[`God]

Hey guys, I'm currently in year 11 (got a couple of school days left) and I've got an A* in Maths in November 2011. I finished C1 in about 2 months self teaching myself (when I say 2 months, I actually mean like 30 minutes worth of solid work per week in lessons, the rest of the time I just ****ed about).

Any way, since I get a long summer break I was thinking about doing C2/C3/C4 over the summer, I'll be using m4ths.com and will probably be buying some books on Amazon. The question is, would it be possible to finish C2/C3/C4 to 90+UMS level over the summer with about 2 hours of work per day? (I've got 92UMS and 97UMS in two C1 past papers I've done).

I understand that C1 is nowhere near comparing to C3/C4 (hence I made this topic) so please don't reply with things such as "C1 is easy roflmao!!!".

[`God]

bump

[desijut]

A* in maths doesnt make you good at maths, nor does being able to do C1 by yourself. Give it a go, it may or may not work out. You could potentially do it but it would require a lot of work

[`God]

(Original post by desijut)
A* in maths doesnt make you good at maths, nor does being able to do C1 by yourself. Give it a go, it may or may not work out. You could potentially do it but it would require a lot of work

What makes you good at maths?

[boromir9111]

(Original post by `God)
What makes you good at maths?

In regards to A level maths.....practice is the name of the game

[zingoman]

BUMP

[Game_boy]

If you found C1 that easy, C2-C4 should be possible in that time, since there is a lot of overlap in skills and all the overhead of getting 30 people in a class and on task is cut out.

The important thing will be making a schedule and sticking to it. Make a sensible order for the topics, and say like:

Day 1:

Topic 1
1/2 hour reading
1 hour practice questions
Topic 2
1/2 hour reading
1 hour practice questions
2 hours Exam question practice on above

Be prepared to commit (and I mean all of that time working) several hours per day (I don't know how many weeks you have but allocate realistic timeframes and see)

Then don't be disappointed if you can't do it, since it isn't necessary at all. Do it because you enjoy it and want to achieve something for yourself.

[Dreamweaver]

I was in exactly the same position as you. Got A* in GCSE maths 2 years early and played football in my maths lessons with the older boys because my school wouldn't let me go beyond C1. I was determined to get C2/C3 done in the summer but it didn't happen. It's possible, the key is motivating yourself to do it. I ended up with an A* in maths a level anyways and now i'm sitting my FM exams.

I know you're flying through maths but there is going to be a period of time where you will struggle. My advice to you would be set a realistic target like nailing C2 and enjoy your summer.

[isp]

It's possible. I assume you want to do something Maths related at university.

I suggest doing C2+C3 thoroughly (not rushing through), and if you have enough time then move onto C4.

Please do not choose any sub-par A-Levels (Psychology, Sociology, Business Studies, Media Studies)

A-Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Physics (fourth subject - I recommend either Economics, Further Additional Maths, Biology or Chemistry) -> STEP -> Cambridge -> Goldman Sachs

[f1mad]

(Original post by isp)
...

On top of this I suggest you do STEP I/II or II/III next year

Result? Cambridge/Oxford Maths Degree or LSE Maths with Econ degree -> Goldman Sachs / Hedge fund

Thank me later.

If only I knew this two years ago.

Do you really think it's that easy?

[james22]

(Original post by `God)
Hey guys, I'm currently in year 11 (got a couple of school days left) and I've got an A* in Maths in November 2011. I finished C1 in about 2 months self teaching myself (when I say 2 months, I actually mean like 30 minutes worth of solid work per week in lessons, the rest of the time I just ****ed about).

Any way, since I get a long summer break I was thinking about doing C2/C3/C4 over the summer, I'll be using m4ths.com and will probably be buying some books on Amazon. The question is, would it be possible to finish C2/C3/C4 to 90+UMS level over the summer with about 2 hours of work per day? (I've got 92UMS and 97UMS in two C1 past papers I've done).

I understand that C1 is nowhere near comparing to C3/C4 (hence I made this topic) so please don't reply with things such as "C1 is easy roflmao!!!".

This really depends how good you are at maths. A* at GCSE doesn't say much, but self teaching core 1 means you are at least decent at maths. It is certainly possible to teach those modules over the summer, in the sumer between AS and A2 I managed to teach myself C3/C4/M2/FP2 without to much time put into them. I say give it a go and see how far you can get.

[`God]

(Original post by isp)
It's possible. I assume you want to do something Maths related at university.

I suggest doing C2+C3 thoroughly (not rushing through), and if you have enough time then move onto C4.

Please do not choose any sub-par A-Levels (Psychology, Sociology, Business Studies, Media Studies)

A-Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Physics (fourth subject - I recommend either Economics, Further Additional Maths, Biology or Chemistry)

On top of this I suggest you do STEP I/II or II/III next year

Result? Cambridge/Oxford Maths Degree or LSE Maths with Econ degree -> Goldman Sachs / Hedge fund

Thank me later.

If only I knew this two years ago.

First of all, thanks guys for the replies.

Yeah for A-levels I picked: Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics.

Is it possible to do a topic per day (thoroughly)? I managed to finish Logs in the space of 3 hours just watching some videos and doing some question.

[james22]

(Original post by `God)
First of all, thanks guys for the replies.

Yeah for A-levels I picked: Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics.

Is it possible to do a topic per day (thoroughly)? I managed to finish Logs in the space of 3 hours just watching some videos and doing some question.

Easily if you work hard. You could do a module in a week leaving you loads of time for practice.

[`God]

(Original post by james22)
Easily if you work hard. You could do a module in a week leaving you loads of time for practice.

Yeah that's what I'm planning, I want to do a topic a day so basically in the space of 2 weeks, finish all the topics, recap it and do lots of past questions.

[Dangerous Theory]

Let's be honest here - you didn't go through the whole of core 1 in 4 hours total. Self teaching also requires a huge self motivation but you'll only know if you try it.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9300

[james22]

(Original post by Dangerous Theory)
Let's be honest here - you didn't go through the whole of core 1 in 4 hours total. Self teaching also requires a huge self motivation but you'll only know if you try it.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9300

It's very possible, I did each of C3, C4, M2 in 1 day (5-6 hours).

[Madrid Apple]

You could easily do it, but honestly, why?
You'll forget an awful lot before you get to the January exam period, and if your aim is to get good at maths, there are better things you could do with your time if you're going to end up sitting in lessons doing it again anyway.

[`God]

(Original post by Madrid Apple)
You could easily do it, but honestly, why?
You'll forget an awful lot before you get to the January exam period, and if your aim is to get good at maths, there are better things you could do with your time if you're going to end up sitting in lessons doing it again anyway.

Well I plan on doing C1/C2 in January then C3/C4 in June, finishing early will give me a lot of extra time to focus on other subjects + I want to do something productive over the summer, I can't sit there for 2 months and decay.

[EckoGecko]

I found C1 quite similar to GCSE Maths, but cores 2-4 much harder.
If you're willing to put the hours in they are very approachable by yourself.
Try reading maths books, going on maths websites; reading around the subject more if you really enjoy it.

[ummm]

(Original post by `God)
Hey guys, I'm currently in year 11 (got a couple of school days left) and I've got an A* in Maths in November 2011. I finished C1 in about 2 months self teaching myself (when I say 2 months, I actually mean like 30 minutes worth of solid work per week in lessons, the rest of the time I just ****ed about).

Any way, since I get a long summer break I was thinking about doing C2/C3/C4 over the summer, I'll be using m4ths.com and will probably be buying some books on Amazon. The question is, would it be possible to finish C2/C3/C4 to 90+UMS level over the summer with about 2 hours of work per day? (I've got 92UMS and 97UMS in two C1 past papers I've done).

I understand that C1 is nowhere near comparing to C3/C4 (hence I made this topic) so please don't reply with things such as "C1 is easy roflmao!!!".

I think it would require a lot of motivation, and I think you're underestimating the amount of time you'd need to put in. Though it does vary for person to person. I've just finished AS maths, so C1, C2 and S1, and I learnt the content and did all the practice papers for C1 and C2 during two weeks in the Easter holidays, at quite a nice pace, doing maybe 3-4 hours work a day. After that it was a breeze really, because I'd done lots of practice and fully understood everything.

I think you should also make sure that you take this summer to relax and just chill, because the next two years you're going to have to work hard.

Give it a go I guess!

One useful hint I think is to make sure you do sufficient textbook practice before going through the past papers, and making sure you fully understand everything, because then it makes the past papers a breeze. Textbooks often have harder questions, and you get exposed to a greater variety of question styles and wordings than doing the past papers alone, so you don't get thrown by new styles of questions in the exam.

Good luck

By the way, I can't recommend this website enough!! The guy explains everything so well and straightforwardly, and each video is only 5-8 minutes long. Brilliant resource!

www.examsolutions.co.uk