A Cambridge Maths Student

Hello friends! I am a (soon to be) PhD student in mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge, having finished my undergrad here this June. This blog is about my life as a PhD student, although I am still finding my voice in the big blue tumblr world! My Sherlock blog is sad-gay-sherlock. Have a nice day c:

[alice-studies-maths]

23 Research Things Programme! Thing 2: Blogging

Hey friends! I know it has been a while since you saw me around here, and for that I apologise. I have been so so busy with meeting lots of new post-grad friends at my college and then with starting my PhD! But I’m back now, and will hopefully be posting on a semi-regular basis again.

This term I am taking part in the 23 Research Things Cambridge programme, which will introduce me (and you if you read my posts about it!) to 23 research concepts or tools over the course of 8 weeks. I am hoping it will be really helpful as I start out with my PhD. 

What do I hope to get out of the programme?

An overview of the resources that might be useful to me during my research career

Some tips about how to be an effective researcher

Advice on how to communicate my research, both to other academics and to a general audience

Ideas about the transferable skills I might get from my PhD

Some understanding of how best to market myself and my research to potential employers

Using this blog to reflect on my experience of the programme will help me to not only collect my thoughts about the tools covered and how best I might use them, but also allow me to share this information with you guys! Writing long posts like this does make me a bit nervous - I am very conscious that the more words I write the fewer people will read them. It is definitely not the kind of blogging I am used to. But I think on the whole it will be a good way to keep this blog active and maybe even make it more useful to other people!

So I hope you will join me as I discover what it means to do research, and which tools will help me along the way!

x x x

[alice-studies-maths]

Working at the university centre today!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. A lot of shit has been going on in my personal life and I am feeling really overwhelmed right now. Hopefully things will start looking up soon!

[alice-studies-maths]

Hello, I'm an upper sixth student looking to study maths, possibly at Cambridge. Would you be able to tell me a bit about the course/uni/atmosphere/life there? Is it a total pressure cooker? Do you have any free time? No problem if you're too busy/don't want to. Good luck with your PhD. Thanks, Ethan.

Hey Ethan! No worries I am happy to help you! The course in Cambridge is really fantastic, and I definitely recommend it on that score. Especially in first and second year a lot of work goes into designing the lecture courses and finding the best possible lecturers to make the teaching as engaging as possible. Plus the supervision system means that there are academics who are really on your side and can put a lot of time into helping you do well. I also think there is a lot of value to being one of only around 10 people studying your subject at your college - it makes for a great atmosphere for collaboration and you can get to know your course mates really well!

The university as a whole is also great; one of the things I really loved about being an undergrad here was being in a very challenging environment with really interesting people around you constantly. Everyone is very driven and interested in their subject and I guess that made me feel accepted and at home.

Is it a pressure cooker? In some ways yes. It can feel like a very intense place to be in week five of term when everybody is exhausted and drowning in supervision work. But part of the reason it is so intense is that there is so much going on to fill your free time with! I hate the phrase “work hard, play hard” but it is quite appropriate to describe life in Cambridge. Whatever it is you like doing, there is a group of people doing it, and you have time to do it with them. I know people who have succeeded in Cambridge and never worked after 7pm. You are forced to get the most out of your time, both for work and for fun, but there really is time for fun. I promise. My undergrad here was the most fun four years of my life.

If you are doubting whether you want to intensity of life at Cambridge, I would encourage you to just apply. You’ll likely get an interview, and your interviewers will do a pretty good job of figuring out whether you would thrive on the challenge or be better of elsewhere. It is a great opportunity and you have nothing to lose by giving it a go.

Good luck with everything!

[alice-studies-maths]

Hello Alice, I know this might not be your area of expertise but what a level combinations do you advise to someone who is thinking of law at uni but still wants to keep options open? Hope you have a lovely day!

Hey! You’re right this is not my area of expertise, but my housemate studied law and is now working in admissions and I have asked her! She said that it doesn’t matter too much as long as you take “traditionally academic” subjects, i.e. sciences/humanites/languages etc. are all fine, the only thing that might disadvantage you is if you take more than two “less academic” subjects i.e. art/design etc. My advice is to take whatever A levels you find most interesting since you are likely to be motivated to do well in them! And from what my housemate says, it sounds like it is pretty easy to choose A levels that will help you with a law application, and still keep your options open. Good luck with everything and feel free to ask me if you still have questions :)

[mathematicool]

i really want to study maths at university, but i'm used to being one of the best at maths in my year (i was one of two people who got 100% on an end of year exam and i didn't work that hard) and i'm really worried that if i go to university i will no longer be one of the best and i'll be really upset about it. do you have any advice? (also i'm aware this sounds really arrogant sorry)

Hello,I’m really sorry for the late reply! I understand what you mean - I was one of the best in my class at GCSE and when I got to sixth form, I found myself surrounded by loads of maths geeks who were just so amazing at maths and it did knock my confidence a little. But if you really do enjoy maths and want to study it further, there’ll come a point where you will just stop caring about how you compare against other people and start caring more about learning new and exciting maths for yourself. Don’t let your grades - or anyone else’s for that matter - get in the way of your enjoyment of a subject!! There will always be someone better out there so just focus on yourself and doing your best. Hope that helps and good luck with your studies. :)

[growing-at-peace]

Anon, I am in exactly that position! I was the only one to get an A* in further maths at my school this year and I just know I am going to my uni where I will be average amongst v clever and hardworking people.

It’s ok to miss the glory days, but we would never let that get in the way of what we are truly passionate about.

We are not spending a load of money on a degree for admiration for others. It’s because we adore the subject!

[rebeccastudiesmaths]

You guys, don’t worry about being the best. There’s always gonna be that one person who can top the year with barely any work. It happens. And there are those with rock solid concentration spans who can work all day. Just worry about being the best you. Challenge yourself. Aim to better your current average. Enjoy it.

Uni is completely different to A-levels. You are used to aiming for as close to 100% as possible. It’s difficult to get above 80% at uni. Perfection is incredibly rare.

It’s more important that you become a well balanced person. Learn how to overcome your setbacks, enjoy learning from people at the very top of their field, work on your soft skills. Aim high, but don’t be disappointed if something goes wrong if your tried the best you could at the time. Sometimes you learn more from a bad grade than you do a good one.

[alice-studies-maths]

Also, there are huge benefits to being around people who have the same talents as you - it is fun to be in a way more challenging environment, and you will grow much more as a person! Remember your worth is not defined by getting 100% on an exam, you are much more than that.

[etudiaire]

09.14.16

half way through the first week of university! Gotta say the study spaces are to die for ~

[marianordvall]

Working with an essay and this time about the fantastic Vincent van Gogh. It’s a joy writing! Study hard lovers.

[lostlxmb]

06/30—07/16 › 85 — 100/100 + the rest of july

don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. —dr. seuss

[kerrystudies-blog]

23.08.16 • 12:49PM last week’s bujo! It’s definitely an improvement on last week but the past few weeks have been lazy spreads sorry. Doodled a bunny because I got a new bunny! So I decided to stick it in. And I didn’t use a ruler which I loved, felt so freeing ^^ however I have spent a bit of time for this weeks spread and I love it and I’m so excited about it, it may be a permanent style of layout; and I’ve finally bought notebooks for uni notes so I’m doing them soon so lots of stuff will be posted. And I want to talk so spam me with messages.

[cyborgsinc-deactivated20190520]

082316 // last week’s spread! got to see the guillermo del toro exhibit at lacma, tried some cool new food places, and started to get my affairs in order for going back to school (i fly back in two days!)  

[alice-studies-maths]

Hi Alice. So long story short, I've been depressed all day today and crying my eyes out to the point where I couldn't breathe. I got my last batch of IGCSE results today and I don't think I could've done any worse. I've only managed to reel in 2A* 5A and 2B's. In my opinion... it sucks big time. I've gotten a B in my favourite subjects, psychology? (ONE I topped my entire grade in)((and still got a B?)) DO you have any tips for dealing with this anxiety, and do these IGCSE grades really matter?

Hey friend. I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed with your results. It sounds to me like you are used to overachieving, and you feel like you didn't reach your potential this time around. This happens to everyone at some stage.I know these are the biggest exams you have ever done, but in the grand scheme of things, they don't matter. This is not going to affect what you do next (right?). So take a deep breath. Think about what went wrong. And do better next time.Also, make sure you remember that there is literally no relationship whatsoever between your grades and your worth as a human being. Your identity is not solely defined by being an overachiever. If you feel like it is, you could take this as a reminder to spend a little time on yourself, and get to know yourself a little better.Tldr: you are more than these results, and everything is going to be okay.

[studyshu]

300516 - Today, I’m preparing to mail some postcards. Got my results this morning and everything turned out okay, phew! I worked really hard this AY so I’m thankful that I made my tutors and myself proud 😊 Good grades aside I’m happy I emerged from the second semester with a better idea of how I want to spend the rest of my university life, and how to manage my expectations.

Tidied and revamped my desk to allow for more flexibility and customisation and now I’m so thrilled to kick ass again next semester.

[procrastinaiting]

17.7.2016 // I finally assembled my ikea desk! I’ve been studying to get ahead on classes this fall.

[rhiannon-rambles]

planner pics! re-drawn future log, “my ideal day,” this weeks spread + my july monthly pages ready to go!

finally getting back into the swing of it 👍🏻✨

[studynowsandee]

7/29 - Good morning! ☺️ It’s raining right now. I love waking up to the rain. Have a great day, everyone!

[studyingmeow]

14.08.2016 / 84 days till A’s 

10/100 days of productivity

Every time i try to do organic chem i have to tell myself that i chem do it 🙃 but i feel like my head is going to explode from all the reactions i need to memorise😭

Here’s a sneak peek of my completed bujo spread for the week! Trying to complete as many things as possible on my to-do list wish me luck 😂 hope everyone’s enjoying their weekend as well (While it lasts lol)

[shooting-stars-andsatellites]

Adult realization: you will make mistakes, you will act irrationally. You will commit some wrongs that cannot be fully righted. People will dislike you and misunderstand you for all sorts of reasons. None of these make you a bad person. All you can do is try your best to be kind and just to people, grow and learn.