• YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page

Will general lessen my chances of a graduate job? (2 Viewers)

Emperor Lobster

New Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
10
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Will dropping to general maths from two-unit decrease my chances of getting a decent job in the field of psychology after graduating/while studying at uni? My other subjects are fairly hard/good, and I think I could easily get a great mark in general, but will they look down on it? (Forgive the insecurity, I have to decide in to drop on Monday and I am in a semi-state of panic over whether I should or shouldn't)
 
Last edited:

Iruka

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
544
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Once you are in uni, no one gives a stuff what subjects you did for your HSC.

However, psychology is a very popular field atm, and so it is very competitive to get into. Also, once you are in psych, gaining entry into honours year is very competitive. (Note: entry to honours will be determined by your uni marks, not what you got in the HSC.)

So you really have to consider two things:

(1) What effect will dropping to general have on your UAI?
(2) Will General Maths prepare you adequately for what you want to do next year?

Q(1) I think you have to answer for yourself, Q(2) you should probably ask some present psych. students on another part of the BOS forum.
 

Emperor Lobster

New Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
10
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Cheers, that's a load off my mind, I was nervous General would be some sort of mark-of-the-devil on all my future career prospects. :)

Iruka said:
you should probably ask some present psych. students on another part of the BOS forum.
Good idea, thanks!

brogan77 said:
General Maths is a crock though, do straight Mathematics.
Yeah, I agree, but my reasoning is 1) it will leave time for other more involved work 2) I'll hopefully do good enough to avert most of the down-scaling. Still not decided just yet though.
 
Last edited:

wixxy2348

goldmambo #5.
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
3,782
Location
Not Cooma.
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
It may lessen your chances of getting into psych though.. APPARENTLY some unis have it as a pre-req, and it may (will) decrease your UAI..
 

mumajugs1

New Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
12
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
It generally shouldnt matter, especially if you do really well in general. So really it wont lessen your chances unless you do really bad at general maths.
 

PC

Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2004
Messages
639
Location
Sydney
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Depends which job ... and how well you go at Uni!
 

beve

Jesus
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
307
Location
Blayney
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Emperor Lobster said:
Will dropping to general maths from two-unit decrease my chances of getting a decent job in the field of psychology after graduating/while studying at uni? My other subjects are fairly hard/good, and I think I could easily get a great mark in general, but will they look down on it? (Forgive the insecurity, I have to decide in to drop on Monday and I am in a semi-state of panic over whether I should or shouldn't)
You're doing the exact same subjects as me, except you have History Extension. I got invited into HX but timetabling clashed so I couldn't do it without distance education... and to be honest I couldnt be fucked. I dropped to General today. It's better to gun for 95+ in general math than to poke around the low 60s in 2 Unit. But that's just me. Math doesn't really work with me, heh.

I think, with your subject lineup it's probably not a bad idea, it wont affect your uni.
 

annabackwards

<3 Prophet 9
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
4,670
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
In my opinion i'd stick to straight mathematics... i'd die in general math, it's really hard to get a band 6 in it and i really, really, really hate statistics XD

But if you really think it's driving you insane and you'd do better in general by dropping, drop it- as early as possible so you won't have to catch up on much.

And don't worry about uni's looking down on you, they basically just take your UAI so do what'll get you the higher UAI mark :)
 

Graney

Horse liberty
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
4,434
Location
Bereie
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
There isn't that much maths in undergraduate psych. Basic stats is it I think. General is well enough preparation for that.
 

David Spade

Banned
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
1,315
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Graney said:
There isn't that much maths in undergraduate psych. Basic stats is it I think. General is well enough preparation for that.
I don't know, I was under the impression that psych has a shit load of stats in it?

Where is that big ball of Townie when you need him.
 

I Study Hard

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
402
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
annabackwards said:
In my opinion i'd stick to straight mathematics... i'd die in general math, it's really hard to get a band 6 in it and i really, really, really hate statistics XD

But if you really think it's driving you insane and you'd do better in general by dropping, drop it- as early as possible so you won't have to catch up on much.

And don't worry about uni's looking down on you, they basically just take your UAI so do what'll get you the higher UAI mark :)
Its not supposed to be hard to get a band 6 in general. I went from failing (11%) in my 2 unit exams to getting 90s in general, and i dropped two weeks before the final prelim assessment, so i did 3 terms of work in 2 weeks..it was easy. Although, the HSC course is abit harder, so it is strongly recommended you drop early, at the begining of term if possible because while once you learn to do it, its easy, if you have to cram it all and don't have enough time you're going to find it very difficult.
 

oasfree

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2009
Messages
210
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
Will dropping to general maths from two-unit decrease my chances of getting a decent job in the field of psychology after graduating/while studying at uni? My other subjects are fairly hard/good, and I think I could easily get a great mark in general, but will they look down on it? (Forgive the insecurity, I have to decide in to drop on Monday and I am in a semi-state of panic over whether I should or shouldn't)
Well, it's tough for me to comment as I was very good at math and believing that math is essential for all people. It's true that employers will not ask about your schooling. But they will ask about your University learning. And if you avoid tough subjects at University because your math is no good, you will be in trouble. Also many courses in University requires 3U math. If you are not careful and do full 3U math, you will miss out. The scaling of marks also affect you. If you do 2U general you will be scaled down any way, so your chance of doing what you like in University will be diminished. Often when you get to Uni to apply for a course, they will ask what sort of marks you did. Many courses require 3U math as the minimum! So do some research at the University you want to attend before making a decision to drop out of 3U math. Your normal 2U math would not be enough any way. 2U general will certainly be a death wish.
 

I Study Hard

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
402
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Well, it's tough for me to comment as I was very good at math and believing that math is essential for all people. It's true that employers will not ask about your schooling. But they will ask about your University learning. And if you avoid tough subjects at University because your math is no good, you will be in trouble. Also many courses in University requires 3U math. If you are not careful and do full 3U math, you will miss out. The scaling of marks also affect you. If you do 2U general you will be scaled down any way, so your chance of doing what you like in University will be diminished. Often when you get to Uni to apply for a course, they will ask what sort of marks you did. Many courses require 3U math as the minimum! So do some research at the University you want to attend before making a decision to drop out of 3U math. Your normal 2U math would not be enough any way. 2U general will certainly be a death wish.
I lol'd really hard at this. Most courses do not require 3U maths, alot of them require 2units of maths (which includes general) not 2U maths. Unless you're doing something that specifically involves maths that is. Just look up the course requirements. Also, i know people with UAIs of 90+ with gen maths...
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top