Bridging course....worth it? (1 Viewer)

lolJK

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Hi, I need to do MATH1131, but didnt do mx1 in hsc. I got 89 in 2u. Is it worth doing the 3u bridging course or not?

Thanks.
 

Demise

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I was thinking that to, if you get 90 in 2U they say no point, I scored 88. :3
 

Roscosmos

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I think its probably fine, as long as you do all the work and study you should pass
 

D94

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You should be fine, although, most of the stuff will be new to you. Many topics are 3U like, some are 4U like, so you may find those challenging because they are new to you. Maybe go over a 3U textbook and look at the course outline here: http://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/math1131-41inf12_0.pdf for the topics. This mainly for the Calculus topics. For Algebra, I guess Complex Numbers is the only HSC topic which is there - you'll have to look at a 4U textbook for that.

Best to look at these topics prior to uni so it won't be too overwhelming.
 

onedaysnotice

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What about me? I got 82 in 2u ._.

I've got both the year 11 and year 12 3u textbooks. Would a month's study of those books suffice? Or does 8 marks make that much of a difference as to necessitate the bridging course? D:
 
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Shadowdude

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The bridging course is just there to put you up to speed with the relevant parts of 3u that you'll need for MATH1131. It's not there for marks or whatever - that's just a guide, you can mostly ignore them.

But go look at what D94 posted, there's an Algebra and Calculus syllabus. Algebra is mostly new, and Complex Numbers is something you should look over by yourself because that's not taught in the bridging course.

Calculus bits will match up in parts with 3u, and even 4u. So mix and match and revise what is relevant. Solving inequalities in 3u = relevant. Conics 4u = irrelevant. Induction in 3u = relevant. Mechanics in 4u = irrelevant.
 

Demise

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The bridging course is just there to put you up to speed with the relevant parts of 3u that you'll need for MATH1131. It's not there for marks or whatever - that's just a guide, you can mostly ignore them.

But go look at what D94 posted, there's an Algebra and Calculus syllabus. Algebra is mostly new, and Complex Numbers is something you should look over by yourself because that's not taught in the bridging course.

Calculus bits will match up in parts with 3u, and even 4u. So mix and match and revise what is relevant. Solving inequalities in 3u = relevant. Conics 4u = irrelevant. Induction in 3u = relevant. Mechanics in 4u = irrelevant.
This is so confusing, so a bridging course is pretty much irrelevant, instead we can teach ourselves the content with a 3U/4U textbook?
 

Shadowdude

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I don't know what they teach in bridging exactly - but it's essentially the bits of a 3u course that are relevant. Personally, I don't see why you can't self-teach the parts that are relevant yourselves.

However, that requires you to be pro-active and actually find the time to be committed to it. I have a friend who goes to me for maths help. He wants to take MATH1131 but he only did General - so he's self teaching himself the 2u course, taking a 3u bridging course, and coming to me with help with the 4u course and other stuff he doesn't get. That's what works for him, find what works out for yourselves.


First year uni maths is a good chunk high school revision to make sure the NSW kids, the interstate-transferers and the international students all are on the same page and learn the same thing. And then after first year, then you go on to more specialist stuff.

So for instance, if you did 4u - then great, that's the sort of preparation you need for full advantage in first year maths. If you did 3u, you're missing out on complex numbers and a bit of integration. Also a certain mathematical maturity - which means the 'step' from high school to uni maths will be less.
 

kennyb22

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I'm assuming the only MX1 knowledge you'll really need is harder Calculus and integration (including substitution/reverse chain rule), Inverse functions, (harder) Trigonometric functions, Physical applications of calculus (probably won't need Kinematics/Projectile motion), Polynomials, Binomial theorem + probability and Mathematical induction.

As it turns out that's almost pretty much the whole MX1 course anyway, so if you're a quick learner and have a friend who did MX1 you can probably cover most of the things without any trouble.

So the bridging course isn't really necessary per se.
 
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