Maths degree- how to show commitment/work experience

[Brian9600]

My son wants to study maths at university (in a few years). He’s very good at it and has a history of competing in national maths competitions as well as consistently excellent grades. His teachers are supportive.

We have been wondering what else he can do to show his long term commitment to the subject. Normally I’d suggest some kind of relevant work experience but what would be relevant to maths?

Any ideas gratefully received.

Accountant, actuary, analyst, math teacher? He could tutor GCSE probably

Tutoring would be my suggestion.

Maths is a great degree, I loved doing mine.

Oxford & Cambridge both have suggested extension activities on their website from year 10 upwards. Take a look at those.

I don’t think it’s as necessary to have relevant work experience as for other degrees - you mainly just have to be good at maths. I suggest reading some popular maths books and maybe attending a few short maths summer courses (Manchester Uni did one when I was in sixth form 10 years ago) if available, and not worrying too much!

I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe that for maths, actually doing maths stuff and then doing well in the entrance tests is what matters.

I agree with looking online for extension stuff, if he hasn't (yet) got through to olympiad rounds in the maths challenges get him to have a look at past problems online from there and see what he thinks.

There are a number of you-tube sites that keep my youngest occupied - numberphile is one and I'm not sure of others, but he has learnt an awful lot of maths that way!

Good luck to him!

Pythonesque, Numberphile is popular in our house too. Also 3blue1brown.

My DS in Y12 has done some maths mentoring at school with younger pupils and had a stint at doing some tutoring.
He's helped at a local maths masterclass aimed at Y9 run by Bath uni and GCHQ (and attended as a Y9.)
He's read a few popular maths books, Fermat's Last Theorem and Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension and will read a few more.
He goes to a maths club club at school and has taken part in the UKMT challenges. He hasn't got into the Olympiad but has done the kangaroo a couple of times.
He's going to do STEP, not to get into Cambridge, but to improve his maths.
Universities tend to want high maths results rather than anything else. My older DS is at Warwick studying maths and anecdotally they don't even read the PS!

All he needs is to be very good at maths. He can do things that interest him, read around the subject, keep practising UKMT stuff (if he has done well in their comps he can look at their mentoring), look for summer schools (if you are near London then the Royal Institution have some really good stuff). When he's older he may be eligible for something like a Nuffield research project.

When it comes to writing the personal statement, the biggest problem is how little space there is, once they've put in some stuff they've done during the 6th form years there's not much room for anything else. While the PS is probably read by some maths departments, I think most don't put much weight on it.

You don't need work experience. DS was very good at maths and he did do Kumon tutoring but I'm sure it didn't affect his application.
What he did was lots of maths, competitions, reading about maths. He found he was very interested in maths history and mathematicians.

I think what probably got him his Oxbridge interview and offer was getting the very highest possible grades in every maths exam and doing some extra, self taught, modules at A level.

MillicentMartha is probably right about Warwick, which is very highly rated for maths, not even reading the PS. When DS applied they guaranteed an offer to anyone predicted A*s in Maths and FM A levels.

Read books, listen to podcasts, go to masterclasses and do competitions.