specialist or further??

[oglow30]

 Our school offers further in year 11 and only students that get 40+ are allowed in spec or students that are extra good at methods. i didn't do further this year because i didn't have much knowledge about vce so i didn't even know what it was and chose general maths. Next year i have the choice to do specialist because i done really well with year 11 methods (most results were 95+). I enjoy maths a lot and that is why i want to choose specialist. I completely hate the style of maths in further but i can get a 40+ really easily in it. I fear that if i choose any i would regret not choosing the other and so i need some ideas on what i should do.



Thanks in advance

[dc302]

If you like spesh then do it. If you don't like further then don't do it. Problem solved!

[oglow30]

my problem is i want to get a good atar and am scared that doing specialist mathematics would cause me to get a low mark :S

[dc302]

Depends on what you are aiming for. It is easy to get a 'decent' mark in further because what separates the top from the above avg are basically simple mistakes. However, if you do the work and you think you are pretty good at maths, then it is easier to get close to top marks in spesh than in further (due to scaling).

[mark_alec]

Choose subjects you enjoy. Don't pick subjects based on how you think you will score.

[oglow30]

yeah that is what i was thinking because it would motivate me to want to work harder.

[FatnessFirst]

you so should've done further....further+year 11 = more time to focus
and it's pretty easy in terms of the coursework...i am yet to experience the harshness of the marking in 2 weeks time T_T

[nubs]

Definitely do specialist if you enjoy maths
For one, it will help you in methods immensely. Calculus and trig, which probably make up around 60-70% of the methods course just becomes so much easier when you do spesh
Your maths in general will just be at a higher level when you do spesh, and your level of understanding and applying will be so much better and that also helps for methods and can even help a bit for stuff like chem and biol - which both have a lot of application type questions
Plus, the scaling for spesh for the following years is predicted to be 11-13
So if you get a 30 in spesh (which is around 60% at the most on both exams) it will go to at least 41, while a 43 in further would get scaled down 1 or 2

Also, if you're a good math student, further will be so boring and you will not be motivated to study like you will in spesh, and as a result you won't do as well as you could have done. You'll also feel as if you won't need to study for further, so definitely choose spesh

[funkyducky]

If you find further boring and you're reasonably good at maths, you will probably enjoy spesh and hence, do better in it. Don't forget the scaling - like Nirbaan said, a 30 in spesh is worth about the same as a low 40s score in Further. With further, getting a good score comes down to not making stupid mistakes, with spesh, it's about actually knowing your stuff.

[oglow30]

Thank you guys so much i was in need of this advice and i agree that further topics just look so boring to me!