Cambridge Maths Interview

Hi everyone
I was wondering if you apply to cambridge for maths what kind of stuff do they ask you-do they give you a number of problems to solve or something in the interview?
and is this what determines what kind of STEP offer they give you (or not at all)/or does everyone get an offer for step?
Basically can you get rejected before they've even let you attempt Step? what if you have a bad interview

Reply 1

dragonrabbit

11

Original post by nahomyemane778

Hi everyone
I was wondering if you apply to cambridge for maths what kind of stuff do they ask you-do they give you a number of problems to solve or something in the interview?
and is this what determines what kind of STEP offer they give you (or not at all)/or does everyone get an offer for step?
Basically can you get rejected before they've even let you attempt Step? what if you have a bad interview

All the colleges have different interview processes.
Basically - as far as I know - most colleges will have a maths test for an hour or more. You will also have an interview - typically for maths this has nothing but maths in it - So you'll get asked some problems to solve, and they're likely to ask problems which you haven't come across before - and they're happy to give help, if that's the case. Some colleges will also give you an interview on the test you've done earlier in the day, or a general interview. (though not all of them)
Most, if not all, of the people offered a place at Cambridge will have to take STEP - achieving a 1,1 in STEP II and III is the most common - and reapplicants may get an offer of S,1 or 1,S (or S,S!!!)

You can most certainly get rejected before they've even let you attempt STEP *nods* It's hard to tell if you've actually had a "bad" interview, though if the admissions tutors think it was a bad interview/you didn't do very well, then you're more likely to get rejected than if they thought you had a good interview (which may be the same as what you deem a "bad" interview)
I guess it's because STEP's an exam - people can get lucky, so if they just had a "everyone gets a 1,1 offer" system - similar to Warwick's, then they could well get a) lots more people than they can cope with and b) lots of people who aren't actually suited for a Cambridge-style of learning.

Hope this helped :h:

Reply 2

username937760

16

Original post by nahomyemane778

Hi everyone
I was wondering if you apply to cambridge for maths what kind of stuff do they ask you-do they give you a number of problems to solve or something in the interview?
and is this what determines what kind of STEP offer they give you (or not at all)/or does everyone get an offer for step?
Basically can you get rejected before they've even let you attempt Step? what if you have a bad interview

Personally, I was given two interviews. One of these interviews consisted essentially of quick-fire questions - The interviewer had several sheets of questions and would give them to me to solve, whilst discussing how to go about them and giving hints on how to solve them when stuck, as well as alternative methods to the one you've used. The second interview had a half-hour written test beforehand, and the interview then consisted of discussing the test and completing the questions that I didn't manage to do in the test, with the interview giving some extra questions if there's time left over. The interviews have two main points - to test a candidates ability at solving mathematical problems of a different style to A Level and to test their suitability for learning in a tutorial style system.

It's perfectly possible to be rejected before STEP, as STEP Is sat in June alongside the final A2 exams, whereas Cambridge interviews are the Decembeer before. If your interview goes well enough, you're given a conditional offer which then specifies grades in STEP. Whilst there is some slight variation in the grades given between colleges people should expect the standard offer of A*AA11.

Cambridge Maths Interview

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