The Student Room Group

Am I the only one that does this?

So again today I lost a good hour staring at a book trying to figure out why I did not have the right answer. Until i realized I had made a mistake where I had multiplied when I was supposed to divide.

Real idiotic mistake and I really don't want to post the problem because this is a bit embarrassing. I make mistakes on past papers and etc.

My younger brother says that it is because I am not passionate enough about maths and thus not really paying attention. That i dont care about math only the result (eg glory of Cambridge and salary.)

I said well if that was true a lot more people would get 100% in their exams then currently do.

should I be worried or is it normal to regularly make stupid mistakes in maths. I dont mean like in every problem I mean like if I sat a practice exam now I can almost Guarantee I am going to make one or two stupid mistakes on the paper.

Does this show lack of passion or anything else bad or is this relatively normal?
It is completely normal.
I always make stupid mistakes when doing maths. It's really annoying since I'll know exactly what I'm doing but then just do something that's really simple wrong. It usually happens more when I'm doing something simple though since I tend to not be very interested in what it is and then my mind wanders a bit haha xD If I'm actually really interested in the maths that I'm doing then I'll usually do better tbh.
I think almost everyone makes stupid mistakes... The more worried, the more mistakes you are likely to make. When I took a math exam, I tried to stay very focus and did it slowly to make sure I was careful enough.
If you feel you're not into math, then you don't need to study it in the future. So maybe its not that bad to be "not passionate" about math.
Everyone makes silly mistakes, even I do. Some of them are in maths.
Reply 5
Original post by Grace_Cong1998
I think almost everyone makes stupid mistakes... The more worried, the more mistakes you are likely to make. When I took a math exam, I tried to stay very focus and did it slowly to make sure I was careful enough.
If you feel you're not into math, then you don't need to study it in the future. So maybe its not that bad to be "not passionate" about math.


I say I am passionate about maths and want to do a degree. I have often in bed lied there thinking about how to solve a problem applying maths to it.

and cant currently do everything. Its my brother who says I am not passionate about maths. I say I am he says making mistakes shows a lack of attention to detail and thus a lack of passion.

I am saying I disagree with that logic.
It's called human error. Everyone makes mistakes, it's nothing to do with a lack of "passion" or whatever, I've no idea what your brother is talking about. I did a Maths degree and often made silly mistakes, it's totally normal.
I got an A* in maths at GCSE and got 199/200 marks. The only question I got wrong? Question 1 on the non-calculator paper. Simple division.
Original post by Luke7456
So again today I lost a good hour staring at a book trying to figure out why I did not have the right answer. Until i realized I had made a mistake where I had multiplied when I was supposed to divide.

Real idiotic mistake and I really don't want to post the problem because this is a bit embarrassing. I make mistakes on past papers and etc.

My younger brother says that it is because I am not passionate enough about maths and thus not really paying attention. That i dont care about math only the result (eg glory of Cambridge and salary.)

I said well if that was true a lot more people would get 100% in their exams then currently do.

should I be worried or is it normal to regularly make stupid mistakes in maths. I dont mean like in every problem I mean like if I sat a practice exam now I can almost Guarantee I am going to make one or two stupid mistakes on the paper.

Does this show lack of passion or anything else bad or is this relatively normal?


no offence to him but your brother doesnt sound like a very nice person.

Also you know yourself if you enjoy maths or if youre only doing it for 'glory', both are perfectly legitimate reasons to pursue it and you dont need to prove your reasons to anyone.
Reply 9
Original post by Luke7456
So again today I lost a good hour staring at a book trying to figure out why I did not have the right answer. Until i realized I had made a mistake where I had multiplied when I was supposed to divide.

Real idiotic mistake and I really don't want to post the problem because this is a bit embarrassing. I make mistakes on past papers and etc.

My younger brother says that it is because I am not passionate enough about maths and thus not really paying attention. That i dont care about math only the result (eg glory of Cambridge and salary.)

I said well if that was true a lot more people would get 100% in their exams then currently do.

should I be worried or is it normal to regularly make stupid mistakes in maths. I dont mean like in every problem I mean like if I sat a practice exam now I can almost Guarantee I am going to make one or two stupid mistakes on the paper.

Does this show lack of passion or anything else bad or is this relatively normal?


Honestly there's no reason to feel ashamed whatsoever. I'm doing Maths at uni, yet still make mistakes on mental arithmetic at times (even my own lectures). It's simply impossible to not make any mistakes whatsoever regardless on how intelligent you are.
There's a boy in my maths class who is insanely good at maths. His natural mathematic ability is through the roof and the way he talks about maths, you can see his passion.

Thing is, he still makes mistakes. He didn't get an A* at A level maths (which we did in Y12) because he didn't do that great in exams. Everyone is going to and you can't be perfect all the time. You can get so engrossed in what you are doing and be so engaged with the complicated methods that you are going to make stupid mistakes.

If you think you are passionate about maths, study it in the future. I love maths but I don't really enjoy all the theoretical pure maths, I prefer it with an application and a purpose. There are lots of degrees out there that are highly mathematical without being a straight maths degree!
Stupid mistakes are an awful habit of mine

2 + 3 = 6 is one I've done a couple of times if I remember correctly

But I've done all sorts: chain-ruling a product-rule question, integrating when you're meant to differentiate and vice versa, expanding only one part of a bracket when I multiply it out, multiplying up to cancel out a fraction and multiplying the top rather than just getting rid of the bottom, making addition errors, getting multiplication and addition mixed in the heat of the moment, not reading/copying down the question correctly...

Basically all rookie errors but they're hard to avoid/get rid of/spot and perfectly normal. Doesn't mean you're bad at maths. I got an A* at GCSE and A at AS and targeted an A this year but I still make loads of them


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 12
Original post by kkboyk
Honestly there's no reason to feel ashamed whatsoever. I'm doing Maths at uni, yet still make mistakes on mental arithmetic at times (even my own lectures). It's simply impossible to not make any mistakes whatsoever regardless on how intelligent you are.


well started looking at step and dont have a clue in the slightest how to do this i have a feeling when i go to this step course everyone is going to get it and I am going to get absolutely nothing.
Reply 13
Original post by Luke7456
well started looking at step and dont have a clue in the slightest how to do this i have a feeling when i go to this step course everyone is going to get it and I am going to get absolutely nothing.


You really won't be the only one. I had the same difficulty when I started STEP prep and didn't understand a thing for months, as well as at the start of my degree. When you feel like you're really struggling there, ask for help from any members of staff on that course (as they are there to help you and ensure you improve, so use them).
Reply 14
Original post by kkboyk
You really won't be the only one. I had the same difficulty when I started STEP prep and didn't understand a thing for months, as well as at the start of my degree. When you feel like you're really struggling there, ask for help from any members of staff on that course (as they are there to help you and ensure you improve, so use them).


I think it's just one teacher I have understood most of the all of the a level stuff I have encountered so far without much difficulty but have not commuted everything to memory so not ready for exams for a level yet and I'm tryin to learn step it sounds absurd. But I've got to April to either commit to sitting these or giving up can I really get there by mid April?
Reply 15
Original post by Luke7456
I think it's just one teacher I have understood most of the all of the a level stuff I have encountered so far without much difficulty but have not commuted everything to memory so not ready for exams for a level yet and I'm tryin to learn step it sounds absurd. But I've got to April to either commit to sitting these or giving up can I really get there by mid April?



You still have time. You could try doing what I did: make a flexible timetable and stick to it. I made sure that I'd start every morning with my other subject (reading notes, and answering past paper questions by topics), and then Maths in the afternoon and till late.

For STEP prep what I found useful was doing the STEP correspondence sheets to get used to it a little, and then a few months after I started past paper. I only did STEP I, so not sure if this approach will help, but also do have a look at the STEP prep threads on TSR (they'll offer far more better advice).
Original post by Luke7456
So again today I lost a good hour staring at a book trying to figure out why I did not have the right answer. Until i realized I had made a mistake where I had multiplied when I was supposed to divide.

Real idiotic mistake and I really don't want to post the problem because this is a bit embarrassing. I make mistakes on past papers and etc.

My younger brother says that it is because I am not passionate enough about maths and thus not really paying attention. That i dont care about math only the result (eg glory of Cambridge and salary.)

I said well if that was true a lot more people would get 100% in their exams then currently do.

should I be worried or is it normal to regularly make stupid mistakes in maths. I dont mean like in every problem I mean like if I sat a practice exam now I can almost Guarantee I am going to make one or two stupid mistakes on the paper.

Does this show lack of passion or anything else bad or is this relatively normal?


yTfi4MMC_400x400.jpg
I do that too. Plus we are humans, not calculators so some careless mistakes are forgivable tbh. I do that all the time during maths test, forgetting a number in calculation and effing up the whole thing. My maths teacher used to look at me in dismay as she hands me the paper because there's almost always one stupid mistake like that keeping mee from getting a 100%. Yeah, I admit I'm careless, but that doesn't have anything to do about my interest in maths.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Luke7456
So again today I lost a good hour staring at a book trying to figure out why I did not have the right answer. Until i realized I had made a mistake where I had multiplied when I was supposed to divide.

Real idiotic mistake and I really don't want to post the problem because this is a bit embarrassing. I make mistakes on past papers and etc.

My younger brother says that it is because I am not passionate enough about maths and thus not really paying attention. That i dont care about math only the result (eg glory of Cambridge and salary.)

I said well if that was true a lot more people would get 100% in their exams then currently do.

should I be worried or is it normal to regularly make stupid mistakes in maths. I dont mean like in every problem I mean like if I sat a practice exam now I can almost Guarantee I am going to make one or two stupid mistakes on the paper.

Does this show lack of passion or anything else bad or is this relatively normal?
Making mistakes is normal. But you need to get into the habit of checking your work so that making silly mistakes and not spotting them for hours becomes a very rare event.

This is something that becomes more important at university; the questions may be 10-20 times longer than questions at A-level, if you're making mistakes every few lines (and not fixing them!) then you have very little chance of getting to the end of a question unscathed.

Or as Siklos says in his STEP prep guide:

"In many of the problems in this book, the algebra is quite stiff: you have to go through many lines of calculation before you get to an expression recognisably close to your target. Really, the only way to manage this efficiently is to check each line carefully before going on the next line. Otherwise, you can waste hours."

Quick Reply

Latest