Choosing HSC Subjects... (2 Viewers)

[Flop55]

I am currently in Year 10 and we have to choose our Preliminary Year 11 Subjects by Friday.

So far I'm thinking of doing:

English (Advanced)
Mathematics (2 Unit)
Economics
French
Ancient History
Physics

and Society and Culture for reserve.

I don't know whether or not these are the right decisions as I would like to keep my options open as I have no clue whatsoever about what I want to do after school but these are the subjects that I am interested in.

What I would like to know:

1. I am currently doing NSW 5.3 Mathematics, but my teacher has recommended that I do General Mathematics. If I do, then there are many University courses that I am interested in that I will not be able to do. If you have done 5.3 Mathematics in Years 9 and 10, how have you found 2 Unit Mathematics?

2. How do the subjects scale? The teachers at our school have been told to keep quiet about scaling but I have heard from previous Year 11 and 12 students that it makes a big difference.

Thank you

 

[Flop21]

how strange

 

[authenticity]

how strange

Long lost sister/brother?

@Flop55 - I believe 5.3 is the highest level for year 10 maths. Are you struggling with it? If you are, that might be why your teacher suggested it. If not, it is odd. When I was in year 10, we all did 5.3 and all my friends who went on to do 2U did fine :O

 

[BLIT2014]

What field(s) are you interested in?

Current performance in your subjects (even better if you can give rankings?


Can use the break at the end of the year to study mathematics/5.3 topics that are relevant to next years course.

Also consider the performance of previous cohorts in the respective subjects that you are choosing.

Consider the teachers that are most likely to be doing the subjects next year ( a good teacher can be a lifeline).

Do you have an minimum level of ATAR you want to reach?

 

[chrisx000]

Honestly advanced maths is not that hard. It does have a lot more topics than general but I think if you put your mind to it you can do it.

 

[Kolmias]

Don't listen to your maths teacher. They're often wrong. Do 2u. General is kind of a filler subject.

 

[Zoinked]

Take it from me, I got a 95+ in general maths and I regret taking that subject SOSO much. Despite the fact that it will probably save my atar. It seriously limits me from uni courses and I can't even explore engineering or actuary etc because of it.

 

[Drongoski]

Take it from me, I got a 95+ in general maths and I regret taking that subject SOSO much. Despite the fact that it will probably save my atar. It seriously limits me from uni courses and I can't even explore engineering or actuary etc because of it.

mattstaker - believe me, I feel for you.

I have been offering my view over the last few years. Yesterday, at the Lifeline Book Sale at Knox Grammar, I met someone who told me he's hoping to pursue Mechatronics. Guess what maths he is doing. I can't believe it - more than half of NSW students doing maths are doing General. At the Maths books section, I saw students picking General Maths books, past HSC General Maths Exams books and study guides.

Do you think BOSTES and our education bureaucrats are doing the students a favour by offering Maths General as a subject, or are they leading many to their doom?

 

[InteGrand]

mattstaker - believe me, I feel for you.

I have been offering my view over the last few years. Yesterday, at the Lifeline Book Sale at Knox Grammar, I met someone who told me he's hoping to pursue Mechatronics. Guess what maths he is doing. I can't believe it - more than half of NSW students doing maths are doing General. At the Maths books section, I saw students picking General Maths books, past HSC General Maths Exams books and study guides.

Do you think BOSTES and our education bureaucrats are doing the students a favour by offering Maths General as a subject, or are they leading many to their doom?

How many people doing General Maths plan on doing mathematical things at Uni? One would have thought not many, but it seems quite a lot do.

Maybe BOSTES offer Maths General as a subject because they want a "maths" subject for students who don't plan on doing anything mathematical later?

 

[BandSixFix]

How many people doing General Maths plan on doing mathematical things at Uni? One would have thought not many, but it seems quite a lot do.

Maybe BOSTES offer Maths General as a subject because they want a "maths" subject for students who don't plan on doing anything mathematical later?

Might aswell do no maths or just do 2u imo

 

[Drongoski]

How many people doing General Maths plan on doing mathematical things at Uni? One would have thought not many, but it seems quite a lot do.

Maybe BOSTES offer Maths General as a subject because they want a "maths" subject for students who don't plan on doing anything mathematical later?

I believe the authorities make General available so that as many as possible can have at least some basic numeracy. But unfortunately, this has also provided many with a path of least resistance - the easy route. But I think the most guilty for this malaise are the universities, that have not clearly spelt out as prerequisites the maths that are required for various STEM and other courses requiring some decent background in maths (certainly not General Maths). Such a policy has led many (far too many) to think that doing Maths General 2 is good enough.

 

[Destan]

So, I'd like to say something about your advanced mathematics concerns. Anyone can do it, seriously; teachers tend to emphasise the whole "Advanced Mathematics isn't for you" type of thing, but, if you put hard work into the course then you're bound to earn a good mark in the HSC. If this hasn't convinced you; then there's always bridging courses at University. Now, when talking about scaling; the best thing you could do for ALL subjects is to try your very hardest, aim for 80+ on all examinations. Welp, I hope all that information helped.

 

[si2136]

Might aswell do no maths or just do 2u imo

They should split up the content into pure vs applied maths for different pathways

 

[Drongoski]

So, I'd like to say something about your advanced mathematics concerns. Anyone can do it, seriously; teachers tend to emphasise the whole "Advanced Mathematics isn't for you" type of thing, but, if you put hard work into the course then you're bound to earn a good mark in the HSC. If this hasn't convinced you; then there's always bridging courses at University. Now, when talking about scaling; the best thing you could do for ALL subjects is to try your very hardest, aim for 80+ on all examinations. Welp, I hope all that information helped.

A very optimistic view. I have gone thru agonising sessions with so many students who struggle with what I regard as the simplest of concepts.

 

[Drongoski]

They should split up the content into pure vs applied maths for different pathways

Pure and applied mean different things to different people. When I did my HSC, Applied Maths was 100% classical Mechanics.

 

[Flop55]

Haha we have really similar usernames!

 

[Kolmias]

What % average did you get in 5.3 maths OP?

 

[Suu]

I am currently in Year 10 and we have to choose our Preliminary Year 11 Subjects by Friday.
1. I am currently doing NSW 5.3 Mathematics, but my teacher has recommended that I do General Mathematics. If I do, then there are many University courses that I am interested in that I will not be able to do. If you have done 5.3 Mathematics in Years 9 and 10, how have you found 2 Unit Mathematics?
Thank you

Lol. The maths head teacher at our school has been sending letters home to everyone doing 5.2 to do general (and someone of the lower 5.3 classes...i think? not too sure about that). Bit late, but you could try doing 2U/ general for the first week or so, and then change if needed (depends on your school though). Anyways, Good luck!

 

[Flop55]

@Kolmias probably something like 65%

 

[boredofstudiesuser1]

@Kolmias probably something like 65%

Maybe that's why? I would say the main difference between general and advanced is general teaches you things you'll most likely be able to apply in most work settings and in real life while advanced (being the calculus option) isn't really something you'd use outside the workplace. I will say, that if you do advanced you'll find it really easy at first (Basic arithmetic and algebra, equations) and then trig functions are a lot harder to wrap your head around. Overall the challenging parts of advanced maths aren't the straightforward concepts but the questions that require you to manipulate the concept.

In my first HSC assessment task (finding areas under curves and maximum and minimum values) we had a question where it ask to find the definite integral of an absolute equation (so we had to find the area). And while most of us solved it with the formula, you were meant to draw the graph and just find the area as if it was two triangles.

So what I'm trying to show here, is that going into advanced maths, you should think about whether getting concepts is something hard for you. Sure, you can still do it with a lot of effort if you find wrapping your head around it difficult, but if so, you'll spend time on application.

I hope this makes sense and I haven't gone on a complete tangent (hehe see what I did there)