How much work did oxbridge maths students do in their A-levels?
I’m an aspiring oxbridge math student but I’m worried about not being naturally gifted enough to make the cut. I have to work harder than most people in my year in order to get decent grades (in year 12).
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You mean in terms of AL performance or studying in math in general?
For former, understandably, the higher percentage the better and you should satisfy the conditions mentioned in the official websites.
For latter, I think you need to be passion towards learning mathematics and be willing to engage in mathematics journey, be it reading extra-curriculum books or joining competitions. For example, we all know that the AL textbooks fail to give us a clear explanations in terms of the underlying meanings of dot product and cross product, have you ever thought about discovering them by watching 3B1B online? What's more, if applying to Cambridge, you will definitely take MAT or STEP as entrance examination, are you willing to spend more than 3 hours a day in studying mathematics and continuously practice past papers in more than 6 months?
For former, understandably, the higher percentage the better and you should satisfy the conditions mentioned in the official websites.
For latter, I think you need to be passion towards learning mathematics and be willing to engage in mathematics journey, be it reading extra-curriculum books or joining competitions. For example, we all know that the AL textbooks fail to give us a clear explanations in terms of the underlying meanings of dot product and cross product, have you ever thought about discovering them by watching 3B1B online? What's more, if applying to Cambridge, you will definitely take MAT or STEP as entrance examination, are you willing to spend more than 3 hours a day in studying mathematics and continuously practice past papers in more than 6 months?
(edited 8 months ago)
Original post by ECFDPB
You mean in terms of AL performance or studying in math in general?
For former, understandably, the higher percentage the better and you should satisfy the conditions mentioned in the official websites.
For latter, I think you need to be passion towards learning mathematics and be willing to engage in mathematics journey, be it reading extra-curriculum books or joining competitions. For example, we all know that the AL textbooks fail to give us a clear explanations in terms of the underlying meanings of dot product and cross product, have you ever thought about discovering them by watching 3B1B online? What's more, if applying to Cambridge, you will definitely take MAT or STEP as entrance examination, are you willing to spend more than 3 hours a day in studying mathematics and continuously practice past papers in more than 6 months?
For former, understandably, the higher percentage the better and you should satisfy the conditions mentioned in the official websites.
For latter, I think you need to be passion towards learning mathematics and be willing to engage in mathematics journey, be it reading extra-curriculum books or joining competitions. For example, we all know that the AL textbooks fail to give us a clear explanations in terms of the underlying meanings of dot product and cross product, have you ever thought about discovering them by watching 3B1B online? What's more, if applying to Cambridge, you will definitely take MAT or STEP as entrance examination, are you willing to spend more than 3 hours a day in studying mathematics and continuously practice past papers in more than 6 months?
I meant for the actual A-Levels, I genuinely enjoy reading and doing math problems - I have done STEP questions before and found the process fun. At the moment, I satisfy the requirements stated.
Original post by Milk_Sheikh64056
I meant for the actual A-Levels, I genuinely enjoy reading and doing math problems - I have done STEP questions before and found the process fun. At the moment, I satisfy the requirements stated.
Well, it depends. If you are a British, then achieving the criteria A*A*A mentioned on the website, or achieving a little better score A*A*A*, is enough, whereas, if you are an international student, a higher performance is expected. For example, as a Chinese student, A*A*A*A* is a general standard for me to be competitive among Chinese international students.
Original post by ECFDPB
You mean in terms of AL performance or studying in math in general?
For former, understandably, the higher percentage the better and you should satisfy the conditions mentioned in the official websites.
For latter, I think you need to be passion towards learning mathematics and be willing to engage in mathematics journey, be it reading extra-curriculum books or joining competitions. For example, we all know that the AL textbooks fail to give us a clear explanations in terms of the underlying meanings of dot product and cross product, have you ever thought about discovering them by watching 3B1B online? What's more, if applying to Cambridge, you will definitely take MAT or STEP as entrance examination, are you willing to spend more than 3 hours a day in studying mathematics and continuously practice past papers in more than 6 months?
For former, understandably, the higher percentage the better and you should satisfy the conditions mentioned in the official websites.
For latter, I think you need to be passion towards learning mathematics and be willing to engage in mathematics journey, be it reading extra-curriculum books or joining competitions. For example, we all know that the AL textbooks fail to give us a clear explanations in terms of the underlying meanings of dot product and cross product, have you ever thought about discovering them by watching 3B1B online? What's more, if applying to Cambridge, you will definitely take MAT or STEP as entrance examination, are you willing to spend more than 3 hours a day in studying mathematics and continuously practice past papers in more than 6 months?
It's STEP for Cambridge. MAT is used by Oxford and some other universities but not Cambridge.
Also, you do not need to spend three hours a day on past STEP questions.
Original post by melancollege
It's STEP for Cambridge. MAT is used by Oxford and some other universities but not Cambridge.
Also, you do not need to spend three hours a day on past STEP questions.
Also, you do not need to spend three hours a day on past STEP questions.
Really? I do remember that Cambridge recommends that students who take STEP prepare for their STEP for 9 months or 3 hours a day for 3 months. Anyway, for me, I did practice STEP past paper 3 hours a day and finish all modules and past papers from 1998 to 2023 provided by the authority.
Original post by ECFDPB
Really? I do remember that Cambridge recommends that students who take STEP prepare for their STEP for 9 months or 3 hours a day for 3 months. Anyway, for me, I did practice STEP past paper 3 hours a day and finish all modules and past papers from 1998 to 2023 provided by the authority.
Do you have a source from Cambridge where they make this recommendation? I've worked in many outreach events with Maths and we have never given that advice. Some, maybe even many, students may opt to do so but I would be surprised if this was Cambridge's official guidance.
https://maths.org/step/
The Foundation modules provide a structured introduction to solving STEP problems. The modules also introduce mathematical ideas beyond the A-level syllabus and include supportive self evaluation materials. They are designed to be studied weekly over about 6 months. If you are planning to take STEP 2 and 3 at the end of Year 13, we recommend you start studying the Foundation modules in Year 12. They are also useful for Year 13 students who want to study Mathematics at university but who are not planning to sit STEP papers.
The STEP 2 and STEP 3 modules assume that you have already worked through the foundation modules. We recommend that you start these in Year 13 (ideally you would start working on the STEP 2 modules soon after the beginning of Year 13, and the STEP 3 modules around January of Year 13).
Seems like that Cambridge doesn't require us to study math every day.... My bad and I do apologise☹️ Maybe I heard this recommendation from my math teachers
The Foundation modules provide a structured introduction to solving STEP problems. The modules also introduce mathematical ideas beyond the A-level syllabus and include supportive self evaluation materials. They are designed to be studied weekly over about 6 months. If you are planning to take STEP 2 and 3 at the end of Year 13, we recommend you start studying the Foundation modules in Year 12. They are also useful for Year 13 students who want to study Mathematics at university but who are not planning to sit STEP papers.
The STEP 2 and STEP 3 modules assume that you have already worked through the foundation modules. We recommend that you start these in Year 13 (ideally you would start working on the STEP 2 modules soon after the beginning of Year 13, and the STEP 3 modules around January of Year 13).
Seems like that Cambridge doesn't require us to study math every day.... My bad and I do apologise☹️ Maybe I heard this recommendation from my math teachers
I'll be honest right, a lot of people that are "good" at maths aren't naturally gifted. its only a very few percent. Often, the general ability to conceptualise new content is rarely taught to students, which means that you spend a lot more time memorizing content instead of learning it. It is clear that you like maths, so I encourage that you start thinking out complex problems or derivations, and get a feel for why you are doing certain things. I know SO SO many more people that have gotten into cambridge and oxford for pure maths with getting bronzes and silvers in the maths challenge, and its often the people that do get golds and above that get ahead of themselves.
I sat the step this year, and due to personal issues, I was only able to revise for about an hour a day for the 2 months leading up to the exam. I spent most of that time on questions that I knew I was strong at, as trying to take on unfamiliar questions is too much of a challenge with such little time. I only ended up attempting about 7/12 questions on each step 2 (2004-2023) with most on pure and either 1 or 2 on applied depending on the question, averaging 40 in the 3 most recent papers, but I need a 2 for imperial maths and cs.
In this recent step 2, I answered q9 and q11 fully (projectiles and probability respectively), with 2 half and 2 fragmentary in the pure - quite a shocker to me!
My main strategy was to get really solid on the applied parts, as most of the questions they ask just require knowledge and experience in their area, with more straight forward working. I specifically focused on projectiles and restitution for mech and pdf (probability density functions), cdf, and probability (coin toss questions e.g) for stats, as I've found these to be the easiest applied questions to answer. I avoided every resolving question and all the uniform distributions questions as I am just so **** at them, but I encourage you to have a go and see what you like.
I would recommend trying applied, as it is the easiest to get good at quickly, but any maths will help you for step, even the step 1 papers. Just try do as many as you can and don't worry too much. There are also solutions on the ocr mei website (integral maths) for all steps 1996-2023: integral maths.
I sat the step this year, and due to personal issues, I was only able to revise for about an hour a day for the 2 months leading up to the exam. I spent most of that time on questions that I knew I was strong at, as trying to take on unfamiliar questions is too much of a challenge with such little time. I only ended up attempting about 7/12 questions on each step 2 (2004-2023) with most on pure and either 1 or 2 on applied depending on the question, averaging 40 in the 3 most recent papers, but I need a 2 for imperial maths and cs.
In this recent step 2, I answered q9 and q11 fully (projectiles and probability respectively), with 2 half and 2 fragmentary in the pure - quite a shocker to me!
My main strategy was to get really solid on the applied parts, as most of the questions they ask just require knowledge and experience in their area, with more straight forward working. I specifically focused on projectiles and restitution for mech and pdf (probability density functions), cdf, and probability (coin toss questions e.g) for stats, as I've found these to be the easiest applied questions to answer. I avoided every resolving question and all the uniform distributions questions as I am just so **** at them, but I encourage you to have a go and see what you like.
I would recommend trying applied, as it is the easiest to get good at quickly, but any maths will help you for step, even the step 1 papers. Just try do as many as you can and don't worry too much. There are also solutions on the ocr mei website (integral maths) for all steps 1996-2023: integral maths.
Original post by Milk_Sheikh64056
I’m an aspiring oxbridge math student but I’m worried about not being naturally gifted enough to make the cut. I have to work harder than most people in my year in order to get decent grades (in year 12).
ibr if you're not amazing at maths it might not be worth it. if you've been doing ukmt competitions they should all be high golds. i'm in yr11 and i've gotten gold in all (3x intermediate maths challenge) and i don't consider myself good enough for maths at oxbridge so i haven't given it a thought. but obviously if ur working hard and practising step questions consistently then u could
Original post by Anonymous
ibr if you're not amazing at maths it might not be worth it. if you've been doing ukmt competitions they should all be high golds. i'm in yr11 and i've gotten gold in all (3x intermediate maths challenge) and i don't consider myself good enough for maths at oxbridge so i haven't given it a thought. but obviously if ur working hard and practising step questions consistently then u could
How much work did you put in for ukmt?
Original post by Milk_Sheikh64056
How much work did you put in for ukmt?
my teacher gave us a few practice past papers to do in class in the 2/3 weeks following up to the imc but i pretty much did nothing outside class.
i'm also in a top ~20 school so there is a high standard and many very smart people here. i'd say the people i've seen who probably have a chance at oxbridge maths are those who are getting olympiad in ukmt challenges. it is really really hard. warwick is also great for maths though although i am aware that you're aspiring towards oxbridge
Original post by Anonymous
my teacher gave us a few practice past papers to do in class in the 2/3 weeks following up to the imc but i pretty much did nothing outside class.
i'm also in a top ~20 school so there is a high standard and many very smart people here. i'd say the people i've seen who probably have a chance at oxbridge maths are those who are getting olympiad in ukmt challenges. it is really really hard. warwick is also great for maths though although i am aware that you're aspiring towards oxbridge
i'm also in a top ~20 school so there is a high standard and many very smart people here. i'd say the people i've seen who probably have a chance at oxbridge maths are those who are getting olympiad in ukmt challenges. it is really really hard. warwick is also great for maths though although i am aware that you're aspiring towards oxbridge
I looked into Warwick and I loved the look of it tbh. That is definitely an option. I did the ukmt with no prep and a school that didn’t really care much tbh, so getting a silver in senior isn’t too bad I’m assuming? Any thoughts on applying to Imperial instead of Oxbridge?
Original post by Milk_Sheikh64056
I looked into Warwick and I loved the look of it tbh. That is definitely an option. I did the ukmt with no prep and a school that didn’t really care much tbh, so getting a silver in senior isn’t too bad I’m assuming? Any thoughts on applying to Imperial instead of Oxbridge?
Thanks for the advice and good luck in Chemistry!
Original post by Milk_Sheikh64056
Thanks for the advice and good luck in Chemistry!
of course. thanks and u too
Original post by Milk_Sheikh64056
I’m an aspiring oxbridge math student but I’m worried about not being naturally gifted enough to make the cut. I have to work harder than most people in my year in order to get decent grades (in year 12).
Imo (this applies to other subjects too) its less about immediately getting something and more about the inevitability that the student does, at some point, get it.
Dumb analogy; if people are cars, going from 0-100 mph on a topic isn't super relevant. Whats more important is the ability to eventually hit 200mph or something. It is true that a small % of oxbridge students do this without much work, but most will be sufficiently stretched that effort is required.
The reason it might be hard to understand if thats possible is that most applicants have never really pushed themselves. Even people who feel like they work hard/ push hard, probably leave a lot on the table still in terms of what's possible. I would not say going home and spending 2-3 hours doing additional work on a topic is working hard in the context of whats possible. Then again, not everyone is either capable or would want to push themselves to such extremes.
This is kind-of the reason for STEP's existence. It would be unusual to immediately be good enough to get a 1 in STEP (the students who do this largely have extensive experience in other longer-form problem solving exams like Olympiads). What's a lot more common is to more gradually work up to that standard and actually reach it. But "get good at STEP" is a months-long process. I would compare it more to training for a marathon than training for a sprint. If you do not pick it up incredibly quickly and leave it too late then you will not pass.
STEP also removes a lot of the "am I good enough" anxiety though. You don't have to worry about this really, and to a certain extent the admissions staff dont have to either. STEP is the hurdle you have to clear and it will say whether or not you have the overall right package aged 18 to do the course. This isn't a comment on just natural ability or understanding or exam technique but more a combination of all 3.
Original post by ECFDPB
Well, it depends. If you are a British, then achieving the criteria A*A*A mentioned on the website, or achieving a little better score A*A*A*, is enough, whereas, if you are an international student, a higher performance is expected. For example, as a Chinese student, A*A*A*A* is a general standard for me to be competitive among Chinese international students.
Most UK applicants have A*A*A*A* predicted as well.
I'm an offer holder for entry this october (STEP 3 on monday pray for me haha) but I think the important question isn't whether or not you're good enough but whether or not you think the cambridge is the right place for you to study maths. It's a very intensive course and they expect a lot from you in the course and term, but if you really do enjoy maths, and you think that you'd fit in there, then I think it's worth at least applying because if you think that you realistically are prepared for that, then you will be able to put in the work now definitely. STEP is a very daunting task but it is definitely doable, my school offers me basically no support and I wasn't given an opportunity to enter any Olympiads or maths challenges, so you definitely don't need to worry about having it as experience (although it definitely would help), but I don't think I'm particularly amazing at maths compared to some of the other offer holders that I've spoken too but I've been doing STEP non stop for a while now and it has definitely helped me a lot, and because I've done so much extra work preparing for STEP, my maths in general is definitely way above where it would be had I not, and just that in itself is an amazing thing to take from it.
that was really long so summarised;
if you think the course is right for you and you'd fit in then apply and you'll be able to work hard enough to get in,
even if you apply and don't get in it is an amazing opportunity with interviews and preparing in general
anyone can get in no matter the background if they work hard enough imo
that was really long so summarised;
if you think the course is right for you and you'd fit in then apply and you'll be able to work hard enough to get in,
even if you apply and don't get in it is an amazing opportunity with interviews and preparing in general
anyone can get in no matter the background if they work hard enough imo
Original post by Anonymous
I'm an offer holder for entry this october (STEP 3 on monday pray for me haha) but I think the important question isn't whether or not you're good enough but whether or not you think the cambridge is the right place for you to study maths. It's a very intensive course and they expect a lot from you in the course and term, but if you really do enjoy maths, and you think that you'd fit in there, then I think it's worth at least applying because if you think that you realistically are prepared for that, then you will be able to put in the work now definitely. STEP is a very daunting task but it is definitely doable, my school offers me basically no support and I wasn't given an opportunity to enter any Olympiads or maths challenges, so you definitely don't need to worry about having it as experience (although it definitely would help), but I don't think I'm particularly amazing at maths compared to some of the other offer holders that I've spoken too but I've been doing STEP non stop for a while now and it has definitely helped me a lot, and because I've done so much extra work preparing for STEP, my maths in general is definitely way above where it would be had I not, and just that in itself is an amazing thing to take from it.
that was really long so summarised;
if you think the course is right for you and you'd fit in then apply and you'll be able to work hard enough to get in,
even if you apply and don't get in it is an amazing opportunity with interviews and preparing in general
anyone can get in no matter the background if they work hard enough imo
that was really long so summarised;
if you think the course is right for you and you'd fit in then apply and you'll be able to work hard enough to get in,
even if you apply and don't get in it is an amazing opportunity with interviews and preparing in general
anyone can get in no matter the background if they work hard enough imo
PRAY FOR YOUR STEP 3, hope both of us can get S😂
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