VCE subject selection

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

I have moved interstate and as a result have not gotten to choose my subjects. They are:
- Chemistry
-Maths Methods
- Physics
- Visual Communication
-Business Management
- English
They are all 1/2. I am extremely worried for next year as I have not done any 3/4s this year and it’s too late to change. Will the workload next year be too much to handle? Am I set up to fail? Is it too late to change (next weeks week 6 1st SACs) I wanted Bio and Psych but no room. Should I pick up 3/4 psych now? Also next year I’m dropping physics for 3/4 bio will I struggle with this workload? Most of my grade is doing bio 3/4 this year (like 150 of them!)
Thanks much

[Bri MT]

Hey,

Keep in mind that in Victoria unit 1&2 scores don’t contribute to your ATAR, so if your first SAC marks aren’t reflective of your ability that’s completely ok. I’d say that struggling with a year 12 workload is pretty normal & that 5 unit 3&4 subjects in year 12 is standard. If you can pick up a ¾ subject now psych is relatively easy to pick up as there’s not much overlap with units 1&2 – whether or not you can is something to talk to your school about. Biology is a popular subject to complete early but you certainly don’t have to do it that way! I’d say – and keep in mind that this is very subjective – that biology would be slightly harder than psych to pick up as a 3/4 but still very doable.

Good luck!

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

Hey,

Keep in mind that in Victoria unit 1&2 scores don’t contribute to your ATAR, so if your first SAC marks aren’t reflective of your ability that’s completely ok. I’d say that struggling with a year 12 workload is pretty normal & that 5 unit 3&4 subjects in year 12 is standard. If you can pick up a ¾ subject now psych is relatively easy to pick up as there’s not much overlap with units 1&2 – whether or not you can is something to talk to your school about. Biology is a popular subject to complete early but you certainly don’t have to do it that way! I’d say – and keep in mind that this is very subjective – that biology would be slightly harder than psych to pick up as a 3/4 but still very doable.

Good luck!

Thanks I’ll ask on Monday and hopefully I’ll be able to change!

[Aaron]

Given it's already Week 6 of Term 1 technically, I reckon (from a teaching/admin point of view) there's only a very slim chance of the change (change referring to picking up a new 3/4 subject) being approved. Schools approve/decline changes based on timetabling and blocking and given this is set well in advance, it will only be approved if you a) have a very good reason for the change and b) whether your change fits in with their predefined timetable blocking (as any major change will require a massive reshuffle of the timetable and of course they won't do that).

From a VCAA point of view, VASS allows the enrolment/withdrawal of units up until 6 May so from a technical perspective it is possible to make the change still, however schools need to finalise data by 25 Feb (which has just passed) so that planning/prep can be done for all the assessments, auditing etc.....

You might be able to just drop one of the subjects now (if that is something worth investigating?).. that won't impact anything significantly (unless it then means you don't qualify for the VCE)

tl;dr will only approve the change if it benefits them and you aren't just doing it because you've changed your mind

Sidenote: Not just pulling these dates out of my ass either, see admin advice: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/schooladmin/admindates/index.aspx

Good luck.