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March 29, 2024, 07:04:01 pm

Author Topic: Subject advice  (Read 3684 times)  Share 

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Ellie__

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Subject advice
« on: February 18, 2017, 08:11:21 pm »
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Hi AtarNotes users,

I totally know most of you aren't career experts but I'm in need of advice as to what subject to drop. I'm currently in year 12 and still carrying 14 units (ahhh). With half yearlies on the way I'm not quite sure if I should risk them by carrying 14 units. My current subjects are-
4 unit English
2 U maths
Chemistry
Biology
PDHPE
Modern History
I would really like to get into medicine next year and therefore need to do what is best for my atar. I'm currently tossing up between dropping bio or modern history as with both I like them equally and my marks for both are pretty much on par. But both of them require me to put a lot of work in so I'm not quite sure what to pick

If you have any thoughts, please share!

bowiemily

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Re: Subject advice
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2017, 08:51:13 pm »
+2
Hi AtarNotes users,

I totally know most of you aren't career experts but I'm in need of advice as to what subject to drop. I'm currently in year 12 and still carrying 14 units (ahhh). With half yearlies on the way I'm not quite sure if I should risk them by carrying 14 units. My current subjects are-
4 unit English
2 U maths
Chemistry
Biology
PDHPE
Modern History
I would really like to get into medicine next year and therefore need to do what is best for my atar. I'm currently tossing up between dropping bio or modern history as with both I like them equally and my marks for both are pretty much on par. But both of them require me to put a lot of work in so I'm not quite sure what to pick

If you have any thoughts, please share!

Hey Ellie!
I found myself in the same spot last year! Though, I dropped down to 10 units rather than 12. For me, the reason I had more than 10 in the first place was because I thought one of the compulsory units (Studies of Religion) wouldn't scale well for me. In the end, the timetabling and amount of the subject I had to learn by myself were the main reasons as to why I dropped Extension History. You may have the same problem with Extension 2 English. But if not, I hope you're enjoying it and I encourage you to keep it!

Modern History is a very hard subject, and out of all of those I studied, it took up the most of my time. It is extremely difficult to work out the best way to form that Band Six essay that appeals to every teacher (which is weirdly more difficult then it should be, they all have the same marking criteria, right?!), and it is ridiculously content heavy. In saying this, it is also one of the most interesting subjects in the HSC - you just have to have the knack for remembering things and a genuine interest in history/politics particularly. If not, this subject is probably going to be a bit of a drain on your HSC. However, I knew people who said the exact same thing about Biology. Bio is also hard to get a Band Six in, hopefully one of the other ATAR Notes guys can confirm this for me, as I'm not 100% sure.

Hopefully some of this advice helps! I'm not sure of scaling and the rest, but I wanted to help you out as much as possible  ;D
Currently offering tutoring, send me a PM or email me at [email protected]
AdvEng: 100 (1st in State) - ExtEng: 49/50 - EarthEnviroScience: 95/100 (7th in State) - Modern History: 95/100 - Legal Studies: 96/100 Studies of Religion: 47/50

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Shadowxo

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Re: Subject advice
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2017, 09:26:11 pm »
+3
I'm from Vic, and I haven't done modern history but I'll share my 2 cents  :P
I did VCE bio and it was a lot of time memorising, but I would imagine it would be easier to do well in if you're willing to put in the work. My experience was a lot of rote learning (that being said I quite liked the subject), but the marking is pretty consistent. With modern history (I may be wrong) but there'd be a bit of discrepancy between marks and, as bowiemily said it would be difficult to create a top essay that appeals to every teacher, as well as being very content heavy. Also, if you want to do medicine after high school, having a bit of biology background knowledge may help. I'd recommend dropping modern history, but make sure you choose the subject you like and are able to do well in. Use the information from us AN nerds to make the best decision you can for you.

Whatever you choose, good luck!  ;D
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sudodds

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Re: Subject advice
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2017, 09:48:29 pm »
+2
It pains me to say this (genuine, stabbing, excruciating pain) but from what I can see bio is probably the better choice for you.
I have no experience with bio, but I can verify what emily said in that Modern takes up a lot of time for most people. I like to think that it is because modern history is super interesting and a lot of people are actually willing to put in that much time and effort (I know that was the case for me - i would have rather spent six consecutive hours doing modern past papers than 5 minutes of economics multiple choice during my HSC year), and it can be very subjective (however I do think that there are ways to appeal to most markers in regards to structure for the source analysis and essays - if you do decide to stick with modern defs head over to the modern threads for some tips  ;D).

As far as I am aware NSW uni's do not have prerequisites, however I would assume that bio would be assumed knowledge if you wanted to get into medicine, whereas knowing that the schlieffen plan failed due to Moltke's weakening of the right flank won't be  ;) Bio would also mesh quite well with some of your other subjects (again I am assuming here - I lump all maths and science into the "things I can't do" category of my brain), like Chem, PDHPE and 2U maths, so study wise it might be a bit easier/less jumbled. On that note though, Modern might be a nice break from those kind of subjects, but I feel like 4 unit english probably does that well enough anyway (judging by your subjects you're an extremely well rounded individual academically well done!)

Anyways TL;DR, I agree with emily and Shadowxo, and think Bio is probably the better option for you (refer to this youtube vid for a visual representation of my emotions in regards to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pVT_mvvZLo  :'( )
« Last Edit: February 18, 2017, 09:55:17 pm by sudodds »
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jamonwindeyer

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Re: Subject advice
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2017, 12:49:06 am »
+2
Hey Ellie! Susie, Shadow and Emily have said pretty much everything I'd say, so I'll just make a few points:

- Susie is right, no university has prerequisites for courses right now, just assumed knowledge. Meaning, it might help to know certain things, but in no way is it absolutely necessary and it is always something you can catch up on before you start. My partner did a bridging course over the summer for Chemistry after not doing it in the HSC, worked well for her ;D
- Biology scales only marginally better than Modern History, and they have similar scaled averages. That said, significantly more people get a Band 6 in Modern than Bio (about 6% vs 12%, based on 2015 data).

My advice would be to pick what you enjoy the least. Don't give up something you are passionate about in an attempt to 'play the game.' Just do what makes you happiest! That is almost always going to lead to the best outcome, because the better results that come from a happy mind will outweigh any marginal benefits from scaling every time ;D

Ellie__

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Re: Subject advice
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2017, 08:05:03 pm »
+1
Thankyou Everyone!!!!!


You've brought up some really good points. I think I'm more comfortable writing essays but in saying that I haven't got all the time in the world to study it. I think I'll give it a bit more thought as you guys have said some points I haven't even considered


Thanks again guys!! :D :D