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STEP Prep Thread 2016 (Mark. II)

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Original post by MathHysteria
Nope - 9am BST (GMT+1).


Oh how interesting. Here in india we write it at 2:30pm IST (GMT +4.5) so its the same time as you guys. I guess as long as the local time corresponding to 9am BST isn't too odd, they try to coordinate the time everywhere.
Reply 1321
Alright, so for myself:

Q1 - not sure if I showed it didn't hold for n=4 convincingly and left my answer for (ii)(b) as ((7^7 +)^3 + 7's)((7^7 + 1)^3 - 7's) so probably dropped 3 or so marks here. 17/20

Q2 - full. 19/20

Q3 - didn't realise sin(-4) was negative, so probs cut a mark here. 18/20

Q4 - did some weird stuff? I differentiate first bit correctly, managed to get up to v/sqrt(v^2 + 1) = kx + c where v = f ' (x) by using the first part and then re-arranged for sqrt(v^2 + 1), cubed it to get (v^2 +1)^(3/2) and then plugged it back into the original equation to get f '' (x) / v^3 = k / (kx+c)^3 and then integrated both sides.

Not sure how much to give myself for that? 10 marks?

Q10 - full except that for showing e < 1/3, I made a teeny slip, so cut a mark. 19/20

Q11 - did the first bit about getting the equation, found the maximum value via differentiation, plugged it back into the formula but along the way miscopied from one line to the next and hence didn't get a correct quadratic. (solved the incorrect quadratic as well) but then moved on and got the distance at the last part to be h/cos 2alpha but couldn't plug in my cos 2alpha since I'd got the incorrect version.

How much should this get? 11 marks?

That totals 94... a middling 1.
Original post by Zacken
Alright, so for myself:

Q1 - not sure if I showed it didn't hold for n=4 convincingly and left my answer for (ii)(b) as ((7^7 +)^3 + 7's)((7^7 + 1)^3 - 7's) so probably dropped 3 or so marks here. 17/20

Q2 - full. 19/20

Q3 - didn't realise sin(-4) was negative, so probs cut a mark here. 18/20

Q4 - did some weird stuff? I differentiate first bit correctly, managed to get up to v/sqrt(v^2 + 1) = kx + c where v = f ' (x) by using the first part and then re-arranged for sqrt(v^2 + 1), cubed it to get (v^2 +1)^(3/2) and then plugged it back into the original equation to get f '' (x) / v^3 = k / (kx+c)^3 and then integrated both sides.

Not sure how much to give myself for that? 10 marks?

Q10 - full except that for showing e < 1/3, I made a teeny slip, so cut a mark. 19/20

Q11 - did the first bit about getting the equation, found the maximum value via differentiation, plugged it back into the formula but along the way miscopied from one line to the next and hence didn't get a correct quadratic. (solved the incorrect quadratic as well) but then moved on and got the distance at the last part to be h/cos 2alpha but couldn't plug in my cos 2alpha since I'd got the incorrect version.

How much should this get? 11 marks?

That totals 94... a middling 1.


ur *****ing me right? Theres no way I couldve got a higher mark than u
Reply 1323
Original post by EnglishMuon
ur *****ing me right? Theres no way I couldve got a higher mark than u


I'm entirely not surprised. We both knew that that was gonna happen. :tongue:

I'm shite at exams. :frown:
Original post by Zacken
I'm entirely not surprised. We both knew that that was gonna happen. :tongue:

I'm shite at exams. :frown:


no come on. Maybe ur being too harsh on urself or something?

I did mess up m4 today tho, there was a whole 5 mark q I didnt get cus either or it didnt work or I misread it lots of times.
Reply 1325
Original post by EnglishMuon
no come on. Maybe ur being too harsh on urself or something?

I did mess up m4 today tho, there was a whole 5 mark q I didnt get cus either or it didnt work or I misread it lots of times.


Hopefully, all depends on the boundaries and how many marks Q4 and Q11 get me. (hopefully more than I'm predicting, maybe Shamika can chime in?)

Ahh, commiserations. I do suppose you're in the position where you don't need to care because the A* is secured in M/FM? :biggrin:
Original post by Zacken
Hopefully, all depends on the boundaries and how many marks Q4 and Q11 get me. (hopefully more than I'm predicting, maybe Shamika can chime in?)

Ahh, commiserations. I do suppose you're in the position where you don't need to care because the A* is secured in M/FM? :biggrin:


ah yea I mean it is one of atleast 2 extras so it doesnt really matter. But it really bugs me how I got 74/75 last night and now im looking at high 60s
Reply 1327
Original post by EnglishMuon
ah yea I mean it is one of atleast 2 extras so it doesnt really matter. But it really bugs me how I got 74/75 last night and now im looking at high 60s


Ahh, yeah, I know exactly how you feel (I've felt like that for all four of my exams so far). Here's to hoping the rest go better. :tongue:
Original post by Zacken
I'm entirely not surprised. We both knew that that was gonna happen. :tongue:

I'm shite at exams. :frown:


I am kind of gloomy after the M4 exam, so I am definitely not looking at any of the solutions for STEP I, or at least


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Reply 1329
Original post by Insight314
I am kind of gloomy after the M4 exam, so I am definitely not looking at any of the solutions for STEP I, or at least


Ahhh, sorry to hear it didn't go well. Remember that you're still pretty much full on track for the A* in M/FM and stupid UMS scores shouldn't affect you in the least, nobody is going to care about them beyond you for a week or two.

Chin up, give yourself a day off! :smile:
Original post by Insight314
I am kind of gloomy after the M4 exam, so I am definitely not looking at any of the solutions for STEP I, or at least


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well atleast I wasnt the only one. Out of interest (if u dont mind me asking), what was the last part of the truck on an elastic string question on about? I couldnt get anything sensible so I mustve misread something?
Can someone pls tell me my rough score. Question 1 did all the way to the last part where I got n=3 but didn't manage to factorise it into 2 linear factors
Question 2 should be a full but I just left the same constant C for every answer
Question 3 my sin|x| graph was slightly off as I forgot that sin3<sin2 and for the last graph I stupidly used 2pi/3 instead of 5pi/6 but shape of graph fine
Vector question managed to do all of it just messed up the range of k where I said k>0 when it should have been <0 OH and I differentiated the first part of 4😅😅😅😅😂😂😂
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Zacken
Hopefully, all depends on the boundaries and how many marks Q4 and Q11 get me. (hopefully more than I'm predicting, maybe Shamika can chime in?)

Ahh, commiserations. I do suppose you're in the position where you don't need to care because the A* is secured in M/FM? :biggrin:


One of my Warwick offers is A*AA with 1 in any STEP paper. I'm sure I got a 1 in that paper (but not an S :frown:).
That means I need 41% average in M2 and FP2 to secure my offer LOL.
Original post by danielhx
Can someone pls tell me my rough score. Question 1 did all the way to the last part where I got n=3 but didn't manage to factorise it into 2 linear factors
Question 2 should be a full but I just left the same constant C for every answer
Question 3 my sin|x| graph was slightly off as I forgot that sin3<sin2 and for the last graph I stupidly used 2pi/3 instead of 5pi/6 but shape of graph fine
Vector question managed to do all of it just messed up the range of k where I said k>0 when it should have been <0 OH and I differentiated the first part of 4😅😅😅😅😂😂😂


Dw I'm an idiot I got sin1,sin2,sin4 all the wrong way round since I can't look at a unit circle properly. I even remembered to put sin(-4) as positive but that probs counts for nothing after that.
Predictions for a grade 1? Also, how many marks on question 7 if not able to do the last part (iv) ?
Reply 1335
Original post by danielhx
Can someone pls tell me my rough score. Question 1 did all the way to the last part where I got n=3 but didn't manage to factorise it into 2 linear factors
Question 2 should be a full but I just left the same constant C for every answer
Question 3 my sin|x| graph was slightly off as I forgot that sin3<sin2 and for the last graph I stupidly used 2pi/3 instead of 5pi/6 but shape of graph fine
Vector question managed to do all of it just messed up the range of k where I said k>0 when it should have been <0 OH and I differentiated the first part of 4😅😅😅😅😂😂😂


16, 20, 17, 18, 4

Original post by IrrationalRoot
One of my Warwick offers is A*AA with 1 in any STEP paper. I'm sure I got a 1 in that paper (but not an S :frown:).
That means I need 41% average in M2 and FP2 to secure my offer LOL.


Same as me for STEP, I need 0% in FP3 to meet my Warwick offer although at the rate I'm going, I'm probably going to miss out on the Physics A grade even though I need about 50% over my next two A2 papers. :rofl:
Reply 1336
Original post by Jellymath
Predictions for a grade 1?


Probably 78-ish imo.
Original post by EnglishMuon
well atleast I wasnt the only one. Out of interest (if u dont mind me asking), what was the last part of the truck on an elastic string question on about? I couldnt get anything sensible so I mustve misread something?


No idea.

I almost cried after that exam.

How much does Cambridge look at individual UMS scores if you miss your offer? Is a C in M4 gonna mean automatic rejection?


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Original post by Insight314
No idea.

I almost cried after that exam.

How much does Cambridge look at individual UMS scores if you miss your offer? Is a C in M4 gonna mean automatic rejection?


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nah ofcourse not. They wont care at all. Its all about step really. Nothing else.
Original post by Zacken
Ahhh, sorry to hear it didn't go well. Remember that you're still pretty much full on track for the A* in M/FM and stupid UMS scores shouldn't affect you in the least, nobody is going to care about them beyond you for a week or two.

Chin up, give yourself a day off! :smile:


I couldn't even finish the reply I was sending, I am this shocked after M4. I was going to thank you for the solutions, although I am not gonna even look at them until after exams are done since all I need now is to worry about a 2 in STEP I.

How does Cambridge feel about a C in an A-level module? You said before that they disliked flops a lot especially mechanics since university is 50% applied.


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