Everything you ever wanted to know about studying maths at university

Starting with... Misconceptions:

Speaking of mathematics, especially pure maths, most of the misconceptions come in two parts:

1. You must be very smart in order to study maths!
2. You must be very quick at mental calculations and/or pressing the calculator!

There are a lot of stereotypes about correlations in high IQ and studying maths because of different international maths competitions. 📖 For instance, most competitive schools have notoriously intensive and demanding training teams for the different Mathematics Olympiads for high school students.

Although maths competitions certainly help in problem-solving skills, they’re not a prerequisite for any mathematics degree! In reality, the challenging problems in Olympiads often require the sharpest minds in the country, and the stereotype that all maths undergraduates must be able to solve them is completely untrue. You don’t need to be an international Olympiad champion to strive for a maths degree at university. 🤓

Other than that, maths students are often regarded as “moving human calculators”. 👨‍💻 In a restaurant, for example, there’s sometimes the stereotype that the math students will be the ones splitting the bill and sorting out the change! Because “you’re quick at mental maths”, right? 🤔

Whilst you’ll likely be expected to do simple sums and percentages in your head, there are only a few maths undergraduates who can actually carry out complex mental calculations fast and accurately. Most students do their calculations and reasoning slowly and carefully!

Being able to reason your answer carefully and rigorously is a really important skill. At uni, the students who get the best grades often aren’t the ones who know the most, but the ones who are the most careful instead! 🔍

Also, it might surprise you that in a lot of maths exams at uni, students are not allowed to use a calculator! 🚫 There’s barely any pure numbers in exam questions, but there are lots of logical reasonings and proofs to complete.

How maths at uni differs from A Level/IB

Third-year students often get the chance to undertake an independent project under the supervision of a professor! 🎓 There’s full flexibility over the topic you choose, unlike in secondary school, where essay topics are set in stone by your teachers. This is similar to the Individual Assessment (IA) in IB, but of course, you can have more freedom, and even more extensive research on your project!

The most exciting part of all

A lot of maths students enjoy the constant problem-solving that a degree course offers! 🧩 Students are highly encouraged to practice and challenge themselves at different problems every day, so you’re able to do a lot of exploration in the vast sea of mathematics. 🌊

Moreover, being a maths student means that there are lots of opportunities to collaborate on projects with other students, who usually then become friends! 👯Most unis offer a group project / individual project “taster” unit in the first year where you’ll explore foundational topics in further depth. This could include differential equations, complex numbers, and probability & combinatorics. 📝

What jobs lie in waiting after a maths degree

Maths students go on to do a range of jobs, including becoming:

• Quantitative Financial Analysts: You'll use statistical formulas to assess risk by looking at life expectancies, damage reports and industry trends. 📈
• Technology/Data Analysts: You’ll provide data insights through clear visual, written and verbal communication by using statistical tools. 💬
• Accountants: You’ll give financial advice, audit accounts and provide trustworthy information about records. 💸
• Software Developers: You’ll code, debug and explore computer programs! 🖥️
• E-Commerce Managers: You’ll guide and support clients & colleagues so they can make sound business decisions.

Of course, there are also students who pursue further studies such as PhD degrees in order to become a researcher, lecturer, or even a professor! 👩🏾‍🏫

You don't need to become a teacher afterwardss

One major misconception is that it’s common for mathematicians to become secondary school teachers! 📎 Having a maths degree doesn’t make it significantly easier or harder to get into the education industry - you still have to do a PGCE/PGDE (Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma in Education) if you want to be a qualified teacher in the UK (at a state school). 📜

Are there other ways into these careers?

You can enter into a banking/finance/consultancy role with virtually any degree, although a more quantitative degree (such as maths) helps. For software and technology sectors, students can also start by self-learning different front-end and back-end programming languages & styles without the need for any degree. 💻 If you have the ability to think abstractly, the tasks in these jobs shouldn’t be too difficult for you!

What jobs skills does maths at university teach you

Maths students learn about advanced maths methods, which can then be applied to almost any STEM career with ease! 🔬 For example, different inference and statistical techniques will help a lot during market research in the finance sector. 🕵️

The ability to reason abstractly and argue logically also means that maths students can absorb industry knowledge more quickly compared to other non-STEM students! 💡

What you might do instead of maths

If, like many students, you’re confident in your problem-solving skills, but don’t have a knack for maths or an interest in writing mathematical arguments, a degree in Computer Science is an excellent alternative! 💻 Computer Science requires less maths, but emphasises practical puzzles and systematic thinking which help to ignite your maths skills. 🔑

University maths can sometimes be a little bit alien to new first-year students, especially with the amount of symbols and signs! 👾 In this case, a more practical STEM subject, such as Physics, Chemistry or Engineering could be a better bet than a highly theoretical pure mathematics degree. ⚗️

A combined degree is also a viable choice if you want to study another subject in-depth, or you just can’t make up your mind between two of your favourite subjects. Common choices are Mathematics and Physics, Computer Science, Economics or Philosophy (this is a little bit surprising, but due to their underlying principles of logical reasoning, maths and philosophy actually go really well together!). 🧠

What to do if you don't have the right subjects/grades to apply

One of the biggest worries for students who are planning to study at a prestigious university is whether or not they have to do A-Level Further Mathematics (FM). 🤯 Some universities, such as Cambridge and Imperial, require you to take Further Maths if your school offers it, so check uni admissions criteria first! 🚨 If your school doesn’t offer it, you’re still encouraged to apply but be sure to ask your teacher to clearly indicate this on your UCAS application form. 💪

If FM isn’t outright required, your decision depends on whether STEP (the admission test, explained later) is required in your conditional offer! If yes, it’s recommended that you take FM as a lot of the course content is required for STEP questions. 💯

If you’re not required to take STEP, it’s really up to your preferences whether you want to study FM in school or not. If you choose not to, you should still self-learn some advanced math that interests you! The simplest way to get started is to borrow a maths textbook from the library and try to complete some exercises. 📚

Needless to say, it requires a lot of determination and hard work if you want to self-learn, and it takes up a lot of your revision time too! ⏰ But in return, you’ll have a much deeper understanding about different mathematical tools and be well prepared for the self-teaching style of universities! 🤩

If you are confident, try the STEP past papers and see how many answers you can get right. Doing well in STEP may lower your entry requirements at some unis, so it’s definitely still worth looking into, even if it isn’t required! 💡

A couple of words of warning

🚫 DON’T BE ARROGANT! Sentences like “I understood calculus since I was 4” have no meaning unless that inspires you to think about something deeper about mathematics. Admissions officers want to know what you’re currently interested in and inspired by - what drives you today? Show that you are a detailed and goal-oriented person, without explicitly stating you are! 🔥

DON’T JUST SEARCH THE MOST DIFFICULT PROBLEMS IN MATHEMATICS AND SIMPLY SAY YOU ASPIRE TO SOLVE THEM! 🙄 This may seem oddly specific, but a lot of candidates talk about wanting to solve the Riemann Hypothesis or the Millenium Hardest Math Problems. If anything, this just shows that you don’t understand the prerequisites of the problems! If you’re mentioning a difficult problem in your personal statement, focus on the steps required, the solution’s implications and what you learnt from your research. Don’t get carried away by your own fantasies! 🔮

Admissions Tests & Interviews

There are 3 admissions tests that are required/beneficial when applying for a prestigious university:

• MAT (Mathematics Admission Test)
• TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Application)
• STEP (Sixth Term Examination Paper),

STEP is known to be tricky! 🥴 It's used for entry to maths degrees and has 2 papers (STEP 2 and STEP 3, STEP 1 is cancelled starting from 2021), both of which require A-Level FURTHER Mathematics knowledge. In both papers, you choose 6 questions to answer out of 13 in the course of 3 hours, so play to your strengths! 💎 It’s used in applications for Cambridge (it is a must for maths!), Imperial, UCL, Warwick etc.

MAT is used for admission for Mathematics degrees AND joint hours Maths degrees. You’ll need to answer 5 questions according to the degree that you’re applying for, so read the instructions carefully. 👀 The paper is primarily focused on AS Level Mathematics (with a bit of early A-level content - check the syllabus) but this doesn’t mean that the questions are easy! This non-calculator paper challenges your understanding in the most fundamental way and requires you to carry out manipulation smartly and accurately. 🤓 It’s used in applications for Oxford (compulsory), Imperial and Warwick.

TMUA is for those who are pursuing mathematics, joint honours Maths, Computer Science 🖥️ and other related subjects. The first paper is focused on AS Level Mathematics, but uses a minor number of math terms that you may not have heard of before - check the spec! The second paper can also ask you questions from the “Logic & Proof” topic which most students haven’t studied before - there are full notes on this on the Cambridge TMUA website. 🏛️ Both papers are multiple-choice, non-calculator and usually sat back-to-back. It’s used for entry to Computer Science at Cambridge, but also for Maths at Bath, Cardiff, Durham etc.

When it comes to prep, start as early as you can! Most students start studying at the start of their year 12 -> 13 summer holiday 🏖️, but the earlier the better. The MAT test questions in particular can really help you with your math skills, so attempt as many questions as possible, even if you decide not to apply for the official test in June! 🌟

Good luck with your application, and if you have any questions about maths at uni just get in touch!