If you are in year 11, read this first. (1 Viewer)

[Dimsimmer]

I understand most of the concepts that are involved in 3u maths and i am in year 11. I am underachieving in my exams, which i am averaging about 50% and i am not getting around 90% in 2u. I don't work hard enough. So would you think i would be able to do 4u if i work a lot harder. By the way, i go to a normal selective school.

 

[The Intergrator]

You should talk to your teacher. They should be able to tell you if you are capable or not. If you plan on doing 4 unit you will need to start doing quite a bit of work.

 

[stainmepink]

man that is so fucken good!!!are your 4u exams really easy?

haha sydney boys are not to be underestimated

 

[Bookie]

Well, when theres a 120 of us doin 4 unit and SHS, the tests are bound to be hard. Dont underestimate us. What?

 

[A l]

at the average selective school, how many students do 4-unit maths?

At my school, an average selective school at MATHEMATICS ONLY, usually has about two classes for Mathematics Extension 2 every year. There are usually five Mathematics Extension 1 classses, one Mathematics 2 unit class and one General Mathematics class. There were a lot of applicants for Mathematics Extension 2 this year and hopefully we might have three classes this year, because I reckon that our year is pretty good at Mathematics. Even people who had fairly mediocre results in Mathematics Extension 1 at my school were allowed to go on to Mathematics Extension 2.
Last year, we had our best student at Mathematics, who came second in the state for Mathematics Extension 2. He came second to a guy from James Ruse Agricultural High School. Let's hope we can match that or come close to that in our grade.
Unfortunately, the principal decides how many classes there will be and she is a pretty mean principal who has this bad idea that people are better off doing less work and topping easier subjects than working hard in a more challenging subject. We even had a section in our newsletter titled "Is Your Child Trying Too Hard?" !LOL!

what is the drop-out rate out of 4-unit maths?

Usually a small number of people drop out because they can't handle the workload. A friend predicted that there would be a lot of people dropping out this year when they realise they chose the course for the scaling and couldn't handle the difficulty and workload of the course. I hope that doesn't happen.

how's it different to 3-unit maths in terms of content?

VERY DIFFERENT. I just had a go at Complex Numbers and boy, that was very different and very unfamiliar compared to the Real Numbers dealt in Mathematics Extension 1.

what if you fail IT?

Your problem. There goes 1 unit of work and 2 units of the HSC wasted. As KFunk mentioned, you can make back up in your Mathematics Extension 1 exam which will count for 2 units instead of one, which helps considering how well is scaled.
Most people's definition of failing is below 50%. My personal definition of failing is below class average. That's what happens when people get very competitive. This competition at my school only happens in Mathematics and Science for some reason. Tells you something about the teaching qualities between faculties doesn't it.......?

If you can't get through the course without spending $100 a week on tutoring, don't do it.

Interesting idea. I reckon the majority of people taking Mathematics Extension 2 would have tuition for it, but obviously not for such a high price per week! I would believe that most of the people taking the course would be from an Asian background and you know how many Asian parents sometimes force their children to attend tuition whether they like it or not.....

 

[bitar]

yeah......

hey wassup i like you

 

[bitar]

Help

i was doing my 4unit work and i dropped my compass on my legg... has dat happened to anyone else????

 

[stella8h8chang]

At our school there are going to be 2 classes for Ext 2 maths, one strong one with only 18 kids, and one for everybody else (including those people who "aren't sure but are giving it a try"). Their aim is that the lower Ext 2 class will all drop out or something like that. The way the timetable works is that class 2 gets all their Ext 2 classes before/after school, and have their Ext 1 lessons during school, during which they are joined by the top kids who are not doing Ext 2. The top Ext 2 class gets all their lessons within schooltime...or something odd like that. Are any other schools doing odd things like that?

I think I should make it into the top Ext 2 class. I got 97% for 2U (4th) and 89% for 3U (3rd), and I like maths, so I'm pretty sure about my plans as well.

 

[ishq]

Let me guess.
You're in Yr 11 and are already doing tutoring for Yr 12 subjects?

 

[Slidey]

Even people who had fairly mediocre results in Mathematics Extension 1 at my school were allowed to go on to Mathematics Extension 2.
Last year, we had our best student at Mathematics, who came second in the state for Mathematics Extension 2.

As it should be. I think that if your average in 3u maths is over 60%, you should do 4u.

Usually a small number of people drop out because they can't handle the workload. A friend predicted that there would be a lot of people dropping out this year when they realise they chose the course for the scaling and couldn't handle the difficulty and workload of the course. I hope that doesn't happen.

We had a class of 5, with one person dropping out. He is comign second in 3u. Why did he drop out? Because complex numbers scared the hell out of him and he thought the entire course would be like that.

VERY DIFFERENT. I just had a go at Complex Numbers and boy, that was very different and very unfamiliar compared to the Real Numbers dealt in Mathematics Extension 1.

It looks foreign at first, but it's really just a bunch of basic skills you already have: solving and factorising euqations, conjugate surds (conjugate of z), Pythagoras' theorem (modulus), 3u trig skills, locus... about the only thing I can think of that would be foreign is vectors. You'll probably grow to love complex numbers.

The other topics are not so foreign: integration, polynomials, conics (you already cover this in the case of the parabola and circle in 3u and 2u, now you cover the hyperbola and ellipse), mechanics, volumes, harder 3u (mainly harder induction, inequalities and circle geometry), curve sketching.

I reckon the majority of people taking Mathematics Extension 2 would have tuition for it, but obviously not for such a high price per week! I would believe that most of the people taking the course would be from an Asian background and you know how many Asian parents sometimes force their children to attend tuition whether they like it or not.....

Really? I don't think so. Sydney isn't the only city that sits the HSC.

 

[Trebla]

As it should be. I think that if your average in 3u maths is over 60%, you should do 4u.

The course average for Extension 1 at our school is usually 70%-80%. Most people would average over 60% anyway. Only like 5%-10% of the grade actually average below that.

Really? I don't think so. Sydney isn't the only city that sits the HSC.

Wouldn't the majority of HSC students come from Sydney Metropolitan area anyway? Also, wouldn't the selective schools (in which the majority of students are usually asians) make up a large portion of Extension 2 Mathematics students?

What I think is weird is that you use up 3 units of your time mainly on Extension 1 while you spend only 1 unit of your time mainly on Extension 2. You spend more class time in Extension 1, than in Extension 2. You're spending different class times on the two, yet they are counted as equal unit values. I guess that helps since they both scale well and good scaled marks would certainly help if it makes up a larger chunk of the UAI as opposed to doing only 3 unit Maths with 2 unit accounting for most of your Maths units and only 1 unit worth of potentially good scaled marks.

Man, I'm going to have a tough road ahead with 4 unit Maths and 6 unit Science!!!

 

[stella8h8chang]

Let me guess.
You're in Yr 11 and are already doing tutoring for Yr 12 subjects?

Hey, how'd you know? But yeah, I don't turn up half the time, I don't ever do my homework and I get lost very easily. The only reason I go is because I'm forced, or because I hope that by listening in I'll absorb roughly half of what I need to know, so next year will be easier.

 

[withoutaface]

That's Bull. The person who has tutoring in my class is third from the bottom.

????????????

 

[DraconisV]

Man, I'm going to have a tough road ahead with 4 unit Maths and 6 unit Science!!!

Same here, but don't forget advanced english

 

[Slidey]

It's very hard to have a "tough road ahead" for 4u mathematics if you do a small amount of study each day. I do mean a small amount (30 minutes max probably). I almost gaurentee you will get an E4 if you do that.

What's hard is trying account for not doing that small amount of study each day for the past year when the HSC looms 60 or less days away (30 in my case - haha).

 

[acmilan]

It's very hard to have a "tough road ahead" for 4u mathematics if you do a small amount of study each day. I do mean a small amount (30 minutes max probably). I almost gaurentee you will get an E4 if you do that.

What's hard is trying account for not doing that small amount of study each day for the past year when the HSC looms 60 or less days away (30 in my case - haha).

If I could give one piece of advice for 4 unit i'd be repeating what Slide Rule said above. It cost me dearly.

 

[VQ]

Well....should admit that ext2 is sooo hard at the beginning, and finally when u reach the end...u will see that there are 'only' some topics that are hard and once they become hard, they will become as hard as u can imagine...not impossible to be done, but still....

and yes, regular study is needed...enjoying it is much more needed...(and should say, I love maths dearly these days..they are fun though quite 'challenging')....tho' 25 days to go, still haven't prepared yet for the exam >< doh!

 

[Bookie]

Ok, I've been looking through MX2 books, and surprisingly, looking at EX1 books, X2 seems easier to me. The integration looks a fuckload easier in 4U. its only conics and polynomials that look daunting. By the way, our class has just started the MX1 course for Year 11 [due to the accelerating the 2U course], so I've got little idea of whats in 3 unit [except from the help my tutor gives me].

 

[jake2.0]

Ok, I've been looking through MX2 books, and surprisingly, looking at EX1 books, X2 seems easier to me. The integration looks a fuckload easier in 4U. its only conics and polynomials that look daunting. By the way, our class has just started the MX1 course for Year 11 [due to the accelerating the 2U course], so I've got little idea of whats in 3 unit [except from the help my tutor gives me].

u havn't looked hard enough. in 3u integration they practically give u the answer by telling u what to substitute, whilst in 4u u gotta figure it out ur self most of the time. under integration look under "reduction" and tell me if its easier than 3u, i think u'll be surprised! if not then ur extremely smart!

 

[Trebla]

Don't forget to mention the harder 3U topic, which make up a significant part of the course. If you are completing the 3U prelim and the 3U HSC course at the same time, you may find that topic difficult to cope with in 4U.