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Oxford MAT 2013/2014

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Original post by revelry26
If it hasn't been mentioned whether the candidate is taking that exam, is it still likely to be a part of the offer?


Just realised you're a Maths applicant rather than a CompSci or joint honours one, as I'd implied from your original question.
OxfordMathsDept
OxfordMathsDept
is probably a better person to answer this for your situation.
Original post by Oxford Computer Science Dept
Just realised you're a Maths applicant rather than a CompSci or joint honours one, as I'd implied from your original question. is probably a better person to answer this for your situation.


Do you know which department makes the decisions for Maths + CompSci?
Reply 1542
Original post by Oxford Computer Science Dept
Can we come back to you on that one? I image we can do something. But, as you can probably guess, we're up to our eyeballs in admissions stuff at the moment. Once it's calmed down a bit I can certainly look into it.


Of course, I didn't even expect to be taken seriously regarding that. I feel a little silly now, I shouldn't have suggested that at a time when everyone is obviously very busy! :colondollar:

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Reply 1543
Original post by revelry26
Hello! On the website it has been mentioned that the IIT JEE rank might be a part of the offerfor Indian applicants for some subjects.is that applicable to mathematics and mathematics and computer science?
Thank you in advance :smile:

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I discussed this with the very helpful admissions secretary at St John's. After getting feedback from Math tutors, she informed me today that as I have applied with SAT scores- both Reasoning and Subject Tests- I won't have to take the JEE or any other exam. If I happen to receive an offer, it won't be conditional upon my JEE rank. Idk if that holds for you, though. Get in touch with people in your college, see if you can talk to any math tutors (directly or indirectly).

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Original post by yl95
Do you know which department makes the decisions for Maths + CompSci?


We make them together :-)
Original post by souktik
Of course, I didn't even expect to be taken seriously regarding that. I feel a little silly now, I shouldn't have suggested that at a time when everyone is obviously very busy! :colondollar:

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Don't feel silly. It's a good suggestion. It's really helpful when candidates tell us things like this - it gives us a chance to fix things that aren't clear, or improve. Thanks for mentioning it.
Reply 1546
Original post by Oxford Computer Science Dept
Don't feel silly. It's a good suggestion. It's really helpful when candidates tell us things like this - it gives us a chance to fix things that aren't clear, or improve. Thanks for mentioning it.


Well, we applicants should be thanking you (and gavinlowe) for helping us out on the forum and de-mystifying the admissions process. :smile:

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Original post by Oxford Computer Science Dept
We make them together :-)


Ah, thanks for the information.

Do you mind telling us what the progress is with the different colleges for applications for CompSci related courses, in terms of when we should be hearing back? I know the college I applied to, Keble, is particularly oversubscribed. ;l

Also, what would count as a 'borderline' score? A score off by about 2 marks?
Reply 1548
Original post by Oxford Computer Science Dept
Don't feel silly. It's a good suggestion. It's really helpful when candidates tell us things like this - it gives us a chance to fix things that aren't clear, or improve. Thanks for mentioning it.


Sorry, this is really random, but do you know if the maths institute are planning on recording and uploading lecture videos for current students? I only ask as I've noticed they have professional recording rooms/equipment in the biggest two lecture halls, so have wondered. Plus I don't want to ask my own tutor as he'll take it as me saying I want to put my feet up and watch them from home as opposed to coming in :lol:
Reply 1549
I found out that Imperial won't be making any decisions until they mark all the MAT papers, which they expect to be completed by mid-December.
Original post by CD315
I found out that Imperial won't be making any decisions until they mark all the MAT papers, which they expect to be completed by mid-December.


1) From where did you find this out?
2) The MAT papers are already supposed to marked by now. At least for Oxford that is. Who marks it if you've applied to both? If Oxford sets it they should mark it too- Imperial only want to use the result.
Reply 1551
Original post by revelry26
Hello! On the website it has been mentioned that the IIT JEE rank might be a part of the offerfor Indian applicants for some subjects.is that applicable to mathematics and mathematics and computer science?
Thank you in advance :smile:

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if they start giving us conditionals based on the JEE advanced paper, we'll be screwed .its definitely the toughest exam ive ever given . i gave the JEE main and advanced this year and got average ranks in both. also im pretty sure that if they want the JEE rank it would probably only be for the engg courses!
Original post by kapur
if they start giving us conditionals based on the JEE advanced paper, we'll be screwed .its definitely the toughest exam ive ever given . i gave the JEE main and advanced this year and got average ranks in both. also im pretty sure that if they want the JEE rank it would probably only be for the engg courses!


Completely screwed! So you took a gap year?

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Reply 1553
Original post by revelry26
Completely screwed! So you took a gap year?

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Yea im taking a gap year . I was doing maths in DU but i really didnt like it so i dropped out :P
what board are you doing btw ?
Original post by nahomyemane778
1) From where did you find this out?
2) The MAT papers are already supposed to marked by now. At least for Oxford that is. Who marks it if you've applied to both? If Oxford sets it they should mark it too- Imperial only want to use the result.


If you applied to both then it gets marked by both universities. I'm not convinced this is the best approach, but it's what we do. One issue is that neither university is allowed (under UCAS rules) to know which candidates applied to the other. Also, we're not very keen to do Imperial's marking for them!
Original post by souktik
Hello,
I was wondering if there's any possibility of the math and CS departments releasing statistical information like score range, standard deviation, etc for the MAT the way the physics department does for the PAT. Or a complete score distribution, perhaps? I've gone through the previous reports, I know that only the mean scores among all candidates, interviewed candidates, and accepted candidates are usually declared. I'm aware that this might not be that important, but it can help people taking this 2013 paper at home next year for MAT practice to estimate their percentile accurately from the score they obtain.


There's a limit to how much information I think it's appropriate to give. However, the mean (across all candidates taking the MAT in its different variants) was just under 45, with a standard deviation of a bit over 14. We look at more than just the raw MAT score in deciding short-listing, but the default threshold also corresponds to a mark of about 45. Clearly, it was a slightly harder test this year.
Reply 1556
Original post by nahomyemane778
1) From where did you find this out?
2) The MAT papers are already supposed to marked by now. At least for Oxford that is. Who marks it if you've applied to both? If Oxford sets it they should mark it too- Imperial only want to use the result.


1) Emailed admissions tutor.

2) As was mentioned above, they mark their own. Imperial are just a lot slower.
Original post by yl95
Ah, thanks for the information.

Do you mind telling us what the progress is with the different colleges for applications for CompSci related courses, in terms of when we should be hearing back? I know the college I applied to, Keble, is particularly oversubscribed. ;l


Pretty much all the MAT marking was completed late on Sat eve. (A small handful of scripts are still in transit.) A rough "line in the sand" has been drawn and was circulated to tutors yesterday. (This line takes into account MAT score, GCSE scores contextualised to a school's performance.) The tutors can now see the candidate's application (including reference, etc) and the breakdown of the MAT scores. The tutors are now focussing on candidates at the borderline and deciding on who out out of these middleground people to interview. Decisions on this should be finalised by Wednesday of next week. The colleges send out the invitations to interview/rejections. They will all have their own way of doing this. There's not fixed order. So it's quite possible that two candidates who applied to different colleges but for the same course will hear several days apart. Does that help?
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by Noble.
Sorry, this is really random, but do you know if the maths institute are planning on recording and uploading lecture videos for current students? I only ask as I've noticed they have professional recording rooms/equipment in the biggest two lecture halls, so have wondered. Plus I don't want to ask my own tutor as he'll take it as me saying I want to put my feet up and watch them from home as opposed to coming in :lol:


No idea! Each Dept would have their own policy on such things. You could ask the Maths student rep for your course. Or one of the Maths administrators.
Original post by Oxford Computer Science Dept
Pretty much all the MAT marking was completed late on Sat eve. (A small handful of scripts are still in transit.) A rough "line in the sand" has been drawn and was circulated to tutors yesterday. (This line takes into account MAT score, GCSE scores contextualised to a school's performance.) The tutors can now see the candidate's application (including reference, etc) and the breakdown of the MAT scores. The tutors are now focussing on candidates at the borderline and deciding on who out out of these middleground people to interview. Decisions on this should be finalised by Wednesday of next week. The colleges send out the invitations to interview/rejections. They will all have their own way of doing this. There's not fixed order. So it's quite possible that two candidates who applied to different colleges but for the same course will hear several days apart. Does that help?


What you posted is really useful; thank you again! Sorry for asking you so many questions. ;l I'm kind of abusing the opportunity...

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