I'm in year 11 and not doing methods now i feel trapped

[Donny]

Hi,
I am a year 11 students and i'm not doing methods but recently I've found that my preferred courses require a 25 in methods
My preferred courses are science (computer and software systems) with a grad dip in poltics or commerce (Economics/Marketing) with a grad dip in information systems at Melbourne Uni and i was wondering are there anyways to still meet the prerequisite.

I have looked at three potential avenues but i don't know if any of them are actually possible.

On Melbourne's website it says that they accept http://unilearn.net.au/course/senior-mathematics/ as a equivalent which i could finish in a semester after i graduate but I can't find any information on people who have actually done this.

then there is the possibility of doing methods 1/2 in year 12 as a sixth subject so and then enrolling in a bachelor of arts and completing this https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2015/MAST10012?output=PDF so i can transfer to science or commerce (and even if i couldnt i could still do a diploma of information systems and I do enjoy politics)

and then finally would it be possible to get a bunch of tuition over the summer holidays and drop a subject next year to do methods 3/4?

I am really stressing out about this and would like to hear if anyone else has overcome a similar problem?

Also I know Melbourne doesn't have a good rep for computing but i want to go there so i can continue studying politics or commerce as well because i want to have a rounded education rather than just focusing on IT.

 

[Orb]

Hi,
I am a year 11 students and i'm not doing methods but recently I've found that my preferred courses require a 25 in methods
My preferred courses are science (computer and software systems) with a grad dip in poltics or commerce (Economics/Marketing) with a grad dip in information systems at Melbourne Uni and i was wondering are there anyways to still meet the prerequisite.

I have looked at three potential avenues but i don't know if any of them are actually possible.

On Melbourne's website it says that they accept http://unilearn.net.au/course/senior-mathematics/ as a equivalent which i could finish in a semester after i graduate but I can't find any information on people who have actually done this.

then there is the possibility of doing methods 1/2 in year 12 as a sixth subject so and then enrolling in a bachelor of arts and completing this https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2015/MAST10012?output=PDF so i can transfer to science or commerce (and even if i couldnt i could still do a diploma of information systems and I do enjoy politics)

and then finally would it be possible to get a bunch of tuition over the summer holidays and drop a subject next year to do methods 3/4?

I am really stressing out about this and would like to hear if anyone else has overcome a similar problem?

Also I know Melbourne doesn't have a good rep for computing but i want to go there so i can continue studying politics or commerce as well because i want to have a rounded education rather than just focusing on IT.

Not going to comment on the other avenues because little experience but whether you can pick up methods in year 12 and get a 25-30 is certainly achievable for any student regardless of your current situation in maths

[Donny]

Not going to comment on the other avenues because little experience but whether you can pick up methods in year 12 and get a 25-30 is certainly achievable for any student regardless of your current situation in maths

But doesn't it require all of the stuff learnt in 1/2 and wouldn't it take longer than the summer holidays to learn that?

[_fruitcake_]

But doesn't it require all of the stuff learnt in 1/2 and wouldn't it take longer than the summer holidays to learn that?

U dont have to learn 1/2 to learn 3/4, its not like they are going to give you questions based in 1/2, and u will learn in class. Dude i picked up 3 subjects in year 12 that supposedly 'require 1/2', that being Literature, English, and Economics, and for all i have gotten 90% on my sacs before. Maybe except for the less mathematical gifted Spec would require 1/2 but u can definitely pick up methods in year 12 and get a 25-30 for sure

[heids]

But doesn't it require all of the stuff learnt in 1/2 and wouldn't it take longer than the summer holidays to learn that?

The point is that if you work decently in the summer holidays, you'll be DEFINITELY able to make 25 (which seriously isn't very high).  You may not be able to score very well unless you're a maths genius, in which case you may have a problem if you've dropped another subject (how many subjects are you doing?), but you'd definitely be able to get into your course.  But you'll have to be organised over the summer in solidly targeting the most important basics.  Contrary to above, for methods, I believe you really do need 1/2 foundations - more than any of eng, lit or eco.  But even shaky foundations should get a 25.

EDIT: as spectroscopy says below, you can learn some of the course and leave other bits.  For instance, I knew probability to like year 8 maths level by the time I hit methods 3/4 (missed it in years 9-11), but just by solidly slowly working through 1/2 and then 3/4 stuff (minus rubbish about combinatorics etc.) it turned into my strength that I could nearly always 100%.  If you can decide on some areas to study, and learn only the basic basics on others, you'll still be able to do really well in some sections.  Basically, I'd try to learn to do the 'easy' questions and just totally skip on any 'hard' questions, and with this method you should guarantee yourself a decent enough, if not really good, mark.

[spectroscopy]

to give you better advice on which avenues to take, can you tell us your other subjects, and your sac averages in them and how strong the cohort is?
if you are doing a 3/4 or two this year, should do well, and then next year it will be 5 subjects for you, you could definitely pick up methods. if you are naturally good at math you will be able to squeeze a score over 25. if you were bad at math up until year 11 and you forgot how to complete the square and factorise quadratics and all that shit then it will still be possible but your natural problem solving ability will have a bigger part to play in getting the 25, i mean if you can plug the numbers into the functions and shit when its a calculator exam and just remember some basic rules about circular functions, and work the long way (worst case scenario) how to do lots of the probabiliy questions, you could probs get a 25, but even then it depends on your sacs and your cohorts strength, but thats basically what i did

alot of ppl on atarnotes will tell you methods is easy and you can definitely pick it up in 3/4 but the people on here are very different to the average population, because the average person in vic does find methods pretty damn hard, and without 1/2 it would be very hard if you had to juggle 5 OTHER subjects with it. right now i am leaning towards not doing it, focus on getting a good atar, and then doing https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2015/MAST10012?output=PDF in your first semester in arts as breadth, then transfer in second sem or something, and even if you dont end up transferring you can at least be able to to the diploma in informatics and lots of economics subjects

good luck

[Donny]

to give you better advice on which avenues to take, can you tell us your other subjects, and your sac averages in them and how strong the cohort is?

Averaging A+ in software Development 3/4 (weak cohort) and 1/2 IT, Averaging A In general, English, politics and averaging 70% in my other 3/4 (strong cohort)
Next year i'm doing  informatics, Algorithmics, Global politics, and English language but i'm not sure about my other 1 or 2 subjects. 

if you were bad at math up until year 11

I wasn't bad at maths per se but i (regrettably) didn't put in much if any effort because hipster teenager who hates maths.

alot of ppl on atarnotes will tell you methods is easy and you can definitely pick it up in 3/4 but the people on here are very different to the average population, because the average person in vic does find methods pretty damn hard, and without 1/2 it would be very hard if you had to juggle 5 OTHER subjects with it. right now i am leaning towards not doing it, focus on getting a good atar, and then doing https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2015/MAST10012?output=PDF in your first semester in arts as breadth, then transfer in second sem or something, and even if you dont end up transferring you can at least be able to to the diploma in informatics and lots of economics subjects

Yeah with 5 other subjects it might be a bit much but i could probably just only do four subjects and would effectivly be doing 3 (informatics is the biggest bludge in the history of vce). anyway the other thing i'm worried about is would a university be likey to allow me to transfer after i did that unit or is there a set number of placements for 2016 graduates that they have?

Anyway thank you for your help.

[spectroscopy]

Averaging A+ in software Development 3/4 (weak cohort) and 1/2 IT, Averaging A In general, English, politics and averaging 70% in my other 3/4 (strong cohort)
Next year i'm doing  informatics, Algorithmics, Global politics, and English language but i'm not sure about my other 1 or 2 subjects.  I wasn't bad at maths per se but i (regrettably) didn't put in much if any effort because hipster teenager who hates maths.
Yeah with 5 other subjects it might be a bit much but i could probably just only do four subjects and would effectivly be doing 3 (informatics is the biggest bludge in the history of vce). anyway the other thing i'm worried about is would a university be likey to allow me to transfer after i did that unit or is there a set number of placements for 2016 graduates that they have?
Anyway thank you for your help.

oh dude, you cant get into science at melbourne even with methods because you need one of physics/bio/chem/spesh on top of methods

from what youve said, id pick up physics next year at 3/4 (its the easiest of the 4 to pick up without 1/2), and then just do introduction to mathematics in your first sem of a B.A at melb then aim to transfer.
also make sure you get a high atar and average in uni to maximise ur chances of success in transferring.
worst case you do arts with a double major in politics economics with a diploma in informatics
now that ive said it, i think thats your best course of action ^^

id just do introduction to mathematics at uni in first semester, that way you can give it alot more attention than you would give methods 3/4 in year 12

please keep in mind though, courses that have certain pre-requisites have those pre-reqs for a reason. computer science/software gets VERY VERY mathsy. alot of the subjects have first year uni math as a pre-requisite as well. if you arent good at math or dont like it, or arent prepared to take it seriously, then computing areas will be very difficult. even in economics at higher levels, you really need methods knowledge and then it goes past that. if you wanna major in economics in arts you will still have to do some uni math as well on top of introduction to mathematics

good luck

[Donny]

oh dude, you cant get into science at melbourne even with methods because you need one of physics/bio/chem/spesh on top of methods

from what youve said, id pick up physics next year at 3/4 (its the easiest of the 4 to pick up without 1/2)

sorry forgot my fifth subject at the time of writing the post I was going to do either Australian Politics if i was leaning more towards commerce or Bio for the prereq and all the year tens say it's easy where as people from my year level say physics 3/4 is kinda hard.

id just do introduction to mathematics at uni in first semester, that way you can give it a lot more attention than you would give methods 3/4 in year 12

Yeah that does feel like what i'm leaning towards now but that would require doing methods 1/2 in year 12 which I'll do but i feel like my school won't  be happy about it (or my parents/friends/teachers).

also make sure you get a high atar and average in uni to maximise ur chances of success in transferring.

Let's just say atar isn't a problem and even if theoretically i'm being way too over confident because i have a disability i'd almost definitely be eligible for access Melbourne. But based on my current performance in my year 12 subjects i'm feeling pretty confident.

please keep in mind though, courses that have certain pre-requisites have those pre-reqs for a reason. computer science/software gets VERY VERY mathsy. alot of the subjects have first year uni math as a pre-requisite as well. if you arent good at math or dont like it, or arent prepared to take it seriously, then computing areas will be very difficult. even in economics at higher levels, you really need methods knowledge and then it goes past that. if you wanna major in economics in arts you will still have to do some uni math as well on top of introduction to mathematics

I do understand the purpose of prerequisites but I am willing to put in as much effort as humanly possible to learn the only reason i'm in this scenario is due to poor planning and having a disability which put me at a disadvantage for the first 4 years of high school before i finally got the help i needed.

The point is that if you work decently in the summer holidays, you'll be DEFINITELY able to make 25 (which seriously isn't very high).  You may not be able to score very well unless you're a maths genius

I understand that you might not personally think 25 is high but i'm generally a bad maths student and I just am unsure if the amount of study required to fix that would be possible.

Dude i picked up 3 subjects in year 12 that supposedly 'require 1/2', that being Literature, English, and Economics

That's the other thing i am picking up three subjects next year so its not like methods will be my only challenge (although 2/3 should be easy enough to pick up)

anyway thank you guys for the help and support

[heids]

I understand that you might not personally think 25 is high but i'm generally a bad maths student and I just am unsure if the amount of study required to fix that would be possible.

I do understand that you'll have a lot of challenges, but 80% of people who do the subject - which includes those who fail and just do absolutely hopelessly - get 25+.  To achieve this, you'd have to get 25/80 for exam 1 and like 48/160 for exam 2 (assuming I've interpreted the graded distribution documents correctly); can you see that if you learnt some of the basics thoroughly, you should easily enough be able to get better scores than that?  I'm not saying it'll be a total walk in the park, but with hard work, I do believe you'd be guaranteed of a good enough score.  The most important thing is not to get caught up with learning or attempting the tricky stuff.

Haven't thought about whether spectroscopy's pathway is wiser, though it probably is

[Orb]

I do understand that you'll have a lot of challenges, but 80% of people who do the subject - which includes those who fail and just do absolutely hopelessly - get 25+.  To achieve this, you'd have to get 25/80 for exam 1 and like 48/160 for exam 2 (assuming I've interpreted the graded distribution documents correctly); can you see that if you learnt some of the basics thoroughly, you should easily enough be able to get better scores than that?  I'm not saying it'll be a total walk in the park, but with hard work, I do believe you'd be guaranteed of a good enough score.  The most important thing is not to get caught up with learning or attempting the tricky stuff.

Haven't thought about whether spectroscopy's pathway is wiser, though it probably is

25 raw is top 77% (via norm distribution)

So last year you needed 15/40 and 27/80 for your exams respectively. Even lower than bangali's prediction!

It's looking quite good I'd say

Edit: looking at graded distributions you need two D+s o.o
So that's like 12/40 and 18.5/80, even better!

[Donny]

25 raw is top 77% (via norm distribution)

So last year you needed 15/40 and 27/80 for your exams respectively. Even lower than bangali's prediction!

It's looking quite good I'd say

Edit: looking at graded distributions you need two D+s o.o
So that's like 12/40 and 18.5/80, even better!

That's good but doesn't that still mean i'd need to beat 23% of people who had the knowledge of methods 1/2?

also my schools a relatively competitive cohort so wouldn't that make it harder to get a 25 because my ranking probably won't be very high.

[pi]

That's good but doesn't that still mean i'd need to beat 23% of people who had the knowledge of methods 1/2?

In all honesty, I don't think many of those people retained much from methods 1/2 if they achieved a score below 25

You'll be fine, especially if you put in a couple of hours a day on the summer break towards methods!

[Donny]

In all honesty, I don't think many of those people retained much from methods 1/2 if they achieved a score below 25

You'll be fine, especially if you put in a couple of hours a day on the summer break towards methods!

So it wouldn't  be a unreasonable workload ontop of five other subjects (albeit 1 of them can hardly be considered more than a year 10 subject)