Should I do Extension 2 Maths? (1 Viewer)

[nrumble42]

I'll be starting Yr 12 next term and I either have the option of doing ext. history or ext. 2 maths and I'm not sure what to do. I'm better at maths and i averaged 73% ext. 1 for the prelim course without any scaling but I also averaged 86% in Ancient History. I'd rather do the maths but based of the prelim mark, would i be able to cope with ext 2 and go alright in the HSC?

 

[Drongoski]

MX2 looks do-able but you may have to work extra hard because 73 is ok but not great.

 

[braintic]

What sort of school do you attend. If you go to a selective school, the tests are usually more difficult, so that might be an OK mark. If not (and I know some non-selective schools also set hard tests), you might be struggling.

Which school you go to would be the most useful information, but assuming you don't want to give that out then an approximate school rank and your rank (and what the rank is out of) should be useful information. Also how did you go in 2U?

 

[eyeseeyou]

What sort of school do you attend. If you go to a selective school, the tests are usually more difficult, so that might be an OK mark. If not (and I know some non-selective schools also set hard tests), you might be struggling.

Which school you go to would be the most useful information, but assuming you don't want to give that out then an approximate school rank and your rank (and what the rank is out of) should be useful information. Also how did you go in 2U?

I thought sydney grammar were harder than selective schools (in terms of maths exams)

 

[pikachu975]

I thought sydney grammar were harder than selective schools (in terms of maths exams)

lol

 

[30june2016]

I thought sydney grammar were harder than selective schools (in terms of maths exams)

well braintic did say 'I know some non-selective schools also set hard tests' soooo could be true but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[eyeseeyou]

well braintic did say 'I know some non-selective schools also set hard tests' soooo could be true but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh yeah whoops I misread it

 

[BLIT2014]

Ask you mathematics teacher?

 

[jkhoo]

I think you should take MX2, especially if you go to a selective since it's very likely your cohort will carry you if you're not doing well. At least that's what happened with me

Also - this is just my opinion - MX2 isn't so much about brute force and rinse-and-repeat exercises, as Maths and MX1 are. It's more about thinking unconventionally and finding connections between topics. That is something you should consider when you make your decision.

Sydney Grammar papers are by far the hardest, followed by Ruse. NSB can get quite horrific at times as well.

Go well

 

[nrumble42]

What sort of school do you attend. If you go to a selective school, the tests are usually more difficult, so that might be an OK mark. If not (and I know some non-selective schools also set hard tests), you might be struggling.

Which school you go to would be the most useful information, but assuming you don't want to give that out then an approximate school rank and your rank (and what the rank is out of) should be useful information. Also how did you go in 2U?

I go to a selective school and I'm ranked first in Ext. 1 maths out of about 12 kids. I'm also topping 2U on 91% ut of about 30 kids

 

[nrumble42]

I think you should take MX2, especially if you go to a selective since it's very likely your cohort will carry you if you're not doing well. At least that's what happened with me

Also - this is just my opinion - MX2 isn't so much about brute force and rinse-and-repeat exercises, as Maths and MX1 are. It's more about thinking unconventionally and finding connections between topics. That is something you should consider when you make your decision.

Sydney Grammar papers are by far the hardest, followed by Ruse. NSB can get quite horrific at times as well.

Go well

Yeah okay. My teachers are really suggesting I do it, but I just feel like even though it scales, I could get better marks in 2U

 

[Carrotsticks]

lol

But that is the case. Grammar papers are the most well written papers in NSW.

 

[InteGrand]

Yeah okay. My teachers are really suggesting I do it, but I just feel like even though it scales, I could get better marks in 2U

You'd need to do REALLY well in 2U to beat a sufficiently good 4U mark (and once you reach a certain stage X, a 4U mark exceeding X is generally better for your ATAR than any 2U mark. Not sure exactly what X is, check out some ATAR calculators).

Also, if you do 4U, then 3U will count for two units, so if you do well in 3U, it gives you two units of goodness for your ATAR, rather than just one that it's give if you did only 2U/3U maths.

 

[eyeseeyou]

You'd need to do REALLY well in 2U to beat a sufficiently good 4U mark (and once you reach a certain stage X, a 4U mark exceeding X is generally better for your ATAR than any 2U mark. Not sure exactly what X is, check out some ATAR calculators).

Also, if you do 4U, then 3U will count for two units, so if you do well in 3U, it gives you two units of goodness for your ATAR, rather than just one that it's give if you did only 2U/3U maths.

Do you mean like you need to get like high 90s (I mean like 98-100) to compensate for 4U maths?

Also IDK if this is true or not but I heard that one of the maths teachers at Sydney grammar (either Bill Pender or David Sadler, the one's who wrote Cambridge) have made a textbook which is explicitly available to certain private schools and are not sold in stores. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[InteGrand]

Do you mean like you need to get like high 90s (I mean like 98-100) to compensate for 4U maths?

Also IDK if this is true or not but I heard that one of the maths teachers at Sydney grammar (either Bill Pender or David Sadler, the one's who wrote Cambridge) have made a textbook which is explicitly available to certain private schools and are not sold in stores. Does anyone know anything about this?

Yeah

 

[braintic]

Do you mean like you need to get like high 90s (I mean like 98-100) to compensate for 4U maths?

Also IDK if this is true or not but I heard that one of the maths teachers at Sydney grammar (either Bill Pender or David Sadler, the one's who wrote Cambridge) have made a textbook which is explicitly available to certain private schools and are not sold in stores. Does anyone know anything about this?

It's available to any school which wants to purchase it directly from him.

 

[braintic]

But that is the case. Grammar papers are the most well written papers in NSW.

If only they would stick to the syllabus.
(And 40 years since the change from '6th form' to 'year 12', they still refuse to change.)

 

[braintic]

I go to a selective school and I'm ranked first in Ext. 1 maths out of about 12 kids. I'm also topping 2U on 91% ut of about 30 kids

Then most definitely do Ext 2. You should have absolutely no doubts about your ability.
BTW - with those numbers of students, would I be correct in assuming it is only a partially selective school?

 

[Carrotsticks]

If only they would stick to the syllabus.
(And 40 years since the change from '6th form' to 'year 12', they still refuse to change.)

I think they stick to the syllabus very well content-wise, much better than the 'paid' exam papers even (CSSA, Independent etc) and school trials.

Surely their refusal to change the name can be overlooked.

 

[braintic]

I think they stick to the syllabus very well content-wise, much better than the 'paid' exam papers even (CSSA, Independent etc) and school trials.

Surely their refusal to change the name can be overlooked.

I have to admit to not looking at their papers for the past couple of years. But before that, there is no way their final questions would have been considered suitable for HSC exams.