Mathematical Methods Unit 1-2 or drop to Further?

[Trullzi]

Hey everyone
I studied methods 1/2 last year and struggled alot, i could only ever understand some of the topics, and was close to failing my sacs. I decide to repeat again this year, just to see if i can do any better, but it doesnt seem to be helping me. I just cant seem to grasp alot of the ideas talked about by my teacher. Im thinking of just dropping to further since it seems alot easier to grasp?

Im also very interested in sciences, studying 3/4 Biology this year, and sitting chem next year. Im very interested to work in the medical field, either being a gp, pharmacist etc. Im highly doubting my chances of achieving this dream if i do choose further, anyone have any ideas of what i can do?

If you have any idea on how i can improve in methods, or what i should choose, please comment down below!

[Jackie Chan]

Hi! 
Last year during subject selections, I had a dilemma where I didn't know whether I should have picked 1/2 Methods or another subject. I didn't want to pick Methods because I knew I wasn't the most mathematically minded student. The only reason I decided to do it in the end was because I wanted to keep my options open. My goal - similar to yours - is to study medicine but because getting into med here is not an easy feat and I needed to have other pathways available too. For MANY health science courses, Methods is a prereq subject so not doing it means you're "closing a lot of doors of opportunities" (as my teacher put it).

I feel like you should continue with Methods but if you're seriously struggling, I don't see the point of having to spend most of your time on one subject since it will affect your other subjects. Further won't prevent you from getting into any courses but it isn't a prereq for med or pharmacy. I'm probably not the best person to ask for Methods advice but if you haven't already, speak to your teacher and let them know of your current situation. The only other tips I can give you are to pinpoint exactly what you are struggling to understand and seek help straight away (don't let the work pile up) and finish exercises the day they were taught.

Good luck with your choice; I hope I was some what helpful~! 

[coolbook]

Hey everyone
I studied methods 1/2 last year and struggled alot, i could only ever understand some of the topics, and was close to failing my sacs. I decide to repeat again this year, just to see if i can do any better, but it doesnt seem to be helping me. I just cant seem to grasp alot of the ideas talked about by my teacher. Im thinking of just dropping to further since it seems alot easier to grasp?

Im also very interested in sciences, studying 3/4 Biology this year, and sitting chem next year. Im very interested to work in the medical field, either being a gp, pharmacist etc. Im highly doubting my chances of achieving this dream if i do choose further, anyone have any ideas of what i can do?

If you have any idea on how i can improve in methods, or what i should choose, please comment down below!

To improve in methods, it's just practise. Do chapter review questions frequently to help you improve. If methods is a prerequisite, I would stick with it, to be on the safer side. Good luck. And also, you could get a tutor if you don't have one.

[AngelWings]

Hey Trullzi.

One question: what is your Plan B if you don't get into medicine right away? That might dictate whether you need Methods or not.

If you are planning on your back up plan to be in health science, biomed, engineering, commerce and a few more areas in similar fields, you might be in a bit of strife, as many of these require Methods as a pre-requisite. If it's in an entirely different field e.g. business, arts, etc., you should be okay without Methods.

You should check up whether Methods is a pre-requisite or not for all your potential pathways beyond VCE at VTAC Coursearch. As for Med, I don't think students must have studied Methods, so I think it'll depend on your back up plan.
(Can someone please pull up that med pre-reqs table again? I can't find it. Thanks in advance!)

[Trullzi]

Hey Trullzi.

One question: what is your Plan B if you don't get into medicine right away? That might dictate whether you need Methods or not.

If you are planning on your back up plan to be in health science, biomed, engineering, commerce and a few more areas in similar fields, you might be in a bit of strife, as many of these require Methods as a pre-requisite. If it's in an entirely different field e.g. business, arts, etc., you should be okay without Methods.

You should check up whether Methods is a pre-requisite or not for all your potential pathways beyond VCE at VTAC Coursearch. As for Med, I don't think students must have studied Methods, so I think it'll depend on your back up plan.
(Can someone please pull up that med pre-reqs table again? I can't find it. Thanks in advance!)

Hey, i have chosen backup subjects along the lines of economics and VCD, if not medicine, then design

[TheCommando]

I would say so methods however feel free to drop into further, it will save u a ton of stress and you would probably get a higher ss overall as u struggle with methods. Just remmeber that if you want to go into medicne further is usless, the maths in further is for business feilds hence why there is such a big emphasis on statistics. Further is not a prerequisite for anycourse so its usless in the sense of getting in the feild of jobs that u want to have, if there is a will theres a way. Do u have a tutor? Have u searched online explanations via videos such as khan academy maybe you need another point of explanation. How about doing alot of questions?

[AngelWings]

Hey, i have chosen backup subjects along the lines of economics and VCD, if not medicine, then design

Hm... I'm actually going to say that's a really diverse range of degrees (similar to what I had - I had preferences for everything from Science to Architecture!). In this scenario, I'm going to say that you should consider Further. Methods will be helpful, but not necessary for Med and the UMAT. The aspects you really need from it are the problem solving skills AFAIK (I never wanted Med or did UMAT, so forgive me if I'm misinformed here). It might be for the best.

[SouthbyWest]

Yeah man, you should definitely take up Further Maths next year. If you really are struggling in Maths 1&2, then it's going to get much worst next year. Maths 3&4 really build upon the topics covered in 1&2. There's no shame in choosing Further Maths.... over 30k people do it each year.

The good thing about Further Maths is that it's also a really practical maths subject. It's stuff that you're going to use in your life like finance (so you don't get ripped off by banks later in life).

[Max Kawasakii]

Hey everyone
I studied methods 1/2 last year and struggled alot, i could only ever understand some of the topics, and was close to failing my sacs. I decide to repeat again this year, just to see if i can do any better, but it doesnt seem to be helping me. I just cant seem to grasp alot of the ideas talked about by my teacher. Im thinking of just dropping to further since it seems alot easier to grasp?

Im also very interested in sciences, studying 3/4 Biology this year, and sitting chem next year. Im very interested to work in the medical field, either being a gp, pharmacist etc. Im highly doubting my chances of achieving this dream if i do choose further, anyone have any ideas of what i can do?

If you have any idea on how i can improve in methods, or what i should choose, please comment down below!

You just have to ask yourself one question really were you doing enough work, or putting in enough effort to do well in methods the first year? You have chosen to repeat methods which is great! But it seems you are seeing the same results, which indicates to me that you haven't actually changed anything fundamentally from what you were doing last year..

I can suggest a couple of things;

Firstly, you can't get into Medicine if you do further, well from the brief look at the Melbourne uni courses you methods is a pre req. Further has concepts that are easier to grasp, but a highly competitive cohort makes it difficult to achieve a superb SS if you make any mistakes. Methods is a bit nicer... So in answer to one of your questions, I would HIGHLY recommend Methods, or an alternative career pathway. Don't get me wrong, if you did enough digging I'm sure there might be some back door into Med without methods, but it's simply easier if you put in the hard yards initially.

- Sometimes when I did methods 1/2 I would sit there and be totally out of it, whilst my friends completely understood everything that was going on. So I started watching online videos when I got home, of what my teacher was trying to teach me that day. I did this for a couple of reasons, sometimes the first time around you just don't get it, totally normal! Secondly I thought that having a second (potentially third depending on how many video's I watched) perspective on how to do something offered valuable insight. So in summary, I watched tutorials at home.

- Once I thought I had a relative okay grasp on the concepts, I'd study away, nothing rigorous that led to sleep deprivation or stress, but I knew for a fact I was doing more than my friends. I was doing the work set in class (the minimum), followed by extra text book questions (a little more than the minimum), followed by third party questions from the internet and other text books (a lot more than the minimum). Hopefully you can see the point now, I struggled, I accepted that, I asked what do i have to do to not struggle (Simple yet profoundly overlooked). So once again, in summary, immerse yourself in the course work, do more than that guy sitting next to you. Then your dream of the medical profession isn't so far out of reach isn't it?

- This is the biggest one, you MUST ask questions! What do I mean by this you might ask? Well simple, you're in class, the teacher explains a rule, you don't get it. Totally normal and acceptable to raise your hand and just say "I don't get it, may you please explain it again?". It's their job to present you with knowledge and concepts to give you the best shot at a bright future. I asked more questions then the rest of my class combined, but hey if that's what it takes that's okay. If you're doing study and don't understand a question, circle it, take it to the teacher (or tutor) and ask for help. This one is simple really, ask questions, ask a lot of questions.

TLDR: You need to be willing to change and adapt if you want to survive (pass), but hey, a 25 in methods means you can get into those medicine courses (; Study, extra resources, ask questions, it's all up to you.