How Much Work Is 4 unit Maths? (1 Viewer)

mudcake42

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A question for all the HSC people who are doing 4 unit maths. I'm doing 3 unit maths atm in year 11 ... and planning to go onto 4 unit. If I pick up 4 unit, I can drop a subject.

QUESTION: Do you end up with more time due to free's etc or less time because the 4 unit maths work takes up more time then the other subject (say Business Studies or IPT)

Cheers everyone! :)
 

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You can only do Maths Extension 2 during the HSC Course if you have Mathematics Extension 1 (i.e Year 12), so errmmm ...

Are you prepared to give 2 hours to MX2 even if it means arriving even earlier or leaving school later than everyone else and even the MX1ers ?
Our poor MX2ers give up lunch time just to do MX2 and while the rest of our grade leaves early the MX2ers stay behind.
You sure ?
Unless you are a budding mathematician, if you get poor marks like most of our MX2ers then I suggest you avoid MX2
 

mudcake42

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Yeh I'm doing 3unit maths this year in year 11 ... and my teacher said I could do 4 unit maths nxt yr but I'm just thinking now whether I'd want to.
 
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mudcake42 said:
Yeh I'm doing 3unit maths this year in year 11 ... and my teacher said I could do 4 unit maths but I'm just thinking now whether I'd want to.
You can proceed and try MX2 later in the year, but if you find it too difficult or the time constraints are too great, then you might as well drop it because it wouldn't be worth the time.
 

xclusv2bhung

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Agreed with f3nr15.
I didn't really pay attention during the first term of my MX2 classes, basically because all lessons were at the end of the day (when my concentration span is at its lowest).
But yeah, have a shot, and if you can't do it, drop =D
The workload isn't so much huge, but well yeah its just a fraction harder.
aahha but go for it all out, best of luck !
 

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Twice as much work as 2 unit and 1.333 times as much as 3 unit.
 

Mark576

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what sort of marks in extension 1 maths should you be getting if you want to do well in extension 2?
 

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Mark576 said:
what sort of marks in extension 1 maths should you be getting if you want to do well in extension 2?
Lol liek the asian fob guy gets like 90%-99% in MX1 and got like 34/35 in his first MX2 test, he is the most mathematically brilliant person in the whole grade.

Then the rest of the MX2 class got at least less than 50% in their 1st MX2 assessment. Their MX1 marks range from 60%-80%.
Ya, you need to be a keen and brilliant Maths student to take on MX2
 
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pLuvia

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what sort of marks in extension 1 maths should you be getting if you want to do well in extension 2?
Marks I'd say 70-100? Depends on the difficulty of the exams your school sets. But being ranked high is a good indication if you should do 4u maths.

Regarding the workload, not that much if you manage your time well. It's not as much as everyone says/thinks and also it's not as hard as everyone exaggerates it to be. It's really rewarding if you do well, or even just average and is a major contributor to your UAI in the long run.

But if you do 4u maths, it will be good if you are "creative", as in you can think outside the box and try to do as much as you can of a question before giving up. You have to be able to visualise information questions give you (esp. in Mechanics and/or Conics)

But pretty much every other topic is just an extension from 3u maths (integration, harder 3u [as the name suggests it's hard], polynomials). Complex numbers is quite is easy as well it involves using vectors, imaginary numbers etc.

My advice is try the course, if you don't like you can drop it, if you do like then you are in for a treat, as you can only drop subjects/units not pick them up
 

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It really depends on the person's own mathematical abilities. If you're an ace at Maths, then you won't need to spend as much time on it, compared to those who aren't so talented. Anyone who has completed the course will tell you it is a challenging course and if you can successfully solve the tougher problems, it will definitely be rewarding in terms of both marks and confidence. I'm sure most people love that feeling of mental satisfaction (or relief) after conquering a challenging problem...I know I do ;).
Also, with regards to timetabled classes, I think most non-selective schools would have classes outside normal school hours, whilst in other schools they are within the usual hours. My school has the Mathematics Extension 2 classes within normal school hours and consequently, the English Extension 2 (and sometimes History Extension) class is outside these hours after school...so yeah, it basically depends on what school you attend...
 

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U hafta be willing to give in ur time for some skools. I had to go in tuesday mornings b4 skool and friday afternoon after skool. cant concentrate as well but its all good. my teacher used to bring in lollies for us so u would get some hype lil ppl doing Ext2 maths.
Its challenging and ppl doing well in ext 1 maths in yr 11 should at least try ext2 out, if its too hard then drop it.
 

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Dooki said:
U hafta be willing to give in ur time for some skools. I had to go in tuesday mornings b4 skool and friday afternoon after skool. cant concentrate as well but its all good. my teacher used to bring in lollies for us so u would get some hype lil ppl doing Ext2 maths.
Its challenging and ppl doing well in ext 1 maths in yr 11 should at least try ext2 out, if its too hard then drop it.
Class number of MX2 from 7 to 1
 

mudcake42

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Yeh id definitely try it but the problem is that I do 13 units, so if I picked up extension 2 maths, I'd have to drop a subject ... therefore I wouldn't be able to drop it if it was to hard
 

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f3nr15 said:
if you do 4u dont complain or drop it.
He isn't.
mudcake42 said:
Yeh id definitely try it but the problem is that I do 13 units, so if I picked up extension 2 maths, I'd have to drop a subject ... therefore I wouldn't be able to drop it if it was to hard
Is there any subject you do at the moment that you particularly hate and have the ability to drop? You could pick up extension 2 maths and do 14 units, but that'll be a bitchload of work.
 

mudcake42

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yeh i can drop a subject ... but my worry is wonder if I drop a subject, pick up extension 2 maths, and then can't do the maths?

I'm pretty much screwed if that happens!
 

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Well, let's just say that you do drop a subject to do extension 2 maths, and then find out that you can't do the work. That'll leave you with 11 units, which is enough for the HSC and UAI. Question is, do you want to do just 11 units?
 

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why not? i have a friend who graduated with 99.25 uai and did only 11 units.

the truth is, there is as much work in 4u maths as you want there to be. in another words, the more you practice, the better you become at it - the practice is endless, that's why you rarely see people get top marks for 4u. on the other hand, if you're only looking for a pass and decided that's good enough for you, then there isn't much work involve. it always comes back to the saying - practise makes perfect.

if you're looking at a numerical value in terms of how many hours should you put into 4u maths every week, i'd say about 15-20 is good enough.

trust me, if you're looking to go to uni, 4u maths is worth your while.
 

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