what is 4u like? (1 Viewer)

[anonymoushehe]

my teacher recommended me to do 4u maths but im like so iffy about it because i dont think i can do it - how does 4u compare with 3u maths and the others subjects? Is it more conceptual and abstract? is the difference in difficulty level with 3u rlly big?

 

[wollongong warrior]

Not at all
Proofs and inequalities can be tricky the first time around but you'll get used to it
You can't really compare 3u with 4u, it's like comparing yr 11 and yr 12 physics: you can do well in the latter even if you don't know anything about the former (besides general math skills)

 

[arcadian]

I don't mind 4u, it's definitely challenging but with practice I've started to enjoy some parts of it. Most, if not all of 4u is built on 3u topics e.g. integration, proofs from induction, mechanics from projectile, 3d vectors from vectors. But you have to keep up with homework or stay ahead and do revision and past papers early on, because for me 4u was a bit different conceptually in that I feel like it appealed more to my problem-solving/thinking out of the box (which I enjoy a lot more), which I didn't encounter in high school maths previously and so I needed more practice. If your teacher recommended it to you, you should definitely try it out - if you don't like it you can always drop!

(proofs can go die tho)

 

[Susu123]

(proofs can go die tho)

preach, i hate that shit

 

[anonymoushehe]

Not at all
Proofs and inequalities can be tricky the first time around but you'll get used to it
You can't really compare 3u with 4u, it's like comparing yr 11 and yr 12 physics: you can do well in the latter even if you don't know anything about the former (besides general math skills)

how much time do you think needs to be dedicated?? is the workload very big ??

 

[wollongong warrior]

how much time do you think needs to be dedicated?? is the workload very big ??

Hmm conceptually?
Vectors and mechanics: light work, the latter even more so if you're taking physics
Integration: bit more work but still light
Complex numbers and proofs: if you haven't touched concepts like them, it can be challenging at the start and most of your workload will be on them imo

4u was light for me since I had a goated teacher, if you're less fortunate, try everything you can to learn the topics (especially the harder ones) asap so you have more time to consolidate and practice

 

[liamkk112]

not too bad if you’re willing to put in the time and after a sem of uni you’ll have finished 4u anyway pretty much (except for proofs mayhaps)
topic breakdown is like this:
-integration ; fairly easy, as long as you know 3u integration and practice the standard problems you’ll be fine for the majority of problems
-mechanics ; this is pretty much applied integration, if you know physics it’s an advantage but mostly this topic has a lot of generic questions and you just need to know newtons laws
-vectors; this is basically 3u vectors with an added dimension, if you know 3u vectors this topic will be simple to learn
-complex numbers; about half of this topic can be pretty easy and the other part is hard. basic questions are very easy whereas geometric questions and proof based questions can be difficult
-proofs; probably the hardest topic since this marks a fair shift in thinking from the calculation based stuff you’ve done throughout high school. with enough practice and exposure to questions though, most of the topic is fine - it’s just when they mix this topic with the others is when it can get difficult, or they’ll give you one where you need a “trick” to solve the question and thinking of this can take some time

tbh questions 11-14 of 4u are very doable and with enough practice any good 3u student can pretty easily achieve highly, similar for multiple choice. the difficulty comes in the last two questions (15-16), where every question will be a curveball and potentially suck up a lot of time. that being said with enough practice you can probably achieve at least 50% on these questions, and at that point you’ve already secured an e4 because of the ridiculous scaling