Need opinions! - Pick up 4U Math or Keep Economics (1 Viewer)

[jaydenlay]

Currently in a post preliminary dilemma. The subjects I study are as follows...

- HSC Math Advanced
- HSC Math Ext 1
- Economics
- Business Studies
- Retail Services
- PDHPE (Drop)

Both my adv and ext 1 math courses are HSC accelerated and I will complete those a few weeks from now.

The issue i'm having is if i were to drop to 10 units. Would I be better off picking up 4U Maths or keeping Economics?
My main considerations are...

- Time allocated to study (most prominent)
- Effort
- Scaling (kinda)
- Cohort

If I were to pick up ext 2 math, my ext 2 cohort would see significantly more top bands than economics based on the historical results of my selective school (8 to 0). And i'd like to know which route would take more effort on average, achieving 85+ in economics or 70+ in 4U. Although the most important factor for me is time, is the extra time investment when picking up ext 2 math worth it in comparison to say the time investment to achieve band 6 in economics?

Of course a lot of these considerations are unique to each person but i'd like to hear everyone's insights. Thanks.

 

[jimmysmith560]

I believe it would be reasonable to suggest that Mathematics Extension 2 is more demanding than Economics in relation to both the nature of the content as well as the study time needed to ensure favourable performance. I usually advise against the prioritisation of scaling and I believe that this would also apply to your case. Despite the difference in scaling between Mathematics Extension 2 and Economics, I think that a student like yourself would be willing and, more importantly, would be able to be committed to whichever subject you end up choosing in order to ensure the best possible performance, which would in turn minimise the effect of scaling.

This is a decision that I believe will depend on your personal interests, i.e. your response to the question "does Economics or Mathematics Extension 2 appeal more to you?" While the band 6/E4 data could give an indication as to the potential of your year's cohort in each subject, it is not decisive in terms of determining your ability to achieve a band 6/E4, especially given the fact that you attend a selective school, which would suggest that you are definitely capable of achieving a band 6 in Economics, just as you are in Mathematics Extension 2.

The good thing in the event that you drop Economics is that you are taking Business Studies, which, to an extent, covers economics-related concepts in the HSC course, especially within the Finance topic. If you have an interest in Economics, this means that you would not be missing out on economics-related content entirely. A further argument to keep Mathematics Extension 2 is that it would be the only maths subject that you would need to worry about since you accelerated both Mathematics Advanced and Mathematics Extension 1.

I hope this helps!

 

[Life'sHard]

I mean what atar are you hoping to get?

For me personally benchmarking a 70+ mark in ext 2 is blasphemous lol. In terms of difficulty to get 70+ raw I think it’s pretty achievable (not hard at all but may differ from people to people)