Dropping subjects (1 Viewer)

[broilingshroom]

I’m currently starting the y12 course — graduating in 2022

Right now I’m taking eng adv, maths ext1, bio, chem, phys, and chinese in context

I originally took physics as a bludge subject that I was gonna drop in y12, but my prelim results for phys turned out to be decent and my marks for chinese (for the whole prelim course) weren’t really up to the standard that I expected (its also pretty competitive w the same ppl at the top).

I plan to go down to 11u but can’t decide if I should drop phy or chinese -.-
Whichever i choose, it probably won’t be really relevant to my uni course I pick so I guess its just a matter of the number of marks for the amount of time that I put in.
Considering that im not the best in eng or maths, I’d have to spend more time on them throughout y12 and im just not sure if taking 3 sciences in this scenario would be a good idea.

Sorry for making this too long, but any feedback on anything would be appreciated, thank you

 

[may22]

Which subject do you enjoy more? Which one did you find easier to do well in? And which one would you be more motivated to study for?

That might help you decide between the two. If you find it is easier to do better in physics than chinese, and you enjoy it more, it might be worth keeping

 

[jimmysmith560]

I was in a similar position to you as year 11 was coming to an end. I was on 13 units and wanted to drop either Earth and Environmental Science or Information Processes and Technology. Neither of those subjects was relevant to my tertiary studies, meaning my decision to drop one of those subjects was purely academic. I eventually dropped Earth and Environmental Science because I realised I had more potential in IPT, which was evident as I was achieving superior results throughout year 11. In the end, I was pleased to have achieved a band 6 in this subject overall. This somewhat aligns with your situation, since you mentioned that probably neither Physics nor Chinese in Context will be relevant to your university degree.

Taking 3 Science subjects is by no means easy. Something you may wish to consider is how you feel you have coped/performed having taken 3 Science subjects in year 11 and whether you feel that keeping them all in year 12 constitutes a manageable workload. If you feel that the workload is something you will be able to handle, it might be better to drop Chinese in Context. Another thing to consider is whether you can receive any assistance with Chinese in Context throughout year 12 that would allow you to perform well in this subject, perhaps from friends/family. In such a case, and provided you are not a fan of the workload of the 3 sciences, you may wish to keep Chinese in Context.

I hope this helps!

 

[broilingshroom]

sorry I was kinda vague and forgot to mention this, but I didnt study physics consistently throughout the year because i was pretty sure that i was going to drop it. I probably put in a bit more effort in chinese with all the homework and stuff, but i didn't really find either of them to be super enjoyable.

I'm still trying to figure out how to study for chinese -- seeing the mistakes and feedback from my prelims, i don't feel very confident in being able to avoid them in the coming exams.
For physics, I'm not sure my marks are decent just because I go to a comprehensive high school and its not as competitive as some selective schools + our paper might be easier..? so even if i do decently at school, i still might be thrown off by externals

 

[jimmysmith560]

sorry I was kinda vague and forgot to mention this, but I didnt study physics consistently throughout the year because i was pretty sure that i was going to drop it. I probably put in a bit more effort in chinese with all the homework and stuff, but i didn't really find either of them to be super enjoyable.

I'm still trying to figure out how to study for chinese -- seeing the mistakes and feedback from my prelims, i don't feel very confident in being able to avoid them in the coming exams.
For physics, I'm not sure my marks are decent just because I go to a comprehensive high school and its not as competitive as some selective schools + our paper might be easier..? so even if i do decently at school, i still might be thrown off by externals

Perhaps the alternative approach would be appropriate in your case. Have you thought of keeping both subjects as you commence year 12, and then choosing which one to drop? Direct experience of the HSC course, including completion of one assessment task/exam from each of those subjects will allow you to make a much more informed decision regarding which subject to drop.

 

[broilingshroom]

I was in a similar position to you as year 11 was coming to an end. I was on 13 units and wanted to drop either Earth and Environmental Science or Information Processes and Technology. Neither of those subjects was relevant to my tertiary studies, meaning my decision to drop one of those subjects was purely academic. I eventually dropped Earth and Environmental Science because I realised I had more potential in IPT, which was evident as I was achieving superior results throughout year 11. In the end, I was pleased to have achieved a band 6 in this subject overall. This somewhat aligns with your situation, since you mentioned that probably neither Physics nor Chinese in Context will be relevant to your university degree.

Taking 3 Science subjects is by no means easy. Something you may wish to consider is how you feel you have coped/performed having taken 3 Science subjects in year 11 and whether you feel that keeping them all in year 12 constitutes a manageable workload. If you feel that the workload is something you will be able to handle, it might be better to drop Chinese in Context. Another thing to consider is whether you can receive any assistance with Chinese in Context throughout year 12 that would allow you to perform well in this subject, perhaps from friends/family. In such a case, and provided you are not a fan of the workload of the 3 sciences, you may wish to keep Chinese in Context.

I hope this helps!

I found the workload for the three sciences in year 11 to be quite a bit but still manageable but I'm not too sure because i didn't properly study for physics in year 11. I already know that I need to spend more time on maths and eng so i'm just concerned about the workload that I'll have if i properly study physics, maths and eng consistently throughout the year.

 

[broilingshroom]

Perhaps the alternative approach would be appropriate in your case. Have you thought of keeping both subjects as you commence year 12, and then choosing which one to drop? Direct experience of the HSC course, including completion of one assessment task/exam from each of those subjects will allow you to make a much more informed decision regarding which subject to drop.

Yea I thought about keeping all 13u for the first assessment. But on second thoughts, I think it would be pretty hard to juggle all of the subjects and the amount of effort that i put into chinese + physics (I'll eventually drop one of them) might make it harder for me to do as well as i could in my other subjects if i went down to 11u before assessments come up

 

[jimmysmith560]

Yea I thought about keeping all 13u for the first assessment. But on second thoughts, I think it would be pretty hard to juggle all of the subjects and the amount of effort that i put into chinese + physics (I'll eventually drop one of them) might make it harder for me to do as well as i could in my other subjects if i went down to 11u before assessments come up

It seems to me like there is a perfect balance between the advantages and disadvantages of keeping either Physics or Chinese in Context in year 12, which is not very helpful. The only factor that would make me lean more towards Chinese in Context is the workload that you will be subject to (should you keep the 3 sciences) and the fact that you aim to study properly and consistently for English Advanced and Mathematics Extension 1. The HSC course generally builds on existing concepts (those you have learned within the Preliminary course) and introduces new concepts. This suggests that you can expect each of the 3 sciences to become a bit more challenging in terms of difficulty going forward. Chinese in Context is a language subject, and performing well in languages is definitely possible, provided you are determined and demonstrate consistent effort and are regularly studying, allowing you to better prepare for your assessment tasks/exams. The other good thing about such subjects is that they follow a linear process, meaning the emphasis is mainly on determination, effort, consistency and time management.

 

[SweatyAsian#1]

I’m currently starting the y12 course — graduating in 2022

Right now I’m taking eng adv, maths ext1, bio, chem, phys, and chinese in context

I originally took physics as a bludge subject that I was gonna drop in y12, but my prelim results for phys turned out to be decent and my marks for chinese (for the whole prelim course) weren’t really up to the standard that I expected (its also pretty competitive w the same ppl at the top).

I plan to go down to 11u but can’t decide if I should drop phy or chinese -.-
Whichever i choose, it probably won’t be really relevant to my uni course I pick so I guess its just a matter of the number of marks for the amount of time that I put in.
Considering that im not the best in eng or maths, I’d have to spend more time on them throughout y12 and im just not sure if taking 3 sciences in this scenario would be a good idea.

Sorry for making this too long, but any feedback on anything would be appreciated, thank you

Hold up, is no-one talking about this person saying "took physics as a bludge subject" ?? Bruh, the disrespect

 

[broilingshroom]

update: lmfao reports came out and i still cant decide to drop phys or chinese

ranks look like this
sem1
chn: 18/55
phys: 6/24

sem 2
chn: 17/54
phys: 5/24

i take chinese as an external subject at sat school so our cohort is kinda big for lote. Around 4 ppl dropped from my phys class and 5 from my chinese class (3 classes in total)

It seems like I'm doing better in physics but apparently ≈55% of the 2020 Chinese in context cohort got b6s (similar amounts in previous years as well) so its kinda tempting

 

[broilingshroom]

Hold up, is no-one talking about this person saying "took physics as a bludge subject" ?? Bruh, the disrespect

lmaoo wrong use of words, physics gets rlly confusing and whoops me in the ass when i attempt a question thinking that i've understood it
i meant i assumed that i wasn't going to take physics in y12 so i put in less effort and didn't take it as seriously as my other subjects

 

[ExtremelyBoredUser]

Really up to you. Its hard to tell at this stage because there's no significant or objective advantage from choosing one or the other. If you have some interest in engineering or related fields, then its obvious to go for physics. Personally I would select physics over another language just in case you suddenly get an interest do engineering because a new field popped up that intertwines both areas etc. whereas for the other language you have plenty of time to learn it.

No one can give you real solid advice for this because no one really knows your strengths and disadvantages as a student and what you would enjoy more. This is just what I'd do from my perspective and how I would see both subjects. Learning languages is an extremely important skill however I don't believe you need a classroom environment to necessarily thrive at it; whereas for Physics I think it is more natural in a class setting as you can't conduct the practicals by yourself etc. and the concepts and structure of the subject will force you to seek out external help and in that case a teacher who's there every 3 days of the week teaching can help.

 

[broilingshroom]

Really up to you. Its hard to tell at this stage because there's no significant or objective advantage from choosing one or the other. If you have some interest in engineering or related fields, then its obvious to go for physics. Personally I would select physics over another language just in case you suddenly get an interest do engineering because a new field popped up that intertwines both areas etc. whereas for the other language you have plenty of time to learn it.

No one can give you real solid advice for this because no one really knows your strengths and disadvantages as a student and what you would enjoy more. This is just what I'd do from my perspective and how I would see both subjects. Learning languages is an extremely important skill however I don't believe you need a classroom environment to necessarily thrive at it; whereas for Physics I think it is more natural in a class setting as you can't conduct the practicals by yourself etc. and the concepts and structure of the subject will force you to seek out external help and in that case a teacher who's there every 3 days of the week teaching can help.

I'm looking to do something in the health science field, so I think physics or chinese won't be really useful to me and would just be a matter of which might make y12 more enjoyable..? I've been wanting to go for physics but I hear a lot of stuff on how physics is really difficult so it seems kinda daunting

 

[jimmysmith560]

I'm looking to do something in the health science field, so I think physics or chinese won't be really useful to me and would just be a matter of which might make y12 more enjoyable..? I've been wanting to go for physics but I hear a lot of stuff on how physics is really difficult so it seems kinda daunting

I think you should keep Chinese in Context. You mentioned that neither subject is relevant in terms of your tertiary studies and that you wish to keep either subject purely to make your year 12 experience more enjoyable. Chinese in Context (especially considering the suggestion that more than half of the 2020 cohort achieved a band 6) seems like a safer option overall, as opposed to Physics, which you fear will be difficult. Unless you are determined to keep Physics despite the supposedly high difficulty (implying that you will do your utmost to perform well in this subject), I believe Chinese in Context would be the better option.

 

[SweatyAsian#1]

If you didn't take Physics seriously but got top 10, then pursue it if you're still hesitant...