My school did not let me do methods 3/4 next year....HELP

[Save_me]

Hello everyone,
I just had course counselling today and my school has something called math recommendations and they won't put me into a unit 3/4 methods class even tho they know it is a prerequisite for my course. I really don't know what to do next, apparently a lot of people at my school did not get into methods 3/4 either. I have to do methods, but my school has said no at course counselling they just won't let me. What can I do now? I have emailed my teacher and coordinator, but they did not reply yet. PLEASE HELP ME........

[keltingmeith]

Hello everyone,
I just had course counselling today and my school has something called math recommendations and they won't put me into a unit 3/4 methods class even tho they know it is a prerequisite for my course. I really don't know what to do next, apparently a lot of people at my school did not get into methods 3/4 either. I have to do methods, but my school has said no at course counselling they just won't let me. What can I do now? I have emailed my teacher and coordinator, but they did not reply yet. PLEASE HELP ME........

Tbh, there's not really anything you can do other than take it up the chain. Go to the year 12 methods teacher. The VCE coordinator. The principal. If they won't let you do methods though, and they sit on that hard, then they won't let you. AFAIK, there is no precedent for VCAA stepping in to force a school to let you take a subject.

Consider alternatives - is there another course you can do? Would you be okay getting to that course by an alternate pathway? Can you do methods via distance? Maybe the course exists at another university and doesn't require methods?

Out of curiousity, what course is it that you want to do?

[Save_me]

Tbh, there's not really anything you can do other than take it up the chain. Go to the year 12 methods teacher. The VCE coordinator. The principal. If they won't let you do methods though, and they sit on that hard, then they won't let you. AFAIK, there is no precedent for VCAA stepping in to force a school to let you take a subject.

Consider alternatives - is there another course you can do? Would you be okay getting to that course by an alternate pathway? Can you do methods via distance? Maybe the course exists at another university and doesn't require methods?

Out of curiousity, what course is it that you want to do?

I want to do engineering/commerce/pharmacy.....all my courses needs methods. Idk what to do, they let me into further, but not methods.

[keltingmeith]

You are going to be fine, man

The following places will let you do engineering without methods:
RMIT (still requires you do Further)

Otherwise, you can enter a science degree at any university (UniMelb is excepted, because it requires methods), take the relevant maths unit, and then transfer into an engineering degree.

The following places will let you do commerce without maths at all:
La Trobe
Deakin

RMIT also has plenty of business degrees that are essentially the same thing, they just split them up by specialisation (so instead of studying all of commerce, you'll just study finance, or economics, or econometrics, or accounting, etc.)

Alternatively, you can do a Bachelor of Commerce at Monash by taking the Bachelor of Business offered at the Caulfield campus, doing the Clayton maths units to cover your maths pre-requisite (yes, you can do this), and then do a Bachelor of Commerce in your next year.

The following places offer pharmacy without methods:
RMIT (still requires further)

But also, the only other place in the state that offers it is Monash. However, you CAN do a bachelor of science and, if you take the right subjects (contact Monash for more information), transfer into the second year of a Bachelor of Pharmacy even though you didn't do the first year of it.

Also, this is me only considering 5 universities - RMIT, La Trobe, Deakin, Melbourne, and Monash. If you also consider VU, MIT, ACU, FU, etc., there are many more courses that may suit your needs. And, if you're willing to go overseas, the number increases AGAIN.

You can still do the courses you want, even without methods. And if there's a particular university you're set on that you HAVE to go to, you can always take an alternate pathway.

[Save_me]

You are going to be fine, man

The following places will let you do engineering without methods:
RMIT (still requires you do Further)

Otherwise, you can enter a science degree at any university (UniMelb is excepted, because it requires methods), take the relevant maths unit, and then transfer into an engineering degree.

The following places will let you do commerce without maths at all:
La Trobe
Deakin

RMIT also has plenty of business degrees that are essentially the same thing, they just split them up by specialisation (so instead of studying all of commerce, you'll just study finance, or economics, or econometrics, or accounting, etc.)

Alternatively, you can do a Bachelor of Commerce at Monash by taking the Bachelor of Business offered at the Caulfield campus, doing the Clayton maths units to cover your maths pre-requisite (yes, you can do this), and then do a Bachelor of Commerce in your next year.

The following places offer pharmacy without methods:
RMIT (still requires further)

But also, the only other place in the state that offers it is Monash. However, you CAN do a bachelor of science and, if you take the right subjects (contact Monash for more information), transfer into the second year of a Bachelor of Pharmacy even though you didn't do the first year of it.

Also, this is me only considering 5 universities - RMIT, La Trobe, Deakin, Melbourne, and Monash. If you also consider VU, MIT, ACU, FU, etc., there are many more courses that may suit your needs. And, if you're willing to go overseas, the number increases AGAIN.

You can still do the courses you want, even without methods. And if there's a particular university you're set on that you HAVE to go to, you can always take an alternate pathway.

No man, I won't be fine and I won't go to any other university then my preferred university. Methods should be the bare minimum I need for all my courses. If I only do further, my cousin told me I will struggle if not fail.

[keltingmeith]

No man, I won't be fine and I won't go to any other university then my preferred university. Methods should be the bare minimum I need for all my courses. If I only do further, my cousin told me I will struggle if not fail.

K, be a spoiled brat about it then? Your only other options are to do methods through distance, or go to another school. But also, if your cousin thinks you'll fail further, what makes you think you'll get the study score you need in methods? I don't like to compare the two because IMHO by and large it's not that methods is harder it's just that the maths is different and people generally do better with Further because the material is less abstract.

Having said that, if you don't have the comprehension ability to walk into Further and still do well enough to pass, then you don't have the ability to do methods and pass that - let ALONE get a study score of at least 25.

[K888]

No man, I won't be fine and I won't go to any other university then my preferred university. Methods should be the bare minimum I need for all my courses. If I only do further, my cousin told me I will struggle if not fail.

What's your/their reasoning behind this?
There's always the chance if you study methods that you won't meet the pre-requisite raw score needed anyway - just studying methods won't guarantee you your spot at uni.

Meithy has provided you with a wealth of workarounds to the possibility of you not being able to study methods and still let you end up following your desired pathway. The reality is that people often end up changing their mind about what they want to study at uni anyway, so I wouldn't be too stressed about it too much. Plus, if you have to follow an alternate pathway, it will usually add only a few years to your study - the workforce isn't going anywhere soon, it'll always be available to you whether that's in 4 years or 7 years.

For what it's worth, personally I have massive regrets about studying Methods and I know I should have done Further instead. I got a raw score in the 20s and that hasn't stopped me from doing well in my course at uni!

[angrybiscuit]

Adding on to what others have said, there's probably a good reason why the school is not letting you do methods. In my school, students are free to choose whatever maths they want, but they are of course recommended the maths they believe they will excel in/are capable of. Students who went against this advice and did methods because they believe they know better generally are not doing well. You DO NOT want to be in a position mid-year where you want to drop the subject, but can't. Again, if you really do want to do methods, distance ed is an option or (though not recommended) change schools but bear in mind the advice of your teachers.

[Save_me]

K, be a spoiled brat about it then? Your only other options are to do methods through distance, or go to another school. But also, if your cousin thinks you'll fail further, what makes you think you'll get the study score you need in methods? I don't like to compare the two because IMHO by and large it's not that methods is harder it's just that the maths is different and people generally do better with Further because the material is less abstract.

Having said that, if you don't have the comprehension ability to walk into Further and still do well enough to pass, then you don't have the ability to do methods and pass that - let ALONE get a study score of at least 25.

No, I mean those who don't do methods will struggle in engineering. My goodness, I was not failing methods. I was barely passing it. I can assure you that I will ace further if I need it let alone pass/25.

[Save_me]

Adding on to what others have said, there's probably a good reason why the school is not letting you do methods. In my school, students are free to choose whatever maths they want, but they are of course recommended the maths they believe they will excel in/are capable of. Students who went against this advice and did methods because they believe they know better generally are not doing well. You DO NOT want to be in a position mid-year where you want to drop the subject, but can't. Again, if you really do want to do methods, distance ed is an option or (though not recommended) change schools but bear in mind the advice of your teachers.

My school probably will change if I keep pushing it. Thanks that is a much better suggestion 

[keltingmeith]

No, I mean those who don't do methods will struggle in engineering. My goodness, I was not failing methods. I was barely passing it.

Ah, completely different, my bad.

In that case, unless your cousin is doing an engineering course that didn't require methods, his point is moot. If his course required methods, then of course you'd fail it if you hadn't done methods - it was assumed knowledge.

However, you'll likely find that the RMIT course I listed will accept you without methods because they'll teach you that content in your first year and bring you up to speed. In which case, you'll still be able to do well

My school probably will change if I keep pushing it. Thanks that is a much better suggestion 

Let's just ignore the fact that this was one of my first suggestions to you - but also not even what angrybiscuit was suggesting to you?

Tbh, there's not really anything you can do other than take it up the chain. Go to the year 12 methods teacher. The VCE coordinator. The principal.

[Sine]

What is the reason that your school won't let you do 3/4 methods?

Although I broadly disagree with schools not allowing students to subjects given the main reason behind this is usually to inflate their own rankings, median study scores and reputation. There has been an abundance of alternatives proposed to you in order to get your where you want in this thread without methods. So even if you are going to continue pushing hard for methods 3/4 with your school try to consider some of the alternatives given to you as a backup. Even if it takes you an extra 1-2 years that is really nothing in the grand scheme of things and could even be beneficial.

[Save_me]

What is the reason that your school won't let you do 3/4 methods?

Although I broadly disagree with schools not allowing students to subjects given the main reason behind this is usually to inflate their own rankings, median study scores and reputation. There has been an abundance of alternatives proposed to you in order to get your where you want in this thread without methods. So even if you are going to continue pushing hard for methods 3/4 with your school try to consider some of the alternatives given to you as a backup. Even if it takes you an extra 1-2 years that is really nothing in the grand scheme of things and could even be beneficial.

The same reason why any other school won't let their students do methods, my grades in unit 1/2 are barely passing 
I agree with you, it is wrong to stop them from doing methods especially if they really need to. I just don't understand why my school has to be like this to me. I feel bad for all my classmates as well especially some who cried because they did not get recommended by the school.......