Doing MATH1141 right now. Should I change to MATH1031? (1 Viewer)

[MiseryParade]

I got a combined mark in Extension 1+2 maths of 187 or 188 out of 200, don't even remember. My degree allows MATH1031/1131/1141 and this is the only maths I'll take in the entirety of my degree. I definitely don't plan to do engineering/physics/any other major that will require a lot of maths.

Doing 1141 right now, but friends doing 1031 are tempting me into dropping down. In 1141, I can keep up with lectures easily and do the tute questions and yadda yadda but it looks like 1031 is basically a rehash of 2+3+4U HSC maths, with a couple of new stuff thrown in, and I feel like I could do really, really well in it without much effort.

I'm gonna try for med again this year so good grades are essential, so at this point I only care about marks, not how interesting a course is. 1141 is fun but I feel like it'll take a lot more effort than 1031 to get a HD in it, and I could reallllly use the extra time to concentrate on other subjects, especially since I'm not used to studying and the workload in uni is like whoa.

I've written an email to Peter Brown asking to be swapped from 1141 to 1031, but I haven't sent it yet. Hopefully he acquiesces, because the reason I've provided was that 1131/41 was too difficult for me (which it isn't).

Leaning towards dropping to 1031 right now. Thoughts?

Edit: if I do 1031, in second sem I can only do PHYS1111 since 1121 requires MATH1131/41. (I have to take physics next sem for the first and last time in my degree) I was sorta looking forward to doing mechanics in physics to be honest, but if PHYS1111 is better at maximising marks, then I might have chosen that instead of 1121...not sure yet.

Edit 2: I THINK getting a 85 in 1031 without scaling will be much easier than getting a 85 in 1141 WITH scaling. But I can't be sure, which is the problem. Can anyone verify/contradict this? By putting in similar amounts of effort into both 1031 and 1141, will 1031 prove to be the mark maximiser that I've begun to think of it as?

Is MATH1031 very easy? Right now I'm under the impression that it'll be basically HSC all over again, with some new stuff once in a while. Am I overestimating its ease?

I've done more research, and threads like these http://community.boredofstudies.org...298938/medical-science-electives-@unsw-2.html and http://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/f35/med-science-@unsw-first-year-subjects-5400/ are really convincing me that if I want marks, I should go for the easiest subjects since with equal effort, they'll surrender more marks AFTER scaling. Can someone set me right, if I'm wrong? :/


tl;dr got 187/200 in 3+4u maths. Doing 1141 atm, want to drop to 1031 to maximise marks. Don't care about interest, all I want is a good WAM for med. Under impression that with equal effort, 1031 will surrender more marks than 1141, and that 1031 is extremely easy and won't take that much effort. Can anyone help confirm/contradict this?

 

[Squar3root]

What degree are you doing?

 

[MiseryParade]

What degree are you doing?

optom. med hopeful.

 

[D94]

It's hard for anyone to quantify the difficulty of achieving a certain grade between 2 courses that are excluded from each other. I highly doubt you will find someone who has done both MATH1141 and MATH1031.

MATH1031 is probably very easy, which does mean there is a chance that it scales down. A course may be easy, but that doesn't mean it's easy to achieve a certain mark. It may not require as much effort to get a HD than in MATH1141, but it's easier to lose marks due to complacency than due to scaling down.

Having said that, MATH1031 would probably be better for you.

 

[kurst]

well i did math1131, math1041 which i think is like the second semester equivalent of math1031, and phys1111. math1041 and phys1111 were very easy HDs. i dont know how scaling works but i was doing mediocre in phys but owned the final exam, and i was doing great in math1041 but kinda screwed up some of the final exam, so i dont think it's that hard to get a HD in them. but im just assuming 1031 and 1041 would be similar

 

[D94]

MATH1041 is statistics, MATH1031 is calculus based. They are completely different - they are not like MATH1131 and MATH1141 which are the same course but difference is in difficulty.

MATH1041 and MATH1131 are not excluded from each other, whereas MATH1031 and MATH1131/1141 are.

 

[kurst]

i just mean they're both the easiest maths course out of the 3 you can do, so i assume they would have similar scaling

 

[Xt]

You've answered the question yourself. At the end of the day, the admission office won't care whether or not you got a HD in MATH1031 or MATH1141 - all they see is HD and tick, good GPA.

Its an easy choice, just switch over.