STEP Prep Thread 2016

Hey!
I'm not actually going to be sitting STEP, but I'm applying for Physical Nat Sci and I thought trying these papers for the next few months will be useful.
How long do you recommend trying a question for before giving up and looking at a solution?

Reply 644

Krollo

17

Original post by Windowswind123

Hey!
I'm not actually going to be sitting STEP, but I'm applying for Physical Nat Sci and I thought trying these papers for the next few months will be useful.
How long do you recommend trying a question for before giving up and looking at a solution?

What I normally do if I can't get a question out in an hour so is leave it and come back to it the next day. The ideas have a way of coming after a good night's sleep :-)

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 645

math42

20

Original post by Windowswind123

Hey!
I'm not actually going to be sitting STEP, but I'm applying for Physical Nat Sci and I thought trying these papers for the next few months will be useful.
How long do you recommend trying a question for before giving up and looking at a solution?

If you've just started, maybe a couple of hours (although certainly less if you can't make any progress)...even then it's far better to look at hints, if they are available.
When you're more practised it can whittle down to an hour I guess.

Reply 646

Windowswind123

Original post by Krollo

What I normally do if I can't get a question out in an hour so is leave it and come back to it the next day. The ideas have a way of coming after a good night's sleep :-)

Posted from TSR Mobile

Alright, thanks!

Reply 647

InOrbit

9

Not too sure how many people have seen this, or maybe I'm just slow, but this PDF somewhat shows how STEP papers are marked.

http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/Images/258632-advanced-problems-in-core-mathematics.pdf

It doesn't look like they 'punish you for partial answers', but the questions are set so the harder parts are at the end anyway.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 648

shamika

OP

16

Original post by Alex:

Not too sure how many people have seen this, or maybe I'm just slow, but this PDF somewhat shows how STEP papers are marked.

http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/Images/258632-advanced-problems-in-core-mathematics.pdf

It doesn't look like they 'punish you for partial answers', but the questions are set so the harder parts are at the end anyway.

You're not being slow - they've uploaded the wrong document by accident I think. Nice find!

Reply 649

InOrbit

9

Original post by shamika

You're not being slow - they've uploaded the wrong document by accident I think. Nice find!

I'm going to quickly save the PDF then, methinks!

Reply 650

Original post by shamika

You're not being slow - they've uploaded the wrong document by accident I think. Nice find!

Nah, it isn't a mistake:

ATS

Thanks for getting in touch.

This mark scheme has been provided to give candidates an insight into how questions are marked, as well as the methods expected to answer questions. This is all based on the 2011 version of the test, which does not include any questions that will be used again in this test, though of course questions of the same type will be.

A similar, though less detailed document is also available in each past paper available on our website.

Best wishes

Reply 651

shamika

OP

16

Original post by Zacken

Nah, it isn't a mistake:

I was going by the link itself (which refers to one of Siklos' booklets), and hadn't looked at the site itself :smile:

I'm going to credit myself for ATS opening up a little :tongue:

Reply 652

Original post by shamika

I was going by the link itself (which refers to one of Siklos' booklets), and hadn't looked at the site itself :smile:

I'm going to credit myself for ATS opening up a little :tongue:

Yeah, I saw the same thing "images/advanced...pdf" and thought it was a mistake as well so I emailed them, that's what they replied with.

Haha, you deserve the credit! :smile:

Reply 653

KMan98

Is 1,1 in step 2/3 a realistic goal for someone getting borderline 1's in step 1 at this stage?

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Reply 654

Original post by KMan98

Is 1,1 in step 2/3 a realistic goal for someone getting borderline 1's in step 1 at this stage?

Posted from TSR Mobile

A 1,1 in STEP 2/3 would be a realistic goal for someone starting prep in January. So, you're ahead of the curve.

Reply 655

How's everyone's STEP prep going? I'm laying off STEP for a while and focusing on my applications and A-Levels (Jan exams) - but I entertain myself with the odd old STEP question every now and then to keep me on my toes. Haven't looked at a STEP III paper yet, though! :ahee:

Reply 656

rcmehta

Could someone explain why in the solution for 2003 STEP II, Q4, d + D = R. I thought that d is just D rather than R - D because in the first example d is the distance from the origin to the segment rather than the height of the segment which is what R - D would be. Thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 657

rcmehta

Original post by Zacken

How's everyone's STEP prep going? I'm laying off STEP for a while and focusing on my applications and A-Levels (Jan exams) - but I entertain myself with the odd old STEP question every now and then to keep me on my toes. Haven't looked at a STEP III paper yet, though! :ahee:

I've started to look at a few STEP II questions to see the difficulty change, it's interesting. Feels like when I was starting STEP I, can normally do the first part "easily" but the next parts are quite tough.

In year 12 so I don't have as much to do for actual AS work, still have 9 exams though they won't really count :frown:

. What unis did you apply for?

Reply 658