leoyh said:
although i came 1st in the first 3u HSC assessment and 3rd in the 1st 4u HSC assessment (and like top 5-10 for prelim 3u), i'm not sure if its gonna be a good decision to drop to 4u maths as my 10 units because i know it gets crazy later and i dunno if i can handle it
Well, don't drop 4u because of some perceived 'difficulty factor'. It would be rather sad if you did, as difficulty is very subjective. It's not like it suddenly gets crazy hard. If you're finding 3u and 4u simple enough so far (e.g. you get above 60% consistently), then I'd strongly advise you to keep it, as the level of difficulty is likely to remain as is, perhaps requiring a bit more study (but trust me you've got plenty of time, especially at the end, before the external exam).
I think I averaged about 50% for my 4unit exams over the year. I was ranked 1st. My teacher just felt like challenging us so we'd be on our toes, though granted my class had a size of 4, and no strong tradition of good 4u results. Your school doesn't matter.
I think I got about 60 to 70% in the external. My combined mark was 92 for 4u.
YannY said:
jeez slidey you're way too analytical. Not everyone is as good as you are in maths.
I was an average 4u student and a great 3u student. It's not terribly difficult for an average 4u student to get a band 6 in 4u. But my level if expertise isn't in question. As I stated before, statistically speaking, the vast majority of students do well enough in 4u for it to count as one of their strongest subjects (we're talking like 70 or 75+ in 4u, which if you'll check I think is like 70 to 80% of all candidates).
3rd means nothing if you go to epping boys or something - it merely means you tried.
Ranks barely matter when it comes to calculating your combined HSC mark. And as far as ranks go, 3rd is fairly good whatever school you go to. And if you go to a good school, 3rd is even better.
Ha slidey you do sound very biased. how do you know that no one regrets doing badly in the HSC, i know heaps of people that regret not doing better people that regret not getting the marks - as low as 0.15 uai.
Because I've been surrounded by uni students for 2 years? So many of them were doing their degree because they didn't get their first preference or bombed their HSC. None of them regret it even half a year later. I think I'm in a better position than you to make such a judgement. It's been all of, what, -1 years since you finished the HSC?
I just think it's rather arrogant when a HSC student gives another student advice like "If you don't do well, you'll regret it." or "If you don't drop this subject, you'll screw up your HSC". Just how much CAN you know? You haven't yet done the HSC, you've never done university, you haven't got a full-time job. How can you seriously think you've got the life experience to claim somebody ELSE will regret the decisions they make in the HSC?
The HSC is not the be-all end-all. There are so many alternative pathways after and before highschool that overlap it's not funny (TAFE, work experience, mature age entry, personal letter to uni, bridging courses, tertiary education prep courses, etc - all will get you into uni). And you know what? The people who enter uni as mature age students, or who take a year off before going to uni are some of the most interesting, determined, and studious people I've met. So I cannot fathom how a decision one makes in the HSC could possibly cause regret or pain for the rest of somebody's life, or even for more than a year.
And that all assumes that if this guy drops chemistry he somehow won't get into a university course that suits him. Because if he does, then I can CERTAINLY guarantee that the HSC and his HSC subjects will mean all of diddly squat to him.
Its up to you - maths doth get harder later i think you should keep it until you're chem mark is far too crap to catch up or until you feel maths is a strong subject.
Fair advice. I wouldn't say maths gets harder, though. It's just that some topics aren't good for some people, and it seems to be unpredictable which ones (though conics, mechanics and volumes stand out - basically word problem questions).
