Hi Jake,
I am doing Extension 1 mathematics next year, as I did really well in prelim Ext 1. The thing is, I have heard many rumours from students in the year above me that it is really hard to do Extension 1 by itself (without Ext 2). However they say, it's really easy for people doing Extension 2. I just wanted to know what your take on that is (how true is the statement?) and whether extension 1 is really worth doing as it only counts for a single unit in my case.
Thanks heaps,
Samuel
Hey Samuel!
I would definitely
disagree with the rumours that you've heard. I'll admit that there are (some) special circumstances in which doing Ext 2 is beneficial for your study of Ext 1 (mainly, just that extra time spent thinking about Maths), however in general I think you can do just as well, and understand just as much, as any student doing Ext 2. MAYBE Ext 1 seems easy to an Ext 2 student, but that's just because they're often very, very good at maths (and thus doing Ext 2; if they were doing only Ext 1, they would still find it just as easy!).
A better question is asking whether Ext 1 is worth it, since it's only worth one unit. I would still say that it does. The content is definitely less than 2U, which makes sense since you have less class time dedicated to it. You'll do better in 2U if you're studying Ext 1 (lots of techniques translate, and you just spend more time doing maths and thinking about the beauty of numbers), and if you find yourself struggling at any point you can drop the subject. My overall recommendation is that, seeing as you did well in prelim, you should continue your study and decide further down the track (and use this forum if you have any questions!)
Let me know if you have any other specific questions; you've raised some really good points that a lot of students worry about, so I'm glad you asked it here!
Jake