Reading & Mathematics.

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LittleJess

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Well, an interesting fact I just found out. I had to do a test to get into a diploma because I didn't pass high school.

I'm at a level 3 with reading and writing (which makes me at a year 12 level in reading and writing)

With maths, I'm a level 2, but thankfully I cheated the maths portion the second time, the thing no diploma I've ever done doesn't require a single shred of mathematics.

So that puts me on a year 10 level with mathematics, which is quite bad, but considering I got like 6 out of 10 for the first try, that's not too bad.

Sure cheating is kind of unethical, but if I didn't do it, I would have never gotten into a single diploma. I cheated on the second try, but that's because of the fucked up requirements the government has.

Here is the fucked up thing, the government doesn't want to give you a student loan IF you are good at reading and writing, but suck at mathematics, because in there eyes, being bad at maths isn't good enough for a student loan / worthy, so fuck them.

I should mention with the maths test, none of the shit I ever learned at school, which was fucking so unfair, second time I had to cheat otherwise I wouldn't of been able to do the diploma. (which mind you doesn't use any of that maths)

They think if you do not have a HIGH school cert, you're not worthy for a diploma level, so they make you do this stupid test, which a impossible to pass maths section.

Now, IMO it's good to have the test to rule out anyone who is "stupid" no offense but yeah, you don't want to be wasting money on someone who can't read and write, but with maths I don't see it as too important, I can figure most shit out.

If you can't read or write, you shouldn't be doing a higher education course, that's just my opinion on the matter. maths to me isn't as important as reading and writing well.
 
Binary said:
Well, an interesting fact I just found out. I had to do a test to get into a diploma because I didn't pass high school.

I'm at a level 3 with reading and writing (which makes me at a year 12 level in reading and writing)

With maths, I'm a level 2, but thankfully I cheated the maths portion the second time, the thing no diploma I've ever done doesn't require a single shred of mathematics.

So that puts me on a year 10 level with mathematics, which is quite bad, but considering I got like 6 out of 10 for the first try, that's not too bad.

Sure cheating is kind of unethical, but if I didn't do it, I would have never gotten into a single diploma. I cheated on the second try, but that's because of the fucked up requirements the government has.

Here is the fucked up thing, the government doesn't want to give you a student loan IF you are good at reading and writing, but suck at mathematics, because in there eyes, being bad at maths isn't good enough for a student loan / worthy, so fuck them.

I should mention with the maths test, none of the shit I ever learned at school, which was fucking so unfair, second time I had to cheat otherwise I wouldn't of been able to do the diploma. (which mind you doesn't use any of that maths)

They think if you do not have a HIGH school cert, you're not worthy for a diploma level, so they make you do this stupid test, which a impossible to pass maths section.

Now, IMO it's good to have the test to rule out anyone who is "stupid" no offense but yeah, you don't want to be wasting money on someone who can't read and write, but with maths I don't see it as too important, I can figure most shit out.

If you can't read or write, you shouldn't be doing a higher education course, that's just my opinion on the matter. maths to me isn't as important as reading and writing well.

Meh, most american high schoolers graduate year twelve WITHOUT being able to read at a fifth grade level. For you to fake year 10 as being 12, that's not so bad really.
 
Maxx said:
I think there is some logic to the loan thing. Thinking as a loan officer, ie, someone willing to take the risk of loaning money: If you struggle with math, what curriculum are you going to pursue (and potentially succeed at) that will improve your situation enough that you can pay off the loan? The math thing kind of suggests you'll end up on the liberal arts end of the spectrum rather than the sciences.

Ah....and there was dogboy getting his music performance degree! The ironic thing was that I had to take a math course from Princeton U. It scared me to death but I got a B. I had to take a philosophy course from Princeton U. and I got an A, once again proving how good I am at bullshitting. One thing about math, you can't bullshit your way through that.
 
Maxx said:
I think there is some logic to the loan thing. Thinking as a loan officer, ie, someone willing to take the risk of loaning money: If you struggle with math, what curriculum are you going to pursue (and potentially succeed at) that will improve your situation enough that you can pay off the loan? The math thing kind of suggests you'll end up on the liberal arts end of the spectrum rather than the sciences.

With the diplomas to be honest with you, It's more year 9 maths, the stupid year 12 requirements are just for the loans, IE the information technology courses there are little to no maths involved. (remember diplomas are a bit bellow university.) in Australia,

You've got the follows.

Year 11.
Year 12.
Certificate 1.
Certificate 2.
Certificate 3.
Certificate 4.
Diploma.
Advanced Diploma.
University.

So for a high school failure you could do.
Cert 3 than University (like I did)

But to be covered via VET loans you need year 12 maths or a Certificate 4. (for the diploma) if you failed high school.

Yeah its messed up isn't it :D

So get this, i'm covered for uni loans, but not for a diploma loan, that's how backwards our system is.

Generally with anything lower than a advanced diploma It's at least year 9-10 maths, diplomas are about the same playing field as the certificates, same style of work, just more of it. but at the same time easier than year 12... lol
 
Maxx said:
Well, yes. Without hijacking this to the mature forum.... one can go far on bullshit alone. Tough for a loan officer to measure the quality your bullshit, though.

As for bullshitting your way through math.... Swear to go this happened. The final for Freshman calculus in college was a 2 question essay test. "Describe the Calculus" and "Discuss its applications in physics". The professor was a very strange dude. Not operating on the same plane as the rest of us. Don't recall my grade. It wasn't an A, but I didn't go to Viet Nam either.

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Interesting. I wouldn't have thought that was the case.

Yeah little to no maths involved in most of the diplomas, It's more theory and practical, ie logical thinking, not so much calculus, my last diploma and certificate had NO complicated maths in it, we did use some maths for the networking side of things, ie calculating subnets, binary etc, but it's nothing complicated and is year 8 level crap.
 
Maxx said:
I think there is some logic to the loan thing. Thinking as a loan officer, ie, someone willing to take the risk of loaning money: If you struggle with math, what curriculum are you going to pursue (and potentially succeed at) that will improve your situation enough that you can pay off the loan? The math thing kind of suggests you'll end up on the liberal arts end of the spectrum rather than the sciences.

I agree here. However, there are some really smart 'artsy' people out there as well. Will they be a success in banking? not likely but in other more 'creative' fields, most likely ;)
 
Also I should point out year 12 maths for a diploma is silly, there is practically no maths used at in most of the diplomas, the education system in Australia is very different compared to the states.

Diplomas go for a year (12 months) and is roughly year 10 level with more work, You've got roughly 12-17?? units, same with certificates with my certificate I used no maths and mostly a calculator, same goes with the diplomas and certificates.

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure in the united states it's known as community colleges / technical colleges. So I'm going to a equivalent of a community colleges to get a diploma the highest certificate level before you can transfer to university.

That being said the diplomas do have a wider range, for example you have the follow courses with practically no math at all.
Game Development (Information Technology)
Information Technology & Networking
Web Development etc.
Business (generic course)
Software Development.

Despite what you think, most IT diplomas don't require anything more complex than using a calculator, It's more computer science and physics that require year 12 and over mathematics. Though electrical / engineering diplomas most likely have complex mathematics involved, but most IT related certificates / diplomas don't, my networking certificate required basic numeracy so... yeah. That was a certificate 3 which is 2 levels bellow a diploma. You've got Certificate 4 after than a Diploma, than Advanced Diploma.

Courses most likely that have math are.
obviously electrical engineering related things.
 
LittleJess said:
Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure in the united states it's known as community colleges / technical colleges. So I'm going to a equivalent of a community colleges to get a diploma the highest certificate level before you can transfer to university.


Well for saying that I just had to quote you on it. In the US, our year 12 is our graduating year of high school. We have certificate programs next, which usually only take a few classes and can be completed in under a year. Next is a 2 year certificate or associates degree at community colleges, then 4 year bachelors degree which is done at universities. Lastly, masters degrees usually take closer to 6 or 8 years to complete.

I myself had completed a 2 year associates degree in computer aided design (think advanced calculator use) before moving into electical engineering. For just this, I had needed to complete a class in calculus 1 with physics. I did take all the way up through calc 3 though, in case I later wanted to go for my bachelors degree. That never happend though, and have instead advanced via my years of on the job training. I have since thoroughly forgotten how to do any calculus at all.

Of note though, my usual math requirements are not much more than simple multiplication/division. And all this so I could just draw a bunch of lines on a computer screen. So yeah, the certificates and degrees require a LOT more than you'll ever need.
 
Slomo said:
...Next is a 2 year certificate or associates degree at community colleges, then 4 year bachelors degree which is done at universities...

Ah, but not quite true for us engineering majors. When I got out of the military after 14 years, I tested in at college level for writing but not math. I had to start at the bottom in math, below college level. However, even with that bit of a handicap I've been taking classes as hard and fast as I can knowing that the GI Bill won't last. I'll be just at 3 years for the Associates and 5 years for the Bachelors. That's the standard for many other fellow engineering students, the curriculum just takes time. Math is an ongoing class, every single term. All of the sciences and maths are prerequisites of each other, so no lateral moving. It just takes time.

Thank god there is only the single writing class requirement. I'm absolutely fine with just maths and sciences! Hahaha! I hate writing in just about all its forms. No art, no writing, no junk. Also no electives in the degree path either, which is a shame. I'd like to be able to take astronomy or something else. Nope, only the lib arts slackers get to enjoy those classes!
 
Llayden said:
Ah, but not quite true for us engineering majors... I'll be just at 3 years for the Associates and 5 years for the Bachelors. That's the standard for many other fellow engineering students, the curriculum just takes time.

Five years for a bachelor's? At my university, it is being crammed into a four-year degree. If you follow the flowchart they give you, you are taking the max number of credits per semester every semester. Literally no room for failure. I was lucky enough to come in with some credit to eliminate some of the BS classes like literature and history, but I still had to start a the beginning with calculus.
 
JerryBaker said:
If you follow the flowchart they give you, you are taking the max number of credits per semester every semester. Literally no room for failure.

True. However, as you've stated there is no room for failure (actual class failure, failure to get into class, failure to meet the pre-req, and so on). There also isn't any real recourse if your perquisite abilities do not line up with a class series. For instance, you've started on your path for engineering and you are taking some cool calculus classes and so on. Differential Equations is being offered this term, but you don't quite meet the pre-req so you'll have to wait. They only offer Diff EQ once a year so now you must wait the entire year for it to come back around. The same holds true for the bigger series like physics and chem. They are offered in sequence, start to finish, across the whole year. If you aren't eligible to get into the first (or any) class due to pre-req's or the class simply being too full, you now have to wait that whole year to get on board.

You see, those flow charts are wonderful things. But, again, as you've stated the curriculum for us is exceptionally tight and many classes are only offered every now and then. One little thing like a class being too full for you to get into throws that entire flowchart out of sequence. And since almost every single class is a pre-req for the next, not allowing any other paths, then you've just compounded the problem in a big way.
 
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