VCE Subjects

[justme0]

Hi, I'm in year 10 now and I am doing business man unit 1/2. I want to be an architect so I have no clue what subject to choose.For sure im going to choose english,general math,vcd and i dont know what other 2 subjects to choose. None of them interests me. I was wondering what subjects would be useful for my career.

[lm21074]

I think you have a good range of subjects on your list! My best advice is to choose what you enjoy.

[Shadowxo]

Hey
So it looks like you're doing the subjects you need to complete. If by general math you mean further maths, I may recommend doing methods as well, as it's a requirement for many courses. Even if you don't need it for the course you want to do, it'll give you options should you decide to pursue something else or study somewhere that requires it.
I'd definitely recommend looking up requirements for courses you're planning on going into and seeing if there are any other recommended / required subjects you should do.
Apart from that, I'd look through subjects and choose the ones most interesting to you! If you're interested in maths you could do specialist, if you like science you could do chemistry, biology, physics, psychology, if you're interested in history or geography do that. Just personal choice
Good luck in your choices!

[AngelWings]

As a person who originally wanted to be an architect (but switched) and did get an interview with Monash for the course, my suggestion, aside from the usual three things I say*, is to make sure that you still aim high. I was told in my interview that the average clearly in ATAR varies a lot and will depend on the person's ability to conduct an interview, however most students get in with ATAR of 85+ (but that's loosely based and not on actual data, so please take this cautiously).

* The three criteria you should follow for subject selection:
1. do what you like
2. do what you're good at
3. do what you need post-VCE (In this case, architecture at most places require you to complete English or English alternative e.g. Literature with a study score of 20. 25 or 30, succeed in a pre-selection activity - answering a prompt with some designs - and do well in an interview in usually October -December in your Year 12 year.)

In addition to these, I would recommend that you keep maths there (basically because maths is needed as an architect), preferably Methods and/ or Further Maths because both will be useful regardless of pathway, like Shadowxo has said. I would also recommend that you have a back up plan in case you can't get into architecture for whatever reason (e.g. can't get interview), learn what prerequisites you might need for those and fill in the extra blanks that way. Also, I don't know how relevant this may be, but if you are picking between the sciences, Environmental Science or Physics may be of interest to you for your career in architecture.

[Joseph41]

Hi, I'm in year 10 now and I am doing business man unit 1/2. I want to be an architect so I have no clue what subject to choose.For sure im going to choose english,general math,vcd and i dont know what other 2 subjects to choose. None of them interests me. I was wondering what subjects would be useful for my career.

Hey justme0,

Welcome to ATAR Notes! Great to have you here. How are you finding Year 10 at the moment?

Your post really spoke to me, because I was in practically the same position! I did Business Management 1/2 in Year 10, I wanted to be an architect, and I was struggling with subject selection. So, feels, hahaha.

My advice:
> Sounds like you're set on English, General Math (which becomes Further) and VCD. I recommend doing six 3/4 subjects in total, so that's potentially 3/6.
> Regarding career, I think VCD is going to be most useful, and you have that already. What subjects are offered at your school? I didn't end up pursuing architecture, but from what I know, Methods might be useful. So theoretically, that could be English, Further, VCD and Methods.
> Otherwise, I think just going with your gut for the other two is a good idea. Do you like humanities subjects? English subjects? Science subjects? In terms of career preparation/having a back-up plan (as above), I'd probably chuck in a science subject. So maybe one of Physics/Chem/Psych/Bio?

That leaves space for one more subject - considering you're doing Business Management 1/2 this year, I assume BusMan? That way, you could hypothetically do something like:

Year 11: Business Management 3/4
Year 12: English 3/4, Further Maths 3/4, Maths Methods 3/4, Visual Communication Design 3/4, [Science subject] 3/4

What do you think? It's ultimately up to you, of course. It's difficult for anybody here to give specific advice without more knowledge of you and your circumstances - so take everything here with a grain of salt. Do you have a careers counsellor at your school? If so, I highly recommend speaking with them about your subjects. Otherwise, teachers are usually pretty helpful!

Let us know how you go, and what you end up choosing. Can't wait to see you around the forums!