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STEP annoyance

does anyone else find the STEP questions damned irritating? i can sit for ages trying to figure out how to start a question to no avail and then after taking a look at the first line of an answer, the question becomes "obvious". it's really getting me annoyed. :mad:

Reply 1

jb_sweden

That's the beauty of mathematics!

Reply 2

sebbie

15

i havent learnt the full A2 course yet so can't try much STEP but I know what you mean, especially on the olympiad papers!

Reply 3

dvs

10

It's funny how hindsight is always 20/20.

But think of it this way: now you've learned a new trick or method of attack that you can use again (sometims even indirectly to create your own solution to a new problem). It's always good to upgrade your mathematical toolbox. :smile:

Reply 4

bob_54321

i do find step really annoying but have actually noticed myself improving and figuring out how the setters think. to start with i could do basically no questions but now i can most of the pure questions on the step 3 papers, although it takes me a lot longer than 3 hours unfortunately! and yeah, sometimes i can sit for ages, not get very far, then come back to it the next day and it all falls into place. unfortunately you cant do that in the actual exam though, lol.

Reply 5

Chewwy

17

dvs

It's funny how hindsight is always 20/20.

this is the greatest quote ever.

Reply 6

yusufu

OP

16

bob_54321

i do find step really annoying but have actually noticed myself improving and figuring out how the setters think. to start with i could do basically no questions but now i can most of the pure questions on the step 3 papers, although it takes me a lot longer than 3 hours unfortunately! and yeah, sometimes i can sit for ages, not get very far, then come back to it the next day and it all falls into place. unfortunately you cant do that in the actual exam though, lol.

now that is impressive.

how long ago did you start practising?

Reply 7

KAISER_MOLE

7

I have to agree with undry1, give me your brain please, thanks

Also, have to agree with chewwy, dvs might also like to send me his brain? The more the merrier

I'm going to a STEP study school in April, hopefully I can improve my answering of questions.

I must agree that my mathematical arsenal has improved since starting on STEP, you just keep on gaining a bit more agility, a bit more care in considering specific cases et cetera

Reply 8

yusufu

OP

16

KAISER_MOLE

I have to agree with undry1, give me your brain please, thanks

Also, have to agree with chewwy, dvs might also like to send me his brain? The more the merrier

i'll pay postage and packaging if they send their brains to me instead. :p:

KAISER_MOLE

I must agree that my mathematical arsenal has improved since starting on STEP, you just keep on gaining a bit more agility, a bit more care in considering specific cases et cetera

im finding that to be true as well. its helping with the F maths course for definite. makes new concepts easy to absorb. i just wish the learning curve was faster. :frown:

Reply 9

JrW

14

I'm only doing single maths at the moment in my school timetable (but teaching myself FM modules to take exams in next year). Being the type of person I am, I recently started tackling some STEP problems...the improvement I have noticed is amazing. I can probably do most of the pure and mechanics questions on STEP I and a few from STEP II. Hopefully, this will be good preparation for taking these exams next summer!

Reply 10

yusufu

OP

16

AlphaX

I'm only doing single maths at the moment in my school timetable (but teaching myself FM modules to take exams in next year). Being the type of person I am, I recently started tackling some STEP problems...the improvement I have noticed is amazing. I can probably do most of the pure and mechanics questions on STEP I and a few from STEP II. Hopefully, this will be good preparation for taking these exams next summer!

im jealous. :redface:

that's pretty good for your age. keep at it, should be very helpful if youre applying for any maths related degree.

Reply 11

KAISER_MOLE

7

When people say they can do the questions, do they say how long? :p:

Given a while I probably could (excluding Stats) , but I am not at the stage where I can reel out 6 in 3 hours , 3 in 90 minutes maybe, but then I move onto questions I am not so keen on

Reply 12

JrW

14

KAISER_MOLE

When people say they can do the questions, do they say how long? :p:

Given a while I probably could (excluding Stats) , but I am not at the stage where I can reel out 6 in 3 hours , 3 in 90 minutes maybe, but then I move onto questions I am not so keen on

The time it takes for me to do them are about 10-15 mins to about 1hr depending on difficulty. There was one in 2004 about sequences which didn't take long at all.

And then there are some, of course, that I don't touch with a barge-pole!

Reply 13

KAISER_MOLE

7

10-15minutes O_O - I can do some in that time now, but this time last year? Wouldn't have come close.

That sequences question was the first ever STEP question that I did where I felt comfortable with my solution....looking back at STEP I , I am probably more comfortable with STEP II pure than STEP I mechanics, need to notch up my mechanics a bit methinks!

Reply 14

i_luv_maths

1

definitely annoying. i just can't do it. by the time i've done it, it's taken me days (by the way i do go to sleep and eat and do other things in these days. ) you know the questions are structured into sections, with pure, mechanics, probability, can you just try questions from all from one area or do you have to do at least one each before doing more questions?
i hate probability the most.

Reply 15

yusufu

OP

16

i_luv_maths

definitely annoying. i just can't do it. by the time i've done it, it's taken me days (by the way i do go to sleep and eat and do other things in these days. ) you know the questions are structured into sections, with pure, mechanics, probability, can you just try questions from all from one area or do you have to do at least one each before doing more questions?
i hate probability the most.

the six questions for which you get the highest mark are counted. no restrictions.

Reply 16

Simba

16

I can do a fair amount of STEP I, not an awful lot more than that though. It's really a matter of practise, and making sure you know thoroughly all the techniques you've been tought - otherwise you could be trying to solve a problem you can't possibly do! When are the STEP exams this year? I imagine you've got at least another couple of months to perfect your technique before it boils down to the tests themselves. Practise makes perfect as with most things.