Bridging courses (2 Viewers)

[thenotorious_ky]

Is bridging courses particularly useful? If so, which uni's bridging courses is best? I enrol in engineering but i didnt take any maths extension and physics, but instead i did bio, chem and 2u maths.

 

[Drdusk]

Is bridging courses particularly useful? If so, which uni's bridging courses is best? I enrol in engineering but i didnt take any maths extension and physics, but instead i did bio, chem and 2u maths.

I haven't done one but if it actually brings you up to scratch then it would be worth it. Uni moves pretty fast so if you don't have a solid foundation from high school it can be tough. Now this more so applies to Maths as the high school Science courses are a joke.

If I were you I would do the foundation course for Maths just because minimum 3u would be necessary especially for Engineering. This is at UTS as well, if so I think they are free at UTS? If so you should definitely do it.

 

[Bob Jane]

Hey OP according to my friend, who took the maths ext 1 bridging course at UTS, he claims it wasn't very useful and would of been fine heading in with just 2U maths.

Also btw, if you're interested I have a soft copy of the 2U/3U UTS mathematics bridging course (booklet).

 

[thenotorious_ky]

Hey OP according to my friend, who took the maths ext 1 bridging course at UTS, he claims it wasn't very useful and would of been fine heading in with just 2U maths.

Also btw, if you're interested I have a soft copy of the 2U/3U UTS mathematics bridging course (booklet).

hey im definitely interested, thank you so much, apppreciate

 

[thenotorious_ky]

I haven't done one but if it actually brings you up to scratch then it would be worth it. Uni moves pretty fast so if you don't have a solid foundation from high school it can be tough. Now this more so applies to Maths as the high school Science courses are a joke.

If I were you I would do the foundation course for Maths just because minimum 3u would be necessary especially for Engineering. This is at UTS as well, if so I think they are free at UTS? If so you should definitely do it.

so semester 1 i meant to do mathematical modelling 1 for autumn session, but i can't change it because it's a core subject, so what should i do if u reccomend me to take foundation math?

 

[Drdusk]

so semester 1 i meant to do mathematical modelling 1 for autumn session, but i can't change it because it's a core subject, so what should i do if u reccomend me to take foundation math?

Wait what? I don't get what you mean. What's mathematical modelling? and shouldn't foundation math be the first one you do?

 

[thenotorious_ky]

Wait what? I don't get what you mean. What's mathematical modelling? and shouldn't foundation math be the first one you do?

mathematical modelling 1 is a subject, my core subject, and i will be doing that in my first year autumn session, there is no foundation maths in my core subject.

 

[Drdusk]

mathematical modelling 1 is a subject, my core subject, and i will be doing that in my first year autumn session, there is no foundation maths in my core subject.

Ooh I get you my bad.

I had a look at the Mathematical modelling course and it's not bad. You should be fine doing Mathematical modelling with only 2u knowledge. A lot of the stuff in it seems to be 2u revision and some new stuff that wasn't taught in 4u or 3u either so you should be okay.

I thought it would be like Unsw's first year math course but it seems like it's a bit different. The 4u/3u topics in the course I did aren't in this course so you should be fine not doing Foundation Maths.

 

[brent012]

Foundation maths is an elective, you would pick it as an elective in first semester and then take MM2 over summer to catch up. I think it's setup such that you don't fall behind by doing that.

Mostly agreed with Drdusk, a fair bit of MM1 was linear algebra (vectors, matrices etc.) which felt totally foreign to HSC maths. None of it felt like 2U revision however (unlike say "Quantative Business Analysis" for Business students where half of the subject was 2U + a bit of 3U revision as business doesn't have assumed 2/3U knowledge).

I also recall a fair bit of MM1 involving complex numbers, so either that's been moved to another subject (e.g. downstream to Intro to Electrical Engineering) or the subject handbook just isnt very comprehensive.

The calculus sections you might find tough if you weren't up to speed with it from 2U. MM2 is split into two components: maths (bit more linear algebra + multivariate calculus) and an introductory statistics course. Once again, the calculus might be tough if your fundamentals aren't strong.

 

[thenotorious_ky]

Foundation maths is an elective, you would pick it as an elective in first semester and then take MM2 over summer to catch up. I think it's setup such that you don't fall behind by doing that.

Mostly agreed with Drdusk, a fair bit of MM1 was linear algebra (vectors, matrices etc.) which felt totally foreign to HSC maths. None of it felt like 2U revision however (unlike say "Quantative Business Analysis" for Business students where half of the subject was 2U + a bit of 3U revision as business doesn't have assumed 2/3U knowledge).

I also recall a fair bit of MM1 involving complex numbers, so either that's been moved to another subject (e.g. downstream to Intro to Electrical Engineering) or the subject handbook just isnt very comprehensive.

The calculus sections you might find tough if you weren't up to speed with it from 2U. MM2 is split into two components: maths (bit more linear algebra + multivariate calculus) and an introductory statistics course. Once again, the calculus might be tough if your fundamentals aren't strong.

What r u saying man, mathematical modelling 1 is my core subject and it is reccomended that i enrol for autumn session 2020, and what u reccomend me to do? about the foundation math

 

[brent012]

What r u saying man, mathematical modelling 1 is my core subject and it is reccomended that i enrol for autumn session 2020, and what u reccomend me to do? about the foundation math

You'll find out more about this once you do all of the orientation stuff and settle into the course, but it's very rare for a UTS Engineering student to follow the recommended study plan the whole way through. Some combination of internships, finding employment/transitioning to part time, going on exchange, taking subjects during internships, overloading in other ways or avoiding overloading the practice program subjects, timetabling issues or failing subjects cause most people to diverge from that plan.

Instead of taking 33130 MM1 in Autumn and 33230 MM2 in Spring, you take Foundation Maths (an elective) in Autumn, MM1 in Spring and MM2 over Summer. You're then caught up before starting second year. There's more info here: https://www.uts.edu.au/current-stud...ulty-engineering-and-it/getting-started/maths

I would recommend enrolling in the 3U bridging course (free for UTS students, just a $25 booklet to buy). If you find it's not useful, then stop going, you really don't have much to lose by doing it.

I would also suggest listening to what the UTS staff have to say, there will be many in your situation (especially if you go to the bridging course) so it will get covered at/before orientation or at the very start of the semester - most likely whenever they are conducting the readiness survey. If you pass the readiness survey and are comfortable for the first few weeks of MM1, stick with it and put in the effort you need to put in to pass. If you don't pass the readiness survey, then you have no choice but to take Foundation Maths.

 

[thenotorious_ky]

You'll find out more about this once you do all of the orientation stuff and settle into the course, but it's very rare for a UTS Engineering student to follow the recommended study plan the whole way through. Some combination of internships, finding employment/transitioning to part time, going on exchange, taking subjects during internships, overloading in other ways or avoiding overloading the practice program subjects, timetabling issues or failing subjects cause most people to diverge from that plan.

I would recommend enrolling in the 3U bridging course (free for UTS students, just a $25 booklet to buy). If you find it's not useful, then stop going, you really don't have much to lose by doing it.

I would also suggest listening to what the UTS staff have to say, there will be many in your situation (especially if you go to the bridging course) so it will get covered at/before orientation or at the very start of the semester - most likely whenever they are conducting the readiness survey. If you pass the readiness survey and are comfortable for the first few weeks of MM1, stick with it and put in the effort you need to put in to pass. If you don't pass the readiness survey, then you have no choice but to take Foundation Maths.

For math readiness survey, do i have to register online by myself or it automatically has it because mathematical 1 is my core subject? Also, because Im new, so shouldnt i follow the study plan for year 1? because Im scared because there a few subject has requisite and some subject require certain credit to completed, If i follow my own plan, it might get really messy and confused. So what ya reckon?

 

[brent012]

For math readiness survey, do i have to register online by myself or it automatically has it because mathematical 1 is my core subject? Also, because Im new, so shouldnt i follow the study plan for year 1? because Im scared because there a few subject has requisite and some subject require certain credit to completed, If i follow my own plan, it might get really messy and confused. So what ya reckon?

I don't know, it didn't exist when I was in first year, that info should be on the website or alongside the orientation material.

Foundation Maths is part of the first year plan, they expect some people to have to do it. If you do the plan I said above, your only pre-req problems will be for the first year until you have completed MM2 over summer. Check the pre-reqs and co-reqs of all of the first year subjects for the major you are planning if you are concerned.

 

[thenotorious_ky]

I don't know, it didn't exist when I was in first year, that info should be on the website or alongside the orientation material.

Foundation Maths is part of the first year plan, they expect some people to have to do it. If you do the plan I said above, your only pre-req problems will be for the first year until you have completed MM2 over summer. Check the pre-reqs and co-reqs of all of the first year subjects for the major you are planning if you are concerned.

I checked the uts handbook 2020 for my course, they didnt reccomend me to take foundation maths nor talk about foundation math in the course program

 

[brent012]

I checked the uts handbook 2020 for my course, they didnt reccomend me to take foundation maths nor talk about foundation math in the course program

Sure, but anyone that doesn't get 15/20 on the readiness survey will have to take Foundation Maths.

 

[thenotorious_ky]

Sure, but anyone that doesn't get 15/20 on the readiness survey will have to take Foundation Maths.

so if i take foundation math as an extra subject, does that mean i dont have to do the math readiness survey?

 

[brent012]

so if i take foundation math as an extra subject, does that mean i dont have to do the math readiness survey?

Not sure, it seems to say on the site that it is compulsory. I imagine it's useful for UTS/the maths study centre to guage the level of maths of all students starting in courses that require a decent level of maths.

But if you don't mind having to do foundation maths, then the result of the survey isn't such a big deal for you. You would also be allowed to take Foundation Maths with a good score in the survey I assume, the only thing it would do is prevent enrolment in MM1 if the survey indicated you weren't ready.

 

[thenotorious_ky]

Not sure, it seems to say on the site that it is compulsory. I imagine it's useful for UTS/the maths study centre to guage the level of maths of all students starting in courses that require a decent level of maths.

But if you don't mind having to do foundation maths, then the result of the survey isn't such a big deal for you. You would also be allowed to take Foundation Maths with a good score in the survey I assume, the only thing it would do is prevent enrolment in MM1 if the survey indicated you weren't ready.

hey, there's no foundation math in my electives, i typed up the course code but nothing's there, you 100% sure is in my electives?

 

[brent012]

I don't know how you add it to your study plan, I just know that as it's not a core/major subject it would take the place of an elective. There should be more info on the website for the readiness survey.

If you can't find how to add it, then I'd suggest enrolling in and picking a good time table for MM1 until you find out more about the readiness survey and foundation maths.

 

[Drongoski]

Instead of all these what-should-I-do or what-shouldn't-I-do, knowing you have done only 2U Maths, why don't you spend the very precious time you have now to beef up your maths foundation by doing some of the relevant parts of 3U & 4U Maths (or the foundational parts of the maths you'll be doing) - so that you are better prepared. By relevant parts of 3U or 4U, I mean you do not have to worry about things like circle geometry, conics, mechanics.

If you are capable of doing all this by yourself, that's great. Else get help from your friends or classmates who have already done them. Else, if you can afford it, you can get paid help. I can prepare you for it, if you trust me.