Can i be an engineer if i did general math? (1 Viewer)

[medicalscientist10]

Hi i am currently in year 11, i am doing general maths and really want to be an engineer. Is it going to be difficult for me to get in? can i even get in seeing i didnt do extension?

 

[Katsumi]

As per normal UAC entry they will be looking at your ATAR and not the specific subjects that you have done. My recommendation if you cannot do math at a higher level is to study it in your spare time.

 

[astroman]

You can be an engineer even if you didn't do any math, all uni's care about is your ATAR.

If you did:
- aboriginal studies
- community and family studies
- italian beginners
- english standard
- visual arts

And get 91+ ATAR. You will be GUARANTEED entry to any UNSW engineering course that requires 91+ ATAR. That being said, you will be pretty stupid for trying to do engineering with anything below 2u math, a solid understanding of calculus is essential. If you do stick with general, you should get your shit together quick by doing some bridging courses or learning the 3u and possibly 4u course quick.

 

[Drongoski]

I agree, but it's really hard to transition from General Math to 3U/4U mathematics. But it's possible.

Highly unlikely.

@op has to ask himself why he chose General and not 2U and 3U in the first place? Why? If it is because you cannot handle even 2U Maths, then I don't see how you can handle 3U/4U? Mathematically speaking, General Maths is very lightweight.

 

[D94]

You might be able to do the work of an engineer in some fields, but you will probably struggle throughout the degree which is needed to become an engineer.

 

[InteGrand]

Hi i am currently in year 11, i am doing general maths and really want to be an engineer. Is it going to be difficult for me to get in? can i even get in seeing i didnt do extension?

Yes, you can get in.

 

[sourmilk]

Yes, you can get in 100% if you achieve the desired atar.

I just want to ask - why do you want to become an engineer? and which type of engineering do you want to practice? I hope before you choose a desired career path you actually know what the career entails and it isn't glamourous like working in Google or something.

Another thing is that the Engineering coursework (well, at UNSW) is math orientated - and requires a lot of 3U depending which one you decide to practice. Unless you chose general maths as a strategic way to score a high atar and you plan is to do bridging courses (which is inevitable) then I guess go for it.

 

[anon1234567]

You would be able to get in as long as you have a 92 ATAR, however the difficulty will be staying in the course. During your first year of university, if you are doing a non-programming related engineering degree (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical etc.) then you will have to do 2 compulsory mathematics courses and 2 compulsory physics courses. If you only do general maths, haven't done any calculus based courses (e.g. 2u/3u/4u maths courses) in your spare time, or undertaken any bridging course, I can guarantee that you will fail 4 out of the 8 courses just in first year (first year is the easiest - also the physics courses are calculus based so doing HSC physics without doing 2u/3u/4u maths will not be enough). If you do software engineering or computer science then you will have to do 3 math courses during first year (no physics required) - however you will definitely fail 3 out of the 8 courses if you don't do anything to bridge the gap in mathematical knowledge. My advice to you is to beg the school to allow you to change courses to at least 2 unit maths (but 3u preferable) so that you don't have to waste a year. Alternatively you could either spend a year (either through TAFE or through a preparation program at university) to bridge the gap in your mathematical knowledge; you will definitely not be able to work out how to do all the math yourself since you evidently don't have a good mathematical foundation so you have to go to an institution to learn everything. Since I've done engineering myself, I can assure you that engineering is extremely hard (even though I did 4 unit maths); if you aren't prepared to really struggle and put hours of study in, then it would be better for you to do a different degree. I hope that my advice helps. Best of luck in your future aspirations.

 

[Squar3root]

How strong is your math ability?

 

[Drongoski]

This coming from someone who should know what he is talking about.

I am amazed and bemused every now and then someone would pose such a question: I'm doing General Maths. Will I be able to get into Engineering?

I'm curious to know how many people with Gen Maths only background has successfully completed an Engineering degree at Usyd or Unsw?

 

[Drongoski]

How strong is your math ability?

What do you think??

 

[dust3]

I am amazed and bemused every now and then someone would pose such a question: I'm doing General Maths. Will I be able to get into Engineering?

I know right, so amazing! Just as entertaining as your posts.

 

[davidgoes4wce]

Around the end of last year, I said you could do it.

But after going through the Maths (Advanced) and Maths Extension books over the last 3 years, I say it's very hard to catch up. It's not a subject that can be covered wholly in a short 6 week course, this is a subject that is learnt over a long time 2-3 years on top of the university years.

For eg I look at a UNSW 2nd year Civil Engineering maths unit, this is its description:

"Partial differentiation and applications, vector algebra, double integrals, ordinary differential equations, introduction to vector field theory, extrema of functions of 2 variables, matrices and their applications, Laplace transforms, Fourier series, partial differential equations and their solution for selected physical problems."

a 6 week summer bridging course won't cover 1st year calculus (think it makes up 50% of the content in the HSC maths units) and vectors (if you take IB SL/HL- which I think is the hardest topic in SL). You would probably need to get a tutor or take possible a year long program to cover the basics.

 

[donkily]

You can try doing bridging courses cant you?

 

[davidgoes4wce]

Having said that I once helped a 29 year old mature age student get back into an Engineering course and a mature age mum wanting to get into Engineering. It can be done but you would need to dedicate time and money into the subject. It took them a good year both of them to get it up to speed to the high school leavers standard.

I had to teach him from scratch (worser than a General maths standard). He didn't know anything about indices, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, surds, different types of graphs- quadratics+linear, logarithms etc Now he is in his 3rd year of Engineering course.

It's never too late, there is always a path to a course, if you set your goal towards it.

 

[davidgoes4wce]

No matter how good the student I don't think 6 weeks to cover a calculus oriented subject is enough. But that's just me.

 

[Drongoski]

Having said that I once helped a 29 year old mature age student get back into an Engineering course and a mature age mum wanting to get into Engineering. It can be done but you would need to dedicate time and money into the subject. It took them a good year both of them to get it up to speed to the high school leavers standard.

I had to teach him from scratch (worser than a General maths standard). He didn't know anything about indices, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, surds, different types of graphs- quadratics+linear, logarithms etc Now he is in his 3rd year of Engineering course.

It's never too late, there is always a path to a course, if you set your goal towards it.

This is an interesting situation. Good that you were able to pull them over the line. You need the basic intellect.

 

[Drongoski]

You can try doing bridging courses cant you?

Yea Yea! Bridging courses offer so much promise of redemption and salvation.

 

[donkily]

Yea Yea! Bridging courses offer so much promise of redemption and salvation.

But I'm sure they go through only the relevant topics as opposed to every 3U topic

 

[Drongoski]

You can be an engineer even if you didn't do any math, all uni's care about is your ATAR.

and your fees.(courtesy of tax payer-funded HECS)