10 units vs 12 (1 Viewer)

Dan895

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Hey all, this is a question aimed at current and previous hsc students who did 10 units. Particularly English Adv, MX2, chem and phys. Is it benefical to do 10 units or have you guys found that the potential risk of doing bad in one subject and having your ATAR suffering as a result. I mean from my point of view the whole if you stuff up argument isn't really vaild if you put in the effort. But what do I know, anyway what is everyone's oppinion on the matter I think it would be interesting to know thanks.
 

theind1996

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Hey all, this is a question aimed at current and previous hsc students who did 10 units. Particularly English Adv, MX2, chem and phys. Is it benefical to do 10 units or have you guys found that the potential risk of doing bad in one subject and having your ATAR suffering as a result. I mean from my point of view the whole if you stuff up argument isn't really vaild if you put in the effort. But what do I know, anyway what is everyone's oppinion on the matter I think it would be interesting to know thanks.
If you're confident about your 10, then go for 10. But at least wait until towards the end of the year before making a final decision.
 

traiwit

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same here, now im doing math ext1&2, physics, chem and esl ,, risk or not it depends on ur mark/rank for each subject. these subject subject i came 1-2 (except for esl) and another subject i came 5/10 so i just drop it coz it waste my time and i know that it wont be counted for my best 10units

ps. sorry for my poor english TT
 
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theind1996

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Out of curiosity how many units do you plan to do?
Um well my school doesn't exactly allow 10 or 11 from the start, so most likely 12 with MX2 and drop EE1, or 13 with the same subjects as now + MX2.
 

dulip

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i'm doing the exact same subjects as you for HSC 2012 and faced the same dilemma last year
I did eco for prelim, and wasn't bad at it; but didn't enjoy it
but i was confident in all of my other subjects and i'm in a pretty good school
so i dropped eco and went to 10 units
for me, it was a really really really good decision
i feel less stressed and apart from english HSC feels under control
i think if you're relatively confident in your 10 units, then having 'insurance' is stupid because you're just taking time away from the units that will count
i have friends who do the same subjects + bio or eco, and they have considerably less time to study
 

Dan895

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i'm doing the exact same subjects as you for HSC 2012 and faced the same dilemma last year
I did eco for prelim, and wasn't bad at it; but didn't enjoy it
but i was confident in all of my other subjects and i'm in a pretty good school
so i dropped eco and went to 10 units
for me, it was a really really really good decision
i feel less stressed and apart from english HSC feels under control
i think if you're relatively confident in your 10 units, then having 'insurance' is stupid because you're just taking time away from the units that will count
i have friends who do the same subjects + bio or eco, and they have considerably less time to study
I'm looking at it like you sort of, with the 10 units plus with application I'm finding it more likely that if I was to come 1st in a subject it would be chem or phys over bio or pe. How are you finding the workload for your 10 units at the moment?
 

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It depends :) If you are on top of your work defs go for 12units as a backup!!! But if you are behind, drop to 10 units, I'm sure you will enjoy all your free periods to catch up !! good luck :)
 

dulip

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up till now it's been very manageable, i put the most time into English, then MX2, MX1, chem then phys (sciences take far less time for me). Ranks are 170+/200 (Fucking english), 20/90, 25/150, 2/150, 2/100; I think if I had kept economics, there would be no time for me to study it, or i'd be lower in my sciences, and also I would be SO much more stressed.
I don't agree with Lolly_Polly. if you're on top of your work I think it's much better to go to 10 units, and use the extra time to study for units you KNOW are going to count. I know people who have 10 units they try, and then 2 backup units which they don't try for. This is completely pointless, if you're focused and confident, you will not mess up your subjects, and will give you more study time at school and at home. (plus less stress around exam time which is awesome)
(IN MY OPINION, not trying to enforce this on you)
 

Clean Sweep

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I''m facing the same situation. But I don't know what I want to drop. I could Economics which I'm doing really well at or I could drop Physics which I'm doing very badly at. The thing is that I didn't drop Physics earlier because one of my friends now in uni told me not to drop Physics. I also had another friend that did really well in Economics and bad a Physics but decided to drop Economics. It freaking the hell out of me but I still can't decide whether I should continue Physics.
 

Dan895

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I''m facing the same situation. But I don't know what I want to drop. I could Economics which I'm doing really well at or I could drop Physics which I'm doing very badly at. The thing is that I didn't drop Physics earlier because one of my friends now in uni told me not to drop Physics. I also had another friend that did really well in Economics and bad a Physics but decided to drop Economics. It freaking the hell out of me but I still can't decide whether I should continue Physics.
I suppose the half yearlies would be a fair indicator of which subjects you should do, but if you need a certain subject for a degree at uni mabye a small atar scarifice may be better in the long run. This is very speculative though.
 

Levity

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@Clean Sweep drop Physics as your doing badly in it.
 

theind1996

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I''m facing the same situation. But I don't know what I want to drop. I could Economics which I'm doing really well at or I could drop Physics which I'm doing very badly at. The thing is that I didn't drop Physics earlier because one of my friends now in uni told me not to drop Physics. I also had another friend that did really well in Economics and bad a Physics but decided to drop Economics. It freaking the hell out of me but I still can't decide whether I should continue Physics.
LOL why did your friend in uni say not to drop? Prerequisites? If it's for engineering, I suppose it isn't terribly necessary due to the lack of maths, whereas something like Maths Ext. 2 would be more useful. And if you are bad at physics, then what makes you think that physics is the correct career choice for you in the future?
 

Clean Sweep

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Okay, I've decided to drop physics. The friend at uni told me not to since Physics scales well but that doesn't apply to me since I'm already doing badly.
I'm not doing that badly in Physics compared to the rest of the school, my ranking is 17/40.
Also, sorry about the spelling mistakes. I was in a rush and didn't check spelling.
 
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such_such

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It's good to decide what subjects to drop and pick up now, but you should still study hard for physics. You've got over a term and who knows, more interesting topics could change your mind.
 

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