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"Maths Extension 2 exams are easy," said no one ever. Luckily, 99.90 ATAR Year 12 student Jake shares how he prepares for success!
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Jake scored a 99.95 ATAR—and Maths Extension 2 was a big part of that. In this HSC High School Hack, he reveals the strategies that helped him master the subject and thrive in Year 12. Hint: it has alot to do with following your passions and building your own journey!
Name: Jake Murray
School: Northern Beaches Christian School
Grade: 12
ATAR: 99.95
Table of contents:
I’m somewhat of a Maths, Philosophy and literature enthusiast — an unconventional mix, I’m aware, but it works for me! I love nothing more than getting stuck into a good book, and have been known to spend a little too much time bingeing old sitcoms and analysing old films (that is, old by my standards, which isn’t really that old). I adore spending time with family, friends, and (perhaps most of all) dogs.
I’m not super certain about what I’d like to do after school, but I’m pretty sure it’ll involve education in some capacity. My (fairly optimistic) dream has, for quite some time now, been to perform research at the tertiary level in Maths or otherwise… I suppose I’ll work towards this and see what opens up!
Through my HSC year, I had the privilege of serving as Vice Captain and leading my school’s Ethics Olympiad training program. Both of these extracurricular engagements involve passions of mine, so I’m very glad to have adopted them through the HSC year.
It’s easy to justify abandoning extracurriculars going into Year 12 (as I did, to my infinite regret, with my efforts to learn the guitar).
But, you need spaces to engage yourself in ways that summarising a textbook or doing a practice Maths Extension 2 HSC Trial exam won’t.
It’s immensely valuable to give your days some contour and variety.
Somewhat paradoxically, the HSC year was both easier and harder than I’d anticipated. It was easier in the sense that an HSC internal assessment isn’t all that different to a non-HSC internal assessment (with which we’ve had many years of practice).
There was simply a touch more pressure. Perhaps ‘a touch’ is an understatement, but the point still stands. The tasks were fundamentally familiar. And, it was actually less stressful than expected.
For whatever reason, I’d come into Year 12 bracing myself for a year of near-total misery.
A welcome surprise.
However, some elements of the year were trickier than expected. The main one was maintaining motivation for an entire year and staying on track when it feels like you’ve so much time on your hands.
Motivation dips and stress spikes as you realise the deceptive scarcity of time in the HSC year.
It’s definitely worthwhile pausing every once in a while and reflecting on what you’re working towards. It’s easy to lose sight of your goals (and with it, your motivation!) amidst the chaos of the year.
I attribute my comfort with Maths wholly to my willingness to pursue answers when that little voice in the back of my mind asks, ‘Why’?
Why is this formula the way it is? From where did it originate? Does it perhaps have any graphical implications?
Allow yourself to explore and never, ever say “it’s in the textbook” and move on…
Things falling into place and starting to make sense in an interconnected way is where the fun’s to be had!
English became a whole lot easier for me once I let myself enjoy it.
Reading, pursuing and writing on ideas that are actually interesting, and engaging with my peers in conversation about our texts all helped make English a great deal more accessible and enjoyable.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Physics… in the theoretical sense. Unfortunately, practicals have always been a source of stress for me (I’d attribute this to a certain unfortunate experience in Year 7 involving an acid spill and the ruining of a set of results mid-exam). In every practical task since, I’ve found myself in a fairly panicked state.
I found the best way to mitigate my aversion to practicals has been, unsurprisingly, doing more practicals.
Everyone’s got that one topic in that one subject that’s, well, somewhat of a source of misery. And this, of course, is not ideal.
Fortunately, in almost every case, exposure is the cure. If you’re like me and don’t love practicals, challenge yourself to do more practicals! You’ll thank yourself for it. Oh, and don’t be like me and wait until Year 12 to acknowledge an area of discomfort. Tackle it early!
In the past, my approach to exam preparation was fairly disordered. I’d complete a few practice papers after touching up on any content I found difficult. But I didn’t take the time to evaluate my performance or how I could improve it beyond simply doing more papers.
For my Maths Extension 2 Trial, however, I’ve made an effort to more consciously keep track of progress, feelings and areas of improvement by using tables and a piece of software called Notion (below).
I’ve never been keen on devoting copious amounts of time to making notes for Maths. But, I know that works quite well for some of my peers. However, prescribed textbooks often don’t have the kind of explanations that I know make things ‘click’ for me. I like to use the Matrix theory books to review content, as they combine the specificity and comprehensiveness of a textbook and the benefits of personal notes in their structure and style.
Once the content is down, exposure to different ways of application through past papers is extremely beneficial.
In Maths Extension 2, there isn’t a great deal of content. However, this content can be stretched and contorted into a variety of question styles. So, when preparing for Maths Extension 2, I consulted my school and Matrix teachers about where good, challenging papers can be found.
Exam papers. Well, that’s a touch reductive. I’ll do an exam paper. Then, if there are any areas I’m struggling in, I’ll consult my textbooks and Matrix Theory Books. And finally… more papers.
I gradually transitioned from doing these under casual conditions (i.e. with some music or snacks, potentially with a meal break) to formal examination conditions. While, ideally, we’d all dive directly into exam simulation, I’ve found it useful to spend time tackling tricky questions in a more casual environment.
While the pressure of exams is something we need to grow accustomed to, developing problem-solving strategies is easier when not as anxious (at least, for me).
Especially for a subject like Maths Extension 2, it’s worth spending time wrestling with the kinds of questions where the approach isn’t obvious. The Matrix workbooks often contain questions of such a nature. Beyond this, talking to your teachers about locating good resources (as discussed above) is always a wise move.
These were my top tips for you! Wishing you the best on your HSC journey and remember, HSC preparation starts when you allow it to start, so make time, stay organised and enjoy the process of learning.
Written by Guest Author
We have regular contributions to our blog from our Tutor Team and high performing Matrix Students. Come back regularly for these guest posts to learn their study hacks and insights!
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