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How much harder is STEP II compared to STEP I?

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(edited 8 years ago)
In my opinion, STEP II is only slightly more challenging than STEP I :yep:

The real STEP up (:teehee:) is from the second to the third paper :smile:
Original post by Rockstar North
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In STEP I I was getting 90-100 in the latest few, STEP 2 im getting around 70 at the minute, can only really do 4 questions per paper and then 1 or 2 half answers.

Those aren't timed btw but i usually start and finish a paper within 1/2 days (just because its so addicting)

So I think there is a step up (hehe:ahee:) but not enough that you'll be getting <10 in any papers
Original post by Indeterminate
In my opinion, STEP II is only slightly more challenging than STEP I :yep:

The real STEP up (:teehee:) is from the second to the third paper :smile:


omg we made the same joke :laugh:
Original post by Indeterminate
In my opinion, STEP II is only slightly more challenging than STEP I :yep:

The real STEP up (:teehee:) is from the second to the third paper :smile:


Original post by DylanJ42
In STEP I I was getting 90-100 in the latest few, STEP 2 im getting around 70 at the minute, can only really do 4 questions per paper and then 1 or 2 half answers.

Those aren't timed btw but i usually start and finish a paper within 1/2 days (just because its so addicting)

So I think there is a step up (hehe:ahee:) but not enough that you'll be getting <10 in any papers


Thank you. I got offers from Imperial and Warwick; 2 in II and 2 in I respectively. Not sure whether it's a risk worth taking, I'm not confident about II but should be able to get it in I. Hmm.
Reply 6
It seems the disparity has grown in recent years imo, but I haven't heard many others note this. For instance 2014 and 2015 STEP I I found doable (scraped a 1 sitting 2015, think I could have done better with less crap exam strategy/time management, high 1/low S when doing 2014 as a mock), whereas I looked at the II papers for each year and, while admittedly not trying forever, couldn't get a single full solution. But STEP II papers from longer ago seem a lot more approachable.
Reply 7
Original post by Rockstar North
Thank you. I got offers from Imperial and Warwick; 2 in II and 2 in I respectively. Not sure whether it's a risk worth taking, I'm not confident about II but should be able to get it in I. Hmm.


2 in I, II is a fairly easy, nothing to worry about really. You just need to answer about ~2 and a half questions to three questions fully and some partials for that, or just 6 partials.
Original post by Zacken
2 in I, II is a fairly easy, nothing to worry about really. You just need to answer about ~2 and a half questions to three questions fully and some partials for that, or just 6 partials.


Easy for someone with a Cambridge offer to say :biggrin:. I see you've got offers from Imperial and Warwick too; any idea what you'll pick? and why?
Reply 9
Original post by Rockstar North
Easy for someone with a Cambridge offer to say :biggrin:. I see you've got offers from Imperial and Warwick too; any idea what you'll pick? and why?


Probably Warwick! I just feel like I enjoyed their campus environment more, plus their maths course seems slightly more attractive to me. I'm not entirely made my mind up yet, do you have any tips or pro's/con's between the two? :eek:
Original post by Zacken
Probably Warwick! I just feel like I enjoyed their campus environment more, plus their maths course seems slightly more attractive to me. I'm not entirely made my mind up yet, do you have any tips or pro's/con's between the two? :eek:


I'm having a really hard time; I prefer Warwick's course much more too; but the city looked incredibly dead to me. Imperial will be beneficial for IB as all the big banks are close by, plus overall much higher rep/prestige. ugh
Reply 11
Original post by Rockstar North
I'm having a really hard time; I prefer Warwick's course much more too; but the city looked incredibly dead to me. Imperial will be beneficial for IB as all the big banks are close by, plus overall much higher rep/prestige. ugh


If you're thinking about IB - Warwick is just as much as a target as Imperial! You'll get the obvious travelling disadvantages but otherwise, not a setback. @weird number name guy I can't be bothered to type out goes to Warwick, so you might want to ask him about how dead the city is.
Reply 12
Original post by Zacken
If you're thinking about IB - Warwick is just as much as a target as Imperial! You'll get the obvious travelling disadvantages but otherwise, not a setback. @weird number name guy I can't be bothered to type out goes to Warwick, so you might want to ask him about how dead the city is.


I wonder who weird number name guy is..
Reply 13
Original post by 1 8 13 20 42
I wonder who weird number name guy is..


:colondollar:
I think they're about the same. I actually found STEP III easier.

Original post by Rockstar North
I'm having a really hard time; I prefer Warwick's course much more too; but the city looked incredibly dead to me.


I haven't even been to Coventry in months. Pretty much everything you need is in Canley.
Original post by Indeterminate
In my opinion, STEP II is only slightly more challenging than STEP I :yep:

The real STEP up (:teehee:) is from the second to the third paper :smile:


I disagree... well, since I've completely covered the topics, and having practised a lot more, I'm finding STEP III easier than STEP II...

Though I do seem to be a contrarian
Original post by Mathemagicien
I disagree... well, since I've completely covered the topics, and having practised a lot more, I'm finding STEP III easier than STEP II...

Though I do seem to be a contrarian


I feel the same way too. I find STEP II the hardest, but probably due to the course content required. I love my integration and series which seems to be replaced by some other topics e.g. Geometrical problems in 2.
Personally I < III < II in difficulty. That's just a personal opinion though!

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