me of that thread :biggrin:

)

Reply 1582

DFranklin

18

miml

Thanks.

Thats good to know given the 1 boundary is 71, and the magical 2 boundary is 61. Although I think this year's paper will be harder... :o:

Should definitely get a 2 at least.

Reply 1583

I dislike how the style of STEP I and II is so different. I'm able to take a decent attempt at a STEP II paper, so I go and check out a I paper - and it's so different. There are some questions that are just easier, so they're fine, but there's a lot less "here's a bitch hard integral, here's a slick technique, prove it in this case and apply it to the next part", and lots more strange logic-based ones. I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy logic problems, but not so much when my university place depends on being able to solve it, and 5 more of his friends, in three hours..

Reply 1584

AnonyMatt

15

DFranklin

Maximum likelihood estimators have certainly come up in the past. Is that what you meant?

Umm...

I'm not sure. :p:

I mean showing that U is an unbiased estimator of the mean, and given that U1 and U2 are unbiased estimators of the mean, choose the best estimator and why.
That sort of thing.

I've never seen any of these questions though so I'm not sure if they're on the syllabus.

Reply 1585

.:excel4100%:.

foolsihboy

OCR MEI

jj193

I have the OCR one, it's good. I've seen the Edexcel one, it's split up into the modules rather then topics ~ which is impractical for STEP.
Maths and Further Maths takes the first 4 pages.
Someone mentioned the OCR MEI being good too, a few pages back.

So are you guys gonna tell the exam coordinator in advance or what?? Because I don't know how I would be able to tell them on the day that I want a certain formula booklet and they're going to go running around to get it for me lol

Reply 1586

.:excel4100%:.

So are you guys gonna tell the exam coordinator in advance or what?? Because I don't know how I would be able to tell them on the day that I want a certain formula booklet and they're going to go running around to get it for me lol

Going to see her on Friday morning :smile:

Good times. Armed with a specification lol :yep:

Reply 1587

My exams officer is the most organised person in the universe so I should be fine.. although.. maybe I'll email her now just in case..

Reply 1588

ziedj

My exams officer is the most organised person in the universe so I should be fine.. although.. maybe I'll email her now just in case..

Not sure that aa tie signature of 00:07AM sends out the right message really... :woo:

. I'd wait 'till the morning, so it looks like you're actually sleeping and being sensible in exam period :p:

Reply 1589

foolsihboy

Not sure that aa tie signature of 00:07AM sends out the right message really... :woo:

. I'd wait 'till the morning, so it looks like you're actually sleeping and being sensible in exam period :p:

Haha, I've sent emails to people at the school I worked at with timestamps like "04:17" and they always ask me "when did you send that? I think your computer sent it late, it didn't arrive until 4am!" and I'm like "Err.. oh... funny things, computers, eh! Never know what they'll do next... he... hehe.... *shifts eyes*"

Reply 1590

.:excel4100%:.

foolsihboy

Going to see her on Friday morning :smile:

Good times. Armed with a specification lol :yep:

So you will show her that you can use any formula booklet in the STEP exam, then are you gonna print one out in college and bring it on the day? Because I aint sure if I can trust my exams officer to bring one.

Reply 1591

Zhandro

With STEP coming up in a few days, how are you guys feeling about it?

Reply 1592

schoolstudent

Fine...I'm not sitting it :p:

Reply 1593

.:excel4100%:.

So you will show her that you can use any formula booklet in the STEP exam, then are you gonna print one out in college and bring it on the day? Because I aint sure if I can trust my exams officer to bring one.

My school's on OCR MEI anyway, and I have like 5 copies of the formula booklet at home :biggrin:

Reply 1594

Are integrating factors in STEP I and II ?! I'm doing STEP III 08 and have just had a mini heart attack that I don't have a clue about any differential equation techniques other than separable and simple linear ones.. :frown:

Reply 1595

jj193

No they're not, read the spec.

Reply 1596

ziedj

Are integrating factors in STEP I and II ?! I'm doing STEP III 08 and have just had a mini heart attack that I don't have a clue about any differential equation techniques other than separable and simple linear ones.. :frown:

I didn't either 'till last week or so. They're actually quite simple

if

\frac{dy}{dx} + P(x) y = f(x)

Then let

R(x)=e^{\int P(x) dx}

aAnd the differential equation becomes

R(x)y=\int R(x)f(x) dx

I THINK, I may be making that up, but I hope I've learned that quite well. I found the hard part of learning it is remembering which term to integrate.

Still can't do the whole auxiliary equation method, with P.Is and C.Fs . :s

Reply 1597

miml

17

I would love a nice differential equation this year.

Reply 1598

jj193