Should i do Specialists Maths?

[Fly_Guy]

Hi guys, I am currently a year 9 student going into year 10 next year. In year 10, I will be going Chinese unit 3/4, further mathematics 1/2 and methods 1/2. For as long as i can remember, I have liked maths and have always been the top of my class. In that regard, do you think that doing specialists in year 11 would be a good idea, or do you think that it would make me hate maths altogether? I know it may sound like a stupid question, but I would want to take as less chances as possible in means of a 90+ ATAR. I know i'm only in year 9, but isn't it good to start early? Thanks in advance. (I've been tutored since year 1)

[addict]

Wow, you're really keen! If you like maths and top your class, spec is just the subject for you. People who do well in maths in earlier years generally don't find it difficult. Even if you do, scaling will save you. A few people I know have spec as their lowest raw score, but highest scale score. But it would be completely unnecessary to start on spec before year 11. The workload for spec isn't too large at all so you will just get bored of the material.

[Fly_Guy]

Thanks addict, i'm going to do units 1/2 in year 11. I've got another question: Would it be wise to take 4 maths based subjects in VCE; further, methods, spec and physics? Granted i'm looking to take a software engineering course in uni, i still think that it would be a bit better if my subjects were a bit more varied.

[Aaron]

I don't believe it's a necessity to do all of that for softeng. It would be more a question whether you would want to do all of that for the interest & exposure. For softeng, i'd say Methods at the minimum with specialist being a bonus. Concepts in further don't really apply to softeng apart from networks module and maybe matrices depending on the units within the course itself. The level of complexity found in Further too would not be adequate for any engineering course, let alone a Software Engineering one. You'd definitely need Methods at least. Also worth noting that most if not all engineering-based courses require either Methods/Spec as a prerequisite.. so it's worth consulting the university handbooks too.

Keeping in mind the conditions related to ATAR calculation & having 3 maths, too.

You have also said that you believe a variation in subjects would be better, and I would agree with you. You have made your decision already, don't second guess yourself

[Fly_Guy]

The level of complexity found in Further too would not be adequate for any engineering course, let alone a Software Engineering one.

Thanks, I'm only doing further because I have heard that it's easy and that it would not be too hard for my to get a good study score. May I ask, what are the conditions related to ATAR calculation and doing 3 maths?

[aspiringantelope]

Thanks, I'm only doing further because I have heard that it's easy and that it would not be too hard for my to get a good study score. May I ask, what are the conditions related to ATAR calculation and doing 3 maths?

It's actually more easily to get a lower score in Further Math because if you get 1 mark off, it's equivalent to 1 off your SS.
And just want to say, choose what you have a passion with, if you are only doing Specialist because it scales a lot, that's a very weak reason to be doing, you should do Specialist only if you have a passion in Math and are welcome to new complex challenges.
Also, for doing three maths, I've pretty sure only 2 can contribute to your primary four am I right someone?

[Aaron]

While Further is perceived as "easy" (there are a ton of discussions/arguments about this already in other threads), the issue that is created here is that due to this, the competition is actually much higher as there is significant congestion at the top end. So like aspiring has said, tiny mistakes can often lead to pretty significant SS reduction. Don't be fooled by the hype that Further is an 'easy subject' and is 'easy to get a good study score', because in reality, the fact that its "easier" makes it much more difficult to score well in. Further is a subject that is targeted towards a particular type of person - imo I see it as a pathway choice to either go down the Further route for an applied/hands-on/practical type of maths subject vs. the pure-type (methods/spec and or both). I wouldn't recommend doing Further if you have an ability to do Methods/Spec - that's just my opinion on it anyway.

May I ask, what are the conditions related to ATAR calculation and doing 3 maths?

aspiring pretty much has answered it:

Also, for doing three maths, I've pretty sure only 2 can contribute to your primary four am I right someone?

So if you choose 3 maths and manage to get 50 in all 3 (let's say), only 2 of them will count in your "primary four" where these scaled marks contribute to your aggregate. The third is placed in the 10% increment section - so if your scaled score is 50 for e.g., only 5 will add.

[Fly_Guy]

While Further is perceived as "easy" (there are a ton of discussions/arguments about this already in other threads), the issue that is created here is that due to this, the competition is actually much higher as there is significant congestion at the top end. So like aspiring has said, tiny mistakes can often lead to pretty significant SS reduction. Don't be fooled by the hype that Further is an 'easy subject' and is 'easy to get a good study score', because in reality, the fact that its "easier" makes it much more difficult to score well in. Further is a subject that is targeted towards a particular type of person - imo I see it as a pathway choice to either go down the Further route for an applied/hands-on/practical type of maths subject vs. the pure-type (methods/spec and or both). I wouldn't recommend doing Further if you have an ability to do Methods/Spec - that's just my opinion on it anyway.

aspiring pretty much has answered it:
So if you choose 3 maths and manage to get 50 in all 3 (let's say), only 2 of them will count in your "primary four" where these scaled marks contribute to your aggregate. The third is placed in the 10% increment section - so if your scaled score is 50 for e.g., only 5 will add.

I guess i'll have to spend more time in my exams double/triple/quadruple checking then actually answering the questions. The only reason I don't achieve 100% on most of my maths tests/exams (which is almost every single time) is because of silly mistakes. Further is going to be frustrating...

[Fly_Guy]

Also the thing is, the school i'm in is in the bottom 400 in Victoria, hence I am not sure if I am in the high average or maybe even average in Victoria.

[addict]

If that's the case, I would be wary of further. Wouldn't 3 maths get boring? At least physics scales up and actually teaches you something new. Also no limit applies to the number of sciences you study. Be aware that if you do further it's pretty much destined to be in your bottom 2 since methods and spec have mad scaling. That means you only have room for 'messing up' (due to carelessness or unexpected difficulty or whatever) one subject exam, rather than 2, as one of your bottom 2 subjects are effectively taken up. Since you mentioned you have issues with silly mistakes you should probably take this into account. That was pretty much my reasoning when I picked physics over further and I don't regret it! (guess you can see I'm biased though lol)

[TheAspiringDoc]

I think that for a good maths student a 35 in specialist can be much more reliably achieved than 47 in further. In the high end of further it comes down to luck a little bit, whereas to get 35 in specialist you just need a decent grasp of the concepts (I did really bad in exam 1, but got an A on E2 which meant no harm done - but had this been further I probably would have dropped to 38-42 because of one bad hour in exam 1). 

[lzxnl]

Hi guys, I am currently a year 9 student going into year 10 next year. In year 10, I will be going Chinese unit 3/4, further mathematics 1/2 and methods 1/2. For as long as i can remember, I have liked maths and have always been the top of my class. In that regard, do you think that doing specialists in year 11 would be a good idea, or do you think that it would make me hate maths altogether? I know it may sound like a stupid question, but I would want to take as less chances as possible in means of a 90+ ATAR. I know i'm only in year 9, but isn't it good to start early? Thanks in advance. (I've been tutored since year 1)

I'm going to offer a different perspective on this.

I have been occasionally asked what I did to score my ATAR, and my story was pretty different. I got by with a looooooot of pre-studying. Through various reasons related to my high school, I was exposed to university-level chemistry and physics before year 12, and through self-study in years 9 and 10, I had already mastered the Methods and Specialist courses long before year 12. So, in year 12, I devoted all my time to English Language, and the results speak for themselves.

If you really enjoy mathematics, and are motivated enough to learn some by yourself, go for it. You're only in year 10 this coming year; you've got time to learn the course yourself. However, I don't see the point in sitting the assessments in year 11. Learn the course early so that when it comes to the actual assessments in year 12, you have a massive advantage over your classmates.

The way I self-studied was pretty simple. Buy my own textbook, read through the text, and do all of the review questions. ALL of them. Multiple-choice, short-answer, extended response, you name it. I did all of them, compared answers with the book's answers and made sure I knew what I was doing for each question, not merely regurgitating formulas and procedures. If you can do all of this alone, you'll be set for year 12. Easily.

Of course, don't neglect your other subjects to do this. You'll need to plan your time wisely, especially given the time-sink that is Chinese (3/4). I say this because I was once in your position, considering whether to learn maths in advance to get a head start. This is my experience.