The choice of a student's HSC course should be geared towards satisfying their individual desires of outcomes from university. From the assumed knowledge section, for students who want to be involved in science and engineering subjects, Mathematics Extension 1 should be taken, for students with extra interest in mathematics, or students who want to pursue mathematics more for its own sake (a more pure approach), or for students who enjoy and can handle a greater challenge, Extension 2 also may be useful.

For high school students who do not wish to study mathematics at a university level at all, the standard mathematics course should be adequate, or the general component.