If we had last year’s paper i’d get in, this year i didn’t get a single question right. even multiple choice half were guesses. i panicked and now i’ve ruined my life

Reply 6

~K1

OP

8

Original post by Fogstaz

When do we get the results/ responses from ox imperial warwick? I thought some parts were easy and other were not iykwim

responses: Oxford December
Imperial Spring-ish
Warwick idk

Reply 7

anonymityplease

3

i’m verging on suicide

Reply 8

~K1

OP

8

Original post by anonymityplease

i’m verging on suicide

last page of multiple choice was close to chinese,highest i couldve got overall was like 45%,by far one of the worst papers I've seen
*looking back forgot about q4 probs around 50 now

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 9

SP98

8

How did you all find the longer questions?

Reply 10

Hannzzaaa

10

I found it all horrendous tbh. Could do half the multiple choice but only one of the longer ones. Bye bye oxford

Reply 11

lwittgenstein

6

Overall, I found it ok, probably similar in difficulty to last year, probably easier than 2015. By far the most difficult thing was time pressure. I didn't manage to start the second half of one of the question and the last two parts of another (I just had to sacrifice them). I found the multiple choice easier than last year, with one tricky question I ended up having to semi-guess because the time was up. I was dissatisfied with how I answered Q5 because I got it all right, but I was so pressed for time I was a bit sloppy with my explanation, ie I explained things very briefly before working out the actual answers. I'm guessing around 75-80 based on what I didn't get to finish. Could be lower if I find I made silly mistakes once discussion is allowed

Reply 12

Integer123

14

That was much harder than any MAT I've done before. I answered all the questions apart from the end of one question.

Last year it was: average score amongst all applicants 50.3, amongst shortlisted applicants 66.7, amongst successful applicants 73.1. What do you think for this year's paper?

Reply 13

Maserati11

6

I did MAT with pencil.... was so nervous that did not even realize that..
Am I screwed?

Reply 14

Fogstaz

6

Original post by lwittgenstein

Overall, I found it ok, probably similar in difficulty to last year, probably easier than 2015. By far the most difficult thing was time pressure. I didn't manage to start the second half of one of the question and the last two parts of another (I just had to sacrifice them). I found the multiple choice easier than last year, with one tricky question I ended up having to semi-guess because the time was up. I was dissatisfied with how I answered Q5 because I got it all right, but I was so pressed for time I was a bit sloppy with my explanation, ie I explained things very briefly before working out the actual answers. I'm guessing around 75-80 based on what I didn't get to finish. Could be lower if I find I made silly mistakes once discussion is allowed

Have you done any mathematics olympiads or other maths related stuff outside of school curriculum before? I'm genuinely curious as this test was pretty much my first exposure to lateral thinking in mathematics (never done an olympiad) and I always thought the core/further content for A levels is rather straightforward.

Reply 15

lwittgenstein

6

Original post by Fogstaz

Have you done any mathematics olympiads or other maths related stuff outside of school curriculum before? I'm genuinely curious as this test was pretty much my first exposure to lateral thinking in mathematics (never done an olympiad) and I always thought the core/further content for A levels is rather straightforward.

Yeah I'm actually in college (not doing maths) applying for the accelerated version of the course (2 years long, entering in second year). In fairness, I have been exposed to higher maths, although it wasn't much use here. I did take part in Olympiad style training when I was in school although that was in Ireland (I'm not in the UK). That might help. Although to be honest, I feel like all the questions are approachable with high school material (maybe q5 is a little easier if you've done Olympiad style problems). I think the main thing the test is testing is how familiar you are with those rules and how fast you can apply them. I help secondary school students part time with maths exams, so it helps to have built up enough practice that all the typical rules are built in. I don't think it's much more than that. You may get the odd genius who can solve it all never having practiced much, but I would say most people doing well have a lot of practice. It's a bit like chess, the beginner doesn't know any more rules than the master, but the master has practiced them so much it becomes second nature. It's mostly about practice I think.

Reply 16

lwittgenstein

6

Original post by Integer123

That was much harder than any MAT I've done before. I answered all the questions apart from the end of one question.

Last year it was: average score amongst all applicants 50.3, amongst shortlisted applicants 66.7, amongst successful applicants 73.1. What do you think for this year's paper?

Using the opinions given so far (I thought it was similar to last year but most others think it was harder) I'd hazard a guess that it'll be a couple of percent lower for each (maybe 3%).

Reply 17

Redcoats

10

Original post by lwittgenstein

Overall, I found it ok, probably similar in difficulty to last year, probably easier than 2015. By far the most difficult thing was time pressure. I didn't manage to start the second half of one of the question and the last two parts of another (I just had to sacrifice them). I found the multiple choice easier than last year, with one tricky question I ended up having to semi-guess because the time was up. I was dissatisfied with how I answered Q5 because I got it all right, but I was so pressed for time I was a bit sloppy with my explanation, ie I explained things very briefly before working out the actual answers. I'm guessing around 75-80 based on what I didn't get to finish. Could be lower if I find I made silly mistakes once discussion is allowed