Year 12 Class of 2013, REPORT HERE!

[nosuperstar]

It's funny that you ask about my Methods background, Shannon, because it's quite unique. This is how my mathematics program fell into place throughout high school:

Year 7: Standard mathematics
Year 8: Accelerated (Year 9) mathematics
Year 9: Accelerated (Year 10) mathematics
Year 10: Mathematical Methods (CAS) 1/2
Year 11: Further Mathematics 3/4, Advanced General Mathematics 1/2
Year 12: Mathematical Methods (CAS) 3/4, Specialist Mathematics 3/4

So as you can see, I'm not studying Methods at all this year! Also, my school did this weird supplement subject thing up until this year where the Methods students did a 'General Methods' subject in Year 11, but none of the accelerated students did it, so I am yet to study logs and exponents (I've heard this isn't too difficult though). Unfortunately I'm probably not the best person to comment on the matter because my school treats Methods as some special subject - no one is allowed to accelerate in it and you would probably not be allowed to pick it up at 3/4 without 1/2 at my school (my school is like this - I went through hell to convince them to let me do Biology 3/4 when most of the Year 12 course is different to the Year 11 course). I've heard Methods approximately stays the same throughout all Units with the exception of probability, which actually gets more simple.

If you really wanted my personal opinion, I think you could do it in Year 12 as long as you work hard and are willing to get yourself extra support (this might mean getting a tutor). I believe the actual course is quite big in terms of content and you will probably find it's one of your more demanding subjects. However, with that being said, Further will become a breeze for you and you'll probably be able to fill out certain modules of the exam without even attending a Further lesson! When people do six subjects in a year, you'll find that a lot choose one subject as their 'last priority' subject and merely aim for a 35 in it. Further suits this description perfectly for students undertaking other mathematics subjects.

It's certainly not the ideal situation, but I know exactly what you're going through because I'm going through it myself. If you want it bad enough, no inconvenience will ever stand in your way. My mum had to pick up Art in Year 12 and do two year's worth of work because she failed Year 11 Maths and it turned out to be her best subject in HSC. Whenever I'm feeling stressed about it all, I think of this. Hopefully it works for you too. Don't be put off by the challenge.

Oh how I love and adore you. 
So did you choose to do Bio for next year because it's a Uni pre-req or?
I think it's going to be difficult to convince the VCE co-ord to let me do 6 subjects in all honesty, hopefully I can persuade them well.

I was discussing the possible switch with my dad and we've agreed on me getting a tutor for Methods (hopefully someone from AN), I do see it for what it is, demanding, but it offers a challenge that my other subjects don't really have for me, since I chose subjects i'm good at and see it was a breeze to understand the concepts. Hopefully this allows for me to focus on it more, I only aim to achieve at least a 25 for methods, so it may be that 'last priority' subject, though it will be of my highest priority to get that 25, hopefully with improvement, I can achieve higher than my goal.

Wow! I was thinking about this earlier today, and in all honesty, AN is seriously such a valuable resource for me to have at a time like this, stories of people's struggles and success really motivates me, nobody in my family has passed year 12 in Australia before, so I didn't have anyone to turn to when I was questioning things, but to be able to talk to people who are in the same situation, and actually take time willingly to discuss with each other  is amazing, I love this forum, I don't know if my recent AN addiction is getting to me, but I just feel so motivated right now!

[nisha]

Hmmmm. Just jumping in here to add in some guidance, but the VCE coordinators only allow students to do 6 subjects in year 12 (afaik in all the schools that I have been to) are VERY high achievers. At our school, only one student was allowed to do it and that was because he duxed 3 Yr 11 subjects the previous year, so keep that in mind.
If you have chosen subjects you enjoy/like and you find it easy to understand concepts, fine. But bear in mind that as the course of year 12 goes on its very easy to say "I can fully understand this" but because of the added pressure it can become more difficult. As someone who is going through it, don't underestimate Year 12.
Oh, and my best friend is doing methods for the same reason. And its not difficult to get decent marks in methods if you do work consistently, and not be discouraged by a poor mark (as my friend gave up on methods after <50% sac scores, missed classes, skipped sacs, got the letter already in the mail that she has failed the subject and is now contemplating on not turning up to the exam)

[Will T]

In my situation, looking at my subjects, the only difficult one I want to pick up is methods, so with the subjects I currently have, and methods on top of that, would you reckon it won't effect me if I don't get free periods?

I would definitely go for it. I'm in the same situation as Stick, taking a gap year from Methods (if you can think about it like that), all you have to do if put your mind to it and I'm sure you'll be fine!

[paulsterio]

Methods is always a difficult subject to advise for or against, purely because even though it is the mainstream mathematics subject, its enrollment numbers are far less than that of Further Mathematics. I've heard many people say many things about Methods, including the fact that it's "easy" and then there are those who contrast and say that it's one of the most difficult subjects they are doing.

The truth is, it's a direct continuation of junior high school mathematics. Think about it this way, if you're somebody who has been doing well from Years 7 - 10, you'll be comfortable with Methods. If you don't end up doing well, this is really only because you didn't put in the time and effort required.

If you scraped passes from Years 7 - 10, you really shouldn't be considering Methods because it's not the subject for you. I understand that Methods is a pre-requisite for many courses, but think about why it is a pre-requisite. I have a friend who has never been good with Maths, took Methods in Year 11-12 because he wanted to do Engineering, got in the 30s for Methods, enrolled in Mechanical Engineering at RMIT. He's now dropped out of Engineering and is enrolling in a different course next year. Why? Because of the Maths - essentially pre-requisites are there for a reason, don't do a subject JUST to satisfy pre-requisites. Think about why pre-reqs are there.

[Starlight]

^ Except for things like the bachelor of science though, where you can drop maths in uni if you want to.

[paulsterio]

^ Except for things like the bachelor of science though, where you can drop maths in uni if you want to.

Methods isn't a compulsory pre-requisite for BSc though, i.e. you can still do BSc without Methods.

http://202.93.249.211/CourseSearch/searchfield.htm?courseCode=28451

[Starlight]

^ Except for things like the bachelor of science though, where you can drop maths in uni if you want to.

Methods isn't a compulsory pre-requisite for BSc though, i.e. you can still do BSc without Methods.

I was thinking UoM, but yeah it's not the case most of the time.

[paulsterio]

Ahh, I was thinking Monash, but yeah, a requirement of 25 in Methods isn't unreasonable for a Science course though, given that most science subjects require some understanding of mathematics. For example, if you think about Biology and Human Sciences (Pharmacology, Physiology) - there are concepts which we take for granted such as Logarithms, Exponentials, Variation...etc. which are central to these subjects that somebody without the mathematical underpinning wouldn't be able to grasp so easily.

For example, to a student without a background in Methods, a statement such as "the rate of metabolism of a drug is directly proportional to the concentration of the drug remaining" will make little sense, whilst we will be able to easily understand that it means:

[Limista]

As for our little game, Starfish was the first person to guess the lie (no, despite the fact I'm incredibly nervous being, I have not thrown up during a test). We'll just wait for him to come up with his two truths and a lie.

Sorry Stick, but I take offence - I am NOT a "him"!!

Anyways...
* I love reading Harry Potter
* I love reading the Twilight saga
* I love reading Enid Blyton's novels

So, which one am I not a fan of (you can infer about a million things about me if you guess what I don't like reading  )?

[Yendall]

As for our little game, Starfish was the first person to guess the lie (no, despite the fact I'm incredibly nervous being, I have not thrown up during a test). We'll just wait for him to come up with his two truths and a lie.

Sorry Stick, but I take offence - I am NOT a "him"!!

Anyways...
* I love reading Harry Potter
* I love reading the Twilight saga
* I love reading Enid Blyton's novels

So, which one am I not a fan of (you can infer about a million things about me if you guess what I don't like reading  )?

Please be the Twilight saga. For the love of humanity.

[nosuperstar]

Hmmmm. Just jumping in here to add in some guidance, but the VCE coordinators only allow students to do 6 subjects in year 12 (afaik in all the schools that I have been to) are VERY high achievers. At our school, only one student was allowed to do it and that was because he duxed 3 Yr 11 subjects the previous year, so keep that in mind.
If you have chosen subjects you enjoy/like and you find it easy to understand concepts, fine. But bear in mind that as the course of year 12 goes on its very easy to say "I can fully understand this" but because of the added pressure it can become more difficult. As someone who is going through it, don't underestimate Year 12.
Oh, and my best friend is doing methods for the same reason. And its not difficult to get decent marks in methods if you do work consistently, and not be discouraged by a poor mark (as my friend gave up on methods after <50% sac scores, missed classes, skipped sacs, got the letter already in the mail that she has failed the subject and is now contemplating on not turning up to the exam)

woah! really? ;o;
wow, i'm not expecting methods to be my strongest subject, but despite it being done mainly for the pre-req factor, i've got many other motivations behind doing well in it, I enjoy working with numbers and with further, i'm not improving my maths skills at all, let alone learning anything, because I know everything that's being taught.

In my situation, looking at my subjects, the only difficult one I want to pick up is methods, so with the subjects I currently have, and methods on top of that, would you reckon it won't effect me if I don't get free periods?

I would definitely go for it. I'm in the same situation as Stick, taking a gap year from Methods (if you can think about it like that), all you have to do if put your mind to it and I'm sure you'll be fine!

thankyou! wow, I didn't know schools were allowed to do that, students at my school were allowed to continue with methods 3/4 in year 11.

Methods is always a difficult subject to advise for or against, purely because even though it is the mainstream mathematics subject, its enrollment numbers are far less than that of Further Mathematics. I've heard many people say many things about Methods, including the fact that it's "easy" and then there are those who contrast and say that it's one of the most difficult subjects they are doing.

The truth is, it's a direct continuation of junior high school mathematics. Think about it this way, if you're somebody who has been doing well from Years 7 - 10, you'll be comfortable with Methods. If you don't end up doing well, this is really only because you didn't put in the time and effort required.

If you scraped passes from Years 7 - 10, you really shouldn't be considering Methods because it's not the subject for you. I understand that Methods is a pre-requisite for many courses, but think about why it is a pre-requisite. I have a friend who has never been good with Maths, took Methods in Year 11-12 because he wanted to do Engineering, got in the 30s for Methods, enrolled in Mechanical Engineering at RMIT. He's now dropped out of Engineering and is enrolling in a different course next year. Why? Because of the Maths - essentially pre-requisites are there for a reason, don't do a subject JUST to satisfy pre-requisites. Think about why pre-reqs are there.

This helped me think about it in a different way tbh, my problem is overly complicated though. I want to do either accounting or commerce/law and I absolutely love accounting and business, though majority of universities require methods for it. This is such a difficult choice, there are so many options and things to consider.

[paulsterio]

thankyou! wow, I didn't know schools were allowed to do that, students at my school were allowed to continue with methods 3/4 in year 11.

Schools are pretty much allowed to do what they want really.

This helped me think about it in a different way tbh, my problem is overly complicated though. I want to do either accounting or commerce/law and I absolutely love accounting and business, though majority of universities require methods for it. This is such a difficult choice, there are so many options and things to consider.

Think about it this way, they say that you need 25+ in Methods for a reason, it's because certain areas of Commerce require an understanding of Mathematics. You say you want to study accounting - well that requires a good understanding of mathematics as well - so yes, definitely enrol in Methods, but think about it this way, you will struggle through Accounting if you don't have a good mathematical background, so start early and try to brush up as much as you can.

[nosuperstar]

Schools are pretty much allowed to do what they want really.

Think about it this way, they say that you need 25+ in Methods for a reason, it's because certain areas of Commerce require an understanding of Mathematics. You say you want to study accounting - well that requires a good understanding of mathematics as well - so yes, definitely enrol in Methods, but think about it this way, you will struggle through Accounting if you don't have a good mathematical background, so start early and try to brush up as much as you can.

Accounting is currently my best subject tbh, me and another girl are basically equal on rank 1 and she currently does year 12 methods. To switch to methods, I do plan to put in alot of dedication to start learning the basics early so I actually know what i'm doing and what to get help on. Though I must say, your previous reply made me think about the whole choice in a different manner.

Do you think it reflects on the quality of the university and the students they if say for example, Deakin's BComm doesn't require methods or any maths at all, where as Monash requires a 25 in methods?

[paulsterio]

Yes, if you want to go into Methods it's critical that you start early because Methods is a subject which borrows heavily from Y11. When you do Y12 Methods, you'll see that a lot of it is based off what is learnt in Y11, including the different functions and the basics of differential and integral calculus.

Well, to be honest, it's not so much whether the university requires Methods or not, but rather the University itself. If I were in your position, I would probably just go with Methods and try and get into Monash's Commerce course.

[Limista]

As for our little game, Starfish was the first person to guess the lie (no, despite the fact I'm incredibly nervous being, I have not thrown up during a test). We'll just wait for him to come up with his two truths and a lie.

Sorry Stick, but I take offence - I am NOT a "him"!!

Anyways...
* I love reading Harry Potter
* I love reading the Twilight saga
* I love reading Enid Blyton's novels

So, which one am I not a fan of (you can infer about a million things about me if you guess what I don't like reading  )?

Please be the Twilight saga. For the love of humanity.

Haha you guessed right! Absolutely detest Twilight for several reasons, and this detest was further pronounced when Rob Pattinson thought to unleash his supernatural beauty and charm in the first ever movie of the most horrible series of books ever written (i.e. his face was covered in so much foundation that I couldn't differentiate him from the background at one point  )