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Should I take Further Maths?

I am a few weeks into my A-levels which are AS Further Maths, Philosophy, Economics and History, but I am finding History really boring and I want to drop it. I am considering PPE/philosophy/psychology at Uni and ill probably try for oxbridge. Should I swap to further maths or bear with history then drop it after the first year, continuing with my other 3 a-levels?

I am pretty good at maths, I took the gcse early and did a one year additional maths course which I got an A in, but I'm not sure if i will be able to cope with the difficulty. How hard is further maths?

Also how hard/interesting is the statistics side of it? I would have to choose between stats, or a mix of stats and mechanics.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Charbie3
I am a few weeks into my A-levels which are AS Further Maths, Philosophy, Economics and History, but I am finding History really boring and I want to drop it. I am considering PPE/philosophy/psychology at Uni and ill probably try for oxbridge. Should I swap to further maths or bear with history then drop it after the first year, continuing with my other 3 a-levels?

I am pretty good at maths, I took the gcse early and did a one year additional maths course which I got an A in, but I'm not sure if i will be able to cope with the difficulty. How hard is further maths?

Also how hard/interesting is the statistics side of it? I would have to choose between stats, or a mix of stats and mechanics.



Can't really answer your first question wrt PPE etc.

If you took add maths then I think you'd be pretty good at it. How are you finding maths at the moment?

For Edexcel at least, the stats side isn't exactly riveting but is easy enough once you get the hang of it. (This is coming from someone who did S1-S4, M1 and D1) if it's self taught you can pick whatever units you want to study provided they follow regulations. If you wanted you could completely avoid mechanics though, but that would involve doing at least D1 which is not too bad.

Further Maths is not particularly difficult if you're keen, most of the time it's just more maths rather than more demanding maths, if you see what I mean.
If you're thinking of doing maths or engineering or economics at university then yes
Reply 3
Avatar for Himtiaz
Himtiaz
12
Original post by SeanFM
Can't really answer your first question wrt PPE etc.

If you took add maths then I think you'd be pretty good at it. How are you finding maths at the moment?

For Edexcel at least, the stats side isn't exactly riveting but is easy enough once you get the hang of it. (This is coming from someone who did S1-S4, M1 and D1) if it's self taught you can pick whatever units you want to study provided they follow regulations. If you wanted you could completely avoid mechanics though, but that would involve doing at least D1 which is not too bad.

Further Maths is not particularly difficult if you're keen, most of the time it's just more maths rather than more demanding maths, if you see what I mean.


I need to choose a third module for my further maths, I'm already doing M1 and S1. Do you think i should do D1 or S2?
Reply 4
Avatar for NoahMal
NoahMal
17
Most uni courses will look highly on Furthermaths AS alone. The AS is easy compared to the A2 fp2 is a nightmare so do it if you enjoy maths.
Original post by Himtiaz
I need to choose a third module for my further maths, I'm already doing M1 and S1. Do you think i should do D1 or S2?


S2, S2 is bae.
Reply 6
Avatar for Himtiaz
Himtiaz
12
Original post by MathsAndChess
S2, S2 is bae.


Wouldn't D1 be easier since it is an AS module?
Reply 7
Avatar for Aph
Aph
22
Original post by Himtiaz
Wouldn't D1 be easier since it is an AS module?

Honestly D1 basically isn't maths, it's like pure logic and a lot of the best mathematicians at A-level get thrown by D1 and completely bomb it. However with S2 it is so much nicer and easier than S1 you'll love it.
Original post by Himtiaz
Wouldn't D1 be easier since it is an AS module?


I second Aph's response. Having learnt both S2 is miles more enjoyable and probably easier to do well in.
Original post by Himtiaz
Wouldn't D1 be easier since it is an AS module?


No.
yes
Yes, do it, S1 S2 and M1 should be more than sufficient
Yeah
It's honestly one of the easiest things to revise for because all you do is crank out questions.
AS Fmaths is incredibly easy. FP1 is much easier than core pure modules, as it's all completely new content so they start off at basics. FP2 is an incredible step up from what I remember. FP3 was very easy though. AS Fmaths would be like a free AS level. Take the full A level if you want/ need to, but it will be a lot more work than the AS. But you did additional so you'll be fine. As the above posters said, just crank out the questions and you can pass any A level maths exam.
Original post by Himtiaz
I need to choose a third module for my further maths, I'm already doing M1 and S1. Do you think i should do D1 or S2?


Difficulty is quite similar (i.e not very high), D1 just takes 'care' and 'time'. If you want a solid grade.. I guess S2 it is.
Original post by Aph
Honestly D1 basically isn't maths, it's like pure logic and a lot of the best mathematicians at A-level get thrown by D1 and completely bomb it. However with S2 it is so much nicer and easier than S1 you'll love it.

I'm not saying that I'm the best mathematician but what Aph said holds some truth. D1 was my worst module (72 UMS) out of the 6 I did for AS Maths & Further Maths. How on earth did I do better in FP1 than D1?
D1 was also my worst. Statistics are relatively easy marks. Decision has so many pitfalls to lose marks. It's basically a module where they ask you to become a computer without giving you the ability of lack of human error.

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