How applicable is HSC physics to civil engineering? (1 Viewer)

[funnytomato]

Hm, I like physics (hence, the reason for wanting to venture into a field where physics is applied) but I don't like how school runs it (if that makes sense...science at my school in general is a bit of a joke). I get tutored for physics and find that more enjoyable. I guess that's also another reason I'm considering not doing it.

Decisions

I don't really want to spend a year kind of not enjoying it, because of school, and go into uni discovering most of the stuff we learnt is irrelevant :/

yes, actually I do understand your situation
I think many people are in the same boat

just drop it if you want, there's no point putting yourself in a classroom you dislike for a year
but do keep in mind that it's a good idea to learn the important stuff as hsc physics is assumed knowledge

 

[funnytomato]

Unlikely; if you can study by yourself, then you'd not have the issue you now have.

I think OP's problem with physics is the way her teacher/school is treating it (method of teaching, quality of assessments, etc. )
by quality of assessment, I mean they may be testing something totally irrelevant to the HSC or the nature of assessment is unfair...

 

[Riproot]

Picking up ext 2 maths, if that gives any indication (top 72 at my school is allowed to do it)

From a former engineering student: Year 11 physics is good enough, MX2 is more applicable.

As long as you're smart (obvi you are to aim for 99+ and do MX2 and everything) you'll be fine.

 

[Riproot]

What is uni physics like?

MX2 on crack, but more applied and annoying. (Well first year engg physics/mechanics is like that)

phys - 4/62 (I have a 'crappy' mark though, in comparison to my other subjects)
food tech - 1/8 (I'm quite sure, I haven't lost any marks so far but I haven't gotten prelim results back)

I'd stick with physics (if I enjoyed them the same)

Key thing is: if you want to do course A, you should make sure you have all the essential subjects to support your pursuit of that course. Say you get into Civil Engineering, on the strength of your performance in Food Tech: then how are you going to cope with the part that requires a reasonable foundation in Physics, regardless of whether or not the NSW HSC Physics is watered-down physics. Do you think your bridging course will be enough? Maybe, and maybe not.

Nah. Don't listen to this.

No offence, but HSC Physics is a joke compared to uni physics. It's not super relevant, mainly you just need the core concepts and then MATHS, so if he does MX2 he'll be fine, if he drops to MX1 he's in trouble. But like, wiki-ing the core shit and then maths-ing will be fine.

Also, the bridging courses are a joke from what I hear. Don't bother.

That's pretty much what I'm trying to ask in this thread: how applicable is HSC physics to civil and if the bridging course is useful for it

Prelim physics + MX2 will be more than enough.

In terms of optimizing your ATAR, physics may not necessarily be the bad choice if you consider scaling and size of cohort
And as you've mentioned, it would also be more relevant to an Engineering degree

But if you really dislike physics for whatever reason (bad teacher, unfair assessment etc. ) ,
dropping the HSC physics course will not severely affect your future study IF you can learn it by yourself

Yeah, all of dis ~~

Do you know if the bridging course is more quantitative (from the sounds of it) than the HSC course?

Don't bother doing it.

If you can justify wasting the money or whatever

Then go ahead

But I wasn't bothered last year.

I did prelim physics in year 11 (teacher was awful, we didn't cover like half of the syllabus and I came like 5th/32 on like 55% or something) then dropped it and did MX2 in year 12.
Then went to uni last year and they were all like "Hmmmm, what units are you doing?" and then saw the list of units for BE(Mech(Biomed))/BMedSc and then the guy was worried about me not having done year 12 physics so wanted me to do fundies and the bridging course.
But I was just like "fuck dat" and did reg, no bridging course.
Hated the subject still and got like 64 but whatevs.
My friend did similar (except in adv sc) and ended up with a high HD.
So as long as you try it doesn't matter.

Hm, I like physics (hence, the reason for wanting to venture into a field where physics is applied) but I don't like how school runs it (if that makes sense...science at my school in general is a bit of a joke). I get tutored for physics and find that more enjoyable. I guess that's also another reason I'm considering not doing it.

Decisions

I don't really want to spend a year kind of not enjoying it, because of school, and go into uni discovering most of the stuff we learnt is irrelevant :/

Stop going to class then. lol

 

[rumbleroar]

yes, actually I do understand your situation
I think many people are in the same boat

just drop it if you want, there's no point putting yourself in a classroom you dislike for a year
but do keep in mind that it's a good idea to learn the important stuff as hsc physics is assumed knowledge

Thanks for that!! Of course I will try and learn it, I've started some of it (tutoring lol) and it seems interesting enough

I think OP's problem with physics is the way her teacher/school is treating it (method of teaching, quality of assessments, etc. )
by quality of assessment, I mean they may be testing something totally irrelevant to the HSC or the nature of assessment is unfair...

+1

some of the things they teach is outside the syllabus in an interesting way and can be found in our tests (our school tends to rip off the independent papers, which are 50 times harder than any other tests)

 

[rumbleroar]

From a former engineering student: Year 11 physics is good enough, MX2 is more applicable.

As long as you're smart (obvi you are to aim for 99+ and do MX2 and everything) you'll be fine.

Thanks for answering my question Which parts of prelim are applicable? I'm assuming its mostly motion.

MX2 on crack, but more applied and annoying. (Well first year engg physics/mechanics is like that)

I'd stick with physics (if I enjoyed them the same)

Nah. Don't listen to this.

No offence, but HSC Physics is a joke compared to uni physics. It's not super relevant, mainly you just need the core concepts and then MATHS, so if he does MX2 he'll be fine, if he drops to MX1 he's in trouble. But like, wiki-ing the core shit and then maths-ing will be fine.

Also, the bridging courses are a joke from what I hear. Don't bother.

Prelim physics + MX2 will be more than enough.

Yeah, all of dis ~~

Don't bother doing it.

If you can justify wasting the money or whatever

Then go ahead

But I wasn't bothered last year.

I did prelim physics in year 11 (teacher was awful, we didn't cover like half of the syllabus and I came like 5th/32 on like 55% or something) then dropped it and did MX2 in year 12.
Then went to uni last year and they were all like "Hmmmm, what units are you doing?" and then saw the list of units for BE(Mech(Biomed))/BMedSc and then the guy was worried about me not having done year 12 physics so wanted me to do fundies and the bridging course.
But I was just like "fuck dat" and did reg, no bridging course.
Hated the subject still and got like 64 but whatevs.
My friend did similar (except in adv sc) and ended up with a high HD.
So as long as you try it doesn't matter.

Stop going to class then. lol

1. Which core subjects do you need?
2. hm, do they still teach concepts you miss out on during HSC that are relevant?
3. haha can't skip class, they mark the roll every period.

 

[et2428]

Dont bother with HSC physics, next to no cross over in knowledge apart from the basics like force and circuit calculations, Maths X2 is way more important

 

[anomalousdecay]

Thanks for answering my question Which parts of prelim are applicable? I'm assuming its mostly motion.



1. Which core subjects do you need?
2. hm, do they still teach concepts you miss out on during HSC that are relevant?
3. haha can't skip class, they mark the roll every period.

Motion and momentum I'm guessing are pretty important from prelim Physics.

1). For civil engineering, your basically going to resolve forces and stuff, which can be covered in MX2 Mechanics.
For someone doing electrical, MandG, I2I and Age of Silicon are important. However, for civil, engineering studies and prelim Physics is probably much more suitable than HSC Physics. This is simply because in HSC Physics does not involve anything about the resolving of forces or mechanical movements.

2). Not in uni yet, but I'm guessing that Newton's Laws and the basics of force interactions and momentum are assumed knowledge.
You will get taught the MX2 side of force interactions and further maths applications.

3). Do other work in your Physics class if you can't be bothered.

In your case, HSC Physics is not particularly necessary for civil or architecture. You should have been doing engineering studies instead if you had the chance. But definitely do MEX2.

You should ask yourself if you are 100% sure you are going to do civil, and will not decide halfway through the year if you want to do something else. I wanted to do Chemical for two years, then changed my mind to mechanical for a month, and now want to do electrical (past 6 months) (Doing HSC Physics and Age of Silicon option changed my mind about what I wanted to do). You must be certain about what you really want to do.

Don't take my word on everything here, because I am not in uni yet.

 

[rumbleroar]

Motion and momentum I'm guessing are pretty important from prelim Physics.

1). For civil engineering, your basically going to resolve forces and stuff, which can be covered in MX2 Mechanics.
For someone doing electrical, MandG, I2I and Age of Silicon are important. However, for civil, engineering studies and prelim Physics is probably much more suitable than HSC Physics. This is simply because in HSC Physics does not involve anything about the resolving of forces or mechanical movements.

2). Not in uni yet, but I'm guessing that Newton's Laws and the basics of force interactions and momentum are assumed knowledge.
You will get taught the MX2 side of force interactions and further maths applications.

3). Do other work in your Physics class if you can't be bothered.

In your case, HSC Physics is not particularly necessary for civil or architecture. You should have been doing engineering studies instead if you had the chance. But definitely do MEX2.

You should ask yourself if you are 100% sure you are going to do civil, and will not decide halfway through the year if you want to do something else. I wanted to do Chemical for two years, then changed my mind to mechanical for a month, and now want to do electrical (past 6 months) (Doing HSC Physics and Age of Silicon option changed my mind about what I wanted to do). You must be certain about what you really want to do.

Don't take my word on everything here, because I am not in uni yet.

Thanks for that ^-^
I ended up dropping physics anyway (MX2 >>>>>> physics any day). I would've taken up engineering studies, but our school doesn't offer it (damn it) but I'm pretty certain I want to do civil because I think it will help with architecture (at least with the structural/mathematical aspect anyway) and I've wanted to do it for the past couple of years

Good to know HSC physics isn't that applicable to civil engineering. I assume the bridging course would be useless then?

 

[anomalousdecay]

Thanks for that ^-^
I ended up dropping physics anyway (MX2 >>>>>> physics any day). I would've taken up engineering studies, but our school doesn't offer it (damn it) but I'm pretty certain I want to do civil because I think it will help with architecture (at least with the structural/mathematical aspect anyway) and I've wanted to do it for the past couple of years

Good to know HSC physics isn't that applicable to civil engineering. I assume the bridging course would be useless then?

You should be fine without a bridging course. I still kept my prelim notes for the purpose of maybe doing mechanical engineering or electrical lol. In the end it was worth it.

My school was the same. We weren't offered engineering studies.

Just a caution: Get to know civil. Understand what type of jobs they get and where they work.

I wanted to do Chemical, but didn't know what they did exactly. When I found out, I was shocked and then decided that I didn't really want to monitor a reaction vessel and design new ones all day, since that was the only jobs available for it. As a result, my interest in mechanics and electricity justified my choice in doing electrical. And the range of jobs seemed amazing to me.

All I know about civil is that it involves quite a bit of legislation and working with businesses/contractors quite a bit.

By the way, look through the downloads section on this forum. You will find quite a few engineering studies reports that are related to civil.
Have a look through those in the summer holidays and make sure you are 100% certain.

Hope this helps