HL Maths

partyatmygaff

For those who get B1s and above, how do you do it? I'm trying to scramble up to at least a B1 by the mocks and i'm worried that I'm studying the wrong way.

To give a bit of background. I started off at a C3 last summer. That went up to a B3 this Christmas with an insane amount of work. I need to get up to a B1/A2 or A1 (If I get lucky) by the summer.

In school when we're doing a topic for the first time everything seems amazingly simple. No matter what i've never had a problem with something when i'm doing it the first time round. Then I move on to the exam papers and my confidence is shattered.

For example, trig questions. Certain questions I can just sail straight through getting everything perfectly correct. Other questions I can't even get past part a.

I'm also taking grinds in the Institute and it has helped somewhat (But not by as much as i'd hoped).

What am I doing wrong? How do people manage to get A1/A2/B1s in Maths?

jumpguy

I notice that a lot of people tend to just skim over and read the chapters in maths and then do the revision questions at the end (we use Text and Tests 4 and 5). They find HL maths pretty tough. I hear people saying "I revised differenciation last night". ALL of it. To me, revising all of differenciation would be a week's work, probably more. I have to go through the chapters methodically, do questions of ALL sorts from every section of the chapter as I go through it. When I've completely revised all of differenciation, it's then onto doing 3/4 years worth of exam questions on it. Then I'd consider the entire thing revised.

Of course, everyone's different. One guy in my class does little in comparison to me and gets A's, but he's one of these maths geniuses (and probabbly works harder than he lets on, too), but that's my tried and tested method.

Chuchoter

Practice every single day. Do two questions every day of a topic and then at the end of the week try the exam questions. Also, don't freak if you can't do the questions first try, because half the time its just being familiar with the questions and knowing what they are asking you to do. Ask tonnes of questions in class.:)

eoins23456

Get the papers back as far as 1994 and do them.simple as that if you can do them all eight questions on each paper you should get higher then a b1

partyatmygaff

jumpguy wrote: »

I notice that a lot of people tend to just skim over and read the chapters in maths and then do the revision questions at the end (we use Text and Tests 4 and 5). They find HL maths pretty tough. I hear people saying "I revised differenciation last night". ALL of it. To me, revising all of differenciation would be a week's work, probably more. I have to go through the chapters methodically, do questions of ALL sorts from every section of the chapter as I go through it. When I've completely revised all of differenciation, it's then onto doing 3/4 years worth of exam questions on it. Then I'd consider the entire thing revised.

Of course, everyone's different. One guy in my class does little in comparison to me and gets A's, but he's one of these maths geniuses (and probabbly works harder than he lets on, too), but that's my tried and tested method.

I get what you mean but as of now I "know" all my topics in maths. There's no one topic that i'm particularly rusty on at the moment so it's more consistency that's the issue.

The thing is that some days (Or perhaps some questions) I can fly through a paper and i'll wonder why I ever needed grinds. Other days I stumble on part As and wonder how I hope to achieve anything better than a B3.

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

jumpguy

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I get what you mean but as of now I "know" all my topics in maths. There's no one topic that i'm particularly rusty on at the moment so it's more consistency that's the issue.

Other days I stumble on part As and wonder how I hope to achieve anything better than a B3.

By "stumble" do you mean you make numerical errors and get the wrong answer or you simply don't know what to do/do the wrong thing?

If it's the latter, then you'd be questioning if you really know the material. There must be gaps in your knowledge if you don't know what to do. Every now and then, you'd just be unlucky and it wouldn't click, or a question would be phrased oddly, but that shouldn't happen too often and should improve with practice. If it's the former, then it's just a simple matter of refining how you calculate (doing it more carefully, basically, and not skipping lines and trying to do parts in your head or on your calculator without writing it down - might be a timesaver but it vastly increases the chances you'll make a mistake).

HL maths is very specific, there's nooks and crannies in every question and every section of the maths course that you must know if you want to do really well. For example, you might say you know De Moivre's Theorem, but do you know how to prove Cos2A = Cos^2A - Sin^2A using it? (You might, but you get what I mean :P)

partyatmygaff

jumpguy wrote: »

By "stumble" do you mean you make numerical errors and get the wrong answer or you simply don't know what to do/do the wrong thing?

Sometimes they're numerical errors and when they are I spend ages wondering where I went wrong. I end up in a state of lethargy when that happens. On the other hand from time to time I genuinely understand the material but am faced with an oddly made question that requires you to manipulate the question before working on it. I.e. Trig identities in a differentiation question. I end up resigning myself to looking at the solution and when I do I wonder how I never thought of doing what was included in the solution.

HL maths is very specific, there's nooks and crannies in every question and every section of the maths course that you must know if you want to do really well. For example, you might say you know De Moivre's Theorem, but do you know how to prove Cos2A = Cos^2A - Sin^2A using it? (You might, but you get what I mean :P)

I don't actually! :pac:

We're doing all the proofs in the final weeks before the exams as my teacher thinks we'll remember them better that way.

jumpguy

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I don't actually! :pac:

We're doing all the proofs in the final weeks before the exams as my teacher thinks we'll remember them better that way.

It's not a proof. >.< Check out the chapter on Complex Numbers in Text and Tests 4, it's example 3 on either section E, F or G, can't remember exactly which (just finished doing that chapter tonight :P).

Anyway, amigo, take my advice. Take HL maths slowly and methodically. Do half of complex numbers tonight, don't skip any section, even if you *think* you know it, make sure to do questions of all type in each section, not just glance over the examples. You might surprise yourself with what you don't know/have forgotten (but are learning/re-learning, most importantly!) Then move onto the next section.

I took me 2 nights to get complex numbers done. Last night I went as far as section D and tonight I was fresher than I was and made a push to finish it. It took a lot of time, you might be an hour doing half a chapter, probably longer. But that's the name of the game unfortunately.

Other people have their methods, but believe me, just try it. All you need is patience. Then do some exam questions on complex numbers when you've finished (Q3s, paper 1, it's also got matrix's, which is a short chapter though, with only 4 sections) and you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's quite a lenghty affair to get the entire course covered, but there's 4 months left until the LC. Plenty of time!

HxGH

You're worried your not going to get a B or an A?

Talk about superior.

I'd love a pass in HL thanks.

partyatmygaff

HxGH wrote: »

You're worried your not going to get a B or an A?

Talk about superior.

I'd love a pass in HL thanks.

I need a B or A. Not everyone does, but I do. It has nothing to do with superiority.

Ash_M

Maths is my strong suit, but I still completely identify with the frustration from doing exam questions at times!
I tend to avoid the papers until I know the topic backwards, because they are generally a step up from what's done in the book and unless you're completely at ease with the area they can be really discouraging. Obviously they're brilliant for practicing, but sometimes I find they hinder rather than help when I'm revising..

HxGH

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I need a B or A. Not everyone does, but I do. It has nothing to do with superiority.

Best of luck with that!