I'm currently on 10 units which is risky for me and I was wondering if I don't do well in my PIP, would it greatly drag down my ATAR? I'm so over this PIP and no longer interested in it but have to get it done sooner or later, but again I only have 10 units
Hey there! And welcome to the forums
As someone who also did Society & Culture on EXACTLY 10 units during my HSC last year, I must say that the PIP is actually a great way to increase your mark for Society & Culture. If you see your PIP this way- (this is probably going to be badly explained so feel free to reply to this thread if you need me to clarify stuff)
Your HSC mark for Society & Culture depends on your internal and external marks. As we know it, the PIP is 40% of your external mark, whilst your exam is worth 60%. You don't do your exam until the HSC exam period obviously. It's only you and that exam paper during that time. You will get marked on your performance during the exam alone. Once the 2 hours are done- that's it. No more. Goodbye exam. Goodbye stress. However- your PIP on the other hand, you get to work on this project during Year 12. You get to work on it at home, in class and any spare time you've got. You literally have access to gazillion of resources- including your textbook, your teacher, class discussions and more. You can ALWAYS get your PIP marked by your teacher and keep improving your project. Just really take advantage of the many resources you have access to during the remaining terms.
TL;DR: Your HSC exam is just a normal exam. Your PIP is like an open book exam- but much more flexible!
Once your PIP has been submitted, you have all the time in the world to study and practice for your SAC exam. Since you've constantly submitted your PIP for feedback beforehand and studied heaps for your SAC exam- you're bound to get a fantastic mark for SAC! I completely understand loosing interest in your PIP (this happened to me during my second term of Year 12). Though once I started to get more stuff done (get responses for my questionnaire or complete a chapter), I realised how ~pretty~ my PIP was. It was so aesthetically pleasing to look at a completed area so I knew I had to get the entire thing done. Up to this day, I like to look back at my (printed) PIP and see how ~professional~ and ~pleasing~ it was to look at.
Though I highly doubt if your PIP scores significantly lower than your SAC exam, it will affect your ATAR. Obviously you have to take into account your internal marks (not as much compared to your external marks though) and your HSC exam for SAC (definitely a defining factor). You can check out the
ATAR/Scaling question thread if you need any clarification in regards to how ATARs and scaling work.
Hope this helps