Undergraduate profile: Kate Brady

Kate was in the fourth year of the MMath degree.

Why did you choose the University of Sheffield?
My cousin went to Leeds and he told me Sheffield was a very good University and also my teachers had recommended it to me. But he had a girlfriend in Sheffield and he fell in love with it. Quite a lot of people in my class went to Leeds so I thought I´d be different and go to Sheffield.

What do you like about the city and the Union?
I think it´s very friendly. I´ve visited friends at other Universities and they aren´t as friendly. Everything is very compact and close together. I love the course I´m doing and the opportunities that I´ve had. I´ve been to Camp America and done an Internship and I just think that if I´d of been anywhere else I wouldn´t have done those things. I do clubs and societies as well and I love getting involved in all the committees as well.

What do you think of the campus?
I think it´s brilliant and I use most of the facilities. I´ve been to see some of my friends at other Universities and all theirs seem to be quite widely spread and dispersed. I like the fact our campus is very compact.

What kind of facilities have you used?
I love going to the various club nights they put on, compared to the other clubs in Sheffield I love going to the nights at the Union. Bar One and Interval are great. If I ever have a bit of time to spare I think right, should I go for a coffee, have a shop there´s always somewhere I can go to eat or drink or even just to read a newspaper for a few minutes.

What do you like about your course?
Its very flexible. I started it and I was like, I don´t know what to do, and they were great. There are so many options and you can focus on exactly it is that you want to do. You get given every opportunity to do further study. I really enjoy what I do. We have some really good lectures.

Tell me how you ended up doing your internship
I got recommended by my cousin again, I also spoke to my lecturers and they recommended it as a really good thing to do. It´s a really good opportunity because I´m so busy I don´t really have time to look for a job and they said that there were internships available. So I spoke to the career service and they gave me some advice on what to do and I went online and applied and I got a place.

Does the department itself have reasonable links with industry and things like that?
Well we have a lot of emails all the time because I think that a lot of the companies are looking for math students, it seems to be very popular we get bombarded by loads of emails from loads of different companies, from banks to engineering firms and everything that requires logical thinking. I think if I wanted to do a PhD I could get sponsorship from one of the businesses. I think that´s what I´m going to be doing.

How does your work get assessed?
You get set homework every week and it´s generally good because once you´ve done it you can go out. We don´t get any essays, I´ve only had to do one essay and that was in my third year. That was a one off which is good because I´m never any good at essay assignments. It´s perfect for me. But we do get regular homework and they are very good at checking up on you. They ask you if you have any problems if you don´t hand your work in, they are very good if you´ve been very busy they will give you extensions. We have formal exams at Christmas time. I have been to a lecturer who gave me a three hour session so I could understand the work.

Does your homework go towards your final assessment?
Some of them do, some of them are a percentage of the final exam and some of them aren´t, it all depends on what module you choose to do really. Some have mini projects so you can choose to those if you are more comfortable doing projects and not have 100% exam. Even if you do all exam work you can keen keep quite good track of your homework. The best homework you can so is to work from the sheets. You also get good feed back.

What are your career plans?
Well I don´t want to be an accountant. I think I will just stay at my job for a while. To be honest I didn´t realise quite how options my degree would give me. It´s only through applying for jobs and talking to companies, everyone wants you if you have a maths degree from Sheffield. I´m lucky in that respect.

Do you think doing the course has helped you to do whatever it is that you want to do in the future?
Definitely, its opened a lot of doors for me. Even if I think I don´t want anything to do with maths ever again I feel just the fact that I have the degree and have skills such as skill management, logical thinking, coming to good conclusions, it shows you are hard working. I think I have enjoyed the opportunity and have taken all the opportunities that have been given to me. The good thing about maths is a good balance between work and free time. It´s not just about getting a degree, it´s also about building up your CV and enjoying yourself.

What committees are you on?
I´m on the staff student committee for my department, I represent the faculty on the academic board and the academic committee. I also do Judo and Jujitsu, I do various exercise courses. I have taken full advantage of everything they have had to offer.