JMC at Imperial

If you google there have been freedom of information requests made on the subject of STEP offers. Most often they asked for STEP I when they required STEP, but STEP I is going to be discontinued from 2021 onwards so... who knows!

I wasn’t even aware they included STEP with offers, they already have their own online entrance exam so I thought that was enough. Don’t really want to do STEP…

The online entrance exam is more of a basic skills aptitude test I believe. I’m just worried that due to the removal of STEP I they might make us do STEP II and/or III which will take a considerable amount of preparation.

Hey there.. I'm a prospective JMC student in year 13. I've applied for JMC and will hopefully get a reply in due time. I was just wondering whether or not I'll have to sit the STEP exam (if I get an offer). On the website it says "Typical offers include STEP requirements." but not much more. I'm applying to Oxford for the joint course and hopefully make it in there but if not Imperial is my next preference. Does everyone get a STEP requirement or only a few people?

If it's relevant: I got all (11) 9s at GCSE and I am predicted A*A*A*A* in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

My son read JMC at Imperial, but applied with US qualifications. They didn't require STEP for him.

You could ask their tutor for admissions, but they will be very busy, so I'd just wait. If you are interviewed, I'd raise it then, and tell them that you took the MAT. Good luck for both Oxford and Imperial.

Update for anyone interested: I was given an offer for Mathematics&ComputerScience 2021 Entry with the conditions A*A*AA (with the A*s in Maths and Further Maths) and Grade 2 in STEP II.

You didn’t even have an interview?

Sorry for the confusion; I did have an interview. The interview took place in early December and I was given an offer a week later.

Oh okay, congratulations then! I’m still waiting to hear back on whether I’ve got an interview.

Congratulations on your offer and good luck with STEP II!

Yeah I don’t want to spend months and months preparing for the STEP exam, especially when Imperial are the only uni I’m applying to which could require it. What sorts of grades do they usually want in STEP do you know?

Hey, a first year JMC student here just offering my 2 cents on the topic:
If you "don’t want to spend months and months preparing for the STEP exam" then honestly you don't want to come to Imperial. The course is exciting a big step up from any school maths you would have done.
Now I'm a fairly mediocre mathematician, I had a STEP 1 offer last year but I worked though all of the STEP 1/2/3 papers last summer. And while I can't say that I'm finding the maths easy now (far from so in fact) doing STEP papers gave me the mental stamina needed for the difficulty change.
You need to come to Imperial with an eagerness to challenge yourself, to struggle and to "spend months and months" doing the material - otherwise you will not be able to enjoy yourself here!

Hey, a first year JMC student here just offering my 2 cents on the topic:
If you "don’t want to spend months and months preparing for the STEP exam" then honestly you don't want to come to Imperial. The course is exciting a big step up from any school maths you would have done.
Now I'm a fairly mediocre mathematician, I had a STEP 1 offer last year but I worked though all of the STEP 1/2/3 papers last summer. And while I can't say that I'm finding the maths easy now (far from so in fact) doing STEP papers gave me the mental stamina needed for the difficulty change.
You need to come to Imperial with an eagerness to challenge yourself, to struggle and to "spend months and months" doing the material - otherwise you will not be able to enjoy yourself here!

Really appreciate the reply. This is something that’s been concerning me about imperial. Do you think that the normal computing courses are more manageable than JMC? I love maths but ultimately want a career in software engineering, so could sacrifice the maths part and just do computing.

Hey, whilst you're here.. do you mind telling me how it's been so far? I've heard JMC is much more intense than other courses (which I don't mind at all if it is the case; I love maths and learning CS will be fun too). Do you think there's at least an okay balance between studying and relaxing? Also, slightly concerned that I'll be slacking on the stats side of maths. I do Further Mechanics 1 and 2 as my further maths modules so I have no exposure to stats beyond the regular A level maths course - and I don't suppose all my advanced mechanics skills will be used much in the course lol; I'm guessing it's all just Pure and Stats on the maths side of things. Is it worth learning the further stats modules in further maths before I start in October (*if I can meet the STEP requirement!). Finally, how is the split between the content. Some have told me that its 70% of the maths course + 70% of the pure CS course.. whilst others have said it's 50% of both. Though 70% from both obviously means more work load, I think I'd prefer it as one concern I have is that I'll become only half decent in both disciplines!

Oooh lot's of good questions!
"Do you think there's at least an okay balance between studying and relaxing?"
What the balance is very much depends on the mathematical abilities of the person and what your aims are, but no one works 24/7. I think as long as you don't go overboard on the socialising during the first term you should be able to keep a good balance. This is stuff I only figured out by the second term, but you might find it useful:
- Do NOT cut down on sleep on a regular basis for either work or socialising. Lots of people will do it and tell you they're doing "just fine". But not getting enough sleep will affect your mental state after a while, you will not only be struggling with the course (we all are it's fine) but also burnt-out and sleep deprived.
- Make of list of things you need to get done that day, and don't go out for drinks or whatever until you get the list done. I allowed myself to push back the "to do" list till the weekend way too often, was not fun would not recommend.

"I have no exposure to stats beyond the regular A level maths course - and I don't suppose all my advanced mechanics skills will be used much in the course"
Good news here, you will be doing just fine with mechanics! Only the pure Mathematicians do Stats in the first year and your mechanics knowledge will likely come in quite handy for the calculus course. If you did Physics A-Level too, you will get lots of "Ahhh so that's why this law/formula is so" moments in calculus.
However looking over some of the further Pure modules will come in very handy in particular look at topics about Matrices and Groups. I'd also recommend looking at "A Concise Introduction to Pure Mathematics" by Martin Liebeck. Written by an Imperial Prof, is one of our recommended reading books for the year, and has a lot of overlap with our first term Modules - nice way to get ahead, I wish I read it in advance

"Some have told me that its 70% of the maths course + 70% of the pure CS course.. whilst others have said it's 50% of both."
It's certainly 70% + 70%, and you have the right attitude! The JMC course is so prestigious because we do two degrees in one, and it's certainly very fun Look at the course regulations here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/computing/prospective-students/ug/beng-meng-jmc/jmc-first-year/. Our Logic and Reasoning course covers all the content from two Computing courses (Logic, Reasoning) but we get credit as for one module because we sit one exam. And the Linear Algebra and Groups similarly covers pretty much everything the Maths students do on that topic. Years of students have been able to absorb and pass the course - so it's certainly manageable (or so I like to tell myself)

Right sorry took a long post to answer all of that! Feel free to ask more questions but I might be slow to respond as I have exams coming up soon. Hopefully see you at Imperial in October! (And one of you might even be lucky enough to have me as Hall Senior next year if you stay at Falmouth&Keogh Hall )