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Career Support – what to do when you have no clue…

Photograph of Fionnuala… by Fionnuala / from London / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG) 

With so many options open to you after studying a Maths degree, thinking about what career you might go into can be a very daunting experience. The ‘What are you going to do after uni?’ question has always been floating around, however, until I hit Honours years, I never felt under any pressure to have an answer. I had always thought about the options available to me and had spoken to countless people at careers fairs etc but still didn’t feel content with where I was at with regards to my career. Continue reading “Career Support – what to do when you have no clue…”

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First Year Academic Experience…

Photograph of Harry… by Harry / from China / BSc Mathematics / 1st Year (UG)

I am Harry, and I was born in China while attending high school in the United States. I am a first-year undergraduate student studying mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. 

The first-year Mathematics curriculum in Edinburgh consists of three courses: Introduction to Linear Algebra in the first semester, and Calculus and its Applications, and Proof and Problem Solving in the second. I am with ease on Linear Algebra and Calculus, as their contents overlapped with Advanced Math and AP Calculus courses I took in high school, while Proof and Problem Solving was more challenging. Yet, being attentive in workshops and diligently finishing all homework helped me go through all courses comfortably, while still leaving me with ample leisure.   Continue reading “First Year Academic Experience…”

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Pure side of things…

A photograph of Taraneh… by Taraneh / from Tehran, Iran / MMath Mathematics / 3rd Year (UG)

It was the first lecture of Metric Spaces where the lecturer looked at class and said, “it seems you all are going to be pure mathematicians”. And his remark was right at least in my case. Third year is often the year students start thinking about the future if not sooner, whether you are on a four-year or a five-year journey, the course choices you make will determine what your future will look like. For me those choices were prompted by numbers.   Continue reading “Pure side of things…”

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Mathematicians make good sports: sporting opportunities at Edinburgh…

Photo of Emma… by Emma / from NJ, USA / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 4th Year (UG)

If you are a keen sportsman or sportswoman, simply enjoy a casual game of sport or have never played a sport before but are interested in trying, the Sports Union at Edinburgh University will most likely have something for you. I have had quite a positive experience playing sports here at Edinburgh, and I hope to share some benefits and insights of some of the sporting opportunities I have taken part in.   Continue reading “Mathematicians make good sports: sporting opportunities at Edinburgh…”

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How I secured a summer internship, and how the University helped…

Photograph of Katrina… by Katrina / from Northumberland / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG)

After starting university, the once scary question of “what are you going to study at university and where are you going to study?” quickly becomes the even scarier question “so what are your plans after university?”. For many, including myself, starting university I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do but what I did know was that studying maths gave so many opportunities upon graduating, which in fact can sometimes make it harder to choose! This is why I started to look for opportunities to explore and try different fields so I could start to rule things out!

I am going to go through a few of the different ways the University of Edinburgh helped me go from a confused 1st year, to a 2nd year with a spring week at JP Morgan, to a 3rd year with a place as a technology summer analyst at Morgan Stanley. Continue reading “How I secured a summer internship, and how the University helped…”

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Swap subject to maths? No problem…

Photo of JoJo… by JoJo / from China / MSc Statistics and Operational Research / PG (2021-22)

This is the subject that I want to talk about for quite a long time. At the time I’m writing this blog, it is already the second semester of my MSc studying Statistics and OR. The first semester was certainly hard and super intense, but we managed to surpass the phase, and here I am, trying to pull a blog out telling you what is it like to change subject from a different disciplinary to statistics. I do appreciate that this post may not target at all the audience, but I believe it is useful for students who are from different discipline who wants to come to do statistics.

We have many students who did not come from a statistics or mathematics background, so for those of you who are unsure about whether you should apply because you are afraid that your background may not be good enough, do apply. As long as you can get an offer from the admission, you will be doing just fine. Continue reading “Swap subject to maths? No problem…”

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Third Year and Full-Time Mathematics…

Photograph of Fionnuala… by Fionnuala / from London / BSc Mathematics and Statistics / 3rd Year (UG)

After two years of studying in Edinburgh, a global pandemic, not being able to make it to Spain for my year abroad and many more obstacles – I’ve finally completed the first Honours semester of my degree (minus a few exams in the next week!). Returning to Edinburgh in September after not living there for almost a year due to the pandemic was a very scary experience. Although I had lived there before, had friends on my course and societies to get back to, I couldn’t help but feel just as nervous as I was before I started in first year. These last few years have been a challenge for all of us but as I look back on the past semester, I can honestly say that I’ve really enjoyed third year so far. 

Continue reading “Third Year and Full-Time Mathematics…”

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Living on the tails: studying as a mature student…

Photograph of Azfarul… by Azfarul / from London, UK / MSc Statistics with Data Science / PG (2020-21)

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

In addition to “Sorry, I was on mute!”, this is what I heard most throughout 2020. After a decade of working, leaving behind a fascinating job during global uncertainty to pursue a Masters might have seemed like foolishness. Fast forward more than a year and – after what felt like drowning in hundreds of hours of coursework, endlessly playing and re-playing recorded lectures, dealing with the eerie silence of virtually-conducted examinations, and three intense months of industrially-liaised project work – I still find it difficult to believe how this time flew as it did.

Continue reading “Living on the tails: studying as a mature student…”

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20 Ways to be a Sustainable Student at Edinburgh Uni…

Photograph of Anna… by Anna / from Dundee / BSc Mathematics / 4th Year (UG)

With a new semester comes the opportunity to create sustainable habits and mindsets. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect at this, but by slowly making small changes, I’ve managed to transform some of my choices into less wasteful ones. I thought I’d share some of these with you in case you’d like some ideas of how to live more sustainably!

Continue reading “20 Ways to be a Sustainable Student at Edinburgh Uni…”

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Expectation(Uni Life) ≠ Reality…

Photograph of Morgan… by Morgan / from Fraserburgh / MMath Mathematics / 3rd year (UG)

Hi, I’m Morgan and I’m a 3rd year Maths student at the University of Edinburgh. So far, I’ve really enjoyed my time at university; however we all know no tale is without its adversities. It’s perhaps a little cliché to say that “the transition from school to university is so difficult!” but that saying wouldn’t be repeated so frequently if it weren’t true (although my statistics lecturer may tell me that I’m a victim of observation bias…)

Continue reading “Expectation(Uni Life) ≠ Reality…”

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What’s it like to do a joint honours programme?..

Photograph of Jie Xin… Jie Xin / from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / BSc Mathematics and Music / 4th Year (UG)

Having completed my first three years of my undergraduate studies as a maths and music student, I hope I could share a little about my experiences with anyone curious or prospective students.

Some comments and questions I always get when telling people about my programme include: “oh, I didn’t know that existed!”, “what made you decide on this particular programme?”, “you must be so good at both music and maths!” and “how do you combine maths and music?” Well, it does exist, I absolutely love both mathematics and music, and yes, I would love to think that I am good at both music and maths. For the question about combining maths and music, there are a variety of courses which do so, but it’s not a requirement for me to take them.

Continue reading “What’s it like to do a joint honours programme?..”

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If I Could Talk to my First Year Self…

… by Rory / from Peebles / MMath Mathematics / 5th Year (UG)

I am about to enter my 5th and final year of an MMath degree, with the start of the semester only a couple of weeks away. I thought it might be interesting to cast my mind back to this time four years ago and examine how my approach and preparations for the semester have changed over the years. Hopefully this will be a useful reference for those just starting out and on a personal level I am curious to see what I’ve done differently and why. Continue reading “If I Could Talk to my First Year Self…”

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A Day in the Life of an MSc Student (during Covid-19)…

Mike sat at his desk holding up a glass… by Mike / from Greece / MSc Statistics with Data Science / PG (2020-21)

Hello there!

My name is Mike, I am from the lovely country of Greece and currently am an MSc Statistics with Data Science student at The University of Edinburgh. In this post I will try to describe what my typical, more relaxed, work days as a PGT student look like.

Continue reading “A Day in the Life of an MSc Student (during Covid-19)…”

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The Perfect Decision…

A photograph of Manab… by Manab / from Odisha, India / BSc Computer Science and Mathematics / 2nd Year (UG)

I remember around 4 years ago, I was going through a rough patch with my mathematics- so much so that I wanted to drop it. Complex numbers, functions and relations, trigonometry, you know how it goes. I was travelling to my hometown from where I was studying at that moment, with my cousin who used to study computer science at university at that time, and I expressed my concerns. I asked him about functions, how I didn’t feel comfortable with it and how it didn’t feel tangible. He immediately bought a notebook and a pen from the railway station while we were waiting for the train, and went on to explain to me functions, calculus, graphs and what not from the very basics.

Throughout the journey, I was enjoying calculus, which was supposed to be taught to me formally at school, a year later from the date. I reached home, and I decided I wouldn’t drop mathematics, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I still have that notebook.

Continue reading “The Perfect Decision…”

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Student Groups, Clubs and Societies…

… by Donald / from Gweru, Zimbabwe / MA Economics and Mathematics / 2nd Year (UG)

Growing up, I witnessed first-hand the adverse effects of the hyperinflation crises in Zimbabwe, and this sparked my desire to learn how to create lucrative projects that are beneficial to the global community. Therefore, when I came to the University of Edinburgh through the Mastercard Foundation scholarship, I chose to do Mathematics and Economics so as to gain insight into the intricate dynamics underlying major economies worldwide. Continue reading “Student Groups, Clubs and Societies…”

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Getting a Taste for Mathematics Research…

A photograph of Taraneh… by Taraneh / from Tehran, Iran / MMath Mathematics / 2nd Year (UG)

One of the benefits of studying in a research-intensive university is that you get the chance of meeting academics who in their own fields are quite the superheroes. And if you pay close attention in lectures or workshops or around Magnet Cafe, every single one of them is working on something compelling. And it just takes you to approach them and let them know you are interested in what they are doing and they would happily open your eyes to some fascinating things about our universe.

Continue reading “Getting a Taste for Mathematics Research…”

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A Year of Hybrid Learning…

A photograph of Anna… by Anna / from Larbert / BSc Mathematics / 1st Year (UG)

I think every new first year student is a bit uncertain about what university learning will actually be like. And thanks to the pandemic and the arrival of hybrid learning, it’s even harder than usual to imagine how your academic life will look. Because of this, I wanted to sum up what online and hybrid learning has been like for me as a first year maths student, and share some tips for how to get the most out of it.

Continue reading “A Year of Hybrid Learning…”

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The 5 Best Ways to Spend a Student Summer…

A photograph of Niamh… by Niamh / from Lincolnshire / BSc Mathematics / 4th Year (UG)

When everyone thinks about starting uni they think of the flat parties, the lectures, the exams and the new societies they’ll join come September. But what they don’t often consider is the panic that will inevitably set in around March/April time when you realise that university will finish soon for 3 whole months and you have absolutely no plan for your summer. That was definitely me during my first year of uni and I think it’s fair to say that most students aren’t aware of all the opportunities that are out there.

Here’s a list of, what I consider to be, the 5 best ways to spend the summers during university:

Continue reading “The 5 Best Ways to Spend a Student Summer…”