Hey! I’m Alex and I study Maths at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. From a young age, I’ve been into Maths as long as I can remember. I really enjoy the problem solving aspect of it all, so I’m really glad I got the chance to come to Oxford and learn more here.
My usual week consists of 10 lectures a week from 9-11 every weekday, and then tutorials on a 2-week schedule in the afternoons. I usually have about 1-3 tutorials a week, as well as a weekly class with everyone doing Maths at my college. Tutorials will go over the last week’s problem sheets in a 1:2 or 1:1 setting, so that you get specific advice on how your work went, and on topics that you may want to revisit. The problem sheets take a variety of time depending on the material and how confident you are on that subject, but usually take around 3-4 hours to complete. There were 5 problem sheets a week, 1 for each course, in Michaelmas and Hilary Term, and this reduces to 4 in Trinity, as you have revision by the end.
The Mathematics Admission Test (MAT) is very important for entry. It’s by far the most important thing for getting an interview (I believe even with less than desirable grades, a good MAT score will be enough). I did all the MAT papers from around 2007 to the present, and getting used to the style of questioning is very important. It’s not the same as A-Level, so I’d advise you ask a teacher to mark your work at least once, so that you can go through the mark scheme yourself on other sheets knowing what to look for.
I was anxious before my first interview, but after being eased into it by the tutors, the whole process was fairly smooth. I had two interviews at St Catherine’s, and one at Mansfield, and it was the same process at both. They sit you down with some small-talk before starting with the questions. None of my interviewers asked about my personal statement (I don’t know if they even read mine!). You should still make sure you know it fully, just in case they do. I got about 3 questions in each interview, ranging from logic and graphing, to fractals and probability. You’re not expected to know the topic in advance. Anything that isn’t in your syllabus will be part of the question, so when preparing don’t try and learn as much as you can, rather focus on improving your problem solving skills – how to approach a question and work through it. I found working through a list of interview questions I found on The Student Room helpful, although obviously none of those questions would come up. Just remember to be clear and concise with your work. It can be hard to avoid panicking and just staring at the question, but it’s very important to keep talking through what you’re thinking. Remember, they can only know what you’re saying, not thinking. The point isn’t really to get the answer, rather to demonstrate that you’re capable of the thought process to solve the question. If you start to go down the wrong path, they will tell you. The interviewers will give you hints when they feel you’re stuck, and you can always (and you should) clarify the question if you don’t fully understand. Even if you don’t think you did well because you didn’t get the answer, that’s not what matters. It’s your logical thoughts that will count. On one question, they even told me I’m not supposed to be able to finish in time!
Overall, I’m really enjoying Maths at Oxford. It’s known to be one of the hardest degrees there is, but it’s well worth it. I’m sure if you enjoy your subject you’ll definitely enjoy your time here!