Exams (2 Viewers)

[Saint Dev]

What is this thread? I hope no one is suggesting that using MiF somehow limits your potential. If you only do past papers, you're screwed. If you only just do Cambridge text book questions, dare I say it, you are also screwed. Obviously you don't just use one resource for all the questions pertaining to your study, you use a combination.

 

[thetestdude]

Math in Focus for extension 2 actually was half decent in preparation for my complex numbers exam, dunno about the rest of the book but it’s been quite good for the basics so far

That’s good to hear. Good luck!

 

[jimmysmith560]

They would have used other books obviously since using Maths in Focus as your only source of questions would probably guarantee a Band 4 at best

Good point. I haven’t used Maths in Focus personally but I haven’t heard great things about it either.

Hey. I did extension 1 in year 11 and only kept advanced in year 12. For the record I’m not particularly good at maths and it was actually my worst subject. But I used Maths in Focus for both prelims and HSC. I ended up getting a band 5 using only this textbook and past papers. Thought I’d share my own experience.

 

[Etho_x]

Hey. I did extension 1 in year 11 and only kept advanced in year 12. For the record I’m not particularly good at maths and it was actually my worst subject. But I used Maths in Focus for both prelims and HSC. I ended up getting a band 5 using only this textbook and past papers. Thought I’d share my own experience.

In your opinion how much did the past papers help in comparison to textbook?

 

[jimmysmith560]

In your opinion how much did the past papers help in comparison to textbook?

Tbh both were useful in their own way. The textbook helped me with revising the concepts themselves while the past papers allowed me to be exposed to various questions where I could apply these concepts.

 

[Etho_x]

Tbh both were useful in their own way. The textbook helped me with revising the concepts themselves while the past papers allowed me to be exposed to various questions where I could apply these concepts.

Then I guess it’s personal experience but overall if you were to use MiF only with no past papers do you think you would have reached a Band 5 or nah

 

[jimmysmith560]

Then I guess it’s personal experience but overall if you were to use MiF only with no past papers do you think you would have reached a Band 5 or nah

Probably not, because in that case I wouldn’t have the ability to apply what I’ve learned to actual HSC exam questions, not to mention my somewhat modest capabilities.

 

[black.mamba]

personally, i think cambridge + new senior mathematics is a good combo for 3u/4u (and ofc past papers close to exam time)

 

[singingbluebell]

Challenge questions are still quite foundational imo but ye I guess they’re better than the main questions

I did accelerated Maths (Adv + Ext 1) and used Maths in Focus as my main textbook throughout year 11 + 12, alongside tonnes of practice papers prior to each exam. I owned the cambridge books but rarely did questions from them - some of the extremely hard q's were irrelevant for the exam standard. I came equal first in state in Maths Adv and found Maths in Focus really good in terms of understanding the foundations of maths, which IMO was most helpful in Maths Adv because i could apply this understanding to slightly out of the box q's. So whilst for maths prep past papers was the most helpful, I wouldn't completely disregard maths in focus because personally I found it covered all my bases of understanding (instead of just skipping to hard cambridge q's) and I relied on it a lot and it seemed to work out well.

though disclaimer - I did accelerated maths in 2019 so this was old syllabus - i can't comment on the quality of the new syllabus q's. Also depends on what level of maths you're talking about - Maths in Focus was quite good for adv, ok for Ext 1 and I can't comment re. Ext 2.

 

[Etho_x]

I did accelerated Maths (Adv + Ext 1) and used Maths in Focus as my main textbook throughout year 11 + 12, alongside tonnes of practice papers prior to each exam. I owned the cambridge books but rarely did questions from them - some of the extremely hard q's were irrelevant for the exam standard. I came equal first in state in Maths Adv and found Maths in Focus really good in terms of understanding the foundations of maths, which IMO was most helpful in Maths Adv because i could apply this understanding to slightly out of the box q's. So whilst for maths prep past papers was the most helpful, I wouldn't completely disregard maths in focus because personally I found it covered all my bases of understanding (instead of just skipping to hard cambridge q's) and I relied on it a lot and it seemed to work out well.

though disclaimer - I did accelerated maths in 2019 so this was old syllabus - i can't comment on the quality of the new syllabus q's. Also depends on what level of maths you're talking about - Maths in Focus was quite good for adv, ok for Ext 1 and I can't comment re. Ext 2.

Firstly congrats very good achievement with your state rank.

Secondly, with what I said about Math in Focus comes from that of personal experience and the experience of others I know who use them. As I've already mentioned I understand that Math in Focus is the foundations when it comes to questions and for that reason I wouldn't fully disregard it. However, my original point was that if you already understand the foundations, Maths in Focus won't really serve much more of a purpose than reinforcing the same basic question over and over again, and the challenge questions aren't too much more difficult than the main part of the book (again personal experience).

 

[Diya Jain]

New Senior maths is good and has a pretty substantial question range however I’d try to use Cambridge as well or any other resources you can find off the internet on websites such as this (BOS) or perhaps even old past papers with questions applicable to new syllabus etc which can be found on THSC. Maths in Focus as a textbook is a big no no unless you need help to consolidate your basic understanding of a topic, otherwise avoid MiF at all costs as the questions are rather basic
Eng there isn’t really much out for and idk about the others you mentioned

Thank you

 

[Jojofelyx]

What is this thread? I hope no one is suggesting that using MiF somehow limits your potential. If you only do past papers, you're screwed. If you only just do Cambridge text book questions, dare I say it, you are also screwed. Obviously you don't just use one resource for all the questions pertaining to your study, you use a combination.

dare I say it, but you are a very daring man