Am I Kidding Myself By Doing These Subjects? (1 Viewer)

rightintheclack

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Hello all! I wanted to ask this forum whether or not I would be kidding myself (in terms of workload) by doing the following subjects:

Advanced + Ext.1 English
Mathematics + Ext.1 Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Modern History

Is this in any way manageable or will I want to crawl up into a little ball in the corner by the second week? Many thanks in advance
 

Robbie M

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yeah so 14 units in year 11 honestly won't be too bad, although in year 12 you'll probably end up dropping a subject
 

Frostguard

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Personally because you chose 3 Sciences, you must have a hardcore passion for all sorts of sciences, you'll get lots of content and in my opinion Biology would probably contain the most content and with the new syllabuses/syllabi for Physics and Chemistry, it'll be a lot more mathematical oriented and less theory and historical based. It's nice that you chose Modern History because it'll act as refresher from your heavy Science subjects, you'll learn World War I/II and all sorts of things, just know there's content in this subject but because it's not a Science, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. As for 3 Unit English and Maths, I hope you actually have interest in English, learning about theories such as Romanticism and all those sorts of stuff, because if you don't, you'll struggle understanding the concepts and will find it very boring and tedious. As for 3 Unit Maths, just be prepared to handle constant homework and difficult equations and what not.
Basically as long as you chose subjects you genuinely love and have interest and not because it looks good or has good scaling, then I'm sure you'll be able to handle the workload. (Also I really recommend dropping at least a 2 Unit subject in Year 12, 14 is overkill and you will probably burn out because you have so much work to do.) Good Luck! :)
 

Squar3root

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why would u want to do 14 units


ur stressing out yourself for nothing

and overall will be worse for your atar
 

Jaxxnuts

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Hello all! I wanted to ask this forum whether or not I would be kidding myself (in terms of workload) by doing the following subjects:

Advanced + Ext.1 English
Mathematics + Ext.1 Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Modern History

Is this in any way manageable or will I want to crawl up into a little ball in the corner by the second week? Many thanks in advance
If you have the right study technique for each subject (and you enjoy them all) then you can still get a high ATAR

Consider the fact that English is already time consuming (for most students) where you have to edit and re-edit your essays continuously

Maths (Ext) can also take up a considerable amount of time.

If I were you I would do the following in order to manage my time:

Maths: do exercises from textbooks in the school holidays (until you refine your knowledge to perfection). During the school term just focus on past papers (so then you don't need to consolidate your knowledge so often)

Physics+Chem: familiarise yourself with the syllabus/equations/pracs by looking at youtube and doing textbook questions here and there

Bio+Modern:same thing as phys and chem. In terms of study technique you should try the "worksheet method" to memorise the content efficiently. One of the most effective methods with rote memorisation I've been told is that there is a "finite" amount of content the NESA can ask in your HSC. Also there is also a "Worksheet method" in which you make worksheets (but cut out a few words), print it out then fill it in a few times a day everyday

Does that help?
 

strawberrye

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I have heard of people doing well with 14 units, I think ultimately it comes down to time management-if you can manage your time well and you enjoy all your subjects-you can handle it.
 

pikachu975

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All up to you. I only do 10 units because I've got bad time management and it actually paid off in the end but some people, e.g. KingofActing did 15 units and he got a high ATAR so your choice
 

gallen88

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There are multiple students in my grade doing this type of subject selection. They are doing quite well. There have been past HSC students in my school who have done this combination and have done exceptionally well too. The only difference they do thirteen units (we have to do religion at my school) and non of them do all three sciences. Personally, I think if you can manage your time well, you'll be fine. Don't leave everything to the last minunte is my only advice. I think you can handle the workload. If you are in the situation of wanting to drop during the year, you have an advantage. You can drop a two unit subject and still have twelve units, or drop a one unit subject and have thirteen units. You have placed yourself in a good position too.

I do Maths Extension, some topics are challenging but if you work hard you'll be fine. DO NOT EXPECT THE SAME RESULTS YOU WILL GET IN YEAR 10. Majority of my class received a rude shock with our first two assessments. HOWEVER, THIS DOESN'T MEAN YOU WILL STRUGGLE. If you work hard, you will be surprised with your marks, in a very pleasing way. Trust me with this. Past paper, past paper, past paper. Expose yourself to some challenging questions. This will prepare you for the harder questions at the end of the paper. This is my tip for studying for exams, as well as many other forum users.

Chemistry - in my opinion, I'm struggling to enjoy this subject. I personally see it as a do it yourself subject because I don't find the teacher's teaching too useful. Generally I look up tutorials to develop an understanding of the terms and concepts. There are some good resources on this website too with syllabus dot point notes, that really go in depth with the dot point explanations. This has made Chemistry a little less tedious. However, since you are doing three sciences, I don't think you should stress. Different people have different experiences. There are many, many, people who have had a good experience on this forum, I'm one of the not as many people who haven't enjoyed their experience so far. You have a very big passion for science and seem to be one of those people who can understand all the concepts. Good on you for this!! : ) Also your passion for science will motivate you to work harder, so you will do better in the assessments.

By the way - you generally have four to five weeks of first term to change subjects if you decide to. If it becomes too much of a workload for you during the first two to three weeks you can always change subjects, or drop a subject.

All the best. : )
 

Sp3ctre

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In my opinion, doing 3 sciences seems like a bit of an overload, but keep it nevertheless and see how you go with it, since you're doing 14 units you can always drop two if you feel that you're running out of time to study for each subject.
 
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just see how well you keep up with these subjects and a few weeks before your exam block make a decision to drop or not drop
 

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