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Take Further Maths? Confused

As the GCSE exams end I am reminded of my AS choices I had been unsure about over the past few weeks :frown:

:frown:

I originally intended to take Further Maths, Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics for AS and drop Further Maths and Maths at A2 providing me with 4 full A levels instead of 3 1/2. However my careers teacher convinced me to drop Further Maths as I am sure in my decision to take medicine at university and that taking Further Maths may hamper my other subjects seeing as it wasn't necessary.

However I am having second thoughts and wondering whether I should take it for AS levels and I am confused as to what to do because it would be nice to have that extra edge on my university application yet it may be too difficult for me :frown:

:frown:

. I am expected an A* at GCSE Maths and my exams went pretty well and I think I may come short of full marks. Opinions would be appreciated and would really help :biggrin:

:biggrin:

Scroll to see replies

OllyThePhilosopher

Your careers person probably said don't do it because you planned to drop maths and further maths after AS. If I was you, I would keep Maths and do the three sciences as well at A2. If you said this to the careers peep, they would probably be more accepting. FM isn't that much harder than Maths, but of course it is extra work. I think you could do it though.
I.E. do all five at AS and drop FM for A2.

IrrationalNumber

Some exam boards require maths A2 for FM AS.
Even if that isn't the case, would you really prefer to drop both maths and further maths at AS level instead of doing 5A2s including maths?

we were told further maths was wasting an A-Level

IrrationalNumber

we were told further maths was wasting an A-Level

Well that's not true (just look at the top universities recommended subjects if you don't believe me) but even so, getting AS FM and AS Maths is < getting A2 Maths.

OP

The thing is in my school, in the first year of FM we do the entire Maths A-level so by doing FM at AS, it would be pointless to take Maths for A2 :frown:

:frown:

. Another reason why he advised me not to do it was that I would have no free periods come Year 12 and apparently
won't be able to cope with the work as much :s-smilie:

:s-smilie:

.

I think the reluctancy comes mainly from the horror stories I've heard of straight A* GCSE boys getting BCCC at A-levels because they took FM but I am beginning to doubt these stories :rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

OiaB

we were told further maths was wasting an A-Level

If doing a maths related degree, the universities love further maths students.

streamline

The thing is in my school, in the first year of FM we do the entire Maths A-level

This is what I did. It isn't too tough don't worry.

Adampolar

If doing a maths related degree, the universities love further maths students.

i never said they were right :smile:

:smile:

edit: didn't you get owned by Alex on the medicine thread yesterday?

Jerking My Gerking

Further maths is very useful, almost essential to get a decent maths Degree. If you defo aren't going to do a degree in maths, then FM isn't that great. Having an AS in FM does show that you are a bit better at maths than other applicants that don't have FM. If you think it will compromise your other A levels, don't do it. Work out what is greater, the benefit from taking it or the benefit from having more time for your other subjects.

OiaB

i never said they were right :smile:

:smile:

Don't worry I was just being informative rather than mean! :biggrin:

:biggrin:

musically_minded

streamline

The thing is in my school, in the first year of FM we do the entire Maths A-level so by doing FM at AS, it would be pointless to take it for A2 :frown:

:frown:

. Another reason why he advised me not to do it was that I would have no free periods come Year 12 and apparently
won't be able to cope with the work as much :s-smilie:

:s-smilie:

.

If you take maths AS and A2, with FM AS, you do 9 modules. Just maths AS and A2 you do 6. You won't repeat the same modules by taking the maths up for a full A-Level with FM AS. Technically you wouldn't have done FM As until the end of year 13, you'd do As and A2 maths in year 12. You could do the full maths A-Level and drop FM for next year if you wanted, giving you a maths A-Level in one year.

OiaB

edit: didn't you get owned by Alex on the medicine thread yesterday?

possibly, I get owned alot round here.

Adampolar

possibly, I get owned alot round here.

*listens intently for the violins playing...*

its a lot btw :biggrin:

:biggrin:

just kidding :smile:

:smile:

OP

musically_minded

You could do the full maths A-Level and drop FM for next year if you wanted, giving you a maths A-Level in one year.

Exactly what I was planning to do :biggrin:

:biggrin:

Jerking My Gerking

If you defo aren't going to do a degree in maths, then FM isn't that great. Having an AS in FM does show that you are a bit better at maths than other applicants that don't have FM.

I think it would be better in the long run to take FM but I really hope I that it would be worth the effort :s-smilie:

:s-smilie:

OiaB

we were told further maths was wasting an A-Level

I really hope thats not the case :biggrin:

:biggrin:

Jerking My Gerking

Further maths is very useful, almost essential to get a decent maths Degree.

Huh? Nearly every university does not require FM to study Maths there.

Clefairy_Clefairy

That's the exact combination I took at AS and I've dropped physics now. I applied for medicine this year too and I do believe that further maths A level gave me something a bit more than a lot of other people.

I personally think it's not very committed to maths as a subject or the teachers who are teaching you if you are only doing further maths and maths at AS to get a full A level faster. How about if you only do both at AS, then drop further maths next year but carry on with the full Maths A2 so you end up with four full A levels and one AS? That is very manageable.

Although getting an A* at GCSE doesn't give a good indicator at all to how well you will cope with further maths A level, if you are prepared to work hard and put in the time to practice questions, you will be fine.

I hope that helps, and good luck with the rest of your exams :smile:

:smile:

streamline

As the GCSE exams end I am reminded of my AS choices I had been unsure about over the past few weeks :frown:

:frown:

I originally intended to take Further Maths, Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics for AS and drop Further Maths and Maths at A2 providing me with 4 full A levels instead of 3 1/2. However my careers teacher convinced me to drop Further Maths as I am sure in my decision to take medicine at university and that taking Further Maths may hamper my other subjects seeing as it wasn't necessary.

However I am having second thoughts and wondering whether I should take it for AS levels and I am confused as to what to do because it would be nice to have that extra edge on my university application yet it may be too difficult for me :frown:

:frown:

. I am expected an A* at GCSE Maths and my exams went pretty well and I think I may come short of full marks. Opinions would be appreciated and would really help :biggrin:

:biggrin:

Those are the same AS's I took :p:

:p:

well general studies on top... I dropped physics though, and applied for medicine :biggrin:

:biggrin:

Well since you do the maths a level in a year (like I did, before starting the FM A Level) you might as well see how you feel after that. There's nothing stopping you from just stopping after doing the maths a level, or after the AS FM, or you can just go the whole way :p:

:p:

Either way you should make sure you don't have too much to do, as it may affect your grades in the end!

OP

Alright, I have just typed the letter I need to give to my career teacher tommorow and hoping that I am making the right decisison :biggrin:

:biggrin:

To the people who are applying for Medicine, was it more work as in more number's of topics to cover or was it more information overload? Normally I am not so hard working as I wish I could be but for once the subjects we are studying look interesting so I am more willing to do the work. Did anyone feel the same and if so did it motivate you? :s-smilie:

:s-smilie:

musically_minded

Thinking about it, depending on the modules you do at your school, a full A-Level maths with further As isn't much more difficult than just a full A-Level maths. The modules I find hardest are the 3 I need as a result of doing full maths + full FM (FP3, S2, M2). The ones I would have had to do extra from a full maths to a FM As would be FP1, D2 and M1, which are all about as easy as the modules in the full maths.

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