Asurat's road to AAA*

*:･ﾟ✧Asurat's road to A*A*A**:･ﾟ✧

Despite saying I wouldn't do this again, here I am. I feel that a blog proved an effective revision tool so I'm making another one (my first entry here http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3118559).

Since year 12, I've applied for university. Mathematics at Warwick, Bath, Bristol and UCL and Mathematics w/ economics at LSE. So far I've received offers from Warwick and Bristol, a rejection from UCL and I'm waiting on LSE and Bath. Since applying, I've realised that I'd rather not sit a straight degree in maths, but I want to have more economics content than is offered for the choices I've applied to. So assuming that I can't change courses to maths w/ econ upon entering university (and get rejected from LSE) I'm going to have a gap year and fast track economics and another essay subject, maybe sit additional further maths as well. I reaaalllyyyy should have thought about this back in year 11 but I like where I live so I'll be okay.

As above, I'm going to try and get A*A*A* in Maths, Further Maths and Physics after having achieved aaab at AS level (a in chemistry b in physics at about 79% UMS). My UMS was dire, but as you can see in my previous blog I started from the bottom and played catch-up right until the death. I'm also going to set STEP 1 and STEP 2, preparation for which I probably won't be able to start until late February. I'm not hoping for anything special but I'm going to prepare and sit it for the challenge. As far as retakes are concerned, I am retaking G482 and D2 (so I can make that A* a little easier I hope, as D2 and M2 aren't too bad, touch wood).
Since year 12, I have not really learned from my mistakes, as evidenced by my:

Mock results
This year I sat a Core 3, G484 and split FP2 & FP3 mock. Results as follows.

Core 3- A I scored 63/75, in practice I was turning the papers inside out but when I sat in the exam hall I let the pressure get to me. I stupidly thought we finished 30 minutes earlier (as multiple exams were taking place within the hall) and struggled very hard to complete the paper. At one point I actually forgot how to find the gradient of a tangent, which is mad.

FP2/FP3-A*/C- I scored 34/35 The FP2 section went really well, I only dropped a mark right at the end and managed to get the highest score in my class. The FP3 section went very poorly, I got 23/39. Again, I bottled it. I lost an entire 7 marker because I copied out the tan derivative and not tanh, and tried deriving stuff which I could have ripped from the formula booklet. Nevertheless all of it was pretty straightforward and if spaghetti wasn't in my pockets I would have got an A* on both halves I reckon.

G483-C- I just about scraped a C (35/60). Physics needs a lot of work. I didn't finish the paper and I left the first 10 or so marks blank.

Post AS exams and mocks I've come to realise that if I'm not fully prepared I can underachieve really easily, so the hard work starts now.

This year I've been slacking a lot and I want any potential gap year to be a victory lap and nothing else. Every week I'm going to make time to finish off the exercises that I neglected earlier in the year and try and complete a C3, M2 (which I have just finished) and G484 paper, starting with the Solomon papers. I'm also going to work hard at the STEP stuff, despite the fact I'm sitting it for the fun rather than to fulfil an offer (unless I decide Warwick is for me), I still want to get a decent score.

In terms of more personal stuff, I've started playing rugby again and managed to make first team at my local club, not that I'm really good for a 17 year old, but there's an ongoing injury crisis and the 2nd team is forward-heavy. I'm going to quit at some point next month so I can use the time to revise on Saturdays. I have a part-time job now and I'm going to use my wages to start trading (something to stick on the CV and actually having a position forces me to learn more about the markets and keep up to date with the news), but I'm going to start virtually first as entering a bear market with my low-level of knowledge is going to hit me in the pocket hard. I still go to the gym and have stopped muay thai as it's not exactly a social sort of sport.

Thank you for reading!

(edited 8 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

GeologyMaths

Nice man gl I'm aiming for the a* as well in math.. Maybe we can help each other out (:

Reply 2

Asurat

Original post by GeologyMaths

Nice man gl I'm aiming for the a* as well in math.. Maybe we can help each other out (:

Sure, shoot me a PM whenever!

Reply 3

boruto

Awesome bro! Don't worry about c3, the first time you do it, the nerves take over. I remember getting 58/72 for my c3 mock after easter and I was like "I'm not even gonna touch 90 UMS", but with tons of practice (doing every paper twice) you will be fine bro.
(Got 99 UMS for c3, so you're in safe hands. :smile:

)

Reply 4

Asurat

Original post by boruto

)

Congrats you absolutely killed it! What're you doing this year?

Reply 5

boruto

Original post by Asurat

Congrats you absolutely killed it! What're you doing this year?

Maths, Further Maths and Physics. Also doing STEP I (done couple of past papers) and not too sure if I should do STEP II.
I guess time will tell.

Reply 6

Asurat

Original post by boruto

Maths, Further Maths and Physics. Also doing STEP I (done couple of past papers) and not too sure if I should do STEP II.
I guess time will tell.

Guess we're in a similar boat, good luck with the STEP prep and I'll probably send you a PM at some point to see how things are going :smile:

Reply 7

Luciferr

Good luck bro! I got the same results as you last year and I'm aiming for the same as you this year, for the same subjects as well :smile:

Reply 8

Asurat

Original post by Luciferr

Good luck bro! I got the same results as you last year and I'm aiming for the same as you this year, for the same subjects as well :smile:

Thanks man, you too!Is that a FMA icon btw?

Reply 9

Asurat

Going to Geneva tomorrow morning for a school physics trip to CERN so out for three days, exciting times.

Reply 10

Asurat

Geneva was brilliant, highlight being CERN.

Today I got injured playing a cup game, but it's my left arm so it's cool. Now that I've had a nap, I'm going to write up some G485 notes and then finish up some Core 4 vectors exercises.

Edit: Started at 9 finished at 12, night time

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 11

Asurat

School's out for half-term and I think I've decided my game plan for the next few months.
This half-term I'm going to complete all of the work I have outstaning from the school year, and make a dent in the STEP support Warwick sent me.
I also have to prepare for my physics remock and M2 mock. So I'll be doing "the magic 5" each day, meaning early starts :biggrin:

Provisionally, during the next month I want to stay on top of things and do as many extra resources as I can on top of past-papers. That's what everybody who did better than me last year did and it's time to join the winners circle. By the time it gets to mid-May, I want to have done all of my past papers once and repeated any of the difficult questions and gained about 7 kilos.

Reply 12

Zacken

Is there any particular reason why you want to sit STEP? Seems like you're underestimating it, to be honest. :dontknow:

Reply 13

Asurat

Original post by Zacken

Is there any particular reason why you want to sit STEP? Seems like you're underestimating it, to be honest. :dontknow:

That question and statement are fair enough so I try give a full answer :smile:

Up until picking A-levels I envisioned myself studying mostly essay subjects. When it came down to my choices I picked the subjects I felt would give the smallest workload as priority because I didn't really know what to do. After reading around the subjects I studied I found mathematics to be really interesting, and I got a rush from doing classwork questions. After a Summer school touching on undergrad topics and working through STEP 1 past papers, I found that I really enjoyed the questions stylistically (despite only being able to mostly answer about 3 questions from the core maths section with most papers I look at).
After having worked through some STEP problems, I found that my approach to problems at A-level is a lot better, and I find them much easier and give better solutions than I think I would have without any of the STEP I did.
So I'm doing STEP as the prep helps me with my maths and because it's fun.

In regards to underestimating STEP, I know that it's very difficult but I'm not aiming to get a sky high grade as I'm not very talented, I want to do my best :smile:

Reply 14

Asurat

Half-term starts today as does the hard work. I am to complete the following each day. I'm going to try and work until 8 o'clock each day (with breaks for food and exercise) and from 8 til about 11 I'll see my friends/relax.

Monday

[X] FP3 Matrices- Finish exercise 6F and the remnants of D & E
[X] M2 Statics- Complete the mixed exercise
[X] Physics G485- Revision notes on 5.1.2 Magnetic fields and 5.1.3 Magnetism
[X] Physics G484- Complete worksheet 1 & 2 Newton's laws and Momentum

Tuesday

[X] FP2 Complex numbers- Rewrite revision notes and complete incomplete exercises
[X] C4 Binomial expansion- Complete incomplete exercises from the chapter
C4 Vectors- Complete exercises 15B & 15C
Physics G485- Revision notes on 5.2.1 Capacitance
[X] G484- Isaac Physics Newton's laws and collisions.

Wednesday

FP2 Mclaurin and Taylor series- Complete incomplete exercises
[X] M2 collisions- Complete incomplete exercises
FP3 Chapter 2- Make notes on Chapter 2 Further co-ordinate systems & Further differentiation
Physics G485- Revision notes of 5.3.1 the nuclear atom
[X] Physics G484- Complete worksheet 3- Circular motion

Thursday

C4 Vectors- Exercise 15D
Physics G485- Revision notes on 5.3.2 Fundamental particles
[X] Physics G484- Complete Worksheet 4 & 5 Gravitational fields and Simple Harmonic Motion
C4 Vectors- Exercise 15E
[X] Physics G485- Isaac physics Circular motion (1 hour)

Friday

C4 Vectors- Exercise 15E (review)
Physics G485- Notes on 5.3.3 on radioactivity
FP3- Mixed exercise 1 (first 20 questions)
[X] Physics G484- Complete worksheet 6 Solids liquids & Gases
M2- Mixed Exercise 1 (First 20 questions)
[X] Physics G484- Complete worksheet 7 Ideal gases

Saturday

AM- Isaac Physics Solids liquids and gases
Rugby
G484- past paper, review completed papers, sit new paper and review

Sunday

G484 paper in the morning, mark and review
Physics G484- Newton's laws on Isaac Physics continued

With that I should be on top of everything. The next half-term can then be about completing as many extra resources as I can as well as preparing for my M2 Mock. I also have a D2 and G482 retake to worry about (lol) but I'll try and make that a weekend thing. So far I'd say everything has been relatively straightforward, I just need to put in the hard hours from now until exams are finished.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 15

Asurat

Yean I'm tired. I mostly finished my Monday checklist so will be looking to hopefully get that done tomorrow as well as Tuesday's work. I got over the most time intensive part so I should be okay for the rest of the week.

Reply 16

undercxver

A*A*A* is a big goal and seeing how organised you are I believe you are able to attain this.

Spoiler

Good luck in attaining your goals! :h:

Reply 17

Asurat

Original post by undercxver

A*A*A* is a big goal and seeing how organised you are I believe you are able to attain this.

Spoiler

Good luck in attaining your goals! :h:

Thank you for the kind words, I think that 3A*s is probably pushing it for me but I'm going to try my best!

Reply 18

Psst.

Original post by Asurat

Thank you for the kind words, I think that 3A*s is probably pushing it for me but I'm going to try my best!

You're too modest. Considering I got C's & B's at GCSE and now aiming for AAA now that is pushing it! However, you got 4 As, you'll get it no doubt.

Reply 19

Asurat

As a little update, I'm still working, but the "complete incomplete exercises" tasks are very time consuming, and making G485 notes takes a very long time as I'm using various sources to try and develop a full understanding of the content rather than specification copy & paste. I think that by Sunday, I'll only have finished up to "Friday"/"Thursday" on my checklist which isn't bad going IMO.