Mathematics, preparation for uni (mature age)

[Homer Jay]

You can hide this advertisement by registering.

Hey guys,

I'm currently going through the application process as a mature age applicant to go to TAFE next year to do a cert 3/4 so I can apply for a Bachelor of Science in 2011.

My two interests are Physics and Marine Biology, with physics being the front runner. Now...the problem I've noticed is the TAFE courses don't have a strong mathematics component which would get me up to scratch for physics at an undergrad level.

My question for those in the know or those who have been there...

Are there short courses in Math Methods that can be done before applying at Uni?

Can you still apply to uni and do a bridging course or extra unit for those not quite at the right level? I ask this because I know of somebody who applied as a mature age without most of the pre req's and got into a bachelor of science (biomedical).

Is tutoring the only way to go?

Are there other options?

This is something that I am quite determined to do but being a mature age applicant there are a few things I need to re-learn. I finished year 12 in 03 and am now 24. I didn't do methods or specialist in high school so I want to commit a lot of time and effort in nipping the math component in the butt.

I have short listed I couple of undergrad courses and will be ringing the institutions over the next few days to see what advice they can give as well.

I want to be prepared to give myself the best chance of doing well so any advice would be great.

Just in case you were wondering I'm in Victoria.

Cheers,

Jay.

[LordPc]

there are bridging courses which bring you up to speed for mathematics. its taken by students who are in a similar position to yourself, they didnt do the required amount of maths in high school and want to be prepared

have a look at this exam

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au...ths-ex1-07.pdf

thats the 3 unit maths course from the HSC, and from what i understand, the bridging course teaches you just the key topics of that course.

so if you you know how to do that paper, then you should be fine. if you know some/none of what is in that paper, then google "unsw bridging courses". they might have one for physics too, im not sure though

[Ayatollah]

when did you finish highschool?
it would'nt be that hard to pick it up if you did methods in highschool

[dvse]

Originally Posted by Homer Jay

Hey guys,

I'm currently going through the application process as a mature age applicant to go to TAFE next year to do a cert 3/4 so I can apply for a Bachelor of Science in 2011.

My two interests are Physics and Marine Biology, with physics being the front runner. Now...the problem I've noticed is the TAFE courses don't have a strong mathematics component which would get me up to scratch for physics at an undergrad level.

You want to get pretty comfortable with linear algebra and multivariable calculus. There are many books suitable for self study (which can also be found online with little effort).

Go to Physics Help and Math Help - Physics Forums and ask for recommendations.

[ogawatugawa]

Originally Posted by dvse

You want to get pretty comfortable with linear algebra and multivariable calculus. There are many books suitable for self study (which can also be found online with little effort).

Go to Physics Help and Math Help - Physics Forums and ask for recommendations.

Quite oddly, I happen to be a frequent poster at Physicsforums (Username "Gib Z"). Indeed it a very useful site, and I'm sure Homer would be comfortable asking for help from the friendly members there, I disagree with your recommendations.

Remember that Homer is wishing to learn the sufficient amount of mathematics to enter a science degree, not any more at the moment. Most universities will parrallel their physics components to correspond with the appropriate maths units suitably. Linear algebra and Multivariable calculus are usually covered by the university in first or second year, so you can take the course there.

For now, Homer wants to focus on more basic things, such as single variable calculus and how to apply it to the real world. Depending on your motivation and how much time you wish to put behind it, I recommend you catch up to the 4U (which includes 3 and 2 unit) mathematics syllabus of NSW, which can be found at the board of studies website. There are many topics that are very related to physics and whose methods will be directly applied in university, but there are also topics which won't be of such importance. You should be able to recognise these yourself, but if in doubt just ask for some clarification.

I recommend you do these extra topics as well because of the practice you will get in thinking analytically and in mathematical methods that will be extremely useful when learning mathematics in university. Scraping in to learn the essentials will make it difficult to absorb the content as quick as they give it to you at university.

[Studentleader]

Originally Posted by dvse

You want to get pretty comfortable with linear algebra and multivariable calculus. There are many books suitable for self study (which can also be found online with little effort).

Go to Physics Help and Math Help - Physics Forums and ask for recommendations.

Heaps of books you will be able to get from torrents or your local library will have your simple maths books - I'd refrain from trying to jump into multivariable calculus as thats really 2nd year onwards.

If you go over these things you'll be fine (for first year anyway):

• Single-variable calculus (integration, 1st/2nd ODEs, applications of differentiation)
• Linear Algebra (Eigenvectors, null spaces, cross product, dot product...)
• Probability and Statistics(Binomial distribution, normal distribution, exponential distribution, combinatrics, basic set theory, covariance...)

I'd do a summer 'preperation' course on calculus if you can - means you have more time to do higher topics in mathematics which shows a strong level of understanding.

If you chose biomedicine it really depends on the university - my girlfriend does it and has never had to do maths.

[dvse]

Originally Posted by ogawatugawa

Remember that Homer is wishing to learn the sufficient amount of mathematics to enter a science degree, not any more at the moment. Most universities will parrallel their physics components to correspond with the appropriate maths units suitably. Linear algebra and Multivariable calculus are usually covered by the university in first or second year, so you can take the course there.

You are right of course, but it might be a good idea to look at the sort of things one would encounter in uni to get a better idea of what bakground is lacking. Still linear algebra is entirely self contained and multivariable calculus is not so hard if taken afterwards... I'm surprised you mentioned HSC curriculum as something that can help with physics intuition though - it is almost entirely a collection of meaningless calculation recipes.