Maths University Selection Process

Original post by nahomyemane778

im currently in year 12- the subjects i do at AS level are:
Maths
Further Maths
Physics
Chemistry

this january i sat:
C1 100
C2 100
C3 98
M1 93
M2 94
FP1 98

plus my chemistry and physics which i did decent in.

This is a years worth of modules already for maths and i am supposed to have 3 modules for Maths AS and 3 for FM AS.
I would like to sit C4, FP2, and M3 during the june exam period because next year i want to be as free as a bird with only the STEP exams to worry about and look at other interesting maths

but my head of sixth form is threatening to withdraw me from all june modules because she's saying that universities dont want modules to be sat early by people because they want to see if people can bear the load of having many A2s at the same time and they want to judge the cohort of students evenly. Is this true or is this hearsay- this is messing up my own plans because january exams have now been cancelled by government. so if i dont do now i will have 6 modules in June 2014 next year (which is stupid cos i can do them now and will probably be rusty next year) plus STEP plus all other physics modules.

If anyone has concrete facts to suggest otherwise i.e that universities actually dont care, please make a post below
Advice from previous maths applicants will also be much appreciated.

Thanks

Nahom

Edit A2 subjects: Maths, Further Maths and Physics and started looking at STEP 1 questions a month ago

The best thing to do would be to ring up the university you want to apply to and ask them.

If you're not already, you could look into taking the STEP I exam which will allow you to use the maths you have learnt without upsetting your teacher.

Reply 2

Arcane1729

OP

12

Original post by metaltron

The best thing to do would be to ring up the university you want to apply to and ask them.

If you're not already, you could look into taking the STEP I exam which will allow you to use the maths you have learnt without upsetting your teacher.

yeah i think that's a good idea thanks hear it from the horses mouth

p.s cant do STEP 1 at the rate im at i suspect i would get 2/1 now in few months probably solid 1 but exam entry is now and im not sure enough to risk it
cheers again

Reply 3

akash11

9

You maged to cover thoes 6 modules stright from gcse in 3 months wow

Original post by nahomyemane778

Is this true

It is true for the top universities.

http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/teachers/academic.html

Reply 5

Original post by nahomyemane778

im currently in year 12- the subjects i do at AS level are:
Maths
Further Maths
Physics
Chemistry

this january i sat:
C1 100
C2 100
C3 98
M1 93
M2 94
FP1 98

plus my chemistry and physics which i did decent in.

This is a years worth of modules already for maths and i am supposed to have 3 modules for Maths AS and 3 for FM AS.
I would like to sit C4, FP2, and M3 during the june exam period because next year i want to be as free as a bird with only the STEP exams to worry about and look at other interesting maths

but my head of sixth form is threatening to withdraw me from all june modules because she's saying that universities dont want modules to be sat early by people because they want to see if people can bear the load of having many A2s at the same time and they want to judge the cohort of students evenly. Is this true or is this hearsay- this is messing up my own plans because january exams have now been cancelled by government. so if i dont do now i will have 6 modules in June 2014 next year (which is stupid cos i can do them now and will probably be rusty next year) plus STEP plus all other physics modules.

If anyone has concrete facts to suggest otherwise i.e that universities actually dont care, please make a post below
Advice from previous maths applicants will also be much appreciated.

Thanks

Nahom

Edit A2 subjects: Maths, Further Maths and Physics and started looking at STEP 1 questions a month ago

Hopefully I can shed some light on the matter.
I'm in year 13 at the moment; got an offer from Emmanuel College Cambridge (and Warwick etc..)
I found A-Level Maths really easy and quite tedious (as I imagine you do given your eagerness to get it out of the way) and so sat both full A-Levels in my first year. I achieved A*s in each with very similar module score to you.

I was worried that universities would think I was an idiot for doing everything early and my teachers were apprehensive (just as it seems yours are). My advice to you is to take them early IF AND ONLY IF you find it easy. BUT, for the sake of continuing formal Mathematical education I would strongly advice you to take Additional Further Maths next year (full A-Level) and to teach yourself (unless somehow your school offers it). Don't worry if you're not on edexcel, modules can be easily transferred between exam boards.

Taking things early, I believe, gave me an edge over a lot of other applicants. Many of my offers include Additional Further Maths (e.g: Cambridge) at grade A which I think is more a motivator than a condition (as I'm clearly going to achieve that easily).

The final thought I'd leave you with is this: don't take the application process so seriously. Remember you're being assessed by people, not a computer, and your application doesn't have to look like anyone else's. So be more concerned with what exams/courses are going to prepare you for University rather than the application process. I'd also suggest, if you finish a lot of things this year, picking up more subjects next year! Im gonna end up with 6 and a half a-levels and certain feel as though I have a well-rounded education!

Original post by Jkn

Im gonna end up with 6 and a half a-levels

Clearly this is not a problem if you enjoy learning and soak up knowledge like a sponge but I would not like anyone to get the impression that acquiring anything more than 3.5 or 4 A Levels is necessary or, indeed, desirable for university entry.

Reply 7

Arcane1729

OP

12

Original post by Jkn

Hopefully I can shed some light on the matter.
I'm in year 13 at the moment; got an offer from Emmanuel College Cambridge (and Warwick etc..)
I found A-Level Maths really easy and quite tedious (as I imagine you do given your eagerness to get it out of the way) and so sat both full A-Levels in my first year. I achieved A*s in each with very similar module score to you.

I was worried that universities would think I was an idiot for doing everything early and my teachers were apprehensive (just as it seems yours are). My advice to you is to take them early IF AND ONLY IF you find it easy. BUT, for the sake of continuing formal Mathematical education I would strongly advice you to take Additional Further Maths next year (full A-Level) and to teach yourself (unless somehow your school offers it). Don't worry if you're not on edexcel, modules can be easily transferred between exam boards.

Taking things early, I believe, gave me an edge over a lot of other applicants. Many of my offers include Additional Further Maths (e.g: Cambridge) at grade A which I think is more a motivator than a condition (as I'm clearly going to achieve that easily).

The final thought I'd leave you with is this: don't take the application process so seriously. Remember you're being assessed by people, not a computer, and your application doesn't have to look like anyone else's. So be more concerned with what exams/courses are going to prepare you for University rather than the application process. I'd also suggest, if you finish a lot of things this year, picking up more subjects next year! Im gonna end up with 6 and a half a-levels and certain feel as though I have a well-rounded education!

ah but i will only be left with physics and a bit of further maths- uv done 6 which totally makes up for it.

Original post by nahomyemane778

ah but i will only be left with physics and a bit of further maths

Never mind. You can always apply to University College Cleethorpes.

Reply 9

Noble.

17

Original post by Mr M

Never mind. You can always apply to University College Cleethorpes.

To the OP: Read the link to Cambridge University Mr M supplied, clearly it implies they're not interested if you can do exams before everyone else does them, especially if it means you'll be not doing 3 A2s (at least) at the same time. Also, the head of the sixth form is right (surprisingly) you're not going to be any better off, in fact, you'll be at a disadvantage if you're only doing two A2s.

Reply 10

Original post by Jkn

Hopefully I can shed some light on the matter.
I'm in year 13 at the moment; got an offer from Emmanuel College Cambridge (and Warwick etc..)
I found A-Level Maths really easy and quite tedious (as I imagine you do given your eagerness to get it out of the way) and so sat both full A-Levels in my first year. I achieved A*s in each with very similar module score to you.

I was worried that universities would think I was an idiot for doing everything early and my teachers were apprehensive (just as it seems yours are). My advice to you is to take them early IF AND ONLY IF you find it easy. BUT, for the sake of continuing formal Mathematical education I would strongly advice you to take Additional Further Maths next year (full A-Level) and to teach yourself (unless somehow your school offers it). Don't worry if you're not on edexcel, modules can be easily transferred between exam boards.

Taking things early, I believe, gave me an edge over a lot of other applicants. Many of my offers include Additional Further Maths (e.g: Cambridge) at grade A which I think is more a motivator than a condition (as I'm clearly going to achieve that easily).

The final thought I'd leave you with is this: don't take the application process so seriously. Remember you're being assessed by people, not a computer, and your application doesn't have to look like anyone else's. So be more concerned with what exams/courses are going to prepare you for University rather than the application process. I'd also suggest, if you finish a lot of things this year, picking up more subjects next year! Im gonna end up with 6 and a half a-levels and certain feel as though I have a well-rounded education!

Out of interest were you with a different exam board for Further Maths and Additional Further Maths. I really want to do the latter but my head of sixth form basically slammed the door in my face by saying it would be too difficult to transfer the modules. Also how much notice did you give the exam boards. Thanks

Reply 11

Original post by Mr M

Clearly this is not a problem if you enjoy learning and soak up knowledge like a sponge but I would not like anyone to get the impression that acquiring anything more than 3.5 or 4 A Levels is necessary or, indeed, desirable for university entry.

Oh god no, it's certainly not necessary! I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that, if you find that the A-Level Mathematical curriculum doesn't intellectually stretch you sufficiently, it doesn't mean that you should dedicate all of your time to obsessively "over-revising" the Maths A-Levels (for fear of not getting incredible UMS scores). Rather I think people in that position should be reading maths books, picking up an extra a-level or two (non-maths related) and doing work thats going to prepare them for the future rather than wasting their time over thinking the difference between 98% and 100% in the ums scores is going to get you a university offer at a place (like oxford or cambridge) who explicitly oppose rote learning and are delighted to see any signs of a student who dares to steer themselves in the direction of creativity and preparation for high-level study (STEP papers, olympiads, even just an obscure interest!)

Original post by nahomyemane778

ah but i will only be left with physics and a bit of further maths- uv done 6 which totally makes up for it.

Do what you're interested in and enjoy! It's a tragedy for a first-class mind to spend even just a year without a challenging curriculum (history of my eduction up until the age of 16)

Reply 12

Original post by metaltron

Out of interest were you with a different exam board for Further Maths and Additional Further Maths. I really want to do the latter but my head of sixth form basically slammed the door in my face by saying it would be too difficult to transfer the modules. Also how much notice did you give the exam boards. Thanks

It's certainly a grey area! My experience with exam-board switching is that I did my AS Maths on OCR (as it was at my secondary school) and then did everything else of edexcel. It caused a lot of confusion with my teachers and the exams office but they were able to make it so that my OCR modules contributed towards the certification of my full A-Level. I'd imagine (almost) anything is possible; the only problem being that even someone who has taught there entire lives may not have come across or dealt with such a niche situation. Unfortunately, I think the deadline for applying for June exams may have gone (do check this yourself though as I'm only deducing it from the "re-sit" application deadline).

Original post by Noble.

To the OP: Read the link to Cambridge University Mr M supplied, clearly it implies they're not interested if you can do exams before everyone else does them, especially if it means you'll be not doing 3 A2s (at least) at the same time. Also, the head of the sixth form is right (surprisingly) you're not going to be any better off, in fact, you'll be at a disadvantage if you're only doing two A2s.

I agree entirely! 3 A2s in your second year is (almost) always a necessary condition for proving that you can handle an intensive workload.

Reply 13

Original post by Jkn

It's certainly a grey area! My experience with exam-board switching is that I did my AS Maths on OCR (as it was at my secondary school) and then did everything else of edexcel. It caused a lot of confusion with my teachers and the exams office but they were able to make it so that my OCR modules contributed towards the certification of my full A-Level. I'd imagine (almost) anything is possible; the only problem being that even someone who has taught there entire lives may not have come across or dealt with such a niche situation. Unfortunately, I think the deadline for applying for June exams may have gone (do check this yourself though as I'm only deducing it from the "re-sit" application deadline).

I agree entirely! 3 A2s in your second year is (almost) always a necessary condition for proving that you can handle an intensive workload.

Thanks I'll ask my teacher again after Easter and see whether she can sort something out. She's also worried that I'll be taking too many modules next summer, which could be true, but I'll be practicing Maths all the way through the year with STEP questions so I should be ok on that front.

I don't intend to take any more exams this June, so the deadline isn't a problem.

Thanks for your reply.

Reply 14

Original post by metaltron

Thanks I'll ask my teacher again after Easter and see whether she can sort something out. She's also worried that I'll be taking too many modules next summer, which could be true, but I'll be practicing Maths all the way through the year with STEP questions so I should be ok on that front.

I don't intend to take any more exams this June, so the deadline isn't a problem.

Thanks for your reply.

Happy to help. I'm worried about the number of exams I've got this summer (>12 I think :s-smilie:

) but after last June I've realised that it's just two intense months and then you get back what you put in (university places, satisfaction, etc..)

Oh, are you not in year 13?

Reply 15