Subjects Dilemma (1 Viewer)

[symio]

hi... this gonna be so long and repetitive but..

my dad wants me to pursue commerce/accounting degrees in UNSW or USYD in the future while I want to do communications&media or design in architecture instead (im leaning towards arts or humanities). he would not let me do the majors I want unless i do double degree....which I don't really have problems with but just scared for the high atar required for it. I have seriously stressed out about this as it is my future and he is stopping me from doing what I want to do. To him, atar is not good unless its 96+ and the only universities that seem to exist to him are either USYD or UNSW. is it just my asian dad or does anyone else experience this? Because of his wish for me to achieve a good atar and get into commerce etc. he does not let me do Japanese or Visual Arts although those subjects are what I want to replace Business Studies with.

(my subjects are: maths ext, eng ext, eco, bio, modern his, and business studies........)

I was not against doing Business at first but considering all the heavy humanities I'm choosing I fear I might literally die of stress/boredom next year. I have not done Japanese for electives in yr 9-10 nor visual arts. (therefore i have to do jap beg). For japanese, im concerned with the amount of things i need to memorise, since we only get less than two years to try cram everything in..and also not sure about scaling. For visual arts, i did it in year 7 and 8 and i remember enjoying it a lot. But im scared for the scaling (the big reason my dad does not allow me to do it) and the workload for year 12 with bow. but the thought of doing art highly interests me….even …the art theory because i enjoy interpreting artworks…
however, i keep being denied by my parents of doing jap or va because of their infamous low scaling..so i dont know if i should keep convincing them to let me choose it.

all this must be very confusing and annoying, but can you please give me advice on what subjects i should change business to and if i even should change it? (since it deeply goes against my dad's plans for me.. and the new materials for both jap and va). If anyone is in uni and does commerce/communications please input too. thank you and i really appreciate it!

 

[symio]

Listen, i have these parents. 99+ atar and i HAVE to become a doctor. Hear me out though, if you do subjects that you have 0 interest in, you WILL stop paying attention. You will not have the drive to push ahead and be excited to learn. THIS WILL GREATLY DIMINISH YOUR ATAR.

Dont worry about scaling. Do what you enjoy so that youll have the motivation to do well. YOU are the one studying. YOU are the one under stress. it is YOUR atar, and most importantly, YOUR career. Not your parents.

Do not fall into the manipulative trap of attempting to please your parents. Do what makes you happy. Aim for the career that you want for your own future. Do you want to become someone who hates their job?

Also, there are so so many pathways, try your best and leave it at that. Go with what brings you joy.

wow, sorry to hear you're under similar pressures as me..so are you interested in studying to become a doctor at all? i feel obligated to meet the expectations of my parents and THEIR career goals set for me (business or computing science since it earns more) as i am the only child and in the end, i may be the one supporting the family. do you mind me asking what subjects you are choosing next year? i hope you are satisfied with your subjects and not like me ;;

 

[idkkdi]

Thats okay, I told them they cant choose my subjects so i got pretty decent subjects. Im taking eng adv, maths standard, bio, legal studies, business studies and ancient history.

I would say that i was more interested in med before my parents started pressuring me. Now i just dont know how to feel.

Hope everything works out for you

Bruh. With your subjects you literally have like no chance of getting the median ATAR for UNSW Med.

 

[idkkdi]

i dont wanna do med?

K then. Why Maths Standard though? If you like Math you might as well take Advanced. If not, you could just drop it.

 

[seremify007]

Whilst I definitely am an advocate of doing something you're interested in so that you can do well, what do you want to do longer term and what do you care about? (ie beyond school, beyond uni).

I was under similar pressures to do commerce and become an accountant back when I was in high school - but fortunately for me, commerce turned out to be one of my best subjects. I actually thought I wanted to pursue a career in IT and did really well in IPT, but thankfully my parents talked me out of it and the stuff I learnt in IPT turned out to be useful in my career in accounting anyway!

Whilst I'm not sure on the reasons why your parents don't want you to do what you're doing, and I don't know if my Dad really foresaw the changes to the IT industry and hence encouraged me to pursue commerce instead, but it did work out very well for me.

 

[Etho_x]

hi... this gonna be so long and repetitive but..

my dad wants me to pursue commerce/accounting degrees in UNSW or USYD in the future while I want to do communications&media or design in architecture instead (im leaning towards arts or humanities). he would not let me do the majors I want unless i do double degree....which I don't really have problems with but just scared for the high atar required for it. I have seriously stressed out about this as it is my future and he is stopping me from doing what I want to do. To him, atar is not good unless its 96+ and the only universities that seem to exist to him are either USYD or UNSW. is it just my asian dad or does anyone else experience this? Because of his wish for me to achieve a good atar and get into commerce etc. he does not let me do Japanese or Visual Arts although those subjects are what I want to replace Business Studies with.

(my subjects are: maths ext, eng ext, eco, bio, modern his, and business studies........)

I was not against doing Business at first but considering all the heavy humanities I'm choosing I fear I might literally die of stress/boredom next year. I have not done Japanese for electives in yr 9-10 nor visual arts. (therefore i have to do jap beg). For japanese, im concerned with the amount of things i need to memorise, since we only get less than two years to try cram everything in..and also not sure about scaling. For visual arts, i did it in year 7 and 8 and i remember enjoying it a lot. But im scared for the scaling (the big reason my dad does not allow me to do it) and the workload for year 12 with bow. but the thought of doing art highly interests me….even …the art theory because i enjoy interpreting artworks…
however, i keep being denied by my parents of doing jap or va because of their infamous low scaling..so i dont know if i should keep convincing them to let me choose it.

all this must be very confusing and annoying, but can you please give me advice on what subjects i should change business to and if i even should change it? (since it deeply goes against my dad's plans for me.. and the new materials for both jap and va). If anyone is in uni and does commerce/communications please input too. thank you and i really appreciate it!

Wait a second, who's call is it at the end of the day to decide their subjects? That's right, you! Why do what your father wants you to do - he doesn't decide your future, and selecting your senior subjects is also no exception. Attempting to complete a course you don't want to do will just leave you demotivated in the long run. Take into consideration that an ATAR is only a number and there are plenty of other ways to get into university besides the ATAR, so whether you get a 96+ ATAR or whether you get below, it's okay. There are always options.

If you still have time, choose one of those subjects to replace Business Studies with. Don't let the scaling bother you too much - it's still possible to get a high ATAR with a lower scaling subject, just as long as you work hard and achieve a high mark in that subject. Just keep in mind that you're in control of yourself, nobody else.

 

[symio]

Wait a second, who's call is it at the end of the day to decide their subjects? That's right, you! Why do what your father wants you to do - he doesn't decide your future, and selecting your senior subjects is also no exception. Attempting to complete a course you don't want to do will just leave you demotivated in the long run. Take into consideration that an ATAR is only a number and there are plenty of other ways to get into university besides the ATAR, so whether you get a 96+ ATAR or whether you get below, it's okay. There are always options.

If you still have time, choose one of those subjects to replace Business Studies with. Don't let the scaling bother you too much - it's still possible to get a high ATAR with a lower scaling subject, just as long as you work hard and achieve a high mark in that subject. Just keep in mind that you're in control of yourself, nobody else.

thank you for your input, i will definitely continue to persuade my parents to let me choose visual arts. as you mentioned, there are other ways to get into university. so what other entry ways can i turn to if i do not receive the ATAR for business or communications?

 

[Etho_x]

thank you for your input, i will definitely continue to persuade my parents to let me choose visual arts. as you mentioned, there are other ways to get into university. so what other entry ways can i turn to if i do not receive the ATAR for business or communications?

I think some universities may grant entry to their courses by looking at your marks in each individual subject or subjects related to the course rather than your ATAR. I can't confirm this since I'm not 100% sure, however, I thought I saw something like this on Sydney Uni's website.

 

[symio]

I think some universities may grant entry to their courses by looking at your marks in each individual subject or subjects related to the course rather than your ATAR. I can't confirm this since I'm not 100% sure, however, I thought I saw something like this on Sydney Uni's website.

ah that makes me a lot less stressed ;; i will continue to try getting my subject changed to visual arts. the main reason my dad is against it is because i recently moved to a new (prestigious ...) private school to do yr 11 and 12 in hopes of receiving higher level of education because my old school did not take anything seriously. so because of the large amounts of money my family is sacrificing for me (an only child), i feel a sense of obligation to go along with my parent's wishes for me...but i still can't give up on visual arts no matter how hard i try to convince myself..my parents want the best for me too and it's so complicated..

 

[Etho_x]

ah that makes me a lot less stressed ;; i will continue to try getting my subject changed to visual arts. the main reason my dad is against it is because i recently moved to a new (prestigious ...) private school to do yr 11 and 12 in hopes of receiving higher level of education because my old school did not take anything seriously. so because of the large amounts of money my family is sacrificing for me (an only child), i feel a sense of obligation to go along with my parent's wishes for me...but i still can't give up on visual arts no matter how hard i try to convince myself..my parents want the best for me too and it's so complicated..

I understand it must be hard. Your parents are allowed to want the best for you, but there's just a boundary as to where it's just taken way too far. For instance, your situation where your dad is trying to decide what you do. I hope all works out for you though!

 

[seremify007]

That being said, it comes down to what you’re trying to achieve and over what time period. Maximising your ATAR and options for entry into uni straight away, or doing something else you enjoy more now and then finding an alternate pathway. Whilst the latter sounds great, you also should play to your strengths and where you may be most advantaged, and at least for me, I personally wouldn’t want to be relying on a subject where a large contributor to my final result is so qualitative and judgemental, and worse, feeling pressured to turn something I enjoy into something I don’t - just like hobbies as an adult, I prefer to keep them as hobbies rather than make a living off them so that I can continue to enjoy them. Just my 2c from someone a bit older than the average BoSer.

ps. I’m not saying roll over and just do what your parents want, but I’d also be mindful to understand why they suggest something and see if it makes sense.

 

[Drdusk]

ps. I’m not saying roll over and just do what your parents want, but I’d also be mindful to understand why they suggest something and see if it makes sense.

tbh when it came to school and choosing degrees my parents never once suggested me to do any subject. I had the capability for 4u maths but they wouldn’t have said anything even if I did general. They might’ve questioned me because I was good enough at maths but not pressured me into going with their choice. They were just like go do whatever you enjoy. While it’s good to consider your parents advice I think in symio’s case it’s a bit too extreme. She should do what she enjoys and parents should understand that :/

 

[Drdusk]

They did question the uni degree that I chose and told me I should consider something else. In particular going with advanced science in that it’s useless and what not but I wasn’t pressured like her.

I would encourage you to do what Subjects you want to do. If you want to do art type subjects go for it!