Is Math really that important? (1 Viewer)

[maneki]

Alright, so I did Advance Mathematics in my preliminary course, but dropped it recently due to my poor results. (33%, 71%, 51%) So far, I felt absolutely no regrets. Even my Maths teacher has told some of us that it's better to drop, rather than struggle and not achieve the goals you wanted to reach.

The problem is, however, that my tutor for maths has just told me that it was a dumb decision to not do any Mathematics in the HSC course if I want to go to university. He said that it was better to do any maths, even just General, than to not do any at all. He claimed that universities will not accept you for the majority of the courses that they offer if you do not have maths as a subject.

This has been stressing me out and now I want to do maths again, but I'm afraid that it's too late already. Is Maths really as important as my tutor portrays it to be? Or is what he said more of an opinion than fact?

 

[kuromusha]

Alright, so I did Advance Mathematics in my preliminary course, but dropped it recently due to my poor results. (33%, 71%, 51%) So far, I felt absolutely no regrets. Even my Maths teacher has told some of us that it's better to drop, rather than struggle and not achieve the goals you wanted to reach.

The problem is, however, that my tutor for maths has just told me that it was a dumb decision to not do any Mathematics in the HSC course if I want to go to university. He said that it was better to do any maths, even just General, than to not do any at all. He claimed that universities will not accept you for the majority of the courses that they offer if you do not have maths as a subject.

This has been stressing me out and now I want to do maths again, but I'm afraid that it's too late already. Is Maths really as important as my tutor portrays it to be? Or is what he said more of an opinion than fact?

What do you think? Yes, you need mathematics for all quantitative subjects. Unless you're planning on doing b.arts, history, law etc, you'll need maths.

Actuary studies won't even accept you unless you have extension maths.

 

[Silly Sausage]

Alright, so I did Advance Mathematics in my preliminary course, but dropped it recently due to my poor results. (33%, 71%, 51%) So far, I felt absolutely no regrets. Even my Maths teacher has told some of us that it's better to drop, rather than struggle and not achieve the goals you wanted to reach.

The problem is, however, that my tutor for maths has just told me that it was a dumb decision to not do any Mathematics in the HSC course if I want to go to university. He said that it was better to do any maths, even just General, than to not do any at all. He claimed that universities will not accept you for the majority of the courses that they offer if you do not have maths as a subject.

This has been stressing me out and now I want to do maths again, but I'm afraid that it's too late already. Is Maths really as important as my tutor portrays it to be? Or is what he said more of an opinion than fact?

Total B.S. with the exception of a few courses.

 

[sy37]

What silly sausages said above ^ is basically what your tutor is wrong about

However, it's important to have a good math background for university...at least some knowledge so you can catch up or maybe not struggle.

 

[crowley926]

WHAT!
That is complete bull

Don't listen to your tutor! In all honesty if a course does recommend/require (but only a few actually require e.g. Actuarial Studies) Mathematics - then they will be asking for at least 2U - barely anything asks for General Maths - it's useless. What do you wanna do in uni? Do some research and check out the degrees on uni websites and see if maths is required. I can't believe your tutor said that smh.

Take this from me I promise you from personal experience. I used to do 2U but I was so shit so I dropped and I do not regret it at all. It's absolutely not necessary (unless of course you want to pursue maths-based study in university) for a good ATAR (I know people who haven't done maths since Year 10 and are estimated to get 99+).

Your teacher is right. It is SO much better to just drop than invest time and effort desperately trying to get better at something that you know you aren't good at or that you don't even like. It is a waste of time that you could be spending studying for your other subjects.

You did the right choice for yourself! Don't stress!

 

[crowley926]

However, it's important to have a good math background for university

What kind of maths do you mean?

 

[maneki]

What do you think? Yes, you need mathematics for all quantitative subjects. Unless you're planning on doing b.arts, history, law etc, you'll need maths.

Actuary studies won't even accept you unless you have extension maths.

Thank you for that! I'm currently browsing on which universities have the courses that I would like to do and do not require Mathematics as assumed knowledge.

 

[maneki]

I guess I was stressing out for nothing, thank you for this! I'll be looking more into courses and perhaps making my choices more concise.

 

[turnerloos]

Alright, so I did Advance Mathematics in my preliminary course, but dropped it recently due to my poor results. (33%, 71%, 51%) So far, I felt absolutely no regrets. Even my Maths teacher has told some of us that it's better to drop, rather than struggle and not achieve the goals you wanted to reach.

The problem is, however, that my tutor for maths has just told me that it was a dumb decision to not do any Mathematics in the HSC course if I want to go to university. He said that it was better to do any maths, even just General, than to not do any at all. He claimed that universities will not accept you for the majority of the courses that they offer if you do not have maths as a subject.

This has been stressing me out and now I want to do maths again, but I'm afraid that it's too late already. Is Maths really as important as my tutor portrays it to be? Or is what he said more of an opinion than fact?

He must be asian. Dodgy asian tutors tryna scam your tuition fees.

 

[InteGrand]

There are no formal prerequisites any more for university here, just "assumed knowledge", so you don't need to do maths to get in to anything. Whether you'll struggle in a particular course due to not having done maths is another matter.

 

[sy37]

He must be asian. Dodgy asian tutors tryna scam your tuition fees.

this guy speaks the truth

don't trust dem asians

*puts on suicide vest*

 

[Drongoski]

Many of the views offered are misguided. In fact I've been groping for some info to support the views I have held. I just found it in a report: "HSC Mathematics Choices and Consequences for Students Coming to University Without Adequate Mathematics Preparation"by Jackie Nicholas[USyd] & Leanne Rylands [U of Western Sydney], that appeared in REFLECTIONS, Vol 40, No 1, 2015, the journal of The Mathematical Association of New South Wales Inc.

Yes - if you are planning to pursue the humanities, you don't need maths. But if you have to do one of those courses requiring maths, then it is important to do 2U Maths as a minimum. Maths General is Mickey Mouse maths.

So, Maneki, if you do not intend or need to pursue a course requiring maths, then dropping maths is not so serious. But, if you are going to do one of those courses that require maths (as Assumed Knowledge), then dropping maths is a disaster. Your tutor probably has your interest at heart. Many of your fellow students here are trying to be supportive and mean well - but they are wrong and, naive or ignorant.

Assumed Knowledge: It has been my suspicion that the universities have adopted the dishonest and cynical policy of not requiring upfront the appropriate level of Maths, or Physics or Chemistry for certain courses, even when the people running the various courses know full well that these ought to have been mandated as Prerequisites, as I believe they were decades ago. Why do they do this? So they can accept more students; more students mean more fees, more fees mean the universities have the funds to run the university and the various departments.

Let me quote the Concluding remarks of the Report I mentioned above.

The consequences for students (who are mathematically under-prepared) who fail their mathematics units at university may be dire and include:

- repeating the unit (but several failures may result in exclusion from university)

- acquiring a higher HECS debt

- a huge shock for many who have been successful students at school

- dropping out of university

- being out of sequence in their degree, which makes timetabling difficult

- being unable to graduate when planned and thus losing as much as a year's salary

Remember: when a university course handbook indicates a certain maths level is Assumed Knowledge you should treat it as Prerequisite Knowledge. Remember: by not stating certain maths levels as prerequisites, the universities are free to accept you as students to a course even though your chances of passing the course is poor; to them it is like: that is your funeral, idiots!

One of the points made by Nicholas, in regards to 2U Bridging course at Sydney U:

"Therefore, students should be discouraged from thinking that a 2 Unit bridging course is a panacea for choosing not to study HSC Mathematics in school".

 

[maneki]

Many of the views offered are misguided. In fact I've been groping for some info to support the views I have held. I just found it in a report: "HSC Mathematics Choices and Consequences for Students Coming to University Without Adequate Mathematics Preparation"by Jackie Nicholas[USyd] & Leanne Rylands [U of Western Sydney], that appeared in REFLECTIONS, Vol 40, No 1, 2015, the journal of The Mathematical Association of New South Wales Inc.

Yes - if you are planning to pursue the humanities, you don't need maths. But if you have to do one of those courses requiring maths, then it is important to do 2U Maths as a minimum. Maths General is Mickey Mouse maths.

So, Maneki, if you do not intend or need to pursue a course requiring maths, then dropping maths is not so serious. But, if you are going to do one of those courses that require maths (as Assumed Knowledge), then dropping maths is a disaster. Your tutor probably has your interest at heart. Many of your fellow students here are trying to be supportive and mean well - but they are wrong and, naive or ignorant.

Assumed Knowledge: It has been my suspicion that the universities have adopted the dishonest and cynical policy of not requiring upfront the appropriate level of Maths, or Physics or Chemistry for certain courses, even when the people running the various courses know full well that these ought to have been mandated as Prerequisites, as I believe they were decades ago. Why do they do this? So they can accept more students; more students mean more fees, more fees mean the universities have the funds to run the university and the various departments.

Let me quote the Concluding remarks of the Report I mentioned above.

The consequences for students (who are mathematically under-prepared) who fail their mathematics units at university may be dire and include:

- repeating the unit (but several failures may result in exclusion from university)

- acquiring a higher HECS debt

- a huge shock for many who have been successful students at school

- dropping out of university

- being out of sequence in their degree, which makes timetabling difficult

- being unable to graduate when planned and thus losing as much as a year's salary

Remember: when a university course handbook indicates a certain maths level is Assumed Knowledge you should treat it as Prerequisite Knowledge. Remember: by not stating certain maths levels as prerequisites, the universities are free to accept you as students to a course even though your chances of passing the course is poor; to them it is like: that is your funeral, idiots!

One of the points made by Nicholas, in regards to 2U Bridging course at Sydney U:

"Therefore, students should be discouraged from thinking that a 2 Unit bridging course is a panacea for choosing not to study HSC Mathematics in school".

Thank you for clearing that up for me! I appreciate it.

 

[BLIT2014]

A good knowledge of mathematics is essential, as is a good knowledge of English.

Helps you avoid being ripped in life.

 

[RealiseNothing]

Pretty much what has already been said.

As long as your course doesn't have maths in it you'll be fine.

But even something such as commerce has maths in it and you should probs know a bit of maths for it.

 

[menodiks]

lol maths is useless, only to compensate asians for having small diks

 

[qwert73]

Depends what you want to study in university and afterwards. If your course requires math or some math courses then you probably need mathematics(general is just everyday math and is basically a joke). If your course doesn't require math and you have no intention of doing something quantitative in the future then you don't really need it and you can learn things if they are super necessary.

Saying that though math can be really fun at times but it is in no way necessary for a 99+ atar.