Is 11 units too risky? (1 Viewer)

[irenefu]

Currently I'm doing 14 units which include: Modern History Chemistry, Economics, Legal Studies, and 4U maths, and Advanced English.

I'm doing really bad at Chemistry, and will probably drop it, however, I'm also struggling with 4U because it moves too fast. However, if I drop both, I'll only have 11 units

Options I Have:
1)get a tutor and catch up for 4U & drop Chem
2) relearn all prelim chem & catch up with school Chem, & drop Extension 2 maths
3) Drop them both.

I'm ranked 10th/70 for 3U maths, but the concepts are difficult to grasp, and as for chem, I've been falling behind since the last term of prelims. Which option do you think will be better for my ATAR? I'm just not sure whether 11 units will be a bit risky, and if it was worth keeping one of those subjects as a backup, even though I'd lose more time. Thanks

Thanks

 

[someth1ng]

Personally, I would drop Chemistry and then catch up with MX2 leaving you with 12 units.

Reasons:
- 95% of people will find MX2 to be extremely hard like you - they will probably be in the same boat.
- In Chemistry, alot of people will be far ahead already so the range you are actually behind is much larger and there are definately people that find Chemistry easy.
- MX2 scales much better, you can achieve 50-60% and still do quite well.

 

[irenefu]

Haha but would catching up chem take a lot less time than it would for me to maintain a constant speed for mx2? Because my rank is alright 6/56 . But I don't go to a selective school, and what really drags my marks down is the practicals. I only manage to just pass (60%).

 

[someth1ng]

Haha but would catching up chem take a lot less time than it would for me to maintain a constant speed for mx2? Because my rank is alright 6/56 . But I don't go to a selective school, and what really drags my marks down is the practicals. I only manage to just pass (60%).

Hmmm, this is a difficult case. If your rank is quite good (6th), perhaps keep the 14 units until the first assessment. When you find out what you main weak point is then you can make a decision with or without BoS suggestions.
Just passing (60%) isn't all that great though and a 60% in MX2 would be much better and would also scale quite well. As I've said before, I suggest to wait until first assessment is done.

 

[irenefu]

haha is chem easier, or mx2?

 

[Bobbo1]

haha is chem easier, or mx2?

Purely depends on the person, but generally speaking you should be scoring higher in chemistry (but MX2 will scale a lot higher). As Something has already said, hold onto MX2 for as long as you can it will definitely help in the long run - even the smartest students might find the concepts a bit hard to start with but it takes practice, pretty sure even a band 5 (which is around 55/120, i.e. you fail the test) will still be equivalent to a b6 in another subject)

 

[Alkanes]

Comes down to personal choice at the end of the day. But you sound like you are really struggling in chem so maybe it's a good option to drop. And no 11 units is not risky. I'm doing 10 units and my ass is not on the line 'yet'.

Oh and it's called extension 2 maths for a reason. It's meant to challenge everyone even the brighter students.

 

[hungwell1337]

personally id do 10 units

focus on less = better marks overall

 

[irenefu]

Comes down to personal choice at the end of the day. But you sound like you are really struggling in chem so maybe it's a good option to drop. And no 11 units is not risky. I'm doing 10 units and my ass is not on the line 'yet'.

Oh and it's called extension 2 maths for a reason. It's meant to challenge everyone even the brighter students.

Yeah , but the only reason I'm struggling is because I fell behind and got lazy as well - do you think it'd be wise to hardcore catchup with a tutor?

Purely depends on the person, but generally speaking you should be scoring higher in chemistry (but MX2 will scale a lot higher). As Something has already said, hold onto MX2 for as long as you can it will definitely help in the long run - even the smartest students might find the concepts a bit hard to start with but it takes practice, pretty sure even a band 5 (which is around 55/120, i.e. you fail the test) will still be equivalent to a b6 in another subject)

How does Mx2 help you in the long run?xD

 

[Alkanes]

Hmm i'm not sure about that. By now you should have nearly finished the first module for chem already.

 

[ella-m]

I'd say catch up with 4u Maths ~ cause its heaps rewarding in the end.
You just have to know the right questions to do so you won't end up wasting all of your time on it, and thus you can catch up faster.
If you don't want to study med/ pharmacy in uni then drop chem.
Maths may be useless everywhere in the long run, but honestly, we're all after the atar- and 4u maths will get you the atar

 

[irenefu]

I'd say catch up with 4u Maths ~ cause its heaps rewarding in the end.
You just have to know the right questions to do so you won't end up wasting all of your time on it, and thus you can catch up faster.
If you don't want to study med/ pharmacy in uni then drop chem.
Maths may be useless everywhere in the long run, but honestly, we're all after the atar- and 4u maths will get you the atar

Haha yes, but Extension 2 maths takes a lot of time, and I'm just not sure whether the time spent catching up 4U & keeping up 4U is much greater than catching up and keeping up for Chem. xD

aaaarrggh can't wait till hsc is over.

 

[lookoutastroboy]

Hey irene!

Deja vu or what... I was in a similar position as you with 13 units and deciding between 4U maths/chem to drop. For me, chem was a subject I gradually disliked overtime but 4U maths was extremely difficult as well. I was ranked 1st for both but decided to drop chem in the end; with my passion for maths and extra time for it winning out.

Lemme know how it goes

P.S. I myself struggled with 13 units - also, I was left with 11 units but I found it fine

Cheers,
l.a.

 

[4025808]

I would consider MX2 being easier than chemistry (since I suck at sciences). I would personally work harder in MX2 and drop chemistry in term 1, since MX2 has relevance to uni maths courses, while HSC chemistry has barely any relevance to uni chemistry courses. But then again it's up to you on what you can decide. See how you go with the first assessment tasks for MX2.

 

[lookoutastroboy]

yep above post sounds right; but I found chem easier than MX2 haha. As said already, good to do 1st assessments for both subjects and evaluate ranks for both and such...

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Ohh that's hard, your ranks are quite similar in both (considering chem has less people). But if they are as similar as you are making them sound, I'd prob go with MX2, because it scales so well. If you were doing better in Chem than maths, I'd vote chem though.

Unless you need chem for your uni course?

Also 11 units is not risky-it's a popular amount.

 

[RishBonjour]

Glad im not the only one with subject problems !
i dunno whether to drop physics or 4u maths ( currently doing 12 units) and i WANT to drop one

does 4u get retardedly hard? so far its pretty alrite.. doing the patel textbook complex numbers
physics i bludged the whole of year 11, but now i go tutoring hence getting pretty ok

 

[4025808]

Glad im not the only one with subject problems !
i dunno whether to drop physics or 4u maths ( currently doing 12 units) and i WANT to drop one

does 4u get retardedly hard? so far its pretty alrite.. doing the patel textbook complex numbers
physics i bludged the whole of year 11, but now i go tutoring hence getting pretty ok

4U doesn't get that hard, but the difficulty does increase a little. Don't worry, if you're getting around 70-80% in 4U you should be okay. I reckon you could keep all 12 units until the half yearly? (that's what I did, although with 13, then dropped down to 11)

 

[Shadowdude]

1. 11 units is not risky.
2. If you don't like Chemistry, as what it seems - drop it and keep MX2 and then try to catch up.
3. Don't drop both at the same time, drop one first - see how it goes, and then if you need to, drop again.

If you want better for ATAR, then you drop Chemistry and keep MX2.

 

[irenefu]

Ohh that's hard, your ranks are quite similar in both (considering chem has less people). But if they are as similar as you are making them sound, I'd prob go with MX2, because it scales so well. If you were doing better in Chem than maths, I'd vote chem though.

Unless you need chem for your uni course?

Also 11 units is not risky-it's a popular amount.

Hahah, well I don't know what my rank is for 4U, but my rank for 3U is 10th/75ish people.
but 3U & 4U are very very different regarding material & pace. xD