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Oxford MAT 2013/2014

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Original post by BankOfPigs
...


Is your sister doing maths at cambridge?
No, Land economy. She isn't much help in that regard :/
Reply 142
Avatar for Noble.
Noble.
17
Original post by Llewellyn
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.


No, it's based on how they answer the initial easy questions. If they struggle with them, they generally won't bother asking the challenging questions to save it being an uncomfortable 30 minutes. Although you may be right, they may want to get some indication from the MAT, but they're not going to not give them the challenging questions at interview just because of their MAT score - if they've done well enough to get an interview, then there's no reason to stop them having a go at the proper interviews providing they get the easier questions right. Yeah, my 'main' interview when I was interviewed was all around primes and number theory (and included mocular arithmetic) but I put this down to the tutor being a number theorist.
Do you NEED MAT for Imperial, will you be severely disadvantaged with only doing STEP. Also, how many questions are needed to be completed to have a considered good score? Also, how do you start preparation for MAT, do you dive straight into past papers? and does anyone have any links to useful threads or websites about MAT and STEP? Thanks
Original post by kingmango
Do you NEED MAT for Imperial, will you be severely disadvantaged with only doing STEP. Also, how many questions are needed to be completed to have a considered good score? Also, how do you start preparation for MAT, do you dive straight into past papers? and does anyone have any links to useful threads or websites about MAT and STEP? Thanks


EVERY Imperial applicant must sit MAT now unless they have exempting circumstances of course like any other exam
Guys are Oxford flexible enough to give offers on STEP if the interview doesnt go well and you have said that you were going to sit STEP in your application?
Reply 146
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31541
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Original post by nahomyemane778
Guys are Oxford flexible enough to give offers on STEP if the interview doesnt go well and you have said that you were going to sit STEP in your application?


I haven't heard of this, no.
Reply 147
Avatar for Noble.
Noble.
17
Original post by nahomyemane778
Guys are Oxford flexible enough to give offers on STEP if the interview doesnt go well and you have said that you were going to sit STEP in your application?


No
Reply 148
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Affine
Could someone give list of non-A level stuff that might be useful to learn for the interview?
Original post by Affine
Could someone give list of non-A level stuff that might be useful to learn for the interview?


I don't know for certain, but I get the impression you should just focus on knowing AS maths really well. If they want you to solve something that involves maths not on the A-level syllabus I doubt they'd mind giving you a quick explanation. This is probably want they'd prefer I think, so they can see how well you can adapt to new ideas. I might be talking total nonsense though ... :rolleyes:

Sorry I can't give you a more definite answer.
Original post by Affine
Could someone give list of non-A level stuff that might be useful to learn for the interview?


If you meant showing them that you have an interest outside of maths which you will mention on your personal statement which they'd probably ask you about in your interview then just pick a subject that seems interesting and read up on it.
(edited 10 years ago)
subbing for imperial.

just about to start preparing. what is there to do in prep other than papers? did 07 paper and got 86
Reply 152
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Original post by GaloisCircles
subbing for imperial.

just about to start preparing. what is there to do in prep other than papers? did 07 paper and got 86


I'm just doing papers - I can't see any other methods of preparing for this. Perhaps some STEP I.
I've found that quickly revising some C1 and C2 helps a fair bit. Maybe do like the hardest past papers you can find to really ensure you have a full understanding of these modules. The last few questions of each paper are often equivalent in difficulty (without providing hints) to a multiple choice question.

This allows you to basically breeze through the multiple choice (you have an hour to do these but you want to really do it in about 30 min), whilst helps a lot with the easier parts of the long questions.

For the actually complicated parts of the longer questions, I guess it's just practice the papers, do a bit of the c1c2 step questions.
Original post by GaloisCircles
subbing for imperial.

just about to start preparing. what is there to do in prep other than papers? did 07 paper and got 86


That's amazing! :O
I'm aiming for 70, haha. I've been doing the '09 paper untimed and I've got 53 so far. Still have 2 questions left.
I'm hedging my bets on getting 15 on Q6 because I normally get full on Q6 - I love finding the liar and the truth teller. :l
Is anyone else going to this MAT preparation day this Sunday?
Original post by yl95
That's amazing! :O
I'm aiming for 70, haha. I've been doing the '09 paper untimed and I've got 53 so far. Still have 2 questions left.
I'm hedging my bets on getting 15 on Q6 because I normally get full on Q6 - I love finding the liar and the truth teller. :l
Is anyone else going to this MAT preparation day this Sunday?


Thankss

Thats really good still though. Are you applying to oxford or imperial (or both)?

Im not. What is it exactly?
Original post by GaloisCircles
Thankss

Thats really good still though. Are you applying to oxford or imperial (or both)?

Im not. What is it exactly?


Oh but I always mess up on Q3 and I don't like Q5. ;( I''m applying to both; are you?
It's apparently a day when prospective students for Ox and Imp meet up at the British Library at 11am on Sunday and discuss problems etc.
Reply 157
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seohyun
8
Original post by yl95
Oh but I always mess up on Q3 and I don't like Q5. ;( I''m applying to both; are you?
It's apparently a day when prospective students for Ox and Imp meet up at the British Library at 11am on Sunday and discuss problems etc.


I managed to find only
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2456211
Do you know anything more?

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(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by seohyun
I managed to find only
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2456211
Do you know anything more?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4



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Not much more than that except that it's this Sunday at 11am - PM NewtonsApple. :smile:
It'd be great if you could go; there are 4 of us!
(edited 10 years ago)
Hi there,

I was wondering if you would be interested in attending one of these MAT Preparation days, given you may be applying to Oxford or Imperial this year (similar to my position!).

Its a free preparation day for the MAT exam where we all attempt past papers and then collectively discuss answers.

It should be held soon on the 15th September, and will be held at the British Library at 11am.

Please let me know if you're interested! There are 4 people already going!

Thanks!

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