Guide to selecting your HSC Courses (3 Viewers)

[iRuler]

Do Phys/Chem/Eco/3English/3Math

OR alternatively

Do what you will like.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

My advice to Yr 10's-

1) Firstly decide on your English level.
2) Decide if you want to do maths and if so, what level. (My suggestion for one and two, if in doubt take the higher level, I sometimes wish I'd at least tried Ext Maths)
3) For the rest of your subjects, pick a mixture of what you like and are good at. Ask older students, some subjects are very different once you hit Yr 11.
I think one of the hardest to decide is your maths/eng level and after that, whether you want to do a HSC language course. Also it can be hard if you like science deciding how many/which to take. And history buffs, that question of which history or doing both is hard.

What I personally did was immediately cross all offered subjects off in the subject selection book that I DEFINITELY would never take and slowly whittled my way down to suitable number of units.

Generally I recommend a mixture of subjects-most people don't like being slogged w/ all science/maths even if they do like them, but then again most humanities students don't want to be cranking out essays non stop because of the subjects they pick.

Also, after all your meticulous planning, you tend to need to re evaluate when your school lines come out (like I did). But overall, I'm pretty content with what I'm doing even if they're not all my favourites, they're the best on each line for me.

 

[powlmao]

May i add

Never pick subjects just because they are easy, you will learn to hate they and you will do bad, do subjects you like and maybe would like to do when your older.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

It is my belief there is never such a thing as an easy subject EXCEPT when you pick a too easier levelled maths or english. But things like history and such can never be considered easy, because you should be putting more effort in.

 

[powlmao]

It is my belief there is never such a thing as an easy subject EXCEPT when you pick a too easier levelled maths or english. But things like history and such can never be considered easy, because you should be putting more effort in.

Well i should of done advance english, i find standard really easy, i though sincei was never the best english student i should do standard, now i am finding i am getting the same marks as the Advance

But there are easy subjects, Food Tech is one, it really is common sense, woodwork, drama all subjects i see as inferrior to real subjects like Maths, English, HSIE and science subjects

 

[erob]

Re: Prelim Subject Selection Guide

If you don't know what you want to do, pick pretty general subjects, like one in every area

E.g.

English Advanced
Mathematics
Modern History
Chemistry
Italian Continuers
Music 1
Studies of Religion 1 (compulsory)

I picked those but couldn't do Mod. Hist so ended up with Bio instead, which I love. Also dropped Chem after the prelims because I got 38%.

 

[ChiMidori]

Re: Prelim Subject Selection Guide

TIP: Rememberrrrrrrrr.....................

Your prelims mean NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTHINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG............................

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Re: Prelim Subject Selection Guide

^Are you doing Jap Ext next year, ChiMidori?

 

[ClassOf2013]

With maths, pick the highest level that you think you may be capable of. If you find it too hard, you can always drop to a lower level of maths. It's much easier to drop down than to move up.

Also, I echo what has been said about not picking subjects "just because your mates are doing them". If anything, it is probably better to pick subjects your mates aren't doing, as the temptation to talk and muck around isn't there.

 

[hollaatmichelle]

When abouts do we select our HSC courses? later on this term or?

 

[rogerlam]

Why is there a thread on this? I'm pretty sure your teachers have all told you to do what you LIKE!

 

[Triage]

I have known what subjects I want to do for so long that I can't remember if I actually want to do them or just think I do.
Economics, chemistry, extension 1 maths, extension 1 English, 2 unit sor (my school mandates it for year 11)

 

[Wonder]

Do you think 14 units would be too much for Year 11? I'm getting a little worried because I'm not entirely sure what about my last 2 units and whether I should just take 14 first...

So far I've decided on:
3 unit English
3 unit Maths
French
IPT

And I don't know whether I should do Chemistry or Modern History. I didn't do Elective History in Years 9&10, will that make it too difficult to do it in Years 11 & 12? And I'm not great at Chemistry/Science/practical skills, which I find harder to improve on. I guess I could not do IPT (really don't like the theory parts) but the practical parts are kind of fun and it's one of my better subjects. Thoughts?

 

[enoilgam]

Do you think 14 units would be too much for Year 11? I'm getting a little worried because I'm not entirely sure what about my last 2 units and whether I should just take 14 first...

So far I've decided on:
3 unit English
3 unit Maths
French
IPT

And I don't know whether I should do Chemistry or Modern History. I didn't do Elective History in Years 9&10, will that make it too difficult to do it in Years 11 & 12? And I'm not great at Chemistry/Science/practical skills, which I find harder to improve on. I guess I could not do IPT (really don't like the theory parts) but the practical parts are kind of fun and it's one of my better subjects. Thoughts?

You dont need to have done elective history in years 9 and 10 for modern. Many people who do well in modern havent done history in stage 5 - it probably wouldnt give you much of an advantage anyway. If you dont like chemistry and dont feel strong in it, then its probably not a good idea to do it. So Modern and IPT would probably be a better idea.

14 units is quite a bit for year 11, but its certainly managable with a good work ethic and motivation. Just remember, if it becomes to much, you can drop to 12 units at any time

 

[Wonder]

You dont need to have done elective history in years 9 and 10 for modern. Many people who do well in modern havent done history in stage 5 - it probably wouldnt give you much of an advantage anyway. If you dont like chemistry and dont feel strong in it, then its probably not a good idea to do it. So Modern and IPT would probably be a better idea.

14 units is quite a bit for year 11, but its certainly managable with a good work ethic and motivation. Just remember, if it becomes to much, you can drop to 12 units at any time

Thanks for the input!

I'm not bad in Chemistry and I don't dislike it, it's just that the Stage 6 content seems a bit more daunting than with other subjects, from what I've seen of the syllabuses. Guess I still need to think over this in the time I've got.

 

[iEatOysters]

I'm not too sure about the amount of English I should do. How does English Ext. 1 compare to Advanced English in terms of difficulty?

 

[slyhunter]

it's difficult to compare imo since the work and analysis in one is quite different from the other

certainly the workload for ext 1 is quite substantial for a one unit subject

 

[Shadowdude]

I'm not too sure about the amount of English I should do. How does English Ext. 1 compare to Advanced English in terms of difficulty?

Depends what module you do. I got a module where it was very easy, and I breezed past in the year.

So really, if you like English, take it - and try it. It's a much easier subject than Advanced if you're into that sort of thinking, it's more... what uni English is. Less formulaic. More... literary.

 

[hit patel]

Hi,
I am a student that is choosing my subjects today. I dont like biology because of the preliminary stuff in biology such as ecology, evolution etc. Otherwise its ok. Also i like economics because it is fun and it has mathematic formulas and i ejoy maths. So is it ok for me to pick economics instead of biology knowing that i hate the senior science part of biology. Can you guys please tell me how much percent of economics is maths (formulas etc). also economics isnt scaled lower and i enjoy it. Thanks

 

[Shadowdude]

Yes, you can pick Econ over Biology. And you shouldn't consider scaling in your decision.

And iirc, there's not a lot of maths in HSC Economics.