Is Maths ext2 manageable without an external tutoring service? (1 Viewer)

[KanyeWestLover1247]

I'm in year 11 right now, starting year 12 next term. I'm really stuck on whether or not I should do extension 2 maths, and the application deadline is next Friday. So far in extension 1, I've done well, ranking 2/43 with the help of an external tutoring firm. However, because of financial restraints, if I pick up ext 2 maths I will not be able to take up any more tutoring. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to handle the workload from the combination of subjects I'm planning to do next year (currently ranked at least top 5 for all except English advanced):

- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Maths Extension 1
- Engineering Studies
- Physics
- Chemistry (Likely to drop)
- Music 2

For people who are doing or have done ext 2 maths for the HSC alongside other "harder" subjects, did you take tutoring and if not how did you manage?

P.S. I'm looking to do some kind of engineering degree in uni (preferably USYD or UNSW) which I've heard ext 2 is not a required subject but is helpful.

Please help me

 

[iloveeggs]

@Average Boreduser you know stuff abt this

 

[iloveeggs]

it is ideal to do tutoring for both e1 and e2 bc you have access to good questions for practise and support obv but i totally understand the financial side of things. there are a lot of ppl that dont do maths tutoring at all and still do perfectly fine self studying so i wouldnt say it is a must but it will def help to some extent

in my humble opinion if you can afford to do tuition for e1 or e2 maths, like an either or situation, do tutoring for e2 maths and self study for e1. if you cant go tutoring for maths at all, thats fine, maybe invest in textbooks/resources with practise questions (you can borrow them from the library or buy them second hand)

i dont reccommend dropping e2 as a whole bc you cant do tutoring for it tho

also your subjects are content heavy but since you are doing so well already id assume youll do fine managing the workload

 

[funnytomato]

I'm in year 11 right now, starting year 12 next term. I'm really stuck on whether or not I should do extension 2 maths, and the application deadline is next Friday. So far in extension 1, I've done well, ranking 2/43 with the help of an external tutoring firm. However, because of financial restraints, if I pick up ext 2 maths I will not be able to take up any more tutoring. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to handle the workload from the combination of subjects I'm planning to do next year (currently ranked at least top 5 for all except English advanced):

- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Maths Extension 1
- Engineering Studies
- Physics
- Chemistry (Likely to drop)
- Music 2

For people who are doing or have done ext 2 maths for the HSC alongside other "harder" subjects, did you take tutoring and if not how did you manage?

P.S. I'm looking to do some kind of engineering degree in uni (preferably USYD or UNSW) which I've heard ext 2 is not a required subject but is helpful.

Please help me

I personally didn't go tutoring for maths for my HSC and I think I did okay for it.
Hypothetically speaking if I could chose again I would have gone tutoring and could have benefited with better guidance (not necessarily just for higher marks but more so for being challenged and motivated in a better way).

But anyways in your case I think you'll be fine without tutoring as long as:
1. You plan your time accordingly and commit to it throughout the HSC journey - It would be time consuming but plan your efforts efficiently and commit to it consistently would help.
2. Build your foundations (get low hanging fruits) really well which include both:
- a) be really familiar with standard/typical questions of each topic and avoid marks lost in easy-medium questions ( bear in mind a 2 mark in Q11 is not worth anything less than a 2 mark in Q16 ! )
- b) avoid 'silly mistakes' and 'no/bad working out' issues where applicable to you - for different people it could mean different things as there may be gaps built up from all the way back from year 7 but those would not be too intellectually challenging to fix. Those are more so a habit/mentality/awareness thing.
3. Try to learn ahead and in more depth by self study and don't be complacent with your school rank/marks. Your school schedule may be slower compared to the other schools (which would leave you with less time to prepare for HSC practices) and potentially the questions could be less challenging than the actual HSC so you could gain exposure to harder questions as eventually that is what you need to solve in the HSC exam.

And in terms of subject choice in your scenario I would highly recommend to do extension 2 because:
1. It would be highly relevant for your engineering degree at uni ( I could be biased but 4u HSC maths could be relevant/helpful than HSC level physics or engineering studies)
2. It would be beneficial in terms of your ATAR as well based on what you described. e.g. being in 50th percentile in maths extension 2(HSC mark 86, scaled mark 91.6) would give you a higher scaled mark than 99th percentile in engineering studies(HSC mark 96 but scaled mark 91.0)

https://www.uac.edu.au/assets/documents/scaling-reports/preliminary-report-on-the-scaling-of-the-hsc.pdf

 

[Yananisback69]

you dont need it, out of everyone in my 4u class, some kids dont go to tutoring and they are performing alright highest one that doesnt go tutoring is ranked 6th out of 19

 

[carrotsss]

i never did tutoring and I did fine in 4u, as long as ur willing to put in the work to self study you’ll be fine

 

[idkkdi]

i never did tutoring and I did fine in 4u, as long as ur willing to put in the work to self study you’ll be fine

same

 

[coolcat6778]

I'm in year 11 right now, starting year 12 next term. I'm really stuck on whether or not I should do extension 2 maths, and the application deadline is next Friday. So far in extension 1, I've done well, ranking 2/43 with the help of an external tutoring firm. However, because of financial restraints, if I pick up ext 2 maths I will not be able to take up any more tutoring. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to handle the workload from the combination of subjects I'm planning to do next year (currently ranked at least top 5 for all except English advanced):

- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Maths Extension 1
- Engineering Studies
- Physics
- Chemistry (Likely to drop)
- Music 2

For people who are doing or have done ext 2 maths for the HSC alongside other "harder" subjects, did you take tutoring and if not how did you manage?

P.S. I'm looking to do some kind of engineering degree in uni (preferably USYD or UNSW) which I've heard ext 2 is not a required subject but is helpful.

Please help me

No fucking shit it is. All you fucking need is a textbook and listening to class teacher. Why waste time, even if money is not a problem?

 

[KanyeWestLover1247]

No fucking shit it is. All you fucking need is a textbook and listening to class teacher. Why waste time, even if money is not a problem?

My bad

 

[PhoenixG1rl]

I'm in year 11 right now, starting year 12 next term. I'm really stuck on whether or not I should do extension 2 maths, and the application deadline is next Friday. So far in extension 1, I've done well, ranking 2/43 with the help of an external tutoring firm. However, because of financial restraints, if I pick up ext 2 maths I will not be able to take up any more tutoring. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to handle the workload from the combination of subjects I'm planning to do next year (currently ranked at least top 5 for all except English advanced):

- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Maths Extension 1
- Engineering Studies
- Physics
- Chemistry (Likely to drop)
- Music 2

Please help me

You have almost the same subject content as me except swap engineering and physics for geography and biology because I want to do environmental science. My school only offered music 1, so I'm doing that instead of music 2. I'm doing extension 2 next term at least to see how it goes, and I'll decide later if I want to drop it or not. I don't know if your teacher would offer help outside of class, but I'm sure if you asked, they'd be happy to set up lunch sessions if you need more time to go over the content.

IDK about you, my main worry about ext 2 maths for me is that I definitely will not be able to keep all 14 units, and I have no idea which subject I want to drop cause I'm doing well in all of them. (I guess I'll see what happens when exam results come out though...)

 

[iloveeggs]

I'm sure if you asked, they'd be happy to set up lunch sessions if you need more time to go over the content.

i hope this doesnt come off rude but wow im just shocked you think this is standard practice. this sort of thing flies with a few teachers in my school but i have known a lot of teachers who will complain about you taking up their time outside of class time and that if you took up and extension subject you should be able to cope on your own without "hand-holding".

maybe its just a selective schools thing idk

 

[PhoenixG1rl]

i hope this doesnt come off rude but wow im just shocked you think this is standard practice. this sort of thing flies with a few teachers in my school but i have known a lot of teachers who will complain about you taking up their time outside of class time and that if you took up and extension subject you should be able to cope on your own without "hand-holding".

maybe its just a selective schools thing idk

I guess I'm pretty lucky to have such nice teachers, I know its not necessarily normal for most, but I figure what's the harm in asking

 

[iloveeggs]

I know its not necessarily normal for most, but I figure what's the harm in asking

yeah def, sorry i was just taken aback a little. my school set up a whole peer tutoring system between younger grades and older grades so older students could tutor younger students. apparently it serves to build up the leadership experience of students but i personally think its to take the workload off teachers who are already stressed out with marking and whatnot.

i think maybe that is just for y7-11, hopefully teachers will be able to pay us more attention in y12

 

[katiekms]

i hope this doesnt come off rude but wow im just shocked you think this is standard practice. this sort of thing flies with a few teachers in my school but i have known a lot of teachers who will complain about you taking up their time outside of class time and that if you took up and extension subject you should be able to cope on your own without "hand-holding".

maybe its just a selective schools thing idk

tbh i think you just have mean teachers. i go to a really bad school and there are plenty of teachers who would be willing to help like that.

 

[iloveeggs]

tbh i think you just have mean teachers. i go to a really bad school and there are plenty of teachers who would be willing to help like that.

yeah they might be mean or just overworked i reckon. a lot of them are hsc markers as well

 

[KanyeWestLover1247]

You have almost the same subject content as me except swap engineering and physics for geography and biology because I want to do environmental science. My school only offered music 1, so I'm doing that instead of music 2. I'm doing extension 2 next term at least to see how it goes, and I'll decide later if I want to drop it or not. I don't know if your teacher would offer help outside of class, but I'm sure if you asked, they'd be happy to set up lunch sessions if you need more time to go over the content.

IDK about you, my main worry about ext 2 maths for me is that I definitely will not be able to keep all 14 units, and I have no idea which subject I want to drop cause I'm doing well in all of them. (I guess I'll see what happens when exam results come out though...)

Yeah after reading through some replies I've decided to just do ext 2, see how it goes and then decide whether to keep it or not. But yeah, just like you, I'm conflicted about what I should drop. I'm thinking of dropping either music 2 or chemistry, but I guess I'll just see what my prelim results are like first

 

[ilovecutecats]

That's what teachers are for. Also with the internet there is so many resources