FAQ
Here are some common questions that I have received from numerous conversations with brilliant students and their caring parents. My answers will give you an insight into how I work with my students in our sessions, and how I support them on different parts of their journey.
I am struggling to figure out exactly what subject to do at university. What do I do?
We host regular QnAs with my extensive and enthusiastic network of peers from Cambridge. These are great opportunities to get to know what it's like to study different subjects at university, and also to create connections with existing Cambridge academics/students. So far, we have had the privilege of having 2 Mathematics Research Fellows, a Physics PhD student and a Masters student in Engineering, all from Cambridge, to do our QnAs. These events are extremely popular and get filled up very quickly. Please see the wonderful testimonials that both students and speakers have sent me to get a sense of what these virtual events are like. To keep updated with future QnAs, please sign up to our mailing list.
Please note that these QnAs are only open to existing students, rather than to the public. If you'd like to join a QnA, you must first apply to our programme by booking a consultation.
How do you ensure that the student is enjoying mathematics as an intellectual pursuit, rather than getting overly fixated on specific university admissions and tests?
My 'Discovery' Offering is exactly designed for developing the 'mathematician' in students. The goal is to get the student to learn how mathematicians do mathematics through the exercises I assign in this module, so that they can start thinking like a mathematician. This is important because it will ensure longevity in the students' mathematical studies, and very often, Cambridge admissions is a natural by-product of having studied mathematics like a mathematician for an extended period of time(min. 1 year) prior to the start of the admissions process.
The specific content of this offering is tailored to each student depending on how they fare in my Mathematics Subject Suitability Assessment Criteria, but an example set of modules consists of going through famous theorems and proofs, analysing the logic behind the proofs and any interesting tricks or insights used in them, going through Isaac Physics questions, and my custom modified STEP questions which are subproblems from STEP papers or problems I've created using STEP problems as a reference. Another exercise I like to do with my students is to ask them to write down questions that naturally come to them about the topics we've discussed and share their attempts to answer those questions with me. In a way, this is how Cambridge interviews work. By guiding students to engage in the process of mathematical discovery, they build up their inner mathematician in a robust and sustainable way.
Another important component, as described above, is doing pre-university level mathematics and physics, to get a sense of what is to come at university level. For advanced students, exposure to university level mathematics is also possible, but whether this is suitable is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
What mathematics extracurricular activities can I do outside of Olympiads to put in my Personal Statement?
I would always recommend PROMYS and Maths Beyond Limits. These are selective mathematics camps for secondary school students. There are also essay-based competitions hosted by a variety of organisations which I think would be great additions to your Personal Statement.
Is it worth doing STEP a year early?
If a student takes STEP a year early, they are making a statement in their application to Cambridge. I work with students thinking about this to calculate how much time and energy it will take to get the highest scores in STEP II and III (S,S), and see if it is feasible with current time constraints. Otherwise it might be best to take it at the normal time.