Oxford University Mathematician takes American SAT Exam

Oxford Mathematician Dr Tom Crawford completes the Math sections of the US SAT exam alongside fellow @numberphile presenter @SparksMaths.

Produced by Dr Tom Crawford at the University of Oxford.

You can also follow Tom on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @tomrocksmaths.

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[alexjbriiones]

Appearances can deceive us all, but I never would have guessed in a thousand years that the punk guy is a math rock star. Well done professor, you're a great guy.

[jasonpatterson]

It was refreshing seeing a non-US tester take this without constantly commenting on the relative difficulty of the questions. The SAT isn't intended to do the same thing that GCSE or A-level or national certification tests around the world are intended to do. It's intended for any student who might attend college and in practice is given to all students in many states, whether that student intends to be a particle physicist or dig ditches. The questions are supposed to be approachable by any student who has had algebra and geometry. The difficulty comes from time constraints and a student's ability to apply what they're supposed to know to the various problems. When exchange students take the test, they do score higher than the average US student, but they're not average students - they're academically high achieving kids whose parents are able to afford to send them halfway around the world for a year. In other words, we don't get too many future French ditch diggers as exchange students... Exchange students typically do about as well as academically high achieving students from the US.

[carelvoltaire]

I'm 30 and I've completed two engineering degrees, I can't believe how fast I can solve these "problems" but in high school, I struggled very much with the SAT. I guess I did learn some maths along the way.

[mrtoast]

As someone in my 3rd year of electrical engineering I like to look at high school tests to remind me how far I've come. Sometimes I feel like I'm falling behind, even if my grades are average, but if you're learning then you're always getting better at these things even if it doesn't feel like it.

[adamlabnaki]

I always love how at the end of each question, Tom does a quick "whoo!" as if to say, "that was a relief, got through that one". Maths gives this unpredictable tension that can make you anxious because you just don't know what numbers you end up with but yet it's so addictively exhilarating and satisfying once a question has been solved!!!

[Chitus]

As someone who thinks math lost me when letters got added I always appreciate raw enthusiasm in an expert field. I did my PhD in cellular neuroscience and would be similarly happy to explain neuroprohins on camera. Keep it up man. Best from Germany

[monismazhar]

This is like watching a level 100 boss completing level 1 side missions that was easy shit for you man

[shuween]

I always thought the SATs were a LOT harder than this! This is so much nicer than I imagined and it was actually quite fun to do it along. I wish our high school exams had been like this. I haven't had anything to do with math for the past 7 years, and I don't think I would be able to solve my high school exam papers anymore at all, but this was actually surprisingly simple and fun

[jorggamingcr]

As an engineer I now feel this kind of exercises are great for a weekend afternoon, not because they are easy (believe me, I struggled with math at high school and college but with a lot of practice I became better each day) but because it is really fun. When I was younger and even when I wanted to become an engineer (electronic) I tought math was boring and had no use in electronics, but math can be really fun and once you get the "feel" of it, you start seen its applications everywhere.

[tess]

I envy your maths knowledge. I struggled with maths at school and numbers scare me a bit. The ease in which you answer questions I’d be scratching my head over for hours is so impressive. If my maths teachers had been like you I would have engaged more.

[felicityc]

38:00 I love him so much. He took a clearly easy question that you can just answer with no effort and took the time to write out the entire function and think it through. Can you imagine how many people would scoff at that? I have mad respect for that quality of teaching.

[spitfiresergi]

Thank you for using your passion and talent to better our species!

[pieTone]

Even tho I'm a 15 year old romanian kid who is not even in highschool I still find this video very enjoyable. ( and I am very excited to have solved some problems instantly with my current math knowledge :) )

[constellations]

Small note on number 6: An even easier way to solve this is to factor out x^2-1 to (x+1)(x-1) and then divide out the x-1. This would leave you with x+1=-2 which is negative 3.

[TheRealCptObvious]

I’m pretty rusty with maths since finishing school a few years ago. I’m subscribed to this channel now to refresh my memory and probably learn a thing or two

[nobbytho]

my sat being just 15 days away and i just started practicing, this was probably one of the most helpful video to get one doing questions, watching you solve and at certain points thinking how did you just deduce that (say in qn 9 first section, without finding the slope) helped me find the reasoning behind for myself. thank you so much!

[BenHawkinsvids]

This copy is an exam I taught somewhere around 100 times in my time as a test prep tutor. There are many problems I love on this test, but question 19 in the no calc section at 16:10 is my favorite. Too much focus on process would cause students to solve for x and y independently and then add up to 5x+5y. The ability to take a step back and actually realize the why behind what questions ask was the biggest key to properly approaching these tests.

[Neil-iidp]

As a former SAT tutor (25 years ago), this was a ton of fun to watch. Next time, can we do mathematicians take the verbal section of the SAT?

[elitefamilyparkour]

This dude has crazy patience. On most questions the answers were either obvious on first sight or after a few seconds of thinking and yet he took the time to write everything down 😅

[andrewharmon]

If you're interested, the ACT (the other college admission test in America) is typically known to have harder questions, but being easier to improve on