Its damn hard, I got A in maths and A in Further Maths with a 97% average in maths, but I failed step I. It's very hard. And also harder than AEA, but then AEA is aimed at the Maths syllabus while STEP is Further Maths included. I passed AEA and failed STEP :]
The step questions require a lot of methods and being able to manipulate methods, not following the standard A-level routine answer.
I don't know, to be honest (I have actually seen both the BMO and STEP). Have you seen a STEP exam yet? It just feels like entirely different Maths (not due to difficulty or anything, just the style). I mean, you can't really compare the Senior Maths Challenge and A-levels, can you? They're just... different.
The BMO/IMO require a certain kind of thinking which you can only be born with and it's quite rare. STEP just requires intelligence + a very good knowledge of the A-level syllabus, I think.
I'd say STEP requires a lot more maths knowledge than BMO, but I found easier.
STEP has A-level maths minimum for most of the questions, but with more thinking than A-level, whereas BMO I think is supposedly solveable with mostly GCSE type level methods.(I forget if this is actually true, been a while since I've done either.)
STEP is simply asking A level questions in the style that you would get in the Cambridge exams for the undergrad course. No more, no less. It's harder than A level because of this different style.
Well....(As difficult as it is to compare) I'd say it's easier than BMO2, but harder than BMO1. I put "As hard as BMO", but in retrospect you might have been referring solely to BMO1, in which case I think that, given the same ability and amount of preparatory work, most people would do better in BMO1 (by 'better' I mean vaguely 2 in STEP ~~ 20 in BMO, 1 ~~ 30, and maybe S ~~ 40; this seems a reasonable comparison). They're completely different exams though, preparing for one doesn't help preparing for the other (although obviously either one raises general proficiency).
EDIT:
Originally Posted by thomaskurian89
Edit: If I remember right, STEP has calculus problems whereas even IMO problems don't require calculus, right?
Yes, but that doesn't make it easier - the syllabus for the IMO was fixed about 50 years ago; many of it's candidates (from the UK/US anyway, afaik the Asian countries don't teach Calculus at school), will be good at calculus (indeed the problem setters attempt to ensure that calculus never gives an advantage - if an inequality is easy by differentiation, they'll change the question).
To me STEP always seemed more maths based (it always felt more formal), BMO was more logic based (with maths). Now this is a gross simplification, but it's a start.
As a data point - I scored 21 (out of 60) on BMO1 in 2007, but SS in STEP - so I wouldn't say that poor performance in BMO precludes good performance in STEP.
As a data point - I scored 21 (out of 60) on BMO1 in 2007, but SS in STEP - so I wouldn't say that poor performance in BMO precludes good performance in STEP.
That was in 2007 though, so I feel it is comparable. Personally I went up by about 5 times between 2007 and 2008, and I doubt you revised for BMO1 either.
I had similar results to Zhen Lin this year, high 20s for BMO1 and an S in STEP I. Its difficult to compare different things, but doing well in STEP is probably easier than doing well in the BMO
In my opinion, STEP tests a solid understanding of A Level Maths/Further Maths, competence at algebra, and the ability to take a hint.
BMO is more about spotting clever 'tricks'. There are also fewer questions, and no choice of questions.
BMO2 is certainly more difficult than STEP. I think it probably requires more practice to become good at BMO1 questions than STEP questions, so I'll say BMO1 is also harder.
I found STEP more difficult than BMO, to be honest, but then I didn't spend very long going over STEP papers, as I didn't end up having to sit it, whereas I practised a bit for BMO.
Quite Simply STEP is a 'lot' easier, i mean BMO questions have no clues, they are very hard, and this is often not the case in STEP, they guide you through them, i don't think you can compare STEP on the level of BMO1 but that is just my own opinion i guess. However the reason for this maybe because students who take STEP have been trained in the nessesary areas, so as i have no training what so ever in BMO, i suppose i would naturally find it harder, so i guess someone who has taken both is in a better position. It's definatley not harder than BMO2/IMO that is a joke i reckon.
Quite Simply STEP is a 'lot' easier, i mean BMO questions have no clues, they are very hard, and this is often not the case in STEP, they guide you through them, i don't think you can compare STEP on the level of BMO1 but that is just my own opinion i guess. However the reason for this maybe because students who take STEP have been trained in the nessesary areas, so as i have no training what so ever in BMO, i suppose i would naturally find it harder, so i guess someone who has taken both is in a better position. It's definatley not harder than BMO2/IMO that is a joke i reckon.
The difference is, I agree BMO questions are impenetrable at first, but if you try a couple of dozen, look at a hint, try again, check the solution; read up on the techniques involved, they're actually quite easy. Obviously, being totally new to most people the average BMO score is something like 6, but after a bit when you get used to them BMO1 at least isn't very hard. You say there are no clues, but there really are, they're just sneakier. Take this years question 4, about selecting a subset of a set of numbers such that no 2 added up to a multiple of 8. There was an absolutely massive clue in that they told you the answer you were working towards - a quick check would reveal that this was just over a third of 2008, which is a strong indication of the method necessary. Needless to say most people stared at it and went "huh?", but it was all there.
Do most of the guys who do BMO1 get trained for it? Or is just BMO2 and beyond? I mean i know most of the higher scoring candidates are from private school/grammar school, my school was even discouraging me to take STEP though it's just a normal comprehensive.
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