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March 29, 2024, 06:04:05 am

Author Topic: Starting my QCE journey  (Read 3755 times)

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kaylaK

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Starting my QCE journey
« on: January 25, 2021, 07:36:57 pm »
+10
Hi,

I am starting year 11 in a few days and am studying physics, chem, French, math methods, specialist, and English. My grades last year were pretty good for most subjects, however I am scared this year that I am going to be overwhelmed and too stressed out. I only just started getting good grades last year so i admit I took a big risk by choosing the death 5, but there’s nothing else I’d prefer to study. I am a bit anxious that I could be affecting my future atar.  If anyone else studied the same as me, please let me know how you went :)
Also, I still have no idea what I want to do in the future. I like math but I’m not really interested in business and banks. I like physics but I’m not passionate about it, and I dont think I would be a researcher. I am not even sure what uni course to study,  so I will probably be that one person who has changed her major 20 times. Thanks for reading and I will keep you all updated  :)

K.Smithy

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Re: Starting my QCE journey
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2021, 08:20:31 pm »
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Hey KaylaK! Welcome to the forums :)

Firstly, I want you to know that your feelings are totally valid and that there are probably lots of people who are feeling the same way - I know I definitely felt that way at the beginning of grade 11. I was in the same boat as you; I only really started to get "good" grades in year 10, and I slowly improved from there. It is all about figuring out what works for you. I totally understand what you mean by feeling like you have taken a risk with your subject choices and I felt the same way (I always found humanities subjects easier than STEM, but I was passionate about STEM and hated humanities), but as long as you enjoy the subjects everything will be ok :) (you'll find that you are more likely to study the subjects you enjoy, so picking subjects you are passionate about is key). I would also like to say that if you do end up finding the workload very overwhelming and stressful than I would highly recommend talking to your school to see what can be done to relieve some of that pressure. I had a friend who ended up dropping one subject to lighten the load a bit and that helped tremendously with their stress levels :)

I took physics, methods and English and I quite enjoyed them (except English - there's nothing wrong with it, I just don't like it ahaha). Physics and methods are all about practice. Do as many practice questions and practice exams as you can. For me, I did really well in year 11 with methods (I had an amazing teacher to thank for that!), but my performance in physics wasn't fantastic. This completely flipped in grade 12 ahaha (I had 4 methods teachers in grade 12 and that really impacted my learning, but the content wasn't too bad). My biggest piece of advice for all subjects is to start early. Take good notes early on and consistently revise those notes.

Year 11 is definitely a big jump up from grade 10 - that was something that really hit my cohort. We realised very early on that it was a big step up, not just in the difficulty of the content but also the workload (the workload you have also depends on your teacher though!). BUT, it is do-able and it just takes a bit of time to get used to. Having a good routine is really helpful and make sure you dedicate some time to yourself and your hobbies. I want to stress one point though: please don't panic if you see your grades drop at the beginning of grade 11. How you perform at the beginning of grade 11 will not indicate how you will perform at the end of grade 11, and how you perform at the end of grade 11 will not indicate how you will perform in grade 12. Grade 11 is an amazing opportunity to work things out - to test out study techniques, to see if you mesh with subjects, to practice the different assessment pieces. Take year 11 as a learning opportunity! Don't be afraid to make mistakes, because there is no better time to make them :) Year 11 is all about preparing yourself for year 12. I would like to say, however, that year 11 is also not a great indicator for how much you will enjoy your subjects in grade 12. I disliked physics very much in grade 11, but loved it in grade 12 and am now majoring in it at uni (in fact, I disliked most of my subject in year 11, but ended up really enjoying them in grade 12). Year 11 is also about building up that foundational knowledge to help with what you will learn in grade 12 - so it can be a bit boring and dry at times.

It is also totally ok to not know what you want to do in the future! I thought I had my mind set at the beginning of grade 10, but I have since gone through 6 career choices  ;D  ;D  ;D I even changed my uni preferences a week before ATAR release. You are still so young and there is plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. One thing I like to remind myself is that there is no standardised timeline of life for everyone. You don't have to move out before you turn 25, you don't have to get married and have kids before 30, you don't have to have X/Y/Z sorted out before 40... Everyone is different and everyone is going to follow a different path at a different pace :) If you are interested in trying to figure it out now then I would recommend brainstorming some possible career choices and see if you can get involved over the next couple of years - test the water a bit, you know? See if you could do some work experience or get in touch with people in those fields. This might help you figure out what career you would like to pursue :)

If you ever have any questions, please do not hesitate to let us know :) There are so many people on the forums who are more than happy to lend a helping hand.
I hope this provides a bit more clarity for you :) I wish you the best for this year!
- Katelyn
QCE 2020: Physics (92) || Psychology (96) || Biology (93) || Methods (79) || English (98) || SOR (91)
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2021-2024: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) @ UQ

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Britnium

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Re: Starting my QCE journey
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2021, 01:26:50 pm »
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Hey!

I'm in grade 12 at the moment, and I'm doing the same subjects you are (but Japanese instead of French)!

It's really good that you feel that your subjects are most suited for you, because that's the first and absolutely necessary step to help you succeed in grade 11. And if you did well in grade 10, while it is a 'big jump' from grade 10 to 11 there is a really good chance that should you fall slightly, you will be able to pick yourself back up again as you get into the routine of things. I also did not start getting good grades until grade 10, and really, how well you did in the previous years in my opinion is a really poor indicator of how well you will do in senior school; grade 10 in my opinion is your strongest indicator of your chances. 

While there is definitely a 'jump', I really didn't consider it to be much of a hassle, but that's just how I saw it; personally I was expecting much of a bigger jump that would make me fall from A's to C's, which was what I was told by everyone else. But really, if you stay on top of your stuff (easier said than done, I know), you will never experience anything of the sort. Yes, there will be stressful times, and doing the 'Death 5' definitely didn't help me, but with anything you encounter you will encounter stress.

Then again, this was just my experience; if you ever find that things are getting too stressful, it's totally okay to switch or drop a subject. There are so many alternate pathways out there. Take your time during grade 11 to experiment and find what you are most passionate about to narrow down your options for uni; doing a bit of work experience here or there or attending course questionnaire sessions may enlighten you slightly.

Good luck!
QCE Class of 2021: General English | Mathematical Methods | Specialist Mathematics | Physics | Chemistry | Japanese

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Re: Starting my QCE journey
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2021, 08:38:55 am »
+1
Another new journal? Sounds interesting.
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