&quot;Potential&quot;

"The work needed to cause the motion of a unit electric charge between two points. V = W/q, in which V is potential difference, W is work, and q is charge."

At least, I think that's why they hooked me up to the parrilla in the interview...

Reply 4

Zhen Lin

12

Hmm, the definition I learnt is the work needed to move a unit "charge" from infinity to that point, where "charge" could be, indeed, electrical charge, or gravitational charge (i.e. mass).

Reply 5

Zhen Lin

Hmm, the definition I learnt is the work needed to move a unit "charge" from infinity to that point, where "charge" could be, indeed, electrical charge, or gravitational charge (i.e. mass).

I was technically referring to potential difference, although I (and my teacher) often just call it "potential" as shorthand, because in the right context it's obvious that it means p.d. :wink:

Reply 6

Catsmeat

13

Solemn Wanderer

Back when Oxbridge gave EE offers as a matter of routine, this argument would be tenable. :smile:

In any case, there is statistical evidence showing that (in some subjects to a greater extent than others) GCSE results are a good predictor of potential.

At the time of application they are more or less the only solid evidence that the University will have as to the academic potential and history of that applicant; AS Levels are, of course, an important aspect, yet they only represent half of the entire A-Level.

It's important to stress that there is no such thing as an 'ideal type'; there are numerous (urban legends) of 'that applicant who had straight A*s and was rejected' and 'that applicant who had straight Cs and was accepted'. The interviewers are not a hive-mind -their personal preferences, their judgement of your potential during interview and their consideration of your portfolio all play a part. There's no statistical means by which it is possible to calculate your 'potential to be offered a place'. If there is, I'll eat my hat.

Reply 7

j_w

I.e. a natural aptitude for your chosen subject, as well as enthusiasm and effort.

Exactly. People can achieve top grades and amazingly high UMS scores, but it's also about you as a person in relation to your subject- it's a certain enthousiasm/thirst that you emulate that can't be shown through test scores alone.

Reply 8

Fillette™

Exactly. People can achieve top grades and amazingly high UMS scores, but it's also about you as a person in relation to your subject- it's a certain enthousiasm/thirst that you emulate that can't be shown through test scores alone.

Not always. My interviews certainly had no notion of assessing enthusiasm/thirst, only maths. I'd be tempted to say they don't care about your enthusiasm or ambition, only aptitude. That's only one college and subject, though.

Reply 9

Maths and Trinity, I'm guessing? But surely your enthousiasm for Maths is shown through your dedication to the subject, and doing stuff like the STEP, and BMO- which I should imagine is very challenging and takes a lot of thought.

Reply 10

Coco.

12

Solemn Wanderer

GCSE results are a good predictor of potential.

Why is this so?
I'm just wondering because it seems odd to me!

Reply 11

naivesincerity

2

They don't care about your other abilities or potential for Maths. I kept getting told when I applied to highlight my interests, do all this crap on my PS that I knew was pointless, then when I got the interview, of course they said 'We don't care about all that, we just care about how good you are at maths.' Most annoying when I tried to tell my teacher they were wrong.

Reply 12

Huw Davies

11

millicent

Why is this so?
I'm just wondering because it seems odd to me!

People who are really clever at 18 tend to have been really clever when they were 16, too.

Reply 13

Fillette™

Maths and Trinity, I'm guessing? But surely your enthousiasm for Maths is shown through your dedication to the subject, and doing stuff like the STEP, and BMO- which I should imagine is very challenging and takes a lot of thought.

You guess wrong - Physics and Somerville, Oxford. :p:

Also pooled to Christchurch, but they seemed to give a slight toss about my personal interest in the subject - it certainly varies between colleges!

Reply 14

2 niavesincerity^^Wow! Thank God I'm not applying for Maths. (Though you're probably right, my cousin's doing maths at Trinity and he's not really interested in much else :s-smilie:

Reply 15