Current Year 12 Thread Mark VI

thanks, well i did fp1, fp2, fp3, c1 c2 and m1 in year 11 alongside the 16 gcse's. i got 90% + in all the modules. dont assume i was always good though (which is why i belive in hard work), because in year 6 sats i got a 3b for mathematics. my parents were so disappointed in me, and my dad being a mechanical engineer researching in morphological evolution and instabilities of solid thin films (that part was unnecessary, actually) was disappointed and started to tutor me when he had time. i guess it took a bit of time to start understanding and appreciating the beauty of mathematics, i mean the transition from normal (i like to call them linear - the answer is up in your face e.g. a level type) questions to harder questions that require thinking and mathematical arguments one after another until you reach your desired expression/value was a hard step up. at times, i thought "what if math isnt for me? i cant even solve this easy problem!" and i always got discouraging thoughts and thought i wouldnt progress, but after a while, you start seeing results - actual results. within a month, you are able to solve problems you thought were impossible before - and if one month before, someone came to you and said "in a month my friend, you will be able to solve this problem", you would have thought they were mentally impaired, but it works, just keep your head in the same direction - remember there are no shortcuts. what I can say is i heavily relied on these books to get the theory/problems - they're from a company called artofproblemsolving. start by buying the intro set, then the intermediate and so on (im not advertising, they were too good!). at first, you will find the questions hard and different from a level, but you get used to that style and improve quickly. once you get good, it becomes easier to make progress.

hmm, about the other subjects, i do physics, a2 further, a2 maths and additional further maths (you just pick 6 more modules, so 18 in total = 3 a levels for maths). tbh, i dont have to work that hard for physics, because mathematics just ties in to it. i remember working through this book called "physics" by ken dobson and some other cool people and from that book, experience in m1, and experience in m2 (from a2 math) and m3 (from additional further), i got a gold medal in the british physics olympiad this year and progressed to the next round but didn't do well in the second round at all - i think it was partly due to the fact that they put me in a 1mx1m box (im exaggerating slightly) as if they ran out of space throughout the school :/ creative guessing can help a lot in these multiple choice type tests such as SMC, physics olympiad etc, even if you dont have much knowledge. sometimes, you get so engrossed in a certain subject, that you do it in your sleep, or you start thinking about problems all the time, for example, you find a hard problem and cant solve it, but when you sleep you are thinking and thinking about it, and just by thinking, you are improving your problem solving, then you wake up in the morning, and bam, you have a solution. the number of times this has happened is unbelievable, and you know what? i believe it's not how many problems you solve, but the amount of time you think about how to solve problems. for example, person A: can solve 100 a level problems a day, but thinking time for each is minimal.
person B: has the ability to solve 100 a day, but gets an IMO problem and thinks about how to get a solution for 5 hours a day.
person B will become the better problem solver even if he does not solve that problem, while person A is just getting faster at answering a level questions, you see what I mean?
(stupid example)
as for now, my plan is to continue working hard, then retake year 12 when i finish it to have an extra year in college, then enter smc and hopefully in my last year of college i can make uk imo team - if you're going to dream, dream big, then work big as well.

i don#t know why, when i start typing i cant seem to stop, i think im over-answering all your questions and starting to reveal my autistic side a little bit. but im going to sleep now - as it is a friday, i dont feel bad in typing this much haha. if you have more questions, please inbox me as i may be clogging threads

edit: one more thing i find amusing, look at the type of question i asked 1 year ago, see how much improvement? you see it, right? there you go, proof - hard work > talent:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1659247
to be honest, my autism has become worse lately due to not much social interaction, but i dont know who to overcome this.

Do you have a list of these pure maths/ maths in general books that you use? Or could you recommend any? Thank you

I like even numbers

It's ok Miss Maths Lover Ms Maths Lover Lady Maths Lover

this,this and this.

I can't believe I fell for that.

I like even numbers

I like perfect squares.

I like irrational numbers. They're my perfect opposite.

I like them to. I'm not joking. I prefer having an even number of things to an odd number of things.

It's odd though. I'm compulsive about certain things but others I really not e.g my desk:

I was commenting on the fact that I got the #2000th post

something I was aiming for before but someone stole it from me.

My favourite number is 12343, and my favourite series of numbers is the Fibonacci sequence

look again.

WHAT?!?!?!

I... I just.... I can't... what

There's a riddle for you to solve No one tell him.

YOU DELETED 2 POSTS DIDN'T YOU!!!!???



Edit: at least I got #2012