Should I risk taking Amath?

• sjk724

  23 Oct 11, 16:04

  My sch's Amaths and pure sci is always together for the good classes. No Amath/Pure sci = art/d&t/f&n+poa (exclude compulsory subjs)

  Ive got a high B4 for my overall for maths, should i risk choosing the subj combos that have Amath? Im quite bad at algebra so thats why it pulled me down and i heard Sec3 maths have alot of algebra but i can put in more effort to improve on it. I really like maths just that I suck at algebra..

  So.. what is the minimum marks required to be put into an Amath class?

  Cuz there's tons of people fighting for the good classes, even those who fare badly for Maths like me, im afraid i cant get into the combo I want.

• MyPillowTalks

  23 Oct 11, 19:15

  Hello there

  I was in the exact same situation as you 5 years ago, i was in the worst sec 2 express class, and yes, my school also puts A maths and the pure sciences together.
  I was also not allowed to take A maths and other maths subjects like POA because i failed my Secondary 2 Maths overall, and i took F&N for one of my O level subjects, and i only took 6 subjects for my Os.

  As far as i know, minimum requirement to be placed into an A maths class differs from school to school, some school requires all their students to have A maths. some will put you in A maths when u achieve a certain grade for E maths.

  So now the problem is you will be taking either:

  1. Compulsory subjects + Pure Physics/ Pure chemistry / Biology right?

  2. Compulsory subjects + Combine Sci + D&T/F&N + POA
  
  Frankly speaking, to me, i think B4 for Maths is good enough to pass A maths.
  I took Engineering Maths in poly(which is sth like A maths) with my C5 O level maths, and didn't find a lot of problems.
  I am also very weak in algebra, i can't solve a quadratic equation now(unless you let me practice it before exam).

  Yes, to be able to do well in A maths, you should need good maths foundation like algebra, algebra combined with fractions, and you need to know exactly what to do when you see the equation, like you can take out the common factor, simplify them, factorise, lowest denominator, then take the value and sub into the other equation, cross multiply. All this will come to you with practice

  I am worried about The Pure Chemistry and Pure physics/ Biology. My impression of those subjects are still very difficult.

  Whether you are going to JC or Poly also factors in your decision.
  Combination 2 will be good enough for you to Enter Poly(even for engineering course).
  If you are aiming for JC, fight for Combination 1 with A maths, you will need them.
  Having Combination 1 and entering poly is like a bonus, so you don't need to work so hard in poly.

  I can't really give you a straight answer whether you should risk taking A maths, however I believe with a B4 and adequate practice, you will be able to do well in A maths if you practice, yes take out a pen and just start doing.

  Also don't be sad if the school didn't give you your choice, they are just subject combinations, if you don't have a chance to learn them now, you will get to learn them in the future.
  I didn't get the chance to do A maths and pure physics in sec school, but in poly i picked up some university maths part time, a subject same as A level physics.

  All the best

• syncopation_music

  23 Oct 11, 21:10

  Originally posted by sjk724:

  My sch's Amaths and pure sci is always together for the good classes. No Amath/Pure sci = art/d&t/f&n+poa (exclude compulsory subjs)

  Ive got a high B4 for my overall for maths, should i risk choosing the subj combos that have Amath? Im quite bad at algebra so thats why it pulled me down and i heard Sec3 maths have alot of algebra but i can put in more effort to improve on it. I really like maths just that I suck at algebra..

  So.. what is the minimum marks required to be put into an Amath class?

  Cuz there's tons of people fighting for the good classes, even those who fare badly for Maths like me, im afraid i cant get into the combo I want.

  Dear sjk724 ,just take when u given the chance,jc need college maths(H2 maths) and Amaths is the foundation .

• E7E72

  23 Oct 11, 21:45

  Definitely take A math. I failed math and a math from sec 1-3 but managed to pull both to A1's by O-level time last year. Better take so that you can make it to JC H2 Math. It's easy once you start putting in effort.

• ascklee

  27 Oct 11, 11:25

  I agree with E7E72.  You should take amaths  as it serves as a foundation for H2 Maths in JC, and H2 is necessary in many courses at the university level.

  I've started a website on additional mathematics at http://ascklee.org/.  You might find the materials there useful.  A student is helping me port it over to OpenlySolved.org (bit-by-bit) by 2012, but currently, the materials can be downloaded from http://ascklee.org/.

   

  Sincerely,

  CKLee
  http://ascklee.org/

   

• frenzywho

  27 Oct 11, 11:43

  You should take A Maths!

  I wasn't very good at maths in Sec 2 and I got 65 and thankfully, my appeal got through to take A Maths lol. In sec 3, I did significantly better for my a maths than e maths (I actually failed my E Maths and A2 for A Maths). I think with A Maths, it's all about the practise. If you do enough, every question will just look the same. 

  I really love A maths and I feel that it's more systematic to answer and like others have pointed out, it's important for the future at JC.

• hewhoshallnotbenamed

  28 Oct 11, 19:54

  u must be prepared to put in the time and effort into the subject. i wasnt, and i dropped at the end of sec 3.

  then again, i mainly dropped because of compulsary extra classes in the weekends and i hated my teacher :P

• Hitman Factory 1

  28 Oct 11, 19:58

  when i started amaths class,my vision had gone bad,and i couldnt see those writings n numbers on the blackboard.wasted my time n effort.