Cambridge maths

12

Hi all, I’m really stressing and could use some advice . Basically I am in year 13 and want to apply to Cambridge maths next next year as I am taking a gap year . Last year I made some silly mistakes and only got a silver on the senior maths challenge . I won’t be able to do the smc this year as I am missing the day . Meaning I will only be able to add a silver on my personals statement as you cannot do the smc after year 13. Since it is maths , there is not much else to put on personal statement apart from competitions . And every single person who is applying for Cambridge maths has at LEAST a gold in the SMC and a huge number of them have qualified for the kangaroo , BMO and beyond . 1) Will this disadvantage my Cambridge maths application as I will only be able to put down a silver . 2) what other competitors can I do instead ?

Reply 1

mqb2766

21

Original post

by Fermat42647

Hi all, I’m really stressing and could use some advice . Basically I am in year 13 and want to apply to Cambridge maths next next year as I am taking a gap year . Last year I made some silly mistakes and only got a silver on the senior maths challenge . I won’t be able to do the smc this year as I am missing the day . Meaning I will only be able to add a silver on my personals statement as you cannot do the smc after year 13. Since it is maths , there is not much else to put on personal statement apart from competitions . And every single person who is applying for Cambridge maths has at LEAST a gold in the SMC and a huge number of them have qualified for the kangaroo , BMO and beyond . 1) Will this disadvantage my Cambridge maths application as I will only be able to put down a silver . 2) what other competitors can I do instead ?

You must have looked at the maths supercurriculum stuff?
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
So the competitions are only a small part of it and while gold/bmo/... sounds a bit more impressive than a silver, really theyre looking for someone whos interested/has a passion for maths. There are several ways of showing it as shown in the pdf. Even for people who got gold/bmo, really theyd be interested in what you learnt, what was interesting, ... not just the mark.

For cambridge maths, the ps is probably the least discriminating part of the overall application process. The interview (test) in dec and the step exam in june are more important.

Reply 2

AriTem

12

I'd agree with the previous poster. Just go with your maths competitions but write something in your personal statement that shows your passion e.g. an area of maths you have done extra work in. Assuming you have got the required predicted grades and your PS is decent, then there's a very good change you will get an interview. They interview over 80% of applicants and make an offer to 1/2 of those interviewed. They then use STEP results to determine who gets in so it will come down to how well you do in the STEP. That's the hard part or the easy part if you're a math genius! Getting into Cambridge for math is very much a meritocracy (which is the way it should be really).

(edited 1 year ago)

Cambridge maths

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