The Student Room Group

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
lmao. in a week? you should've read better books...

but yeah, don't bother putting them books on your PS, they impress nobody. mr-i-keep-changing-my-name has never read a book in his life, i hear (undry), and he's going to cambridge.

also, there are year 12s on these forums reading mucho complicated stuff, look in the maths forum, and in people's sigs. doom or work.
Hey cinders Im in sort've the same position as you, not sure what to write. I mean I've read Fermats Last Theorem, How long is a piece of string ?, 1089 and all that, and a Very Short Introduction to Mathematics, and I've also started reading Keith Devlins, Mathematics: Making the invisible visible. That appears to be a deeper book compared to the previous ones I've read but I don't think I'll finish it in time, but I may write that I am currently reading it. I'm just wandering aswell what other stuff should you put in your personal statement, because I've been to a few lectures, can't remember a lot of what happened though, got loads of extra curricular stuff, doing further maths AS in year 13 primarily through independent study, aswell as doing both STEP and AEA. Would I need to write more ?.... and also what other stuff can be written?
Reply 3
My personal statement's going to be pretty bland, for example the books I will talk about are likely to be Godel Escher Bach and Music of the Primes, and I might mention the Elegant Universe if I talk a little about physics options. Nothing new there.

The aim is to be impressive in the interview.
Reply 4
**** I didn't read any books.

And got plenty of offers.

I'd be more inclined to mention topics you enjoyed at A Level and are looking forward to continuing at uni. New topics at uni you think may appeal. Things like that.
So what that you read a book? If you can say something real good about how it inspired you, that is good. I am doing mechanical engineering, i was going to mention in my ps that i read new scientist. In the end i had so much else to say i didnt have space to mention new scientist.

You got to realise that just because you say 'fermats last theorem' it is not going to impress them. Only wirte something i you can tell them what it gives you, and say something honest, dont make it up because it will end up being poor quality as it wont sound impresive.
Reply 6
I didnt write about a single book i'd read in my personal statement (because I'd never read any!) and i still got offers from good unis like warwick and bath. i showed that i had real passion for the subject by just letting everything flow. i think if u start writing about everything u've read, etc it can be too formulaic and thats not going to make u stand out from other people. i talked honestly about how im simply gobsmacked at how number systems started and how its the fundamental rules for so many things in the universe and how im in awe of it all and its inspired me to want to learn more, etc. i didnt try to impress them with what iv done- they can see your qualifications and ur reference. instead i tried to tell them who i am and why i want to do the subject. i even devoted a paragraph to my hobbies- performing so they'd know i wasn't just a one-track person.....
Meh, I sounded a bit one track, I guess they didn't mind much. I was even asked about scrabble since I mentioned it on my PS....at least it is a change from DofE and playing an instrument!!!!

And yes, Yusuf needs to pick a name and stick to it.
Reply 8
Yeah, I dont think it matters that much to have read books, though it does show a general interest. I got asked about mine in my interview (Oxford), but I seem to be in the minority. I was gonna put Music of the primes cos I thought I might be interviewed by the author (Du Sautoy is at Wadham), but then figured it would be a little too blatently sycophantic.

(if you want to see my PS, I noticed the other day that e-unit unscrupulously stole it straight into his otherwise excellent thread about oxford maths admissions..)
Popa Dom
(if you want to see my PS, I noticed the other day that e-unit unscrupulously stole it straight into his otherwise excellent thread about oxford maths admissions..)

:redface: (link in sig) :redface:
Reply 10
If you access the website 'personalstatement.info' you'll be able to obtain numerous examples of personal staments. Registration is free and there are examples for a wide range of subjects. Good luck everyone!
Do you guys feel that you need ot have read maths books to do a maths degree?

Is it really not possible to do the subject just with a genuine love for it as a subject, and not have to read, the often dull, books on the subject?
Reply 12
If u have a genuine love for the subject then you wouldnt find the books dull.....only the textbooks are dull, others (on out-of-curriculum stuff) are often interesting.
Reply 13
OCC++
If u have a genuine love for the subject then you wouldnt find the books dull.....only the textbooks are dull, others (on out-of-curriculum stuff) are often interesting.

:dito:
Ok Im writing my personal statement now, and was going to include all the books I have read about maths but now think they might be a bit babyish.

Which books should I include?

Prime Obsession (about the zeta function and all that jazz)
A History of Pi
e The Story of a number (these 2 I haven't said anything other than they have been read)
What is Mathematics?
I've got God created the integers and read the first 50 pages or so but then it got a bit deep should I not mention this at all?
i find it quite ridiculous (no offence) that personal statements are required for maths. it should be-maths questions asked, answers provided, graded, done.
I know what you mean, for other subjects you can write **** like 'I did this.. it gave me some blah skills' whereas for maths there isn't much you can do outside of school except read which will further your mathematical knowledge.

gayyy
Don't worry about reading books. I read a few to name drop in my PS, but then couldn't fit them in in a relevant place, and just talked about UKMT and topics I enjoyed on the A level syllabus
Reply 18
maths-enthusiast
i find it quite ridiculous (no offence) that personal statements are required for maths. it should be-maths questions asked, answers provided, graded, done.


Believe it or not, some universities wouldn't mind students that are good at maths AND other things. Fancy that!
zrancis
Believe it or not, some universities wouldn't mind students that are good at maths AND other things. Fancy that!


Woah. Why would they want that? :p: