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March 29, 2024, 02:28:32 am

Author Topic: Do you wish you could graduate early? (or spread 3/4 subjects over a few years)  (Read 1087 times)  Share 

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Geoo

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I know that you can take some subjects early at year 10 and at the earliest year 9, but I kind of wish I could have spread out my education more.

Not exactly like the American system, but they have what I believe is AP classes, which are sort of the equivalent to a 3/4 subject. They can take these as early as year 9, and gain enough credit to graduate. I wish I was allowed to take a few subjects earlier (like year 8 or 9), and spread out my course work so year 12 wasn't as stressful.
For instance:
Year 9: Biology (3/4), food studies (3/4) (other year 9 classes)
Year 10:Chem (1/2), English (1/2) (other year 10 classes)
Year 11:Chem 3/4, englsish (3/4) Maths methods (1/2)
Year 12:Maths Methods (3/4), (another subject?)
I think for high achieving students it could be much more challenging! I also like the idea of graduating early. I know that some people miss some  life milestones, but if you don't like the school environment, or have other issues, getting your schooling out of the way would be a great option! Having your last year being not as stressful I think would be great as well!
So what do you guys think?
I also don't know if I like the whole 16 units to graduate. I think it should be based on doing 4 or more subjects, and just your scores from 3/4?
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caffinatedloz

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I skipped a grade so I was originally going to graduate at the age of 16, so the plan was for me to do three years of VCE and just take bonus subjects that I was interested in. However, then I missed so much school due to being really sick that I had to repeat year 8, so that went out the window.

I wish that I could have spread my subjects out more, or even just taken some extra ones. My school only lets you do one 3/4 in Year 11, so my subjects are going to be very cramped together.

Geoo

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I skipped a grade so I was originally going to graduate at the age of 16, so the plan was for me to do three years of VCE and just take bonus subjects that I was interested in. However, then I missed so much school due to being really sick that I had to repeat year 8, so that went out the window.

I wish that I could have spread my subjects out more, or even just taken some extra ones. My school only lets you do one 3/4 in Year 11, so my subjects are going to be very cramped together.

I didn't skip a level, but it would have been so nice to spread out VCE more! I think it is just to stressful and as you said, it can get very cramped towards the end.
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Ionic Doc

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Yes, I would have loved to spread out my subjects.
My school also only allows one 3/4 subject to be completed in year 11, so I'm sorta anxious at how im gonna cope studying for 5 subjects come exam time next year.

However that being said, I feel like if I did do VCE subjects in year 9 or 10 that I may have not been mature enough to handle them, or maybe I may have matured much quicker, idk.

My younger brother seeing me do VCE has chosen to do 2 3/4 subjects in year 10 either through my current school or VSV if they allow him.
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Sconey

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I think it's easy to say that you would have liked to complete VCE subjects earlier when in later years. However, I think you may have overestimated your capabilities of your younger self. While you may have done very well in Year 9; Year 12 level biology is a whole other ball game. I personally, although a strong student, don't think I could have completed either Biology or Maths Methods (which I am completing currently in Year 11) in Year 9.

PhoenixxFire

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My high school does allow this. I did a 3/4 in year 10, another in year 11, and then four in year 12, which I definitely thought (and do still think) was a good thing.

My brother is only doing five years of high school (so essentially skipping a year, but I couldn't tell you which year it is haha). He is doing two 3/4s in year 11 and will be doing four in year 12.

Doing 3/4s in year 9 is a bit much imo. I don't really see any point to it anyway - only six subjects can contribute to your atar so spreading them out over 4 years just seems unnecessary. I wish more schools allowed students to do 3/4s in year 10 though (but also I wish classes were more streamlined by current knowledge rather than age, a lot of schools spend year 7 and 8 playing catch up in english and math because people come out of primary school with a wide range of knowledge/skills). With the way the schooling system works at the moment it would be a bit difficult to let students do 3/4s early. e.g. if you teach all year 7s and then year 8s the same content, you can't then expect some of those students to be able to jump into a year 11 math class (unless they're learning outside of class). However, if you tested students/used primary school records and put them into an appropriate class based on that, you potentially would have some students who could go straight into a year 9 level math class, because they already know everything that gets taught in the year 7 and yea 8 classes, and then it would be far easier for them to move through into year 11/12 classes in year 9/10 and not waste years relearning stuff they already know.
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milanander

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I have quite a lot of thoughts on this topic as I have personal experience with the matter, albeit on the VERY extreme end.

Being a serious high achiever since primary school I saw it as my main goal to graduate as early as possible, so in primary school I skipped 2 grades. Then I did my very first 3/4 subject in year 8 when I was 11yr-old, followed by a second 3/4 in year 9 when I was 12.

I found the whole process of trying to "race against the clock" to graduate quicker very counter productive and I really wish I had used year 8 and 9 to explore all my options instead of blindly doing VCE subjects for the sake of graduating earlier. Hence I tried to "undo" my mistake of skipping two years by repeating another two years in year 10 so I am now the same age as my peers again. And I am also starting from square 1 with my VCE subjects.

So here's my thoughts on this subject: doing 3/4s early for the sake of graduating early is quite harmful and I would really advice against doing that if you can. Maybe if you really are mature enough to take on a VCE subject before you're 16, sure. But for the rest of us, just stick with convention.
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Geoo

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I think it's easy to say that you would have liked to complete VCE subjects earlier when in later years. However, I think you may have overestimated your capabilities of your younger self. While you may have done very well in Year 9; Year 12 level biology is a whole other ball game. I personally, although a strong student, don't think I could have completed either Biology or Maths Methods (which I am completing currently in Year 11) in Year 9.
I think it really depends on the person. I personally excelled in science at an early age and it was my passion. I often found myself getting board of what I was learning in my year 8 and 9 science classes and wished I could have gone ahead as I found it more interesting. I know some people from a few high schools do offer bio in year 9, and they found it ok, so I really do think it depends on the person.
My high school does allow this. I did a 3/4 in year 10, another in year 11, and then four in year 12, which I definitely thought (and do still think) was a good thing.

My brother is only doing five years of high school (so essentially skipping a year, but I couldn't tell you which year it is haha). He is doing two 3/4s in year 11 and will be doing four in year 12.

Doing 3/4s in year 9 is a bit much imo. I don't really see any point to it anyway - only six subjects can contribute to your atar so spreading them out over 4 years just seems unnecessary. I wish more schools allowed students to do 3/4s in year 10 though (but also I wish classes were more streamlined by current knowledge rather than age, a lot of schools spend year 7 and 8 playing catch up in english and math because people come out of primary school with a wide range of knowledge/skills). With the way the schooling system works at the moment it would be a bit difficult to let students do 3/4s early. e.g. if you teach all year 7s and then year 8s the same content, you can't then expect some of those students to be able to jump into a year 11 math class (unless they're learning outside of class). However, if you tested students/used primary school records and put them into an appropriate class based on that, you potentially would have some students who could go straight into a year 9 level math class, because they already know everything that gets taught in the year 7 and yea 8 classes, and then it would be far easier for them to move through into year 11/12 classes in year 9/10 and not waste years relearning stuff they already know.
I definitely think how our school system is with age is flawed and year 7 and 8 is as you said, a catch up. For me personally, I found the jump of year 10 maths to maths methods huge, and I don't think the current system prepares for this as they spend so much time doing catch up. And as I said before, I believe it really depends on the student.
I have quite a lot of thoughts on this topic as I have personal experience with the matter, albeit on the VERY extreme end.

Being a serious high achiever since primary school I saw it as my main goal to graduate as early as possible, so in primary school I skipped 2 grades. Then I did my very first 3/4 subject in year 8 when I was 11yr-old, followed by a second 3/4 in year 9 when I was 12.

I found the whole process of trying to "race against the clock" to graduate quicker very counter productive and I really wish I had used year 8 and 9 to explore all my options instead of blindly doing VCE subjects for the sake of graduating earlier. Hence I tried to "undo" my mistake of skipping two years by repeating another two years in year 10 so I am now the same age as my peers again. And I am also starting from square 1 with my VCE subjects.

So here's my thoughts on this subject: doing 3/4s early for the sake of graduating early is quite harmful and I would really advice against doing that if you can. Maybe if you really are mature enough to take on a VCE subject before you're 16, sure. But for the rest of us, just stick with convention.
Yeah i didn't see it as a race, I think that is a terrible way to go about it. I was more so coming from the perspective of people with physical or mental health issues or even people who found the school environment hard, as a way to get their education and move on with their life. I can't believe that you did it that early, that is amazing and way too early! But I do think is in nice to feel on par time wise with your age group.
I think my main point was that I wished it was spread out more so year 12 wasn't as stress full, aka only doing 3 (3/4) subjects a year, so you have more time to enjoy life, peruse hobbies, take a job, socialise etc.
I do agree with you on graduating to early can be harmful, but at the same time, there are some really special cases that can just graduate early, wait a few years then go onto uni if that's what they want to do.
Nice to hear it from your perspective though!
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash