Should I drop my maths level? (1 Viewer)

[isabella05]

I'm about to begin year 12, and one thing I've noticed is all year I've slacked off in maths advanced. I failed 2 exams in year 11, the others barley a pass, and I struggle understanding mathematical concepts - this is partially because of my laziness and lack of trying, but also I've found that I try to reteach myself content from the beginning of the year 11 and I still struggle to grasp it!
One of my main concerns is whether I should drop my maths level or not. I may need it for uni, and that's why I am still staying in advanced. I've been in advanced course for maths pretty much all of high school - from 5.3 maths in years 9 and 10 and then advanced in year 11. I'm worried that if I switch to standard, there may also be gaps in my knowledge for HSC.
Is it worth it to try again relearn all of the year 11 maths advanced content for year 12? Or should I just take my chances and drop as I won't be able to do it in time with solid understanding?
I've also paid for very expensive tutoring that goes a term ahead of the class content. The content seems very difficult, and I don't want to waste the money and resources the course offered.

 

[specificagent1]

it seems like even with tutoring they arent teaching you the content properly huh?

One of my main concerns is whether I should drop my maths level or not. I may need it for uni,

what course are you thinking of? also most courses dont have prerequisite except for usyd courses

I'm worried that if I switch to standard, there may also be gaps in my knowledge for HSC.

you should be fine if you have been in top level maths all this time. You should know everything they've learnt so far but in year 12 std learns some stuff you wont know

 

[isabella05]

it seems like even with tutoring they arent teaching you the content properly huh?


what course are you thinking of? also most courses dont have prerequisite except for usyd courses



you should be fine if you have been in top level maths all this time. You should know everything they've learnt so far but in year 12 std learns some stuff you wont know

I'm very indecisive so by keeping maths advanced I would be keeping my uni options open, but I fear that even if I try hard I can't get a good ATAR because I would be scaled down. I didn't pay much attention this year, and in the past I don't really think I have a good foundation in the subject. I'm not sure the holidays will give me enough time to be confident in the year 11 content covered this year.

 

[ExtremelyBoredUser]

Don't quote me for this but I'm pretty sure the scaling difference between advanced and standard is not that significant that it should be a main concern for dropping. Some people in my school in adv would drop down to standard to simply get an easy 95+ even though they were more than capable of getting a solid B5-B6 for advanced.

 

[specificagent1]

I'm very indecisive so by keeping maths advanced I would be keeping my uni options open, but I fear that even if I try hard I can't get a good ATAR because I would be scaled down. I didn't pay much attention this year, and in the past I don't really think I have a good foundation in the subject. I'm not sure the holidays will give me enough time to be confident in the year 11 content covered this year.

you rather be in a lower subject get better marks and get a good atar to get into a course

 

[CM_Tutor]

Don't quote me for this but I'm pretty sure the scaling difference between advanced and standard is not that significant that it should be a main concern for dropping. Some people in my school in adv would drop down to standard to simply get an easy 95+ even though they were more than capable of getting a solid B5-B6 for advanced.

you rather be in a lower subject get better marks and get a good atar to get into a course

I generally would not make decision based on scaling - factors like potentially needing the content later on, your interest in the subject, enjoyment, effort, past results, etc, would be the ones I'd consider.

However, efforts have been made to reduce the benefit of performing well in Standard Maths instead of doing Advanced. NESA have added questions common to the Advanced and Standard 2 papers and are using the overall performance on those questions by the Advanced cohort and the Standard cohort to moderate the relative performance of each. So, even if candidate X (doing Standard) performs at / above the typical Advanced level on the common questions, the overall weaker performance of Standard students will moderate downwards the overall performance of the entire Standard cohort relative to Advanced, thereby adversely affecting candidate X relative to Advanced students who performed similarly on the common questions.

NESA does not want to advantage students choosing the "easy" path of less challenging subjects who are capable of handling the more challenging option.

 

[CM_Tutor]

I'm about to begin year 12, and one thing I've noticed is all year I've slacked off in maths advanced. I failed 2 exams in year 11, the others barley a pass, and I struggle understanding mathematical concepts - this is partially because of my laziness and lack of trying, but also I've found that I try to reteach myself content from the beginning of the year 11 and I still struggle to grasp it!

These are reasons to consider dropping. Past motivation is often a useful indicator of future motivation, and it doesn't sound like you actual enjoy or are interested in Maths.

One of my main concerns is whether I should drop my maths level or not. I may need it for uni, and that's why I am still staying in advanced. I've been in advanced course for maths pretty much all of high school - from 5.3 maths in years 9 and 10 and then advanced in year 11. I'm worried that if I switch to standard, there may also be gaps in my knowledge for HSC.

Standard has content that is not in Advanced which you will need to learn, but it does not involve calculus and is mostly more like year 10 difficulty. So, yes, there will be (addressable) gaps. Almost anything at uni wanting maths is going to want calculus, so you may find a need for a bridging course or a challenge at uni where the content will be assumed or be covered more quickly. This depends a lot on what you want to a study. A degree in physics or engineering will need a solid maths basis... a degree in psychology where you will need to study statistics can be approached more easily from Standard, while an Arts degree in ancient Greek and philosophy can easily rest on little basis in maths.

Is it worth it to try again relearn all of the year 11 maths advanced content for year 12? Or should I just take my chances and drop as I won't be able to do it in time with solid understanding?

You have a knowledge deficit to address either way. The more important question, in my view, is how you plan to address it. You've tried relearning on your own, without great success, so what would you change in your approach? The whole COVID situation has undermined motivation badly for many, but is that the problem for you in Maths, and thus it will reduce in time, or is it something else?

I've also paid for very expensive tutoring that goes a term ahead of the class content. The content seems very difficult, and I don't want to waste the money and resources the course offered.

I question the value of tutoring taking you ahead when you are behind in understanding, struggling, and lacking motivation. Maybe tutoring aimed at helping you catch up is worth considering? I also wonder whether this is placing the pressure of expectations on you, from yourself or others.

Bottom line, this question is a balance of what you want and what is reasonable / achievable... ultimately only you can decide, I just encourage you to consider all the factors you see as relevant before deciding about what is in your best interests.

 

[sab13562]

I'm about to begin year 12, and one thing I've noticed is all year I've slacked off in maths advanced. I failed 2 exams in year 11, the others barley a pass, and I struggle understanding mathematical concepts - this is partially because of my laziness and lack of trying, but also I've found that I try to reteach myself content from the beginning of the year 11 and I still struggle to grasp it!
One of my main concerns is whether I should drop my maths level or not. I may need it for uni, and that's why I am still staying in advanced. I've been in advanced course for maths pretty much all of high school - from 5.3 maths in years 9 and 10 and then advanced in year 11. I'm worried that if I switch to standard, there may also be gaps in my knowledge for HSC.
Is it worth it to try again relearn all of the year 11 maths advanced content for year 12? Or should I just take my chances and drop as I won't be able to do it in time with solid understanding?
I've also paid for very expensive tutoring that goes a term ahead of the class content. The content seems very difficult, and I don't want to waste the money and resources the course offered.

Hey. Fellow ex-advanced student here. I dropped advanced in year 10 and moved to standard in year 11 and let me say, best decision of my life. It really helps to reduce the workload, especially if you have content heavy subjects. You will have to catch up on yr 11 content, although it will only make around 15% of your HSC exam, sometimes even less. My only tip is watch out for wording of questions, as it can be very tricky to get at first but with practice, you should be just fine. Also, make sure to check that the course you want to do in uni doesn't have advanced maths as a prerequisite, otherwise stick to advanced. All the best!

 

[sab13562]

Hey. Fellow ex-advanced student here. I dropped advanced in year 10 and moved to standard in year 11 and let me say, best decision of my life. It really helps to reduce the workload, especially if you have content heavy subjects. You will have to catch up on yr 11 content, although it will only make around 15% of your HSC exam, sometimes even less. My only tip is watch out for wording of questions, as it can be very tricky to get at first but with practice, you should be just fine. Also, make sure to check that the course you want to do in uni doesn't have advanced maths as a prerequisite, otherwise stick to advanced. All the best!

I want to add on to that that I know someone who dropped to standard in year 12 and honestly, they're doing just fine.