Wednesday 6 August 2014
Wednesday 16 July 2014
Home Tuition for MCAT/O'levels/A'levels in Johar Town, Lahore
I'm offering home tuition for those who are experiencing difficulty understanding the MCAT concepts and need extra help apart from the academies in the last one month before the exam. I have been taking O/A levels tuitions before but this is my first attempt at MCAT. Apart from MCAT, I'm also open to teaching Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology for O and A'levels. My strongest subject, despite being in a medical institution, is Mathematics.
I may be inexperienced, but being a fresh graduate and having cleared MCAT on my first attempt, I exactly know the ordeal all of you go through. At nominal fee, I'll give my best.
My personal academic achievements:
- 11A(10A*) in O'levels
- World Distinction in Additional Mathematics
- 5A* in A'levels inluding an A* in Further Mathematics
- 3rd best 4As in A'levels
- 1034 in MCAT 2012
- Currently studying MBBS at King Edward Medical University
Leave a comment below with your contact number/email or contact me at hamid391@gmail.com if you are interested. Make sure you live in the area, or near the area specified in the heading.
Monday 7 July 2014
The Dilemma of Further Mathematics
Most of you in A'levels must have heard the word "double credit subject" at least once during this period of two years. And this is what Further Mathematics is; an elite subject that schools only allow their top most students to attempt, hence, the high grade thresholds every year despite the difficulties.
Now, what's so special about this subject that makes it so exquisite and valuable? It only has 2 papers as opposed to 4 or 5 for most subjects in the CIE syllabus so shouldn't it be a bit more easy? Why is it that only the students with prior knowledge in Additional Mathematics are allowed to study this subject? And most importantly, why is this subject among the elite "double credit" club? I'll be answering most of this questions in the detail below but you are welcome to shut off your browser if you get bored. But let me tell you, only the persistent get through this subject unscorched. So consider this as your first test if you are willing to opt for this subject.
Further Mathematics will be your first introduction to discrete mathematics and the world of logic, something that still intrigues me despite having changed my field of education.
Basic Information about the Subject
I gave my A'levels exams in June 2012 and one of my A*s was in Further Mathematics. What prompted me to opt for this subject, despite committing my future to medicine, was my world distinction in O'levels Additional Mathematics. For me, FM was probably the only subject in A'levels that actually made me work for the A*. It took a lot of my time. Since there was no specific book and resources available, I had to mainly rely on my teacher's notes or look for videos on the internet. But despite all this, I was able to do well in the end. All it required was time and hard work. Though, I'll advice all of you to keep this subject only if you love Mathematics and already have a proven repertoire in the subject with good grades previously.
Throughout the two years of A'levels, I kept in touch with what was being taught in class for this subject. I practised regularly and made sure that my concepts were cleared as soon as they were taught. Past papers and my teacher's work sheets were my only source of practice questions. At times, I visited the Khan Academy website to clear some concepts, or found a guide, specific to a single chapter, online. So basically, there was never one resource for it. And it'll be my advice to all of you, to never stop researching until your concepts are completely cleared.
In the end before the exam, I completed all the available past papers, 2002-2011, and that gave me a pretty good preparation. All you need is practice.
FAQs
Do we need a graphical calculator?
Not if your concepts are clear. I didn't own one and was able to do pretty well.
Books required for the syllabus?
No book covers the whole syllabus so all these are just reference books except for the statistics one which pretty much covered everything:
Further Pure Mathematics by L Bostock
Further Mechanics & Probability by L Bostock
Advanced Level Statistics, the black book with a picture of dices
Now, what's so special about this subject that makes it so exquisite and valuable? It only has 2 papers as opposed to 4 or 5 for most subjects in the CIE syllabus so shouldn't it be a bit more easy? Why is it that only the students with prior knowledge in Additional Mathematics are allowed to study this subject? And most importantly, why is this subject among the elite "double credit" club? I'll be answering most of this questions in the detail below but you are welcome to shut off your browser if you get bored. But let me tell you, only the persistent get through this subject unscorched. So consider this as your first test if you are willing to opt for this subject.
Further Mathematics will be your first introduction to discrete mathematics and the world of logic, something that still intrigues me despite having changed my field of education.
- Further Maths is an exam, comprising of two components, that you are allowed to appear only as part of your A2 so there is no AS level for this subject.
- Each paper is of 100 marks and consists of 10 compulsory questions along with an extra optional question just like it was in Additional Mathematics exam.
- First papers is Pure Mathematics and with chapters like differential equations, vectors, matrices and other stuff.
- P2 is divided into two sections. Further Mechanics make up the first 5 questions, and the next 5 are constituted by Further Statistics. The last question is an option between either Mechanics or Statistics.
- For further details review the syllabus of your respective examination board.
I gave my A'levels exams in June 2012 and one of my A*s was in Further Mathematics. What prompted me to opt for this subject, despite committing my future to medicine, was my world distinction in O'levels Additional Mathematics. For me, FM was probably the only subject in A'levels that actually made me work for the A*. It took a lot of my time. Since there was no specific book and resources available, I had to mainly rely on my teacher's notes or look for videos on the internet. But despite all this, I was able to do well in the end. All it required was time and hard work. Though, I'll advice all of you to keep this subject only if you love Mathematics and already have a proven repertoire in the subject with good grades previously.
Throughout the two years of A'levels, I kept in touch with what was being taught in class for this subject. I practised regularly and made sure that my concepts were cleared as soon as they were taught. Past papers and my teacher's work sheets were my only source of practice questions. At times, I visited the Khan Academy website to clear some concepts, or found a guide, specific to a single chapter, online. So basically, there was never one resource for it. And it'll be my advice to all of you, to never stop researching until your concepts are completely cleared.
In the end before the exam, I completed all the available past papers, 2002-2011, and that gave me a pretty good preparation. All you need is practice.
FAQs
Do we need a graphical calculator?
Not if your concepts are clear. I didn't own one and was able to do pretty well.
Books required for the syllabus?
No book covers the whole syllabus so all these are just reference books except for the statistics one which pretty much covered everything:
Further Pure Mathematics by L Bostock
Further Mechanics & Probability by L Bostock
Advanced Level Statistics, the black book with a picture of dices
Friday 3 January 2014
AKU Test Preparation
Check out this blog: AKU Test Preparation
The above article almost says it all that I had in my mind for a blog related to the AKU test.
You need to achieve a relatively low percentage to qualify for the interview, so in my opinion studying a different system's book or going through new concepts in SAT II books would just be a waste of time. Instead, I would recommend you guys to focus on the A'levels syllabus and to make sure that you have sound concepts. Once you are sure of your concepts, then you may go through other stuff.
If you want to polish your English and Mathematics skills, then check out the SAT I book.
My personal experience:
Back in 2012, I appeared for the test on the 8th of April, a mere month before my A'level finals. Hence, I had very less time to prepare solely for AKU test, yet I dedicated about 10 days to it. My A'levels concepts were already pretty sound so I began my extra preparation with a book called "Dogar AKU MCAT" which was just a summarized version of the Intermediate syllabus. Let me tell you that going through it was pretty useless as the concepts were stated pretty bluntly and since I had no time to practice questions based on the new concepts, and so I was still not able to answer the questions related to intermediate syllabus in the final exam. I also went through the SAT II books once which helped me understand some new concepts that were prevalent throughout the AKU test but reminding you guys again that only knowing the A'levels syllabus is enough to make it to the interview. In the last 2 days before the test, I revised my A'levels concepts.
As for the test itself, I had a very poor Physics section as most of the questions asked were from the Intermediate syllabus that I had little knowledge about. For other sections, there were more questions from the common syllabus which helped me score well. As for science reasoning, it is definitely solvable for us, A'levels students, as the concepts are tested in a very interesting way along with some general knowledge stuff.
When I arrived at the Mathematics section, I was left with very less time, and it was a hassle completing the paper in time. So make sure guys that you keep checking the clock so that you don't run out of time.
In the English section, I made a mess of my essays because of the limited space that was provided to write. They provide you with a set number of lines for each essay and you have to complete your prose within that space and my huge handwriting didn't really help in this case.
Despite all the problems I faced during the paper, I was still able to easily make it through (76%) to the interview which I have already discussed in a previous post. What I want to tell you guys is that the AKU test is pretty easy to clear if you have sound concepts and not knowing a few questions that are out of your system's syllabus doesn't makes a difference as you can easily make it through by just solving the questions that you can answer. So just perfect your syllabus' concepts before you touch anything else. Best of luck from my side.
The above article almost says it all that I had in my mind for a blog related to the AKU test.
You need to achieve a relatively low percentage to qualify for the interview, so in my opinion studying a different system's book or going through new concepts in SAT II books would just be a waste of time. Instead, I would recommend you guys to focus on the A'levels syllabus and to make sure that you have sound concepts. Once you are sure of your concepts, then you may go through other stuff.
If you want to polish your English and Mathematics skills, then check out the SAT I book.
My personal experience:
Back in 2012, I appeared for the test on the 8th of April, a mere month before my A'level finals. Hence, I had very less time to prepare solely for AKU test, yet I dedicated about 10 days to it. My A'levels concepts were already pretty sound so I began my extra preparation with a book called "Dogar AKU MCAT" which was just a summarized version of the Intermediate syllabus. Let me tell you that going through it was pretty useless as the concepts were stated pretty bluntly and since I had no time to practice questions based on the new concepts, and so I was still not able to answer the questions related to intermediate syllabus in the final exam. I also went through the SAT II books once which helped me understand some new concepts that were prevalent throughout the AKU test but reminding you guys again that only knowing the A'levels syllabus is enough to make it to the interview. In the last 2 days before the test, I revised my A'levels concepts.
As for the test itself, I had a very poor Physics section as most of the questions asked were from the Intermediate syllabus that I had little knowledge about. For other sections, there were more questions from the common syllabus which helped me score well. As for science reasoning, it is definitely solvable for us, A'levels students, as the concepts are tested in a very interesting way along with some general knowledge stuff.
When I arrived at the Mathematics section, I was left with very less time, and it was a hassle completing the paper in time. So make sure guys that you keep checking the clock so that you don't run out of time.
In the English section, I made a mess of my essays because of the limited space that was provided to write. They provide you with a set number of lines for each essay and you have to complete your prose within that space and my huge handwriting didn't really help in this case.
Despite all the problems I faced during the paper, I was still able to easily make it through (76%) to the interview which I have already discussed in a previous post. What I want to tell you guys is that the AKU test is pretty easy to clear if you have sound concepts and not knowing a few questions that are out of your system's syllabus doesn't makes a difference as you can easily make it through by just solving the questions that you can answer. So just perfect your syllabus' concepts before you touch anything else. Best of luck from my side.
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