Maths at A-level

I'm kind of torn between dropping chemistry or further maths next year. I want to do mech-eng at uni and my brother said I'd be stupid to drop further maths as not only would it help me massively for the mech-eng course than uni's would look down at me and ask why I dropped it. :( I'm just too damn lazy really. I should be doing homework now instead of helping out the younger generation. :p
 
Macky said:
I'm doing both Maths & Further maths. Normal maths seems a doddle compared to f.maths. The good thing is that both subjects back each other up immensely (as well as physics which I also took). If you listen in lesson in maths it's pretty easy. Core 1 is really easy it's just recapping stuff from GCSE with a bit of new stuff like differentiation and integration. Both really easy on C1 though. Core 2 is pretty easy so far too. I did my M1 (mechanics 1) exam in January and it is a step up from normal maths yes and it's a bit abstract but if you revise key stuff you should be ok. I think you can do M1 with just normal maths in the 2nd year but with further maths you do it in first year. It also helps physics a LOT.

If you're not interested in further maths then I'll stop talking about it. In summary, if you're decent at GCSE you should do fine. I am doing fine I think. Although further maths certainly requires a lot more effort from me to do well. I only got A in maths at GCSE wanted an A* but what can you do. People in my AS maths class now who got am A* at GCSE actually find it a lot harder than me. Probably because I took f.maths too. Oh yeah that's another thing. The pace of f.maths is much quicker because the teacher expects that you're great at maths. Annoyingly pretty much everyone in my f.maths class is a genius so I can feel kinda dumb sometimes.

/Do maths. Good A level.
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So what if my school doesn't do further maths? Can I do it at college?
 
Uhh I went from my secondary school to a 6th form college. My school stops at year 11. So I don't know. Ask the college?
 
I'm still at 6th form. My 1st year. Sorry if nobody made it clear, Furher Maths is an A level option. Same as maths. Both are modular. And both have the AS and A level. They both have modules. Standard maths in the 1st year is: core 1, core 2, decision 1. I think haha not even sure. And further maths in the first year is, further pure 1, mechanics 1, and we're doing decision 2. This won't mean much to you I imagine. But the names pretty much sum up what they contain.
 
Yes, further maths is a subject on it's own, like any other, just that it has regular maths as a prerequisite. I'm currently taking both maths and further maths, and coasted through GCSE with no revision (and most of AS, for that matter). Further maths helps regular maths immensely, because a lot of the concepts in AS further maths require things only introduced in A2 regular maths, so by the time you meet it in maths, you'll have covered it and gone well above in further. I'd say if you *are* capable of doing further maths, then taking both is more like an A-level and a half, rather than two full ones. I'm fairly sure, when I get the results from my resit back in Decision 2 (don't know how I managed to do so poorly the first time round, it's ridiculously easy), that I'll be on track for an A* in further maths.

Also I seem to have the opposite opinion to most people, I find mechanics ridiculously easy because it just expands on physics a bit, pure to be my favourite, but middle grounded in difficulty, and statistics to be hardest because it just doesn't interest me.
 
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Macky said:
I'm still at 6th form. My 1st year. Sorry if nobody made it clear, Furher Maths is an A level option. Same as maths. Both are modular. And both have the AS and A level. They both have modules. Standard maths in the 1st year is: core 1, core 2, decision 1. I think haha not even sure. And further maths in the first year is, further pure 1, mechanics 1, and we're doing decision 2. This won't mean much to you I imagine. But the names pretty much sum up what they contain.
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So I'd have to take 2 Maths subjects? Gah that's going to kill me :p
 
Deehjay said:
Anyone fancy telling me what further maths is? :P, I don't know much about 'further education'!
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A Level Maths... but more of it. I've actually heard people who took it say that it's easier than ordinary Maths.

I did take AS Maths, did Core 1, Decision 1 and a bit of Core 2 before i dropped it. Compared to every other subject the difference in difficulty between GCSE and AS is massive. But i just wasn't getting it, it seems you're taught how to do it, but not why it works (or for that matter what it's for). And because of that i didn't understand how to do it. That and we had to go through the course so quickly that i just didn't have time to absorb anything. Even in the lessons i'd be on one thing when the teacher had moved on like ten minutes ago.

Depends how your brain works i guess.
 
I suppose if I failed in Maths or got declined for Comp Sci & Maths I could just go for regular Comp Sci, I definitely want to do either of those.
 
Btw I think I understand now about the further maths thing, would you take further maths for AS then drop it for maths at A-level?
 
Deehjay said:
I suppose if I failed in Maths or got declined for Comp Sci & Maths I could just go for regular Comp Sci, I definitely want to do either of those.
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You say this, but i wanted to go into IT when i was in Year 10 too. You may well find yourself changing your mind by the time you actually have to make the choices. I certainly did :)
 
Deehjay said:
Btw I think I understand now about the further maths thing, would you take further maths for AS then drop it for maths at A-level?
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No. You do them together. You need to be doing maths to do further maths too. You can drop further maths in the 2nd year and carry on with normal maths or drop both. But not maths and keep further maths.
 
All the differential stuff that you do in AS used to be done in high school (many years ago though!) - That said, maths Alevel is not an easy one.

My advise is to do Alevel maths. It is the most useful Alevel to have - It is challenging yet Universities and employers like it because it is not a 'doss' subject and it has real world use. Of course you will never use 90% or more of 'core maths' but mechanics and statistics are very useful. Whilst a degree in maths doesn't train you as such for any particular job right out of University, it is certainly something that will get you on a good graduate scheme somewhere i.e. finance or accounting. Try Physics Alevel too - Who knows, you may up doing an engineering course (to which there are plenty of graduate jobs out there). I realise you want to do computer science but you are only 15 and in the 2-3 years you have to choose a course you should do as much as you can to keep your options open. If you want to do computer science and your heart is set on it, then go for it. I would ask you at least give engineering a look in - There are many variations of this field and the graduate pay is good (£23-30k).

Source to above claim on jobs: http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/dyson-uk-must-start-producing-more-engineers-949239
 
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Macky said:
No. You do them together. You need to be doing maths to do further maths too. You can drop further maths in the 2nd year and carry on with normal maths or drop both. But not maths and keep further maths.
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Ah, ok. Thanks man.
 
Also, another question that's itching at me, what's the different between an 'MSci' course and a 'BSc' course? All I know is that MSci requires higher grades
 
Deehjay said:
Also, another question that's itching at me, what's the different between an 'MSci' course and a 'BSc' course? All I know is that MSci requires higher grades
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M is for masters = 4 year degree. Grades needed may be ABB.
B is Bachelors = 3 year degree. Grades needed may be BBC.

Go for the Bachelors is you can switch between the two when on the course. Do well on the Bachelors and you can upgrade. Do badly on the Masters and you're forced to downgrade.
This was the case for Loughborough in Engineering and the same for Engineering at Brum that a friend goes to.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
M is for masters = 4 year degree. Grades needed may be ABB.
B is Bachelors = 3 year degree. Grades needed may be BBC.

Go for the Bachelors is you can switch between the two when on the course. Do well on the Bachelors and you can upgrade. Do badly on the Masters and you're forced to downgrade.
This was the case for Loughborough in Engineering and the same for Engineering at Brum that a friend goes to.
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Right, cheers. So is the 4 year one where you get an opportunity to work for a year?
Also, the grades needed for Comp Sci and maths are as followed for the following Uni's -

Loughborough - ABB-AAB
Birmingham - AAB
Nottingham - AAA
Leicester - ABB
Nottingham looks a little too ambitious, but we'll see in the future :)
(All BSc btw)
 
You're definitely doing this wrong, because you aren't considering going to Bristol.

Basically if you don't go to Bristol, you've lost :p
 
Deehjay said:
Right, cheers. So is the 4 year one where you get an opportunity to work for a year?
Also, the grades needed for Comp Sci and maths are as followed for the following Uni's -

Loughborough - ABB-AAB
Birmingham - AAB
Nottingham - AAA
Leicester - ABB
Nottingham looks a little too ambitious, but we'll see in the future :)
(All BSc btw)
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I am at Loughborough - If you do go there message me and I will tell you which halls are poo and which aren't :p.

With the placement, that is extra. You do the following:
Bachelor Sci -3 years
Bachelor Sci with placement - 4 years
Masters Sci - 4 years
Masters Sci with placement - 4 years

I highly recommend a year in industry, but this is not a choice you need to make now, or even at the end of your first year of University.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
I am at Loughborough - If you do go there message me and I will tell you which halls are poo and which aren't :p.

With the placement, that is extra. You do the following:
Bachelor Sci -3 years
Bachelor Sci with placement - 4 years
Masters Sci - 4 years
Masters Sci with placement - 4 years

I highly recommend a year in industry, but this is not a choice you need to make now, or even at the end of your first year of University.
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So what if the Uni's don't offer a years placement? What would I then have to do?
 
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