Low UMS but high STEP/AEA grade?

Does anyone know someone or have they themselves ever got low UMS at A-level but got a high grade in STEP/AEA? It just seems a but weird that someone can get low UMS but high STEP/AEA grades?

Reply 1

IrrationalNumber

12

UMS doesn't really mean that much.

Reply 2

SimonM

18

IrrationalNumber

UMS doesn't really mean that much.

Given that Cambridge do specifically ask for it, I'd imagine that they must give some value to it.

Reply 3

jit987

13

IrrationalNumber

UMS doesn't really mean that much.

Wrong...

Reply 4

DFranklin

18

I do know someone who got in via the CCE (equivalent of STEP 20 years ago) and then went on to get B, D in Maths, Further Maths. Of course, since passing the CCE got you an EE offer, his motivation for the A-levels may have been somewhat lacking.

Reply 5

pyrolol

Ultimate1

Does anyone know someone or have they themselves ever got low UMS at A-level but got a high grade in STEP/AEA? It just seems a but weird that someone can get low UMS but high STEP/AEA grades?

They require quite different skills - STEP/AEA demands much better understanding and ability to apply things differently, while getting very high UMS needs diligence and more willingness to learn things by rote. The difference is a bit like doing something easy perfectly vs. doing something hard well; there'll be a correlation, but some people will just be better suited to one than the other.

Reply 6

around

13

jit987

Wrong...

This is one of those things where doing well is sort of expected but doing badly is not a very good reflection on your ability.

Reply 7

IrrationalNumber

12

SimonM

Given that Cambridge do specifically ask for it, I'd imagine that they must give some value to it.

I doubt they care too much about the difference between somebody who got 85 UMS and somebody who got 100. They're probably more interested in knowing who is getting As in further maths by getting a C in FP2 and A in D1/S1

Reply 8

SimonM

18

IrrationalNumber

I doubt they care too much about the difference between somebody who got 85 UMS and somebody who got 100. They're probably more interested in knowing who is getting As in further maths by getting a C in FP2 and A in D1/S1

Well, unless my memory fails me you get "auto-pooled" if you have UMS >90 in your two closest subjects, so that's not entirely true.

I'd also think that they'd more be interested in solid 90/95+ rather than 85

Source: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/admissions/handbook/appendices/ Page 5 Winter Pool

Reply 9

jj193

14

SimonM

Well, unless my memory fails me you get "auto-pooled" if you have UMS >90 in your two closest subjects, so that's not entirely true.

I'd also think that they'd more be interested in solid 90/95+ rather than 85

Source: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/admissions/handbook/appendices/ Page 5 Winter Pool

You don't get auto-pooled, I had a friend who was close to 100 who wasn't pooled (for engineering).

Reply 10

SimonM

18

All applicants in this round (except those for Medicine) who are not offered places by their preference Colleges but have attained both 7A*s or more at GCSE and 90% or more in each of their three best/most relevant (i.e. where the subject at a particular College has subject preferences at A/AS level) AS Level subjects MUST be pooled in category P if not in another category.
In the case of post-qualification applicants the equivalent criteria are: both 7A*s or more at GCSE and 90% or more in each of their three best/most relevant A Level subjects.

Did he have the requisite GCSEs?

Reply 11

IrrationalNumber

12

SimonM

Well, unless my memory fails me you get "auto-pooled" if you have UMS >90 in your two closest subjects, so that's not entirely true.

I'd also think that they'd more be interested in solid 90/95+ rather than 85

Source: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/admissions/handbook/appendices/ Page 5 Winter Pool

In which case I retract what I said about why Cambridge want UMS marks. I don't think they'd give you a good idea about who will succeed at degree level though... in particular, I think Imperial's 'minimum 80%' idea isn't a good way of selecting people who will become good mathematicians.

Reply 12

around

13

Christ's might be one of the few colleges that do autopool.

Reply 13

jj193

14

SimonM

Did he have the requisite GCSEs?

Yes, I remember looking at the cambridge thread and it isn't uncommon. I geuss they've changed their methods.

Irrational Number, don't forget they don't get to see that much - it's only your AS-years UMS.

Reply 14

Ultimate1

OP

So... there isn't a clear answer? And what is the difference between a 90 UMS candidate and a 100 UMS one? I've heard that there isn't a difference in ability, but some say there is?

Reply 15

Goldfishy

8

Not meaning to derail the thread, and it is very much related, but when 90%+ is mentioned for UMS scores, do you mean on average or for all modules? Say if a couple were <90% but most were above.

Reply 16

around

13

Ultimate1

So... there isn't a clear answer? And what is the difference between a 90 UMS candidate and a 100 UMS one? I've heard that there isn't a difference in ability, but some say there is?

Not too much, I should hope (I was a 90+ candidate and not a 100 one mostly).

To make much of a difference between, say, 95+ and 100 is just being incredibly anal though.

Reply 17

Ultimate1

OP

around

Not too much, I should hope (I was a 90+ candidate and not a 100 one mostly).

To make much of a difference between, say, 95+ and 100 is just being incredibly anal though.

lol, anal. Yeah I'm mostly a 90 UMS candidate. ARGGHHHH....I kind of ace the papers at home but falter in the exam conditions. Oh well I can let STEP do the talking for me next year when I ACE THAT 'S' GRADE.

Reply 18

BJack

19

Ultimate1

So... there isn't a clear answer? And what is the difference between a 90 UMS candidate and a 100 UMS one? I've heard that there isn't a difference in ability, but some say there is?

Well it sort of depends. Some people are very careful and only come out with 90 because there are some bits they just don't fully understand, whereas some people will get 90 because they can cope with the maths but are also a bit sloppy so drop marks through careless errors.

around

To make much of a difference between, say, 95+ and 100 is just being incredibly anal though.

Are you saying that the difference between scoring 95 and 100 is being anal about things, or that you'd have to be anal to say somebody scoring 100 was much better than somebody scoring 95+?

Reply 19

Ultimate1

OP

BJack

Are you saying that the difference between scoring 95 and 100 is being anal about things, or that you'd have to be anal to say somebody scoring 100 was much better than somebody scoring 95+?

This is why I love hard papers. On easy papers, 1 mark dropped and you can loose upto 2/3 UMS marks, whereas on hard papers you can sometimes loose upto 5/6 marks to loose any UMS marks.

Low UMS but high STEP/AEA grade?

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