The STEP Web Project

1. You make an application to a specific college or by an open application (where a college may select you if they have the space). The application consists of your public examination predicted grades, and grades for past public examinations. It als consists of a 4000-word personal statement. Cambridge also has a statement of their own (as to why you are applying), which they claim to only benefit them in research.


2. After making an application you will be interviewed by the college you applied to (open applications get interviewed by various colleges on behalf of the university). The style and format varies from college to college.


• Should you fail in the interview, you can be placed in what's known as the Winter Pool where, if your college thinks you are good enough, yet don't have the space, another college may make you an offer.
• Should you further fail the Winter Pool, you can apply for the Autumn Reconsideration Pool; this pool is where you sit STEP and your exams (without an explicit offer), and a college may take you up on results day, should they have the space.


3. You sit STEP, with a typical offer being at least 1 in both STEP II and STEP III.


• Should you fail to meet your STEP offer, your college may still accept you should they have space (about a third of Cambridge maths students do not meet their offer).
• If your college does not have the space (and you do not meet your offer), they may submit you into what's known as the Summer Pool, whereby other colleges can decide to take you on instead.

Because of similar standards, applications to both Oxford and Cambridge are not permitted. There are multiple reasons why one may pick Cambridge over oxford

• The Course Structure

  Cambridge's applied section is more oriented towards physics, and makes it partly compulsory unlike Oxford. However, Oxford orients more towards finance and education. Another thing worth noting is that Oxford exclusively offers joint courses such as Maths with Philosophy and, Maths with Statistics, whereas Cambridge offers Maths with Physics. Oxford students can switch to a joint maths and phyics honors in their third year.

• The Chance of Getting in

  Cambridge has a better (by a relatively small degree) applications to places ratio than Oxford, and also offers pooling which Oxford does not such as the Summer and Autumn reconsideration pool. Furthremore, there is more data about cambridge applications than Oxford, which means you can make better informed decisions about your application.

• STEP vs MAT

  Opinions on which exam is easier (in terms of passing) vary from person to person. The key differences between STEP and MAT are as follows:

  • MAT has a multiple choice section, STEP does not
  • STEP has two papers, so if you fear a bad grade in one, you can try and exceed your offer on the other
  • STEP has grading, so you there is a degree of certainty if you meet your offer
  • STEP is taken during your A-Levels and is based on AS to A-level further maths content; the MAT is taken in November of Yr13 and is based on AS single maths content.
  • STEP has an applied section; the MAT is pure
  • You have a choice of which questions you wish to answer in STEP

• Preference of Lifestyle

  Cambridge is smaller than Oxford, and is less like a city. It is highly reccommended you viit both universities before you make a decision.

Your choice of college plays a relatively small role in the application process, due to the high amount of pooling that takes place. Your choice of college can be informed by the following:

• The Ease of Entry

  Some colleges are easier to get into for other subjects. Cambridge has an interactive bar chart for application data that can help inform your decision.

• The Size

  Some colleges are larger than others; hence individuals in smaller colleges will be more closely-knit. However, smaller colleges tend to have less money, which mean relatively less opportunities.

• Location

  Some colleges are far from the centre of Cambridge; Girton is notorious for being the furthest. St John's, for example, is immediately next to the maths department, meaning less travel time to lectures.

The UCAS personal statement constitutes a relatively small role in Cambridge's application process. Due to the fact that there are no examinations between submitting an applications and the interviews, it is highly unlikely for anyone to fail to be interviewed (unless you're say, an international applying for Trinity). That being said, a good personal statement can help for any university and can aid in your application to Cambridge.

• How to Structure it

  Most personal statements have an introdution, a conclusion and a main body. However, it is worth noting that you do not have to be explicit in doing so; you don't need to say 'to conlcude' or 'My name is...' (they have your information from UCAS). Cambridge does not hold extra-curricular (non-academic) activities in high regard, so it's best to keep those to a minimum (I used 100 words).

• How to Engage with your Experiences

  Despite doing a lot of work to build up your repertoire, a good personal statement shows more about how you have enganged with what you have done. Instead of explaining what you did, explain why> you did it, and why it was interesting. It is also worth creating links to maths and your other subjects to show that you have variety in your academic interests.

• What Activies Can You Do

  Some activities that you can do:

  • Compete in maths essays
  • Start/join a maths club/society at your school or institution
  • Do a MOOC (an online course). I personally reccomend "Paradox and Infinity" by Prof. Agustín Rayo
  • Join an award scheme such as the Mark Evison Award and learn to do some
  • Read a maths or physics related book (Personal favourites include "How Not to Be Wrong" by Jordan Ellenberg and "What if?" by Randall Munroe)

Interviews are the last hurdle between an applicant, and their offer. It is the most imporant factor for deciding whether you get an offer or not, and some colleges, such as Murray Edwards and Trinity, do pre-interview examinations. When doing an interview, Cambridge is examining three things:

• Your ability to pass STEP
• Your enthusiasm for maths
• A structured approach to problems

• State every method you can before answering a question

  Before answering a question, listing every appoach you can think of is a very useful method to ensure that (a) the interviewer knows you have vast areas of knowledge and (b) if you use the wrong approach the interviewer knows that you have alternatives. Furthemore, it's not uncommon for interviewers to give hints, and if they decide to hint to a method you have already stated, it will feel like less of a giveaway.

• Prepare for grpah-sketching questions

  Sketching a graph of a function is perhaps the most common form of interview question, and a good handle on those would put you in good standing for the interview. A good approach is to exmaine asymptotes, then the derivative and then do a sketch. Another example would be to simplify the equation to draw as a series of nested functions and then seeing how every point on the graph of each layer transforms to the next.

• Tell the interviewer if you have done a question before

  If you have done a question before, it is best to save interviewing time and tell the interviwer that you have done a question before so that they can move on to another one. There is more to show-off by doing a brand new question, than repeating the solution for a question you know.

• Don't be afraid to ask for a hint

  All interviewers give hints to anybody struggling to answer a question. Getting answers right it not the point of the interview; they want to see your thought process. Hence if your mind is blank for a long while, and you are struggling to approach the interview, feel free to ask them for a hint.

• You don't have to ask a question at the end

  Many interviewers ask if you have any questions at the end of the interview. You are not examined on the question you give; unless you have a good question that you legitimately wish to know the answer to, it's best to ask anything. A good rule of thumb is to ask question that you can only get from a professor at cambridge, and not something you can get online or from your teacher. It's also reccommened that you not ask about their work (because you will be told your interviewer's names before the interview). Any deviation from this may cause the interviewers to be irked rather than impressed.

• You don't have to revise topics you haven't yet done

  Cambridge sends out a form which asks what topics you have, and will study at A-level; this helps inform them what topics to interview you on.