Drsoccerball
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- May 28, 2014
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- HSC
- 2015
Before starting I would like to say that there are many people who are better than me in 2U maths on this site and I can confidentially say that I'm just an average student. Putting that aside here's the guide:
In order to be so called "good" in maths you need a good foundation. Starting from year 7-9 you have to understand all the basic knowledge as all knowledge from that point is pretty much building on your foundation. If you don't build your foundation correctly the building would crumble. Similarly in maths by having any faults in your foundation you're potentially risking your building of knowledge collapsing.
However, don't be demotivated if you're in year 11 or 12 and miss things due to your lack of knowledge of the basics. An example of this is seen in 2013 HSC question 16 C. A little anecdote I'd like to provide is the one of Ekman and me. In year 8 to make it into the accelerated maths class (to do 2U HSC a year early or go on to do 4U) you needed to reach a certain mark. Both Ekman and I barely scraped by getting the lowest marks from the people that made it in. In year 10 Ekman beasted maths leaving everyone behind especially me. At one point in the accelerated class i was ranked 3rd last out of 20 people but we were using MIF at that time but that's another story... Even though Ekman barely scraped into the class he smashed everyone beating the average by more than 20% (I think...) Now I'm ranked second in ex 1 and 2 and he's ranked 1st(the two drop outs are now first and second
)At the start of year 11 during the 1st term of HSC 2 Unit I learnt what past papers were. Seriously I didn't even know what CSSA was till a few days before HSC...After doing a shit ton of past papers i came 1st in nearly every task. The only reason was because of the past papers. This shows that if you have a bad foundation you can fix it by doing a lot of questions.
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"How do I minimise silly mistakes?"
To be honest it comes down to how lazy you are. The more lazy you are, the more silly mistakes you would make. This is because after completing the exam you just sit there and sleep or don't even check it... The key to reducing silly mistakes is by reading the question carefully underlining important information and possible tricks in the question .
An example from extension 1: Find the point which divides the two points A(4,3) and B(1,9) externally in the ratio 3:9 On the paper I would even write 4=x1 1=x2 etc...
This eliminates all possible reading errors and errors from not seeing information. Also straight after doing a question without rushing look at your working out paper very very very carefully looking at each step for a few seconds and seeing if you made any of those blasphemous +- errors. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
It may look stupid but it always happens under the exam pressure. Also make sure you write neater as 3's can look like 5's and u's can look like v's etc... Trust me it sucks when you get marks deducted for your writing....................... When checking a question that asks to find x you only look at your working out once and if it looks nice then sub it into the equation hoping it gives you the right answer. If it does cross out that question(on the questions paper) or mentally accept you did that question right. If it doesn't don't be a bitch and cry. Circle the question and come back to it.
For me it usually took close to 1 and a half hours to finish a 3 hour 2 unit test. This not only gives me more than an hour to check my work but also gives me time to chill and think about the questions I missed.
How to decide when to skip:
When you're doing all the questions for the first time before you finish them and check them you have to make a decision. Look at the question if you know what to do then go ahead and do it. If you think you know what to do try it. However, if you fail on the first attempt look if you made a mistake in your working out. If none are found circle it on your question booklet and go onto the next question leaving sufficient space for that question. Do this for the rest of the test checking each response through the mentioned above.
What do i do with the circled question?
Ask the examiner for extra paper theres basically 100s so you can get as much as you want so you dont have to confine yourself. In the extra paper do every possible method you think applies to that question and by the end you're bound to get the answer. I can't stress this enough. If you don't know how to do the question staring at it won't help. Even if you're drawing a penis on your page do it if it helps you find the answer.
What if after all this i still can't get the answer?
Write everything you think the questions asking.
For example in my extension 2 trial there was this circle geometry question which I had no idea how to do and i wrote down everything that the diagram gave me. I got 1/2 so its better than leaving it blank and getting 0.
Order you should do the test:
Q11,Q12,Q13,Q14,Q15,Q16, MC
As i mentioned in previous threads the multiple choice are generally tricky and in the spike of adrenaline you are prone to making stupid mistakes. So I always leave it to the end.
Frame of Mind before a maths test?
Stress is the worst for a maths exam. Under stress the slightest things piss you off. Clicking pens, stamping feet and coughing... The day before the exam every exam ill be playing ps3 for 2-3 hours and I don't do any maths the night before.
Get a good amount of sleep....Ekman........
Eat something in the morning
All these contribute to how much you make silly mistakes.
Frame of Mind during the test?
As every question in maths has a different booklet + all the extra working booklets+ all your stationary = me raging.
The floor is vacant. Stack all your stationary booklets and everything else right next to your desk only having the question paper and the question you're doing on your table. Don't get angry if you can't solve anything... anger=less awareness=less likely to solve the question.
How do I go about answering question 15/16?
Question 15/16 is different to the other questions. In question 15/16 you actually look at the question (if its hard) for like 30 seconds and then from there you decide what to do. But always take it slowly and read the question. Also in question 15/16 theres always that one thing that you say "If i had this i would be able to prove it..." 90% of the time that missing piece of information is in the previous part or hidden in the question. So make sure you highlight the important parts even if you think you won't use it. Every comma, every number and every bit of information is there for a reason. Its not physics they don't try to troll you by giving extra information.
Realistically how much study do i need to do a day ?
Since HSC is in a few weeks you should do at least one trial a day making sure that you know how to do every single question in that test. For 2016'ers do past questions for the topics you have done and jump on the maths marathons.
For diagrams make sure you bring a pencil into the exam instead of having to draw it 10218 times you can have infinite try's to construct lines on the given diagram.
How do i be more consistent ?
Make sure you have a timetable set out. I don't like timetables so what i do is when i go to bed i write all the things im going to do for the next day and if i don't get that done i don't go to sleep.
Should i feel confident ?
Kind of. Combine your confidence with a tinge of humbleness. The school expected me to get 99+ but i got cocky and stopped studying and caring in the last few weeks and that lead me to get 97. The teachers were cut with my performance...
This is how I see textbooks: Only meant for learning the material not studying for the test. You should do past papers... alot of them.
This is all the advice i could possibly give... Goodluck for HSC
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have down below.Note: If i get a band 6 in physics(which i probably wont...) ill do one for physics aswell
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