should I drop maths extension 1 (4 Viewers)

emmalin

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hi guys, I am considering dropping maths extension 1 after the first prelim assessment task where I got around 65% which is equivalent to being ranked around the bottom of the cohort coming from a top 10 selective school. however, what was tested were (unfortunately for me) the 2 topics in mxt1 that I struggle with the most and so I don’t know how well/bad I could do overall until perhaps the school does a second exam. My results in my previous school for maths in year 10 have been quite high but the exams I’ve take recently have taken a huge jump in difficulty (especially since I moved schools this year). Asides from that my average in tutoring centres such as dr du have been around 85% (A1) and I haven’t been struggling that much for maths extension tutoring strangely as opposed to my first school exam and if I drop I would only have 10 units next year which is a bit risky compared to a safety net with 11. I would really appreciate some advice on whether or not I should drop or wait until I see my results for future assessment task such as prelims yearly or give up now and focus more on other subjects



Thanks
 

99.95dreams

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hi guys, I am considering dropping maths extension 1 after the first prelim assessment task where I got around 65% which is equivalent to being ranked around the bottom of the cohort coming from a top 10 selective school. however, what was tested were (unfortunately for me) the 2 topics in mxt1 that I struggle with the most and so I don’t know how well/bad I could do overall until perhaps the school does a second exam. My results in my previous school for maths in year 10 have been quite high but the exams I’ve take recently have taken a huge jump in difficulty (especially since I moved schools this year). Asides from that my average in tutoring centres such as dr du have been around 85% (A1) and I haven’t been struggling that much for maths extension tutoring strangely as opposed to my first school exam and if I drop I would only have 10 units next year which is a bit risky compared to a safety net with 11. I would really appreciate some advice on whether or not I should drop or wait until I see my results for future assessment task such as prelims yearly or give up now and focus more on other subjects



Thanks
65% in ext 1 isnt even bad, it scales really well. plus it is a 65% in a top 10 selective school, so ofc the test would be hard. don't drop, you are doing fine:)
 

funnytomato

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further graphs and permutations & combinations
Yeah I personally don't think those would be very critical or other topics don't have much dependency on them.

That being said you probably should at least grasp the basic understanding of those a bit better to ensure at least you get the easier marks (get the lower hanging fruits)
 

emmalin

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Yeah I personally don't think those would be very critical or other topics don't have much dependency on them.

That being said you probably should at least grasp the basic understanding of those a bit better to ensure at least you get the easier marks (get the lower hanging fruits)
my teacher has said if i keep getting grades like 60% (bottom of the cohort) she wont allow me to take ext 1 in yr12 which is a bit worrying considering ive put a lot of time into maths
 

funnytomato

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my teacher has said if i keep getting grades like 60% (bottom of the cohort) she wont allow me to take ext 1 in yr12 which is a bit worrying considering ive put a lot of time into maths
Taking a positive note that you still have 40% of marks to grab. Out of those not everything is meant to be 'extremely challenging' but more so understanding the content better/properly and/or having good habits in solving the questions.

So if you commit to it and also find the correct and efficient approach there's quite a bit 'low hanging fruits'.

If you have put a lot of time into maths - what do you spend time on and how much time are you spending per week?

It may be worthwhile to retrospectively reflect upon your exam on marks lost and think of how to improve. E.g is it because of 'silly mistakes' or not showing your steps or not familiar with the caveats for each type of question.
 

coolcat6778

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my teacher has said if i keep getting grades like 60% (bottom of the cohort) she wont allow me to take ext 1 in yr12 which is a bit worrying considering ive put a lot of time into maths
what school do you go to?
 

emmalin

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Taking a positive note that you still have 40% of marks to grab. Out of those not everything is meant to be 'extremely challenging' but more so understanding the content better/properly and/or having good habits in solving the questions.

So if you commit to it and also find the correct and efficient approach there's quite a bit 'low hanging fruits'.

If you have put a lot of time into maths - what do you spend time on and how much time are you spending per week?

It may be worthwhile to retrospectively reflect upon your exam on marks lost and think of how to improve. E.g is it because of 'silly mistakes' or not showing your steps or not familiar with the caveats for each type of question.
thanks for the advice
i normally spend around 3hrs a day on it but i think the problem is that im doing tutoring maths hw, which is quite ahead of school so by the time i revisit the topic in school ive forgotten it and need to "relearn" it which is a bit annoying
i feel like if the topics in tutoring and school lined up i would do better since i would be forced to learn it 2x and tutoring stuff is generally harder than school so it can help with the more difficult questions at the end
would you suggest putting more time into school maths content than tutoring content each day?
 

Study to success

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thanks for the advice
i normally spend around 3hrs a day on it but i think the problem is that im doing tutoring maths hw, which is quite ahead of school so by the time i revisit the topic in school ive forgotten it and need to "relearn" it which is a bit annoying
i feel like if the topics in tutoring and school lined up i would do better since i would be forced to learn it 2x and tutoring stuff is generally harder than school so it can help with the more difficult questions at the end
would you suggest putting more time into school maths content than tutoring content each day?
3 hrs a day on math is crazy. That’s like the same amount of time I spend on all my subjects combined
 

funnytomato

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thanks for the advice
i normally spend around 3hrs a day on it but i think the problem is that im doing tutoring maths hw, which is quite ahead of school so by the time i revisit the topic in school ive forgotten it and need to "relearn" it which is a bit annoying
i feel like if the topics in tutoring and school lined up i would do better since i would be forced to learn it 2x and tutoring stuff is generally harder than school so it can help with the more difficult questions at the end
would you suggest putting more time into school maths content than tutoring content each day?

1. I think 3 hours a day is a fair bit of time to be spent on maths but if that hasn't necessarily translated into the desired marks there's probably things that can be improved. For example the 'relearn' and 'more difficult questions' bits.

2. In particular I think ideally the 'relearn' process should be avoided where possible. Like is it because you forgot most things you learnt or because you have to do your school homework which may be repeating stuff(unnecessarily)? If it's the former I feel that you probably haven't understood the concepts thoroughly. If it's the latter you should make the right judgement about what's the most efficient use of your time e.g. what questions or homework you should spend more time on.

3. On the 'more difficult questions' bit: if you're losing 30-40% of the marks chances are not all of those 40% of marks would be from the most challenging questions on the paper.
I know people tend to attribute those to the word 'silly mistakes' but in reality each type of those can be tackled accordingly e.g. not enough exposure to the questions/concept so simple things (e.g division by fraction, subtracting negative etc) can go wrong since you're spending a fair portion of your cognitive load on the unfamiliar concept. Or not showing the 'best practice' steps. Or bad habit such as skipping lines of working out or not drawing helpful diagrams etc. Bear in mind that a 2 marker in question 11 isn't worth any less than a 2 marker in question 14.

It's probably worthwhile to retrospectively reflect upon your exams and see where marks are lost. Then you can make the judgement on what's the best approach and how to most efficiently spend your time.
 

emmalin

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1. I think 3 hours a day is a fair bit of time to be spent on maths but if that hasn't necessarily translated into the desired marks there's probably things that can be improved. For example the 'relearn' and 'more difficult questions' bits.

2. In particular I think ideally the 'relearn' process should be avoided where possible. Like is it because you forgot most things you learnt or because you have to do your school homework which may be repeating stuff(unnecessarily)? If it's the former I feel that you probably haven't understood the concepts thoroughly. If it's the latter you should make the right judgement about what's the most efficient use of your time e.g. what questions or homework you should spend more time on.

3. On the 'more difficult questions' bit: if you're losing 30-40% of the marks chances are not all of those 40% of marks would be from the most challenging questions on the paper.
I know people tend to attribute those to the word 'silly mistakes' but in reality each type of those can be tackled accordingly e.g. not enough exposure to the questions/concept so simple things (e.g division by fraction, subtracting negative etc) can go wrong since you're spending a fair portion of your cognitive load on the unfamiliar concept. Or not showing the 'best practice' steps. Or bad habit such as skipping lines of working out or not drawing helpful diagrams etc. Bear in mind that a 2 marker in question 11 isn't worth any less than a 2 marker in question 14.

It's probably worthwhile to retrospectively reflect upon your exams and see where marks are lost. Then you can make the judgement on what's the best approach and how to most efficiently spend your time.
ok ill keep that in mind
i typically lose marks towards the end where the harder questions are so ill try attempting harder questions to preare
 

reniiiblaseee

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hi guys, I am considering dropping maths extension 1 after the first prelim assessment task where I got around 65% which is equivalent to being ranked around the bottom of the cohort coming from a top 10 selective school. however, what was tested were (unfortunately for me) the 2 topics in mxt1 that I struggle with the most and so I don’t know how well/bad I could do overall until perhaps the school does a second exam. My results in my previous school for maths in year 10 have been quite high but the exams I’ve take recently have taken a huge jump in difficulty (especially since I moved schools this year). Asides from that my average in tutoring centres such as dr du have been around 85% (A1) and I haven’t been struggling that much for maths extension tutoring strangely as opposed to my first school exam and if I drop I would only have 10 units next year which is a bit risky compared to a safety net with 11. I would really appreciate some advice on whether or not I should drop or wait until I see my results for future assessment task such as prelims yearly or give up now and focus more on other subjects



Thanks
11 units doesnt rlly give u a safety net tbh 12 units does
 

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