6 subjects and low on study time... should I ignore one?

[Hello0there]

Hey there! Need a question answered if anyone can help.

So I do 12 units (6 subjects). I'm currently first in 2 and second in 3, and 14th in the 6th. I need an atar of 95 for my degree and I'm running low on study time. Do Uni's care at all about the subject that isn't used to calculate your atar? Thinking of just going in as a backup in case I'm sick or late for another one, but not studying for it. This'll allow me to get a higher mark in the other 5 which'll contribute to my atar, but I'm not sure if Uni's will care if I just flunk one of my subjects 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[kauac]

Hey there! Need a question answered if anyone can help.

So I do 12 units (6 subjects). I'm currently first in 2 and second in 3, and 14th in the 6th. I need an atar of 95 for my degree and I'm running low on study time. Do Uni's care at all about the subject that isn't used to calculate your atar? Thinking of just going in as a backup in case I'm sick or late for another one, but not studying for it. This'll allow me to get a higher mark in the other 5 which'll contribute to my atar, but I'm not sure if Uni's will care if I just flunk one of my subjects 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi...
Not exactly sure if the universities you apply for will be able to access your marks - it may all be done through UAC, but if they can, there may be some questions raised as to why that one particular subject (potentially) has a mark a lot lower than your others. If the subject is particular relevant to the degrees you are applying for, i.e. assumed or recommended knowledge, than I would highly recommend still studying for it as much as your other subjects. Also, just checking that the subject you are talking about is NOT English, because the top 2 English units always counts towards the ATAR?

Other factors may include whether you find the subject/easy hard, how intensive it is to study for, how strong your cohort is? Not sure what your course size is like, but 14th doesn't seem like an inherently poor rank, so if there has been a high band 6 ratio in previous years, potentially you can still get an awesome mark if you put the effort in.

Like you have already mentioned, it is wise to sit the exam regardless of how much you studied in case things went pear-shaped in the others. I would personally vouch for putting some effort into this subject: this way, you let UAC maximise your ATAR rather than having all of your final marks contribute to it. Overall, it is your choice, but I will leave you with this final question:

So you have been doing this subject for two years, right? Would you be happy to let all of your previous efforts for this subject become basically obsolete because in the final weeks you felt you didn't have enough time for it?

Hope this helps you come to a decision. 

[Hello0there]

Hi...
Not exactly sure if the universities you apply for will be able to access your marks - it may all be done through UAC, but if they can, there may be some questions raised as to why that one particular subject (potentially) has a mark a lot lower than your others. If the subject is particular relevant to the degrees you are applying for, i.e. assumed or recommended knowledge, than I would highly recommend still studying for it as much as your other subjects. Also, just checking that the subject you are talking about is NOT English, because the top 2 English units always counts towards the ATAR?

Other factors may include whether you find the subject/easy hard, how intensive it is to study for, how strong your cohort is? Not sure what your course size is like, but 14th doesn't seem like an inherently poor rank, so if there has been a high band 6 ratio in previous years, potentially you can still get an awesome mark if you put the effort in.

Like you have already mentioned, it is wise to sit the exam regardless of how much you studied in case things went pear-shaped in the others. I would personally vouch for putting some effort into this subject: this way, you let UAC maximise your ATAR rather than having all of your final marks contribute to it. Overall, it is your choice, but I will leave you with this final question:

So you have been doing this subject for two years, right? Would you be happy to let all of your previous efforts for this subject become basically obsolete because in the final weeks you felt you didn't have enough time for it?

Hope this helps you come to a decision. 

Hey, thanks for answering and for answering yesterday! Really appreciate it. I think I'm going to put in a couple of days just not as much as every other subject. I'm going for a media and marketing course and this is biology, so it's not really relevant, but I'm still going to try to stick it out.

Thanks again!