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Cambridge Maths Students and Applicants

I'm a IA mathmo, and my DOS was kind enough to email me my info at teatime on Friday. His email contained my:

\bullet

rank

\bullet

raw mark

\bullet

merit mark

\bullet

no. of

\alpha

s

\bullet

no. of

\beta

s

So yes they do have access to the info. Don't let them be lazy!
If you want it, you should get onto them and ask them :cool:

Thanks, I'll ask mine.

Yep - thanks paperfold :smile:

- I've emailed my DOS and tutor too - and was careful to say "get a move on" very very politely! :smile:

Here's hoping one of them sends me my info by tomorrow morning!

Am interested in who's topped Maths IA too. Wouldn't be surprised if marers already knows!

Reply 1581

wooper

1

Got results this morning. (Maths IA)

20 alphas, 8 betas, raw mark 485, merit mark 1005, rank 4th

If only I'd done the alphas a minute quicker on average, I'd have had more time for the betas! At least there will be more preparation time in term 3 in the next 2 years!

Reply 1582

nuodai

17

Original post by wooper

Got results this morning. (Maths IA)

20 alphas, 8 betas, raw mark 485, merit mark 1005, rank 4th

If only I'd done the alphas a minute quicker on average, I'd have had more time for the betas! At least there will be more preparation time in term 3 in the next 2 years!

Just... how?! [Also, congrats.]

Reply 1583

Zhen Lin

12

Original post by wooper

Got results this morning. (Maths IA)

20 alphas, 8 betas, raw mark 485, merit mark 1005, rank 4th

If only I'd done the alphas a minute quicker on average, I'd have had more time for the betas! At least there will be more preparation time in term 3 in the next 2 years!

Congratulations! I guess that means there are at least four 20-alpha candidates in your year...

Reply 1584

nuodai

17

Original post by Zhen Lin

Congratulations! I guess that means there are at least four 20-alpha candidates in your year...

Perhaps; though 16a+14b (if all full marks) would get a higher merit mark (1010), so there might be fewer than four.

Reply 1585

stripy_and_nice

Original post by nuodai

Perhaps; though 16a+14b (if all full marks) would get a higher merit mark (1010), so there might be fewer than four.

I think you've done some arithmetic wrong here. The highest possible mark with 16a+14b is 948. That's if someone gets 16a+4b on Section II and 10b on Section I, gets all their merit marks with maximum marks and misses all other merit marks by 1 mark. The highest possible mark with 16a+20b is 996.

But I wouldn't be surprised if someone gets into the top 3 with say 19a+12b, having messed up one Section II question.

Reply 1586

qgujxj39

17

Original post by wooper

If only I'd done the alphas a minute quicker on average, I'd have had more time for the betas!

Boo hoo.

Many congratulations!

Reply 1587

qgujxj39

17

Got an e-mail from a DoS saying that they'll have my breakdown early this week, possibly today.

Reply 1588

nuodai

17

Original post by stripy_and_nice

I think you've done some arithmetic wrong here. The highest possible mark with 16a+14b is 948. That's if someone gets 16a+4b on Section II and 10b on Section I, gets all their merit marks with maximum marks and misses all other merit marks by 1 mark. The highest possible mark with 16a+20b is 996.

But I wouldn't be surprised if someone gets into the top 3 with say 19a+12b, having messed up one Section II question.

I think you've got confused about how many merit marks you can get from what section. There is no limit on Section I questions, and with 4 per paper that gives a possible 16 betas (not 10) from Section I questions. There is a limit of 5 Section II questions per paper, giving an upper limit of 20 alphas in total. Assuming you get 16 alphas from long questions and 14 betas from short questions, this gives:

Merit mark = 16×(20 raw marks + 30 quality marks) + 14×(10 raw marks + 5 quality marks) = 1010.

EDIT: though I did forget to subtract 120 for going over 8 alphas. You'd actually need, say, 18 alphas + 15 betas (for argument's sake, let's say 13 betas come from full-mark short questions, and 2 betas come from 14-mark long questions), giving 18×(20+30) + 2×(14+5) + 13×(10+5) - 120 = 1013.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1589

nchen5

Original post by nuodai

I think you've got confused about how many merit marks you can get from what section. There is no limit on Section I questions, and with 4 per paper that gives a possible 16 betas (not 10) from Section I questions. There is a limit of 5 Section II questions per paper, giving an upper limit of 20 alphas in total. Assuming you get 16 alphas from long questions and 14 betas from short questions, this gives:

Merit mark = 16×(20 raw marks + 30 quality marks) + 14×(10 raw marks + 5 quality marks) = 1010.

EDIT: though I did forget to subtract 120 for going over 8 alphas. You'd actually need, say, 18 alphas + 15 betas (for argument's sake, let's say 13 betas come from full-mark short questions, and 2 betas come from 14-mark long questions), giving 18×(20+30) + 2×(14+5) + 13×(10+5) - 120 = 1013.

dont forget with 13 betas from short questions you can still do 3 other section I questions with 7 marks. Her/his answer for optimal merit mark with 16 alphas and 14 betas being 948 was correct.

Reply 1590

stripy_and_nice

Original post by nuodai

I think you've got confused about how many merit marks you can get from what section. There is no limit on Section I questions, and with 4 per paper that gives a possible 16 betas (not 10) from Section I questions. There is a limit of 5 Section II questions per paper, giving an upper limit of 20 alphas in total. Assuming you get 16 alphas from long questions and 14 betas from short questions, this gives:

Merit mark = 16×(20 raw marks + 30 quality marks) + 14×(10 raw marks + 5 quality marks) = 1010.

EDIT: though I did forget to subtract 120 for going over 8 alphas. You'd actually need, say, 18 alphas + 15 betas (for argument's sake, let's say 13 betas come from full-mark short questions, and 2 betas come from 14-mark long questions), giving 18×(20+30) + 2×(14+5) + 13×(10+5) - 120 = 1013.

I've checked and everything I said was correct :wink:

Problem: what is the maximum possible merit mark with 16a+14b?
Solution:
Section II: 8x(20 raw + 15 quality) + 8x(20 raw + 30 quality) + 4x(14 raw + 5 quality)
Section I: 10x(10 raw + 5 quality) + 6x(7 raw)

= 948 merit marks

The highest possible total merit mark involving 16 alphas is 996.
The highest involving 17 alphas is 1027.
18 alphas ... 1058
19 alphas ... 1089
20 alphas ... 1120

Reply 1591

Zhen Lin

12

Ooo, this is edging quite close to a problem I was discussing with friends recently...

Question: Is every merit mark possible?

I believe the answer is yes, at least for Part II, and in the lower range of marks (less than 2000, say).

Reply 1592

nuodai

17

Original post by stripy_and_nice

I've checked and everything I said was correct :wink:

Problem: what is the maximum possible merit mark with 16a+14b?
Solution:
Section II: 8x(20 raw + 15 quality) + 8x(20 raw + 30 quality) + 4x(14 raw + 5 quality)
Section I: 10x(10 raw + 5 quality) + 6x(7 raw)

Indeed, I'd forgotten to subtract the 120 (or equivalently count the first 8 alphas as 15 marks), sorry about that!

Reply 1593

hjh9432

What kind of work experience will have strong link with 'mathematics'. I am going to apply to do maths and Cambridge, but I think there is no work experience I can get that has direct link to mathematics. However what kind of workexperience would be good and suitable? Recommendations and reasons would be very very grateful.

Reply 1594

ForGreatJustice

13

Original post by hjh9432

What kind of work experience will have strong link with 'mathematics'. I am going to apply to do maths and Cambridge, but I think there is no work experience I can get that has direct link to mathematics. However what kind of workexperience would be good and suitable? Recommendations and reasons would be very very grateful.

None really exists, and if it does, it won't help. All they really care about is ability, so get good exam results and prepare well for the interview/STEP.

Reply 1595

tehforum

20

Original post by hjh9432

What kind of work experience will have strong link with 'mathematics'. I am going to apply to do maths and Cambridge, but I think there is no work experience I can get that has direct link to mathematics. However what kind of workexperience would be good and suitable? Recommendations and reasons would be very very grateful.

Nothing at all.

Just read books relating to mathematics, and be good at maths.
:tongue:

Reply 1596

marers

11

At the top of Maths IA this year, four students got over 1000 merit marks. Three of them got 20 alphas - two from Trinity, one from Fitzwilliam.

Reply 1597

ambience

11

Roughly what % of the top 5 does Trinity get in IA each year?
And roughly what % of the Senior Wranglers?

Just wondering whether the first % is significantly larger than the second?