Ask a Mathematics interviewer

Well approx 10-12% get S in STEP III. I think it would be fair to expect roughly half of them to also get S in STEP II. So 5% of those that take STEP III... assuming 700 take STEP III that's 35ish people getting S,S.

@Everyone thinking about taking STEP 1 early, I'd say go for it. It's certainly not a requirement for getting in, but I can think of many good reasons to take it early.

1. No risk and good reward. Cambridge admissions tutors have explicitly said they would not mind if you have taken it early and received a poor grade, it would not hurt your chances of an offer at all! But if you have taken it early and got a 1 or better, it would look really good on your application.
2. The extra practice you get from STEP makes you a much better mathematician and will probably vastly improve your performance at interview, improving your chances of an offer.
The earlier you start practicing and getting used to difficult problems, the better.
3. Knowing what sitting the paper is like really helps. When you come around to doing STEP II and STEP III next year if you do get your offer, you will be much more calm and relaxed since you already know what the sitting the paper is like. (And you will be much more confident if you get a 1 or better)
4. While people are concerned about STEP practice compromising AS UMS, this might not be the case since doing STEP papers turns A level papers into a joke that you can just waltz through easily.

Ooh. I know 1. He was on of the highest scorers last year


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Actually 35 sounds a bit low, but it would be somewhere between 35 and, maybe, 50.

What do you think?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Actually 35 sounds a bit low, but it would be somewhere between 35 and, maybe, 50.

What do you think?

Posted from TSR Mobile

@Everyone thinking about taking STEP 1 early, I'd say go for it. It's certainly not a requirement for getting in, but I can think of many good reasons to take it early.

1. No risk and good reward. Cambridge admissions tutors have explicitly said they would not mind if you have taken it early and received a poor grade, it would not hurt your chances of an offer at all! But if you have taken it early and got a 1 or better, it would look really good on your application.
2. The extra practice you get from STEP makes you a much better mathematician and will probably vastly improve your performance at interview, improving your chances of an offer.
The earlier you start practicing and getting used to difficult problems, the better.
3. Knowing what sitting the paper is like really helps. When you come around to doing STEP II and STEP III next year if you do get your offer, you will be much more calm and relaxed since you already know what the sitting the paper is like. (And you will be much more confident if you get a 1 or better)
4. While people are concerned about STEP practice compromising AS UMS, this might not be the case since doing STEP papers turns A level papers into a joke that you can just waltz through easily.

Thank you for your reply - it is nice to here things from the perspective of an admission tutor, rather than the hunches of other users
I understand what you say about declaring results, and would personally never 'hide' results, but out of interest, how might a college go about finding out ones STEP result if they had taken I and II pre-application and not declared them, presumably they expect applicants as you say to not have sat STEP before the application process?
Edit: just realised I misread your reply, edited my response accordingly. Thank you for your help!!

Thanks for your response!

Does Cambridge look carefully at what type of modules somebody takes- for example, is more attention given to the results of

a) Mechanics modules for Engineering
b) Statistics modules for Economics
c) Decision modules (if taken) for Computer Science?

Your teachers might mention it in their reference? You might mention it at interview? It's just not something to consider - if we do make an applicant a conditional offer, that is only binding provided the information submitted on the UCAS form and SAQ is correct. If anything substantial changes or is found to be inaccurate, the College could possible rescind the offer.

I read earlier that you also interview engineering applicants. Can I sneak in a few questions about engineering interviews?
Am I correct in saying that most engineering interviews are maths based?

I would consider myself a very strong mathematician and I am on track to get 3 A*s in maths, f.maths and physics at A2 level with 95+ UMS average. (I will be a gap year applicant doing a year in industry)
However, under high pressure (such as a Cambridge interview) I may find simple arithmetic a challenge. Give me a hard second order differential equation and I'll be happy to do it in no time, but for some reason simple arithmetic stumps me under high pressure.
I'm sure I would be fine if given chance to work through the questions in a room on my own first then through them with the interviewer afterwards, however if put in a situation where I have to answer an arithmetic question face to face with an interviewer, my mind would draw a blank.
Can you see this being a big problem?
Also would it be wise to apply to a college whose interview style would suit me best?
For example I have found that Peterhouse's interview consists of 'Questions to look at before one interview and 60 mins multiple choice Pure & Applied Maths test' whereas several colleges do not test at all.

x

This is very helpful thank you!
Hopefully I should be able to make it to the September open day, do you know how quickly it fills up or will I be able to wait until results day to book onto it?

I read earlier that you also interview engineering applicants. Can I sneak in a few questions about engineering interviews?
Am I correct in saying that most engineering interviews are maths based?

I would consider myself a very strong mathematician and I am on track to get 3 A*s in maths, f.maths and physics at A2 level with 95+ UMS average. (I will be a gap year applicant doing a year in industry)
However, under high pressure (such as a Cambridge interview) I may find simple arithmetic a challenge. Give me a hard second order differential equation and I'll be happy to do it in no time, but for some reason simple arithmetic stumps me under high pressure.
I'm sure I would be fine if given chance to work through the questions in a room on my own first then through them with the interviewer afterwards, however if put in a situation where I have to answer an arithmetic question face to face with an interviewer, my mind would draw a blank.
Can you see this being a big problem?
Also would it be wise to apply to a college whose interview style would suit me best?
For example I have found that Peterhouse's interview consists of 'Questions to look at before one interview and 60 mins multiple choice Pure & Applied Maths test' whereas several colleges do not test at all.

I always think easy maths is much harder than hard maths. I'd much rather be asked to solve a second order differential equation than have to find the determinant of a 3x3 matrix full of minus signs and no zeros.

You should be ok to wait until results day unless the rest of TSR get in first!

I always think easy maths is much harder than hard maths. I'd much rather be asked to solve a second order differential equation than have to find the determinant of a 3x3 matrix full of minus signs and no zeros.

Hi, thank you very much for doing this.

I am taking my A levels at the moment, including STEP, but I'm not an offer holder.

If I end up with A*A*AA and a 1,1 on II and III, would it be a good idea to reapply? I understand that Queens' are the college most receptive to gap year students.

If I did reapply with those grades, do you have any advice other than that you would normally give to a pre A level candidate?

How important is physics (in particular practical marks )?

Physics is advantageous but not essential. Theoretical Physics courses are taught from scratch and in Part IA there is an optional Physics course for those who have no or little Physics at A level.

If you are taking Physics to A level, then we would want to see good marks achieved. There would, however, be less emphasis on the practical marks.