Hello, I'm currently Form 4 and a pure science student. I would be very grateful for your advice if any.

*This post is kind of disorganised. Please bear with me if you read this.
**Summary of important questions can be found below (if you do wish to skip my rambling)

Now I'll get straight to the point.
As I have stated earlier, I am a pure science student taking:
-English
-Malay
-Maths
-Moral
-History
-Add. maths
-Biology
-Physics
-Chemistry
which adds up to a total of 9 subjects. I manage to score A's for all my subjects except for add. maths, which I scored C+ at 55 marks.

Now before you launch into a furious assault of comments, please hear me out.

Although I am a science student, I have a passion for art and I practice drawing both traditionally and digitally. Hence, I am going to take Arts next year, in Form 5. Doing so, I wish to drop add. maths so that I can better focus on my remaining subjects. I would love to further my studies in the field of Illustration, Animation or Game Design/Development. But local schools mostly provide courses only for diploma level, and to get a degree i would have to study overseas, something that would definitely burn a hole in my pocket. I could try for scholarships, but it's hard to get a full ride even for accounting and engineering, much less in the field of Arts. Even with all that said, I am determined that this is where I want to improve myself and would enjoy doing for the rest of my life.

On the other hand, I have mediocre to little interest in add. maths and am often confused by the various numbers and tedious calculations. I have no plans at all to further my studies in whatever that is related to maths or engineering. My friends sometimes tease me for wanting to drop add. maths even though I pass safely, and they don't. I just don't of it that way. I only want to drop add. maths because I dislike it, and take up Arts because I like it.

I am confident that I can achieve an A in Arts but I cannot say so for add. maths. Like I said before, I am scoring A's in everything but add. maths. My friends just tell my to take it and fail it since I really hate it, but I don't want to because seeing a B in a line of A's isn't the most pleasing thing in the world, and that's the first thing a person will look at on my certificate. Call me a perfectionist, but that's the horrible truth and people will always want to pick the worst of your flaws regardless of how strong you are.

That aside, I am also fairly interested in biology and would consider furthering my studies in that line if my circumstances will allow it. I am unsure of the truth of the situation but I have heard that one cannot further his/her studies without add. maths. But say I succeed in this field, what job will I be able to acquire in the working world, other than being cooped up in a lab for a steady income?

So a summary of my more important questions are:
1) I hate add maths, I love Arts, should I replace add. maths with Arts?
2) What job can I take up in Arts(as in drawing)?
3) What do I lose if I drop add. maths, aside from engineering/physics/math courses?
4) What job can I do in the field of biology? Only lab work?
5) Should I further my studies in Arts(as in drawing)?

Thank you for answering my questions. Your help is greatly appreciated.

I advise to not drop add math. I barely pass the trial, and got D myself for SPM. Then in matric i basically learn back most of add math stuff and actually able to get A- in math. I think it's due to the way I study in high school, plus my environment(won't go into detail about this).

This post has been edited by neuro4869: Sep 20 2016, 09:51 PM

1) I hate add maths, I love Arts, should I replace add. maths with Arts?
Don't drop, but take it with Arts as well.
2) What job can I take up in Arts(as in drawing)?
I'm not sure. Maybe Mass Comm? Digital Arts? Publishing, such as cover, diagrams, inserts, and such. Production like theater, movies and dramas. Game development, but you will need basic in IT and programming/coding.
3) What do I lose if I drop add. maths, aside from engineering/physics/math courses?
I'm not sure.
4) What job can I do in the field of biology? Only lab work?
In the field of biology, there is an increasing integration with digital processing. Labwork needs you to be efficient with digital equipment as well. Depending on the sub section of the biology field (minus observation field), you will need to interact with digital equipment, be it the analysis machine, the post analysis in PC, or heavy computation in genetic fields.
5) Should I further my studies in Arts(as in drawing)?
In just Arts, I would say no. If Arts and IT/coding/programming, that is better.

Add Maths is the foundation of all science. If you really need to drop one in favour of another, I'll say dropping Biology is much more recommended. But since your interest is in Biology, I'll say you stick to your subject combination now. Arts at SPM level is generally useless. STPM might be different, and so is a university degree. You can study Arts without Arts at SPM, so don't worry about not being able to study arts in the future.

Secondly, if seeing a B in lines of A is an issue for you, I seriously worry about your future.

I say you persevere until you finish your SPM, then only you take Arts. It will be a waste and a big mistake if you drop Add Maths now.

Add.math is actually a basic in everything that you'll study. For example all those software/programming tools requires fundamental in add math.
Just put in more add.math, practise more and I'm sure you can do well. Since you can get A in all other subjects.
I got A+ of Add.Math last year and its just understanding questions, learn the techniques, formulas, and practice.
Best of luck mate.
Pm if you need help

I took all the pure sciences, plus Art! Because I love art and I heard it was an easy A to get (which I could confirm after SPM). If you're absolutely sure you're going into pure arts after SPM then you could drop AddMath if you really want to. BUT if you have interest in more technical areas and want to keep future options open, AddMaths is a very important step however bad one may be.

So I'd say instead of replacing one or other, why not take both and boost those A's for a chance of scholarship? Also, lots of us fail through Form 4 AddMaths but grasp it better in Form 5. Some even cultivate interest , get A plusses and continue in Form 6!

This post has been edited by E-Tan: Sep 21 2016, 10:56 AM

I would recommend not doing that. Maths is a general purpose subject. It trains you to be good with numbers.
Even if you do arts as a career, you will still need maths for your everyday stuff.
When you buy insurance, when you're trying to figure out investment, buying house, calculating returns and all, doing business.

v1n0d

Not sure about the requirements for art programmes, but I teach in a business school and add maths is not a requirement to join any of our programmes. It is however worth noting that students who took add maths generally fare better in the core math courses as opposed to those who don't. As such, I recommend that you only drop the subject if you're having difficulty keeping up with the syllabus up to a point that it pulls down your overall results heavily.

hell no.with all A's and 55 for add math, u should be proud la.trust me

first year in add maths is liddat one... i also encounter this problem when i was form 4 cuz the jump from form 3 maths to form 4 maths is totally different..

btw the grading threshold isn't really as high as you think.. in fact 55 can probably get you a B in actual exam.. so if you work harder you can strive for A maybe even A+

last year i took add maths spm.. paper 1 literally empty 3 questions cuz the question kao2 never see before... come out result A+...

It's better not to drop Add Maths, because it's a FUNDAMENTAL to the real mathematics.

During Form 4, I screwed up my add maths as well. I got C+ during the first monthly test and mid-term test. What I did was reflecting on my mistakes, and did mock exam with the past year papers and model papers, with shorter time limit as compared to the usual allocated time. (Since my weakness is too slow in answering questions) Slowly but surely, I scored B+ in second monthly test, and an A in finals. Sometimes you won't see the progress with your effort you'd put in a short time, but it will eventually return when time has come.

My message is: don't give up!

I believe that with more practices, you are able to catch the flow in solving SPM Add maths questions. All the best!

This post has been edited by scgoh123: Sep 21 2016, 10:27 PM

I do suggest you not to drop add maths regardless how much you dislike it.


Study, and pass it, then you can forget about it.

Most likely Biology related courses won't require Add Maths (but better confirm on this to be sure).

As for future prospects, most Biotech grads tend to be working non Biotech related jobs. Its the same everywhere in the world, except for Japan and the US. Also, unless you're planning to do a PhD, job future career paths are quite limiting too.

by the way just to add on to his point, maths may sound irrelevant to study scopes like medic, biotech, physiology etc, but then most uni/college needs maths as a requirement for these courses because maths is to test how good is your ability to understand a concept/problem solving skills.. so it's not entirely useless.

No,add math is important for pre-u.It is basic for math in pre-u

I highly recommended not to drop Add Maths, but take also Addition PSV into your SPM.

I have tons of friends who done that some even took 10-12 subjects.
(1 is BC since their parents forced to)

Animation or Game Design/Development
Does requires some prerequisites skills from SPM Add Maths and Physics.

Just try to understand on how to solve, and not just blindly follow the method of solving, you aren't a robot.

my SPM Add Maths always get failed in Form 4, and effort in Form 5 maintained straight Cs.

SPM 2014 I got an A- for first year of HOTS.

It will be an easy A I can tell you that.

1) I hate add maths, I love Arts, should I replace add. maths with Arts?
Recommend you do not drop, as now mostly every course need basic calculus.
(according to my friend that took creative multimedia, they need to study basic calculus, just not sure when, some please rectify)

2) What job can I take up in Arts(as in drawing)?
Architecture, creative multimedia, not much that i know of aside from thsi 2

3) What do I lose if I drop add. maths, aside from engineering/physics/math courses?
No, you cannot take it, but im not so sure, as for i know i need add math to be a credit to get into foundation for engineering. And if you think add math is troublesome and hard for you, i suggest dont take these few subs.

4) What job can I do in the field of biology? Only lab work?
Not really sure about this. Sorry.

5) Should I further my studies in Arts(as in drawing)?
Depends on your passion, for me, if you have the passion and the means to, why not?

i got C+

didnt study well for it

about same as me SPM A-, any exam before all low marks

and for TS, just dont drop and keep on learning it. sure u can get better before SPM !

Thank you so much for your replies! I really appreciate all your advice.

Mentioned but didn't want to share the details. Then why mention it at the first place??? It's like saying "I HATE Add Maths, but don't ask me why."

Because it's personal reason. Make sense enough? I won't go into detail of my life, but there were things that affected my studies in high school. Does that make sense enough for you, sorry ya.

TS, when I was in Form 4. Most of my classmates and myself started off failing A.Maths, slowly some of us improve to Pass. That's the same happening to Physics, Bio, Chemistry.. coz ppl tend to overly relax after Form 3. And I was top in Bio & Physics during Form 4, even went for inter-school competition. But I dropped Bio in Form 5 because I know Bio is very specific to that few jobs in the market. And there is no way for me to pursue my study in those areas. Hence, it won't help my future even that is an A. During my time, I never bother at how my report card will look like. I only ensure what I did will give me the right ticket for my future path. By the way, I took economic for Form 5 to replace Bio.

But Add Maths is quite a fundamental subjects tat cover lots of profession. Unless you are very sure which areas of Art you are into and confirm Add Math is not needed. Else, better keep it. I have friend who drop Add Maths and now she is in hotel line.