How to Do Well in STEP Maths for Cambridge, Warwick and Imperial

📷 Follow Me on Instagram: / theramjad
Vishal's Website: vg354.user.srcf.net/ (will be updated so do check back often)
=== Timestamps ===
00:00 - Introduction
00:51 - What is STEP
01:30 - What STEP is Used For
01:46 - Assumption Throughout the Video
01:57 - Timeline of Admissions Process
02:18 - General Cambridge Offer
02:51 - How STEP is Graded
03:13 - How the Grades are Used
04:08 - How Grade Boundaries are Decided
05:02 - STEP II vs STEP III
05:43 - How to Prepare for It
19:34 - Exam Strategies
30:31 - How Many Questions You Need
33:51 - When to Start Doing Papers and How Often
35:31 - When to do STEP Foundation Modules
37:30 - Conclusion

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

finally updated my website to look presentable haha - I'll try organise the resources on it some time this term too :)

[@kasiphia]

Hello. I was wondering where I could find a list of the topics one should be familiar with for the STEP exam, and/or review sheet(s) for these topics.

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

@@kasiphia www.admissionstesting.org/Images/47831-step-specification-2023.pdf

[@user-di5mq6po5k]

@@VishalGupta-gn4uoHi Vishal, what modules in Further Maths did you do? And is there any additional topics we should learn from A Level Further Maths that come up on STEP? Thanks

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

@@user-di5mq6po5k Hi, I learned maths and further maths early so it was old specification so I'm not familiar with what topics are in which modules. For topics in STEP, it's in the specification: www.admissionstesting.org/Images/47831-step-specification-2023.pdf

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

@@user-di5mq6po5k I self studied it early in the old spec so it doesn't map very well to the current modules. You can focus on the step specification which I linked above.

[@robingupta7048]

Well said and well explained

[@basteqss8859]

Big respect for both of you ;)

[@77tigers26]

this is so useful!

[@nonamesleft9699]

Very useful thank you

[@finnhogan5525]

Vishal's hoodie is extremely cultured

[@sciencewithsoph3620]

Would you recommend taking 1B NST maths alongside double physics and if so what advice would you give for doing well in it

[@RAmjad]

Oh hey, I'm so sorry for the late reply! That's a pretty specific question so do feel free to reach out by email (see the business part of my channel) or Facebook and I can share my two cents (also, I really like your channel, so cool to see more Cambridge students making videos!)

[@cwater9795]

Where is the website of your friend?

[@luke6164]

I'm currently in year 12 doing maths further maths and physics, however doing the assignments I can only get like 20% right since I haven't been taught the subjects, does anyone have any advice on what I should or is this normal?

[@urszulakedra973]

Hi there, you might like to take a look at the STEP specification and/or STEP practice modules - I find these quite helpful to assess which topics I still need to learn :)

[@dac8939]

Dude this is beyond me. I struggled to get a D at Gcse. Forget a level and hell with Step

[@Everything-mh4bp]

GCSE is bare easy

[@billybilly4566]

What should you focus more on pursuing when choosing a career , money or passion/interest , they're both big factors , I've heard that you should focus more on passion as you'll be working 8hrs a day for the rest of your life , but then again money gets you a lot of freedom/luxuries , so what factor is more important when pursuing a career?

[@RAmjad]

Hi, it really does depend on where your values lie and this would require a whole video of its own but I think it is possible to have both. But I want to briefly mention a few points (a) for many high paying corporate jobs, you may be earning a lot of money but you may not have the time to spend it on luxuries (I have a friend who works in consulting and frequently works 12 hours a day) (b) more money doesn't mean more freedom, you may be working more hours or have much greater responsibilites in a higher-status role (c) it depends on what luxuries you're considering - I have a rather minimalist attitude and think buying sports cars or expensive watches or dining at really expensive restaurants to be a waste of money (I would recommend watching this TED talk kzbin.info/www/bejne/eprYp2aOj7aLr8U) (d) I would highly recommend checking out 80000hours.org/ as it's by far the best website I've come across on everything to do with careers - their career review profiles and guides are fantastic!

[@billybilly4566]

@@RAmjad thanks bro I'll check the website , second question (similar to the first question ) , money buys happiness but only to a certain point? Going from poor to having luxuries/freedom increases happiness but going from luxuries to very rich doesn't increase happiness ? That's what the science says but a lot of my friends say that money increases happiness indefinitely (I disagree) . What do you think

[@RAmjad]

@@billybilly4566 Yup, I agree. I think there's been a few studies done where beyond £50-70k / year so, the amount by which it improves your happiness is greatly reduced. I think it comes down to money problems and life problems that Casey Neistat mentions in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIDJc3-ua8d_kKs (would highly recommend watching it). Like, earning that amount will solve pretty much all your money worries but won't solve any of your life problems so beyond a certain point, I think it's much better to spend more time fixing any life problems than earning more money. I may make a video about this at some point in which I gather my thoughts and articulate it better because I did worry about this growing up. Hope that helps :)

[@user-di5mq6po5k]

Hi what modules from Further Maths would you additionally recommend to learn?

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

Compare with step specification: www.ocr.org.uk/Images/696329-step-specification-2024.pdf

[@channelSiddhartha]

Hi, do you guys help prepare for MAT too ? I need some help in preparation. thanks

[@RAmjad]

Hey, I asked Vishal and he was actually thinking of a video for the MAT. We’ll try to record it ASAP (maybe Monday or Tuesday next week?) and it’ll go up the same day

[@Thiago-pc7vk]

Can Cambridge STEP Maths be used when applying to the USA? Will it be a “wow” factor?

[@Lalalovemelikeyoudo-]

Step is not required by any USA university. If you have time preparing for step...You d better prepare for some competitions like AMC

[@Thiago-pc7vk]

@@Lalalovemelikeyoudo- my focus rn is the uk since they concentrate a lot more on academics/maths than EC. Nevertheless, I plan to do a phd in the USA and the open curriculum would be a plus. Can I take the AMC as a 19yo/gap year international student?

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

@@Thiago-pc7vk No idea about AMC. Doing STEP and doing really well in it could be impressive but you take STEP in June so you'd have to do it the year before you apply to US Universities. If you're focusing on UK for undergrad and US for PhD then just focus on ranking really highly at university in your final year.

[@user-iz8xe5pf2q]

Why did I skip this videoㅜ I regret 😫 Can I ask when did he start to prepare it?

[@RAmjad]

I can't remember but I'm pretty sure he mentions it in the video (unless I'm wrong in which case I can ask him?)

[@user-iz8xe5pf2q]

@@RAmjad nooo it's ok 👍 I'm just in AS level so it's a quite future

[@VishalGupta-gn4uo]

i had a weird case where I did some questions in year 12 because my teachers gave me a book of questions to work through - I was doing it fairly slowly and this is before I was really considering Cambridge anyway (this was the Siklos book - I usually went on my phone in lessons so it took a year to do them lmao). Foundation modules I did in Year 12 summer and then a couple of STEP 1 qns before interview & then most of my preparation for S2 and S3 was after my offer. In particular I didn't time it great so it mainly was during lockdown in a fairly intense period - should have spread it out more but luckily it turned out alright . hope that helps :)

[@jas-yq3ri]

@@VishalGupta-gn4uo For people with no competition experience, i.e. only GCSE/A-level math experience, do you think they should relearn math from more rigourous sources? I was thinking along the lines of Olympiad books/Aops books. I'm at point whereby, I am not sure if it's STEP questions that I should be focused on or spending time learning the material from more harder sources to develop problem solving ability as a-levels doesn't really do this.

[@hamzhehe5062]

@@jas-yq3ri I’m in the same predicament. Just replying to see if you get an answer

[@Prodbybah]

sir please do interview with imo medalist or ipho medalist please international mathematics olympiad or international physics olympiad please sir in this week if possible please sir please

[@RAmjad]

Hey, so it’s pretty hard to find someone who’s done well in the IMO but is also fine with a video being taken of them for thousands to see online but I will keep trying. Super sorry for not being able to do this sooner :(