Advice needed!!!

[rachaelearl]

I do 12 units (listed below) and while I haven't done fantastic in Bio, Maths is by far my weakest subject. I'm completely sure with my marks and what teachers have said that it will be my 11th and 12th unit that don't count towards my ATAR, and the only reason I haven't dropped it is because I'm not sure what I want to do at uni and so might need it as a prerequisite. The HSC exams start in a week, and I'm really feeling the pressure as there's so much to do in such little time. I haven't scheduled a huge amount of Maths into my study timetable for the coming two weeks, but it is quite a bit of time which I feel would be useful elsewhere. I'm considering not really studying for the Maths exam that much so that I can bring up the marks that will count, such as Bio. Has anyone done this or have any opinions? I don't see any reason why it's a bad idea, unless I flunk another subject, but the amount of time I would need to dedicate to go well in Maths is so much. Really desperate so please help if you can! Thanks in advance 

English Adv.
Mathematics Adv.
Biology
Modern History
Studies of Religion I
Italian Continuers
Italian Extension

[fantasticbeasts3]

hey, welcome to the forums! you have a pretty decent timetable judging from the subjects you've listed there. give maths a chance, because you never know what might happen :-) you have a whole weekend to cram for maths, and the more questions you do, the more you get used to it. all the best for your hsc! x

[Thebarman]

Hi Rachel, I'm more or less in the exact same situation as you. We study more or less the same subjects (except Italian, and I study SOR2), and bio and maths are also my weakest subjects, with math being the weaker of the two. So I can definitely understand your frustration and see where you're coming from. Personally, I'm spending just as much time on either subject, mainly because I'm not sure which one will go towards my atar. There's a possibility that you may do even better in math than you do in bio.In that case, it would help to have studied for math. It really comes down to how confident you feel in your other subjects. There's always the possibility that an exam you expect to go really well in will infact be the opposite. In that case, both bio and math may go towards your atar. If at this point you've focused moreso on the other subjects, then maybe take a bit of time just to revise some math content, even if it's just reading through the textbook. Either way, I wouldn't really advise against completely forgetting about maths and not studying for it, but I'd recommend maybe doing something, even if it's what I previously mentioned. If you're 100% confident that you'll do much better in biology, then still focus on bio, but put a little bit of time in for math. You don't need to dedicate an insane amount of time towards math now. Something is better than nothing. What I'm basically saying is that you can spend some time on math, but still focus a bit more on biology if you're sure that that is what will count in the end. This is just a suggestion though . Either way, you know more than you realise. Have faith in yourself.

Best of luck!

[Opengangs]

The way I study for mathematics is purely past papers; past papers are your saviours at this point, because you can learn so much from marking past papers. You can understand how to formulate a response to a question by having a look at how the markers structured their answers. You can learn tips and tricks that you may or may not have thought of yourself.

Mathematics is one of those subjects that you can ace after a week of practice, because of the infinite possibilities you can make when you just know the process. You slowly start to develop new strategies the more questions you do, and they more or less try to lead you on. Give mathematics a go, because you never know what you can achieve. Start with an open book exam (although, do as much as you can without referring to your book), and slowly work your way to solely a timed exam paper. You have two weeks before the 2u exam, so that's heaps of time for you to develop skills and strategies to overcome mathematics barrier.