STEP Prep Thread 2016

Original post by R*.

Warwick maths. I don't mind the physics papers, it's just the practical which ruins your chances of a* with the ridiculous grade boundaries.

Hmm take the step papers anyway. But yh recise for physics, they let people in who meet A*A*A and miss step rather then the converse.

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Reply 1782

shamika

OP

16

Original post by DylanJ42

Does STEP count as a maths Super-curricular? Let's say you done 3 STEPs in June and got SSS and next year applied to universities such as UCL, LSE, Imperial (kind of) ie universities that don't involve STEP in the offers. Surely you could write about doing STEP in your personal statement in the same way people write about BMO and extra reading, after all doing 9 hours of unnecessary exams shows you are doing the papers because you enjoy the maths, and are enthusiastic about it :dontknow:

Spoiler

Yes, but the type of person who got SSS wouldn't have difficulties in getting in any numerate degree in this country. (They would also do great in any uni in the world, but eg in the US you have to have a more well-rounded application to have a good chance of succeeding.)

Reply 1783

DylanJ42

Original post by physicsmaths

A*A*A 111= A*A*A*A*A* IMHO
Imperial will fully respect 1,1,1 in step UCL aswell, not sure about LSE.

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That's what I mean, if you are capable of doing STEP, even if the university you are applying to doesn't want it, its surely still beneficial to do it purely because it's in a sense an extra maths a level

Of course I say this knowing it only applies to potential gap year students or students taking STEP alongside AS levels

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Reply 1784

R*.

Original post by Zacken

Getting a 2 in STEP I is easy, tbh. Why not try both?

I'm not that good lmao. I'm going to try for a*a*a*1 just to be sure that I meet at least one of their offers

Original post by physicsmaths

Hmm take the step papers anyway. But yh recise for physics, they let people in who meet A*A*A and miss step rather then the converse.

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recently i heard they're getting too many people, so I doubt they still accept people who even slightly miss their offer

Reply 1785

Original post by DylanJ42

That's what I mean, if you are capable of doing STEP, even if the university you are applying to doesn't want it, its surely still beneficial to do it purely because it's in a sense an extra maths a level

It is beneficial, but nowhere near as much as you think it is.

Reply 1786

Original post by R*.

I'm not that good lmao. I'm going to try for a*a*a*1 just to be sure that I meet at least one of their offers

recently i heard they're getting too many people, so I doubt they still accept people who even slightly miss their offer

They have 3 offers:

A*A*A*
A*A*A + 2
A*AA + 1

Reply 1787

DylanJ42

Original post by Zacken

You heavily underestimate the difficulty of getting good grades in STEP. SSS or 111 a year early is exceedingly difficult, even the best mathmos I've seen have sat only STEP I early, getting an S.

Studying that hard in your year 12 may also detrimentally affect your other A-Level grades and most, if not all unis would prefer you to have stellar A-Levels than okay A-Levels + good STEP.

I mean hypothetically of course, and I definitely don't underestimate STEP or the difficulty of getting good grades in it for one second, I'm looking forward to getting ripped apart by it

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Reply 1788

Euclidean

11

Original post by Zacken

They have 3 offers:

A*A*A*
A*A*A + 2
A*AA + 1

Warwick also accept A*A*AA without STEP or AEA with A*s in maths and further maths or additional maths

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Reply 1789

Original post by R*.

I'm not that good lmao. I'm going to try for a*a*a*1 just to be sure that I meet at least one of their offers

recently i heard they're getting too many people, so I doubt they still accept people who even slightly miss their offer

Well I seen it and they do. I seen someone be accepted with A*AAA 3 in step 1, accepted over my A*A*B(physics) 1,1,3 in STEP.

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Reply 1790

R*.

Original post by physicsmaths

Well I seen it and they do. I seen someone be accepted with A*AAA 3 in step 1, accepted over my A*A*B(physics) 1,1,3 in STEP.

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Was this last year or before?

Reply 1791

Original post by R*.

Was this last year or before?

The year just gone. 2015 Aug.

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Reply 1792

R*.

Original post by physicsmaths

The year just gone. 2015 Aug.

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damn. unlucky. looks like they really hate Bs

Reply 1793

Tbh, I don't see why the A*AA +1 in step offer is there for. I doubt there are many people getting grade 1 in step and getting A in FM.

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Reply 1794

rcmehta

2

How does the difficulty of 1987-1993 papers differ from recent papers or 2000+?

Reply 1795

Original post by JakeThomasLee

Warwick also accept A*A*AA without STEP or AEA with A*s in maths and further maths or additional maths

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Yes, I know - the person I quoted seemed to only be doing 3 A-Levels, which is why I ignored the others. :tongue:

Reply 1796

Original post by rcmehta

How does the difficulty of 1987-1993 papers differ from recent papers or 2000+?

Questions are far more variable on those paper + questions not on current syllabus (i.e; complex numbers on STEP I, matrices and group theory on III, etc..) whereas the difficulty of questions on 2000+ are much more constant per paper, but as from 2008+ there's a non-trivial difficulty jump.

Reply 1797