Oxford MAT 2013/2014

Try working out p(1) and p(-1).

Sorry, I'm not too sure what you mean by p(1) and p(-1). Do you mean try making the highest power of x (so 2n+3) equal to 1 and -1? Thanks :smile:

Reply 121

RichE

15

Original post by so it goes

Sorry, I'm not too sure what you mean by p(1) and p(-1). Do you mean try making the highest power of x (so 2n+3) equal to 1 and -1? Thanks :smile:

Sorry, I was calling the polynomial p(x).

Reply 122

so it goes

9

Original post by RichE

Sorry, I was calling the polynomial p(x).

Ahh okay thanks, that makes sense :smile:

I'll try substituting those in and see where it leads me :biggrin:

Thanks again.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 123

so it goes

9

Original post by RichE

Sorry, I was calling the polynomial p(x).

Woohoo, thanks. It all makes sense now :biggrin:

Reply 124

alexmufc1995

8

Original post by BankOfPigs

Yeah that makes a lot of sense I guess.

Nearly finished my PS, although I havent' referenced any philosophy books yet, which is a bit awkward. Need to start reading asap :smile:

How is yours going? Do you reckon we should put a greater emphasis on Maths, or around 50 50?

Are you taking English for next year as well? I'm meant to have finished my first draft before we get back... I'm doing it on flatland though, which is nice since i referenced it in my statement :rolleyes:

PS is 90% finished I hope! Just need to get it checked over by a teacher, then I'll be good to go :smile:

Personally I've put a 50/50 split between Math/Phil, but I'm not sure there's a right or wrong way to do it. Have you had a look at the Oxford Math&Phil personal statements here on the student room? They might help you to structure yours :biggrin:

Yep I'm taking English (and dropping chemistry). My coursework this year is actually about War Literature and I finished it a couple of weeks ago - the 1st draft anyway :rolleyes:

I wanted to finish it early, knowing that I have to focus on the MAT in the next couple of months :colondollar:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 125

BankOfPigs

12

Original post by alexmufc1995

PS is 90% finished I hope! Just need to get it checked over by a teacher, then I'll be good to go :smile:

Personally I've put a 50/50 split between Math/Phil, but I'm not sure there's a right or wrong way to do it. Have you had a look at the Oxford Math&Phil personal statements here on the student room? They might help you to structure yours :biggrin:

Yep I'm taking English (and dropping chemistry). My coursework this year is actually about War Literature and I finished it a couple of weeks ago - the 1st draft anyway :rolleyes:

I wanted to finish it early, knowing that I have to focus on the MAT in the next couple of months :colondollar:

Yeah I already went to the PS help section but I think my 'first draft' was a bit too awful and now I've sort of exhausted this resource as they won't reply anymore :frown:

. (Although I got a super fast response, like 2% of the "expected time") I've finally got some more books to read though, currently reading 'Think', which seems to go to through a basic introduction of everything which is nice. I've made the statement generally very philosophical but theres nothing actually concrete in their at the moment, apart from a very brief mention of plato's cave analogy.

That's the smart way to go :tongue:

, I have my first draft in for two weeks, and I've rouphly done it but it still needs a lot of work. And tommorows (well technically today) the last day to work and finish all the summer work :eek:

Did a MAT past paper today, I'm finding the MC quite basic now (although some are riddled with tricks), and making a bit of progress with the longer answer questions. The worrying thing for me is that time isnt an issue, just that some questions I plain can't do. The ones I can take like 5 min for the whole thing whilst the geometry sort of stuff I can barely start the first part :s-smilie:

Reply 126

seohyun

8

This might be useful for the interview.
http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources/uploaded/43799-maths-for-computer-sci-ff-for-web.pdf

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4

Reply 127

Omar.Q

12

hey guys, i'm hoping to take the MAT exam this year, but i just want to ask, for the Mathematics course at Imperial, the requirements are A*-A*-A with MAT,
can someone tell me if the requirements are reduced to A*-A-A with MAT, if the applicant is doing Maths, further maths and also Physics?

Reply 128

31541

2

Original post by Omar.Q

hey guys, i'm hoping to take the MAT exam this year, but i just want to ask, for the Mathematics course at Imperial, the requirements are A*-A*-A with MAT,
can someone tell me if the requirements are reduced to A*-A-A with MAT, if the applicant is doing Maths, further maths and also Physics?

No, definitely not.

Reply 129

Omar.Q

12

Original post by CD315

No, definitely not.

Thanks, looks like someone has told me some misleading information.
btw is there a point in applying for Imperial if the requirements are A*A*A, and your prediction id only A*AA? :/

Reply 130

jadoreétudier

2

Just did 2009 specimen paper 1 and got 45%, I spent an hour and a half on it.
Anyone know how likely is it I'll be able to get closer to 70% or 75% nearer the time?

Reply 131

msmith2512

1

Original post by jadoreétudier

Just did 2009 specimen paper 1 and got 45%, I spent an hour and a half on it.
Anyone know how likely is it I'll be able to get closer to 70% or 75% nearer the time?

Keep practicing and you'll keep improving. It is about getting to know the style of question. Each paper you do you will get more experience and more confidence.

Reply 132

31541

2

Original post by Omar.Q

Thanks, looks like someone has told me some misleading information.
btw is there a point in applying for Imperial if the requirements are A*A*A, and your prediction id only A*AA? :/

Probably not - I think they want you to have A*A* in maths/further maths predictions.

Reply 133

Omar.Q

12

Original post by CD315

Probably not - I think they want you to have A*A* in maths/further maths predictions.

guess i'm going to have to convince my maths teacher, argh :/

Reply 134

Affine

Is the interview based on C1-C2 as well?

Reply 135

JosephML

2

Original post by Affine

Is the interview based on C1-C2 as well?

Posted from TSR Mobile

It's more likely to be accessible non a level stuff (mine was anyway).

Reply 136

Llewellyn

14

Original post by Affine

Is the interview based on C1-C2 as well?

The interview will only assume GCSE + A-Level maths you have studied. But this does not necessarily mean everything will be familiar (or even as familiar as the MAT is).

Original post by JosephML

Posted from TSR Mobile

It's more likely to be accessible non a level stuff (mine was anyway).

I seriously doubt that is strictly true, it is more likely that your interpretation was that it was very different from most A-Level papers.

For instance, if the interview question was largely geometrical then this would still be GCSE knowledge. Even combinatorics and inequalities, etc. are strictly speaking mentioned in the usual qualifications. It would seriously surprise me if the interview questions were in no way related to the A-Level or GCSE syllabus (if even only loosely).

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 137

JosephML

2

Original post by Llewellyn

The interview will only assume GCSE + A-Level maths you have studied. But this does not necessarily mean everything will be familiar (or even as familiar as the MAT is).

I seriously doubt that is strictly true, it is more likely that your interpretation was that it was very different from most A-Level papers.

For instance, if the interview question was largely geometrical then this would still be GCSE knowledge. Even combinatorics and inequalities, etc. are strictly speaking mentioned in the usual qualifications. It would seriously surprise me if the interview questions were in no way related to the A-Level or GCSE syllabus (if even only loosely).

Posted from TSR Mobile

Your probably right. My interviews were based on Fibonacci and a load geometrical stuff and the legionaires function (?).

Reply 138

Noble.

17

Original post by Llewellyn

The interview will only assume GCSE + A-Level maths you have studied. But this does not necessarily mean everything will be familiar (or even as familiar as the MAT is).

I seriously doubt that is strictly true, it is more likely that your interpretation was that it was very different from most A-Level papers.

For instance, if the interview question was largely geometrical then this would still be GCSE knowledge. Even combinatorics and inequalities, etc. are strictly speaking mentioned in the usual qualifications. It would seriously surprise me if the interview questions were in no way related to the A-Level or GCSE syllabus (if even only loosely).

All interviews will loosely be based on A-Levels/GCSE, especially in the beginning when they give the initial one/two easy questions, and how you do on those usually then determines the rest of the interview. Back when I was interviewed, and talking to the other interviewees, a couple of us (all of whom subsequently got an offer) got asked one easy question regarding prime numbers and then it escalated into something not even remotely resembling A-Level/GCSE (and I was actually a post A-Level applicant, so it wasn't the case that I just hadn't covered it yet). A few people got one/two easy questions and then they moved onto a slightly more difficult, albeit much easier than what my interview ended up being about, and most of them didn't get an offer. There was one exceptionally good applicant (she had S,S in STEP I/II at the end of AS) so I was keen to know if my interviews were keeping up with hers :lol:

Reply 139

Llewellyn

14

Original post by Noble.

All interviews will loosely be based on A-Levels/GCSE, especially in the beginning when they give the initial one/two easy questions, and how you do on those usually then determines the rest of the interview. Back when I was interviewed, and talking to the other interviewees, a couple of us (all of whom subsequently got an offer) got asked one easy question regarding prime numbers and then it escalated into something not even remotely resembling A-Level/GCSE (and I was actually a post A-Level applicant, so it wasn't the case that I just hadn't covered it yet). A few people got one/two easy questions and then they moved onto a slightly more difficult, albeit much easier than what my interview ended up being about, and most of them didn't get an offer. There was one exceptionally good applicant (she had S,S in STEP I/II at the end of AS) so I was keen to know if my interviews were keeping up with hers :lol:

Hmm, I wonder they pre-decide the line of questions depending on the MAT scores.

To retract my previous statement, I do think that Oxford would probably rather go along the lines of primes, geometry, sequences and functions rather than anything else simply because it is (probably unfamiliar but also) much easier to get an insight into critical thinking (or at least the way people think) compared to, say, analysis. Number theory questions in particular could lead to a lot more discussion and allow for idea-poking, etc. Comparatively asking a candidate to differentiate a function and (for instance) determine a value for a constant for which there are no stationary points is less useful for the tutor.

And on that note, I would suggest that applicants may want to learn a bit about modular arithmetic and a few other neat tricks that aren't taught in most schools.

Oxford MAT 2013/2014

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you