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Things to do to enhance my application when applying for maths degree.

For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk
(edited 8 years ago)
List all the numbers you know.
Original post by shwansalah
For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk


I got 5 offers for maths and wrote about how I was tutoring GCSE students for maths for my 50 hours volunteering award. I also wrote about what inspired me to study maths at a level/degree
Reply 3
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shwansalah
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Original post by ChaoticButterfly
List all the numbers you know.


I don't know that many.
Reply 4
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Original post by ThoughtIsFree
I got 5 offers for maths and wrote about how I was tutoring GCSE students for maths for my 50 hours volunteering award. I also wrote about what inspired me to study maths at a level/degree


Hmm so should i go to my previous secondary school and help teach gcse maths, is what you are saying and tutor students for free?
Original post by shwansalah
For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk


think why you enjoy/want to study maths, why you want to go to university and why you'll be suited to studying maths as a degree/university life :smile:
Original post by shwansalah
Hmm so should i go to my previous secondary school and help teach gcse maths, is what you are saying and tutor students for free?


you could always lie on your PS xD
Original post by shwansalah
I don't know that many.


Could read stuff like this?

http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=559727&cm_mmc=Google%20Adwords-_-PLA-_-Infinitesimal-_--ANAFR&gclid=CIL8qo_Z7MUCFdLLtAodKT8A9g&gclsrc=aw.ds
find an area of maths you're interested in (preferably one your top choice/s offer as part of the course), research it and then talk about it and why it interests you in your personal statement (and interview if you have one, which is rare for maths) :smile:
They don't care about your extracurriculars.
Original post by shwansalah
For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk


As long as you have decent A-levels and your personal statement doesn't look like a 5 year old wrote it, you will get an offer.


HTH :smile:
Just be good at maths. Get high UMS scores and say you're going to do step. Also read books about whatever maths you're interested in - literally any area you want. I also subscribed to a magazine and mentioned Hanz Rosling (google him). I also did the voluntary maths teaching thing^. But I think the main thing is high UMS and STEP. (I got offers from Bath for Maths and Warwick for Maths with Stats and other less prestigious unis) Any questions? Fire away
Reply 12
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. Here's a rought idea of what i think i might write as an opener

Ever since I was a 13 year old boy, , I would come back from school and teach myself challenging topics that a boy my age is not supposed to know, for example, I would learn how to divide fractions but then I would go home and spend hours doing circle theorems(at the age of 13)!Just like people who love sports, maths is my sport, i spend hours upon hours at home challenging myself with ridiculously hard maths topics, which I have not learnt in school but still thrive to know how to do them! No one and i mean no one will match my love and passion for maths, i can guarantee you the applicants applying to your uni do not spend 12 hours a day doing unnecessary maths that they have not learnt in school, I do, it's my life, my baby, my purpose to go beyond what I have been taught because the beauty of maths incises me to do so.

yeah this is terrible actually xd
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by shwansalah
For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk



Original post by shwansalah
. Here's a rought idea of what i think i might write as an opener

Ever since I was a 13 year old boy, , I would come back from school and teach myself challenging topics that a boy my age is not supposed to know, for example, I would learn how to divide fractions but then I would go home and spend hours doing circle theorems(at the age of 13)!Just like people who love sports, maths is my sport, i spend hours upon hours at home challenging myself with ridiculously hard maths topics, which I have not learnt in school but still thrive to know how to do them! No one and i mean no one will match my love and passion for maths, i can guarantee you the applicants applying to your uni do not spend 12 hours a day doing unnecessary maths that they have not learnt in school, I do, it's my life, my baby, my purpose to go beyond what I have been taught because the beauty of maths incises me to do so.

yeah this is terrible actually xd


Oh, my, god, please do not ever write anything like that ahhaahhahahaha.

You are applying for Maths, all they really care about is your mathematical ability, you dont need to have gone to Ethiopia to teach impoverished children how to count, this will not hugely enhance your application, UK universities ≠ USA. I had a few hobbies I did but I didnt really mention much, I didnt talk hugely about a overwhelming passion for the subject, all I did was get good grades, good references and hence offers from UCL, Warwick, Bath and Bristol. For maths they care about your maths ability and that is pretty much it, get 95+ UMS in all your AS modules and you are set.
Original post by shwansalah
. Here's a rought idea of what i think i might write as an opener

Ever since I was a 13 year old boy, , I would come back from school and teach myself challenging topics that a boy my age is not supposed to know, for example, I would learn how to divide fractions but then I would go home and spend hours doing circle theorems(at the age of 13)!Just like people who love sports, maths is my sport, i spend hours upon hours at home challenging myself with ridiculously hard maths topics, which I have not learnt in school but still thrive to know how to do them! No one and i mean no one will match my love and passion for maths, i can guarantee you the applicants applying to your uni do not spend 12 hours a day doing unnecessary maths that they have not learnt in school, I do, it's my life, my baby, my purpose to go beyond what I have been taught because the beauty of maths incises me to do so.

yeah this is terrible actually xd


That's absolutely drastic
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Original post by a96clark
That's absolutely drastic


good drastic?
Original post by shwansalah
good drastic?


Not at all! There were about four good words in the entire paragraph. Delete it all
Reply 17
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kkboyk
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Original post by shwansalah
For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk


Take maths outside the classroom by doing things like tutoring. It doesn't have to be maths related, but you need to show that you are using some form of logic (maths isn't just about numbers).

Maybe start programming? Reading some books on some mathematical ideas e.g. books on game theory maybe, or the history of mathematics?

Are you taking STEP?
Original post by shwansalah
For the top unis i know courses can be very competitive and I want to do something to make me stand out from the crowd when applying for a maths degree, i just dont know how to go about doing that!! any ideas? Should I read a book about the origins of maths or something to show i'm committed? idk


It helps to be honest, and demonstrate how you're passionate about maths for real, don't make up things to look good, also don't say you've loved it since you were young etc give a genuine experience of when you really got into it, show that you have the skills through means of an experience or two aswell, show how you're subjects at a level have given you a variety of skills, you don't need to talk about career

one thing i did was to just not try hard to look amazing, and be honest about my passion, they straight away gave me an offer after a day, and i wrote my personal statement in a day because it came easily

i think they can tell when a student is being desperate like some people note down a billion extra curricular activities

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