Should I drop down to General Maths? (1 Viewer)

[matreha]

I am in Year 11, and trying to make the decision of whether to drop down from Mathematics to General as I am really struggling and hating it. The only thing stopping me doing that, is worries about low scaling in General. I am aiming for an ATAR above 91. Here are the other subjects I do, if it helps:

English Advanced
English Extension I
Drama
French Continuers
Studies of Religion I
Ancient History

I know that I would definitely have a better rank in General than Maths...please help!

Thank you in advance - please be nice !

 

[bangladesh]

It's really up to the person.. If u think you can pull off a band 5 in advanced then keep it. If not then drop down.

 

[rumbleroar]

1. You're only in year 11 - you have plenty of time to improve. From personal experience, there were periods where I hated maths, but after identifying why you hate certain aspects of it and fixing it, it made maths more enjoyable. So find out what parts you don't like, and see if there's any way of approaching it so you do enjoy it in the future

2. What HSC marks do you think you can achieve in General and Advanced 2U? Because in reality, scaling will severely affect you once you're in the lower bands (although it does affect you even if you're in the top band, just not as badly).

3. You've most likely only had 1-2 assessments MAX for Advanced, you still have plenty of time to improve in it. I'm sure there's also a lot of others on BoS that are willing to help you out.

Personally, I would stick with it, I think the reason why you hate it is because you're struggling. If you get over the initial obstacles, I'm sure you can find a liking for maths, because who doesn't like maths?

Best of luck!

 

[matreha]

Thank you very much for your response!

1. You're only in year 11 - you have plenty of time to improve. From personal experience, there were periods where I hated maths, but after identifying why you hate certain aspects of it and fixing it, it made maths more enjoyable. So find out what parts you don't like, and see if there's any way of approaching it so you do enjoy it in the future ]

The problem is, I've never enjoyed maths - even when I did well in it (Yr7-10) so I'm finding it really hard to get motivated to study Maths and improve in it. I know it sounds bad, but I'd like to find it really easy so I don't have to put in as much effort.

[2. What HSC marks do you think you can achieve in General and Advanced 2U? Because in reality, scaling will severely affect you once you're in the lower bands (although it does affect you even if you're in the top band, just not as badly). ]

I think I'd be able to get >90 in General, a lot lower in Maths.

[3. You've most likely only had 1-2 assessments MAX for Advanced, you still have plenty of time to improve in it. I'm sure there's also a lot of others on BoS that are willing to help you out. ]

Thanks again.

 

[Drifting95]

If you go well in your other subs it shouldn't be an issue, i got 97 + with general and other poor scaling subjects. You also need to factor in the additional time you will spend trying to understand advanced maths when you could be allocating it to other subjects.

 

[BLIT2014]

Have a look at a couple of pastpapers, and HSC/Prelim Course/maths books

 

[VenomousCharm]

Okay, i was in your situation last year. I did these subjects:

Advanced English
Extension 1 English
S.O.R Accelerated
Modern History
Drama
Legal Studies.
Advanced Maths

So we're not really that far off. I absolutely hated doing Advanced maths, could not stand it, if i put in work i could have easily been top 3 of the class. I dropped, I didn't worry about scaling because those who do, i have no respect for. I now do General Maths, am 2nd due to a few bad mistakes on my behalf in the half yearly, I picked up extension 2 English as well. Now i suppose i went on a bit of a tangent, but really what i'm trying to say is. If you dont enjoy Maths, drop, you'll do better in general compared to what you would in advanced.

 

[bangladesh]

Okay, i was in your situation last year. I did these subjects:

Advanced English
Extension 1 English
S.O.R Accelerated
Modern History
Drama
Legal Studies.
Advanced Maths

So we're not really that far off. I absolutely hated doing Advanced maths, could not stand it, if i put in work i could have easily been top 3 of the class. I dropped, I didn't worry about scaling because those who do, i have no respect for. I now do General Maths, am 2nd due to a few bad mistakes on my behalf in the half yearly, I picked up extension 2 English as well. Now i suppose i went on a bit of a tangent, but really what i'm trying to say is. If you dont enjoy Maths, drop, you'll do better in general compared to what you would in advanced.

lol, you're telling me you don't have respect for over 75% of the top achievers in nsw. I'm sorry but not considering scaling when picking subjects/dropping subject is a huge mistake.

 

[Axio]

lol, you're telling me you don't have respect for over 75% of the top achievers in nsw. I'm sorry but not considering scaling when picking subjects/dropping subject is a huge mistake.

I don't agree with this at all.

 

[rumbleroar]

lol, you're telling me you don't have respect for over 75% of the top achievers in nsw. I'm sorry but not considering scaling when picking subjects/dropping subject is a huge mistake.

I think this mentality depends on what ATAR you're trying to achieve. If you're aiming for 99.95, etc., you probably would consider scaling to some extent, but I disagree that it is a "huge mistake" to not consider it. It can be a mistake to varying extents, depending on what ATAR you're aiming to achieve, etc.

 

[Squar3root]

lol, you're telling me you don't have respect for over 75% of the top achievers in nsw. I'm sorry but not considering scaling when picking subjects/dropping subject is a huge mistake.

I don't agree with this at all.

i disagree with both of you. choose subjects that you like and if the subject scales well; then that's a bonus. Don't be picking MX2 if you don't know how to find the x intercept and dont pick visual arts if you dont know how to paint

 

[obliviousninja]

I should have done the asian 5. Sigh. fml. 3x 89 hsc marks

 

[bangladesh]

i disagree with both of you. choose subjects that you like and if the subject scales well; then that's a bonus. Don't be picking MX2 if you don't know how to find the x intercept and dont pick visual arts if you dont know how to paint

Say i enjoy business services.. if you get a 99 in that subject, it is the atar equivalent 96.. I don't know why you'd say this considering you've been through the hsc yourself and understand the huge impact of scaling on your atar... I guess what you're saying is true if you're only aiming for 90-93 but anything above that, i think you must definitely consider scaling.