How much longer should I hang on to 3U Maths? (1 Viewer)

[mylucky9]

I want to do a course of economics or commerce in either UNSW or Macquarie.

School rank is in the 200-300s.

My best subjects in order: Rankings aren't accurate
1. English (top 10 out of 66)
2. Economics (top 5 out of 20)
3. Maths 2U (top 25 out of 117)
4. Business (top 30 out of 76)
5. Legal (top 30 out of 66) --> but I'm improving!
6. Maths 3U (top 30 out of 42)

Legal is my downfall, but I'm picking up as I go now. I do considerably well in other subjects, I would on average get 90+ in my top 2, no less than 80 in Maths 2U, and I just surprise myself in Business but I would say I range between 70-80. And as for legal, I started off pretty bad but I'm doing well as we work towards more essay writing topics. I'd say I score around 65-70.

3U has always been my lowest priority and I only give it time before exams. A few times I really pushed myself, studying 2 weeks prior to the exam but my best would be around the 80s. I don't think I've ever gotten a 90 if you exclude Preliminary topics.

My half-hearted decision to drop 3U has been bombarded by friends and school teachers who encourage me to keep and my maths tutor. He highly encourages the class to drop 3U and he has good reasons for it:
- Time dedicated to 2U
- His experience with other students who did drop, and came first in their 2U course
- Time for improvement on weaker subjects

"Big risk" he said but if we had the commitment to really study hard for our other subjects we would be fine without 3U.

Should I add on anything else? :L

 

[BrokenGlass]

Hey, you sound like you've answered your own question. And don't worry too much, if you commit yourself to it, then 10 units is not a big risk at all. You've already raised some good points, you could use the extra time to work harder in other subjects, like legal for example.
From what you've told me it sounds like dropping 3u is the way to go, HOWEVER:
- you've only done HALF your hsc...what if you work hard and SMASH your 3u external exam? With that in mind, I say why drop it now, when you've already done most of the hard yards?
In the end its your choice to determine whether or not you would rather spend time on and improve in 3u, or drop it and use that time more wisely on other subjects. Best of luck!

 

[mylucky9]

Thanks, I thought about that too but considering how badly I've done in 3U it discourages me to do the external. It wouldn't hurt to cram for the external and fail it, right? I'd like to keep my class anyway, the teacher is much more productive and helpful. UH! This decision is so hard for me, why!

 

[BrokenGlass]

You said it! If you really want to, why not just not drop it but sit the external anyway, you never know! you might even surprise yourself(in a good way) with the mark you get. Just make sure you don't waste too much time on it if you do that, but it's not a bad idea, IMO.

 

[RishBonjour]

From reading the 1st paragraph, I say you should drop 3u if you feel like you will have time for 2u and your other 'not so good subjects'
For 2u, your marks don't matter, because IMO, i think its a subject where 1 month is enough to change from averaging 70% to 90+

good luck!

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Well it could definitely open up time for other subs.

But it has good scaling and you've done the whole course with a decent rank, so it might be okay to front up to the HSC anyway so you have an extra unit.

Ultimately up to you.

 

[ataratar]

i would keep it because it scales well, and it gives you an extra unit to ensure that your atar doesnt suffer if you make a detrimental mistake in another exam. also, if you don't spend too much time on it now, it looks like more time is not what will improve your performance in legal. and if you do really do badly in 3u for your externals, it doesn't have to count! trollface.jpg

 

[someth1ng]

Keep it. I believe that it will count over Legal.