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Author Topic: Subject Selection. need help!  (Read 2085 times)

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Maraos

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Subject Selection. need help!
« on: October 12, 2016, 11:10:12 pm »
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Hi. I am currently in year 12 (literally one day in) and I am doing the following subjects
Maths 2 Unit (accelerated)
Maths Extension 1
Chemistry
Physics
Ancient History
Design and Technology
Extension History

Obviously this is too many units (14). So I need to drop one. I am debating between both Chemistry or Design and technology.
For pre-lim i got 90+ for all subjects except for chemistry (76). I was ranked 10/40 for chemistry as opposed to 1/21 for DT.

I have spoken to many people but I would still like to hear from others regarding which subject to drop.
Reasons for keeping chemistry:
- Useful for future studies (I want to go down the STEM pathway in the future)
- High scaling ( i know this should'nt even be considered... but i dunno..)
- I am science inclined (chem is not my strong point though)

Reasons for not keeping chem:
- I had a bad teacher in pre-lim and in general it just wasn't a good experience (his teaching method sucked imo)
- Tbh the content is no where as interesting as say physics. So my personal interests conflict with it
- it was my lowest mark in pre-lims (but my rank was average).

Reasons for keeping D.T
- Came 1st
- I am really good at making things (DT has a major work which is essentially to solve a need)
- It is more of a "relaxing" subject and not as academically rigorous as my other subjects are

Reasons for dropping D.T:
- Scales bad (i know this shouldn't be a thing...)
- Subjective subject so you're not really sure if what you think is good will be good in the eyes of the marker
- time consuming (major work)


Any advice would be greatly appreciated, i am not good at making decisions so your opinion will help greatly!

Thanks!
2016 HSC:
Mathematics
(1 down 6 to go... :D)

2017 HSC:
Physics
Extension 1 Mathematics
Design and Technology
Ancient History
History Extension
English Advanced

RuiAce

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Re: Subject Selection. need help!
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2016, 11:36:56 pm »
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Well let's get one thing clear first.

You don't "need" to drop one. As unbelievable as it seems, I know someone who is doing FIFTEEN units for his HSC.


Still though, if you want to drop something then that is absolutely fine. Here's what I'd say:

Start by assessing your motivation to do the major work. A major work can be overbearing during your HSC year, but potentially one of the most rewarding things ever by the end of it. It's probably the biggest double-edged sword you have.

If you can decide with sufficient confidence that you intend to do the major work then your reasons for keeping DNT start to outweigh chemistry by a margin. If otherwise, you need to then put aside the scaling factor and really think.

Chemistry in the preliminary course was slightly more theoretical and leaning towards "actual chemistry". Just dumbed down compared to university chemistry obviously. HSC chemistry, whilst still teaching a lot of concepts, seems to shift more of the emphasis onto how it is applied. It's hard to say for sure whether or not it is something you'd enjoy.

Also, if your teacher was bad, there may not be much value in keeping it. If you ask me the content you gain out of preliminary chemistry is probably more useful for STEM than HSC chemistry.

I personally loved chemistry, because that's my thing. But things do have to be made clear though, because in either case it appears that going for DNT is better, but it's only abundantly clear that you should for one case.

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Subject Selection. need help!
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2016, 11:42:12 pm »
+2
Hi. I am currently in year 12 (literally one day in) and I am doing the following subjects
...
Obviously this is too many units (14). So I need to drop one. I am debating between both Chemistry or Design and technology.
For pre-lim i got 90+ for all subjects except for chemistry (76). I was ranked 10/40 for chemistry as opposed to 1/21 for DT.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, i am not good at making decisions so your opinion will help greatly!
Thanks!

Hey hey! Welcome to the forums! Let me do a bit of interpreting of your reasons.

Your reasons to keep Chemistry seem pretty weak. You are a science guy; but you don't find the subject interesting? Scientists don't need to be interested in everything, so that's not a good enough reason on its own, especially when you do think Chemistry isn't your favourite. Scaling shouldn't be considered here; it won't make up for less than ideal performances, so that's out. Finally, Chemistry isn't a prerequisite for going into a Science/Engineering/Tech degree. Plus, you can always do a bridging course if you feel like you are disadvantaged at all. So no good reasons to keep Chemistry in my eyes.

Your reasons to ditch Chemistry are more reasonable. You didn't perform well in Prelim, but you could work hard to improve. But on the other hand, you don't enjoy it! For me that is the most important thing, but lets continue.

You want to keep DT because you like it, you did well in it, and you are good at that sort of thing! All great reasons. But you want to ditch it because of scaling; that's not a good enough reason on its own (although I understand the frustrations of a subjective subject, Music was the same for me). Major works are time consuming for sure, but remember, you will be losing a subject!

To me, it sounds like you would be better of ditching Chemistry; primarily because you enjoy DT more! That is really the best and penultimate reason. Don't worry about scaling! Scaling makes the difference of a couple of points, enjoying your subject is the key to overall success, and you sound like you really love DT ;D

Maraos

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Re: Subject Selection. need help!
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2016, 11:52:35 pm »
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Thanks for the rapid replies! Wow This is awesome, help is only minutes away on this site!  :D ;D ;D

You guys are right, enjoyment is the key. I wouldn't say I hate chemistry but I defiantly didn't have a great experience in prelims (maybe that will change in year 12?). Also for the future in terms of STEM pathways I'm more inclined in going down the Engineering path (however i do want to keep my options open for anything STEM related). I'm thinking of just keeping chem for the rest of this week (I haven't had chem yet so maybe just trialing it out for a few days). I really don't want to keep this subject selection thing in my mind for too much longer since ive got my HSC maths accelerated exam next friday and I don't want any distractions so I gotta decide soon.

Also another thing I'm concerned about is doing too many subjective/humanity subjects. I'm doing history mainly because i enjoy it and because i am good at it (which is why im going to keep it). But then doing D.T on-top of those subjective/humanity type subjects might make exam preparation a little more unpredictable. Since science subjects are usually more black and white. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks again for the replies!
« Last Edit: October 12, 2016, 11:55:30 pm by Maraos »
2016 HSC:
Mathematics
(1 down 6 to go... :D)

2017 HSC:
Physics
Extension 1 Mathematics
Design and Technology
Ancient History
History Extension
English Advanced

RuiAce

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Re: Subject Selection. need help!
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2016, 11:55:35 pm »
+3
Yeah. These few days - just focus on acceleration. Being an accelerant isn't the easiest thing (from twice personal experience) but it's rewarding and also gives a feel for the HSC. Don't worry too much about your other subjects for the time being; better to lose off 2 weeks or so and then slowly find your ground again.

There's reasons why I made chemistry seem bad despite my love for it. It's more evident that you're inclined towards DNT. Besides, if you want to go down the engineering path, no better option is out there than mathematics extension (preferably 2 but 1 will do).

2 unit will be interesting this year.

studybuddy7777

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Re: Subject Selection. need help!
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2016, 03:00:06 pm »
+1
Thanks for the rapid replies! Wow This is awesome, help is only minutes away on this site!  :D ;D ;D

You guys are right, enjoyment is the key. I wouldn't say I hate chemistry but I defiantly didn't have a great experience in prelims (maybe that will change in year 12?). Also for the future in terms of STEM pathways I'm more inclined in going down the Engineering path (however i do want to keep my options open for anything STEM related). I'm thinking of just keeping chem for the rest of this week (I haven't had chem yet so maybe just trialing it out for a few days). I really don't want to keep this subject selection thing in my mind for too much longer since ive got my HSC maths accelerated exam next friday and I don't want any distractions so I gotta decide soon.

Also another thing I'm concerned about is doing too many subjective/humanity subjects. I'm doing history mainly because i enjoy it and because i am good at it (which is why im going to keep it). But then doing D.T on-top of those subjective/humanity type subjects might make exam preparation a little more unpredictable. Since science subjects are usually more black and white. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks again for the replies!

I did Chemistry in Year 11 (you couldnt have paid me to stay for year 12 lol) and currently do/did D&T.

Let me get one thing straight. Even though DT has horrible scaling, your mark would be a helluva lot better in DT then in Chemistry. Also your reasons for keeping chemistry? They aren't really reasons. You like science but dont like Chemistry. How is chem going to help you?

With DT though, it is a more relaxed subject (NOT in Term 3 2017 it won't be!!) and you need a break from all your other academic subjects. The exam is pretty straightforward if you know your stuff.

A 76 in Chemistry is not that impressive. Just saying. A 90+ in Design and Tech is. Just realise this:

Almost ALL of your marks in DT come from your Major Project. Your school based assessments are normally the production of your MDP.

The trials and the HSC. Not as weighty as the MDP but still enough weight in them (I think trial is 20% and HSC is 40%- MDP makes up 60%). You do have to know your stuff and be able to go good in exams but the Major Design Project is very stressful, and it is due when you are sitting all your trials.

Just remember this.