STEP Prep Thread 2021

If I achieved the STEP requirements for Cambridge maths this year, but I don’t hold an offer, can I apply next year and not have to take STEP if i get an offer?

Reply 781

Axiom101

4

Original post by xodiahaoobsisb

If I achieved the STEP requirements for Cambridge maths this year, but I don’t hold an offer, can I apply next year and not have to take STEP if i get an offer?

No, I don’t think so. They seem to require people to take step in the year that they apply.

Reply 782

Anti-Covid19

11

Original post by xodiahaoobsisb

If I achieved the STEP requirements for Cambridge maths this year, but I don’t hold an offer, can I apply next year and not have to take STEP if i get an offer?

Did you applying for 2021 entry or you are actually just finishing year 12? If you are year 13 next year and plan to apply in October 2021 will depends on the overall quality of your application. If you are invited for an interview and did well with your at interview test etc, the admission team would then decide whether to make you an offer. On the other hand if you have applied for 2021 entry and been rejected then you need to reapply.
As for STEP this would probably depends on how well you did as Cambridge admission team get to see your exam scripts. If you are a fresh applicant and already achieved 1, 1 or above in STEP 2 & 3 will make you a strong applicant. But if you are actually reapplying then you need to know why you were rejected as STEP grade might not be the only reason to reject an applicant. Good luck.

Reply 783

Anti-Covid19

11

Original post by Axiom101

No, I don’t think so. They seem to require people to take step in the year that they apply.

I agree with you as Cambridge seem to want all their freshers to be sharp with their maths especially STEPs practice before starting part 1A of the Maths Tripos.

Reply 784

neca322

6

Original post by xodiahaoobsisb

If I achieved the STEP requirements for Cambridge maths this year, but I don’t hold an offer, can I apply next year and not have to take STEP if i get an offer?

No, but be sure to mention it, as this will almost gurantee you an offer.

Reply 785

xodiahaoobsisb

5

Original post by Anti-Covid19

Did you applying for 2021 entry or you are actually just finishing year 12? If you are year 13 next year and plan to apply in October 2021 will depends on the overall quality of your application. If you are invited for an interview and did well with your at interview test etc, the admission team would then decide whether to make you an offer. On the other hand if you have applied for 2021 entry and been rejected then you need to reapply.
As for STEP this would probably depends on how well you did as Cambridge admission team get to see your exam scripts. If you are a fresh applicant and already achieved 1, 1 or above in STEP 2 & 3 will make you a strong applicant. But if you are actually reapplying then you need to know why you were rejected as STEP grade might not be the only reason to reject an applicant. Good luck.

I applied to Oxford this year and got rejected, but I was thinking of applying to Cambridge next year. I still don’t really know why I was rejected since I had a good MAT score and 4 A* but i guess it was just really competitive. In my step i got an S in STEP II and a 1 in Step III so I was hoping all these grades would be enough to get an offer and since I’ve done 4 admission tests already I’m not too keen on doing many more…

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 786

Anti-Covid19

11

Original post by xodiahaoobsisb

I applied to Oxford this year and got rejected, but I was thinking of applying to Cambridge next year. I still don’t really know why I was rejected since I had a good MAT score and 4 A* but i guess it was just really competitive. In my step i got an S in STEP II and a 1 in Step III so I was hoping all these grades would be enough to get an offer and since I’ve done 4 admission tests already I’m not too keen on doing many more…

First of all well done for your A levels and STEP grades. S,1 are great score as the standard STEP requirement for an offer is usually 1,1. However S,1 & 1,S offers are not unheard of.
Academically you are definitely stand a great chance of getting accepted at Cambridge. But you need to try to find out why you were rejected by Oxford. I heard of someone apply to Oxford and got very good score for MAT and was rejected post interview.
As Oxbridge got very different teaching style compare to other unis in the UK. Their tutorials at Oxford & supervisions at Cambridge teaching are quite unique and only suitable for certain type of students. Hence Oxbridge go to great length to pre-interview, at interview assessment, face to face interview to determine the ability & potential and suitability of a student for their course.
If you are still determine and keen on Oxbridge I would suggest you take a gap year and reapply to Cambridge for 2022 entry. But there are a few things to bear in mind.
1) I think very likely you will at least get an interview.
2) There must be a reason or reasons you got rejected by Oxford ( I am assuming that you were rejected post interview). If you got good score for MAT, then likely is due to suitability issue. So try to find out what were the reasons and try to ratify them before your Cambridge interview (if you decide to reapply).
3) If you do decide to apply to Cambridge they might ask you to retake STEP 2 & 3 in 2022 as a condition offer as they want their freshers to be hot with their STEPs. So continue with your STEPs until you get an unconditional offer.
4) You might not get an interview or rejected by Cambridge and are you prepare to take the risk of wasting a year.

Reply 787

Anonymous(

13

Original post by xodiahaoobsisb

I applied to Oxford this year and got rejected, but I was thinking of applying to Cambridge next year. I still don’t really know why I was rejected since I had a good MAT score and 4 A* but i guess it was just really competitive. In my step i got an S in STEP II and a 1 in Step III so I was hoping all these grades would be enough to get an offer and since I’ve done 4 admission tests already I’m not too keen on doing many more…

I think with those A level and STEP grades, you're guaranteed an interview(even at trinity tbh) and if you do decently at interview, you'll get an offer. Although you should definitely ask Oxford why you got rejected, because with those predictions and a good MAT score, the only thing I can think of is bad GCSEs (there isn't much emphasis on them for maths anyways) or a poor interview performance. However, I think Cambridge will ask you to sit STEP again because they want all their students to keep doing hard mathematics before they start.

Reply 788

252s

9

Original post by xodiahaoobsisb

If I achieved the STEP requirements for Cambridge maths this year, but I don’t hold an offer, can I apply next year and not have to take STEP if i get an offer?

Yes. I sat STEP in June 2020 and got 1,S; I then applied to Cambridge for 2021 entry and currently have an unconditional place.

Note that whether or not you need to resit STEP will depend on the college and potentially interview performance, so I suggest you email colleges to find out their policy on this. As mentioned above, it is in theory possible for a college to ask you to resit STEP and get 1,1 again (to ensure you're doing enough maths).

Make sure you find ways to keep up your maths during the gap year (eg. books, courses, etc.), and I would recommend you apply to a college that is encouraging or neutral towards gap years.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 789

thorpo

10

Anyone know when you should be hearing back from the pool?

Original post by thorpo

Anyone know when you should be hearing back from the pool?

I think it was around 6 or 7pm last year and year before. So I wouldn't expect to hear anything for another few hours, though in theory it can be at random points in the day. (?)

Reply 791

thorpo

10

Original post by _gcx

I think it was around 6 or 7pm last year and year before. So I wouldn't expect to hear anything for another few hours, though in theory it can be at random points in the day. (?)

Ok brilliant, guess now isn't the time to start constantly checking my emails... Thanks for this info it's been really useful these last couple of days

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 792

Axiom101

4

It feels like I went into the summer pool days ago. Has 16 hours ever seemed so long!!?

Thanks from me also for the helpful comments because I had no idea about how all this works.

Reply 793

thorpo

10

Original post by Axiom101

It feels like I went into the summer pool days ago. Has 16 hours ever seemed so long!!?

Thanks from me also for the helpful comments because I had no idea about how all this works.

Agreed. I'm absolutely bricking it.

Original post by thorpo

Ok brilliant, guess now isn't the time to start constantly checking my emails... Thanks for this info it's been really useful these last couple of days

I think the odd person hears a bit earlier, but the bulk of decisions seem to come at once. So you might get an email earlier I just wouldn't get too obsessive just yet :tongue:

Original post by Axiom101

It feels like I went into the summer pool days ago. Has 16 hours ever seemed so long!!?

Thanks from me also for the helpful comments because I had no idea about how all this works.