The Student Room Group

Maths PS

Hiya, I was wondering if anyone knows of any things I could do to demonstrate my interest in maths for my PS? I've got a few books I've started reading, but anything else (or other books lmao) would be great.

I did the maths challenges in secondary school and got a gold in year 11, could I mention that but just "forget" to mention what year I did this in? lmfao

Also, in my PS, can I talk about what I've enjoyed studying in my A Level courses, or should I not, because everyone else will have studied the same thing?

When I'm talking about books, how do I demonstrate what I've found interesting about them, without just listing things I thought were interesting? How do I avoid just telling them about something I've found out, considering who ever is reading it would know substantially more about it than I would?
(edited 2 years ago)
I would definitely talk about *some* of the things you've enjoyed in a level maths but you have to demonstrate *why* you've enjoyed them (for example, if you've enjoyed statistics then you could state how important it's use is in the real world) and give relevant examples of using this topic if you can (although i realise that this will be hard to do since you've only used maths in answering exam questions and not any coursework)
Reply 2
Original post by Anonymy0us
I would definitely talk about *some* of the things you've enjoyed in a level maths but you have to demonstrate *why* you've enjoyed them (for example, if you've enjoyed statistics then you could state how important it's use is in the real world) and give relevant examples of using this topic if you can (although i realise that this will be hard to do since you've only used maths in answering exam questions and not any coursework)

To be honest what I've enjoyed most is pure maths - I certainly wouldn't say I'm not interested in how it's used in the real world, but I enjoy it more for just what it is, than how it could then be used. (For example, I've enjoyed studying complex numbers, and it's cool how they can be used for things like fluid dynamics, but that's not the main thing that interests me, I just think they're interesting on their own, and for example Euler's identity is really cool)
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by heccyeah
To be honest what I've enjoyed most is pure maths - I certainly wouldn't say I'm not interested in how it's used in the real world, but I enjoy it more for just what it is, than how it could then be used. (For example, I've enjoyed studying complex numbers, and it's cool how they can be used for things like fluid dynamics, but that's not the main thing that interests me, I just think they're interesting on their own, and for example Euler's identity is really cool)


I'd probably just suggest then seeing if you can look at some actual pure maths textbooks at university level, e.g. an introductory analysis textbook or something. This would give you something to write about but would also give you a sense of what pure maths is like at uni - it's very different to the "pure" maths you do in A-level (which are really just mathematical methods), as the focus is on proof and abstraction, rather than solving problems (even if the problems are "general").
Reply 4
Original post by artful_lounger
I'd probably just suggest then seeing if you can look at some actual pure maths textbooks at university level, e.g. an introductory analysis textbook or something. This would give you something to write about but would also give you a sense of what pure maths is like at uni - it's very different to the "pure" maths you do in A-level (which are really just mathematical methods), as the focus is on proof and abstraction, rather than solving problems (even if the problems are "general").

Thanks for the idea - I will definitely try looking at some :biggrin:

Would you say that there are really any parts of a level maths / fm that are at all similar to what pure maths is like at uni, or is it all completely different? I do like the sound of it being based more on proof and abstraction, but I suppose I don't really know until I actually try it.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by heccyeah
Thanks for the idea - I will definitely try looking at some :biggrin:

Would you say that there are really any parts of a level maths / fm that are at all similar to what pure maths is like at uni, or is it all completely different? I do like the sound of it being based more on proof and abstraction, but I suppose I don't really know until I actually try it.


I don't think so really; I gather even the proof topics in FM aren't that similar to proofs at uni. Probably the closest thing is the differentiation from first principles which is a slightly handwavy introduction to the format definition of a derivative.

Note that the topics you learned in A-level will still come up a lot - especially matrices and complex numbers (also calculus but that's more in the mathematical methods and applied maths side as on the pure side you'll be more learning the "theory" of calculus in analysis rather than how to compute more and more difficult integrals).

@_gcx might be better placed to advise if there is anything comparable from the A-level syllabus?
Reply 6
Original post by heccyeah
Thanks for the idea - I will definitely try looking at some :biggrin:

Would you say that there are really any parts of a level maths / fm that are at all similar to what pure maths is like at uni, or is it all completely different? I do like the sound of it being based more on proof and abstraction, but I suppose I don't really know until I actually try it.

I can only speak for the first term of first year at a uni that doesn't require further maths (since I dropped out after that :colondollar:), but the number theory chapter and part of the group theory chapter of Edexcel FP2 were near identical to one of my modules, so that's probably the easiest to compare directly from A level (the proofs are all very very simple, but it's that initial idea of having some axioms and working carefully from there).

Other than that there were similarities in basic methods but nothing else identical like the example above, and then analysis which can be a bit of a jump if you've only been taught calculus in the vague way that many schools do (i.e. only enough to answer the exam questions without knowing why it works/is allowed). I've seen quite a few unis recommend "How to Think About Analysis" by Lara Alcock on their reading lists, I've only read part of it but it seems like a decent, easily-understandable way to see what sort of things you'll have to look forward to :smile:
As above, group theory and number theory in FP2 are probably the closest as Interea said. You will probably also be finding eigenvectors & eigenvalues of matrices quite a lot in linear algebra, (often for more marks than A-level! There was an 8 marker on one of my papers for finding normalised eigenvectors for a matrix) though it will be surrounded by more advanced stuff.

Otherwise, proof by contradiction pops up everywhere in maths and gives you the first taste of university level proof. It's not really something you can look at in isolation though, it's something that kind of intertwines work in other areas. Starting in, say, set theory, elementary number theory, real analysis or group theory according to your interests wouldn't be a terrible idea. You can find gentle introductions to most of these.

Talk about maths you like but I wouldn't concentrate too much on the maths you've done in school. You don't want to appear too attached to the school curriculum, it might make it seem like you haven't done much work outside that required for your A-level. Maybe talk about how certain topics at A-level inspired further research or reading: rather than say "I've quite enjoyed matrices", say something like "I quite enjoyed matrices which lead me to read into vector spaces, which gave me a deeper understanding of the calculations I was performing at A-level", etc.
(edited 2 years ago)

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