:) Advice Needed - To drop or not to drop? :) (1 Viewer)

[xxJTxx]

Hey everyone,
​

I have been wrestling with my current subject choice and my potential UAI. With all this buzz about UAI's lately...I guess I forgot about (or didn't realise) the full force of the HSC in preliminary!

Anyone with experience is welcome, or anyone who thinks they know what they are saying, post!

Ok.

So I currently have 13 Units:
Business Studies, Legal Studies, Biology, Advanced Eng, Ext 1 Eng, Ext 2 Eng, Maths and Ext 1 Maths.

My best units are Business, Legal, Bio, Adv Eng, EE1, Maths (dunno bout EE2 just yet, and Maths Ext 1..well, I go alright, ranked 1st in prelim...but only out of like 14 people..and yeah). By best I mean I haven't ever ranked second in any assess in those units in prelim, and I am confident my overall rank for those of my best units will be first.

I like Ext 2 Eng, but I just don't know what the point of doing it is, when I know I will have my 10 best anyway..which I expect to be:
Business, Legal, Bio, Adv Eng, Maths (and maybe they will half adv eng with EE1, which would be best scenario).

My UAI Aim is >99...I don't think thats unrealistic...(im not gloating or anything) but I am dux of my year, and have been for the past two years. In prelim, I ranked first in ALL of my units.

And I don't go to a Top 200 school..but I don't care about that, a guy that graduated with the 2006 class got UAI 99.45 - not bad for a non top 200 school (but he had subs like chem, physics, adv eng, 4u maths).

Now. I don't know if I should try and force my extension two eng to count, rather then say advanced eng. But then I think how much better can I go in adv (and all my other subs) without EE2 (which is so much work...).

What do I do!!!!?

EDIT: Like, is it even possible to get UAI 99.5+ without crazy "good scaling" subjects like extension two maths, chem etc. I just dunno...

 

[xclo]

lol, u got to do business studies, i always wanted to that but my school never let me:mad1:

 

[dr baby beanie]

13 is definitely a lot especially with a major, I would recommend dropping something cuz there like an 'opportunity cost' stressing yourself out trying to stay on top of everything while trying to top everything. If you can I would wait to the half yearlies and see how you go like are you good at that sub or if you still like it. Remember only you best 10 units count. I had the same trouble as you, listen to people but be objective too. Good luck!

 

[pritnep]

Maybe if anything drop Ext 2 English as that major work does take up a considerable amount of time, however if you are good at English it can pay off.

I suggest that you aim to try and keep 12 units just to create that safety buffer but if you are confident in 10 units then by all means.

 

[tezza6189]

I did 13 units for my entire HSC year. It was a lot of work but it is achievable, especially for someone who is self-motivated, as I'm sure you are. I would recommend keeping all your subjects until maybe after the half yearlies and then decide to drop or not, after analysing your results.

All the best for the class of 2007!

 

[cupcake08]

yeah it definitely sounds like you should drop ext 2 english ...13 units will be way to much pressure for yr 12. or you could drop extension 1 maths?
(or if you want to go really extreme, drop one of your 2 unit subjects!)


either way, let us know what you end up deciding

 

[redom]

heyy, ur situation is similar to mine! Except i was doing twelve units, and decided to drop down to ten, even if it meant dropping a subject i nearly aced in the prelim, in hope of doing better in the ten i think will count. Well i think 13 is too much, EE2 is alot of work!!! and if your confident it wont count, why bother?

Anyway goodluck with your choice!

 

[SoulSearcher]

To your edit, yes, it is possible to get a UAI of 99.5 + without good-scaling subjects, but the results in them would have to be quite good to get that.

As to your question, if extension 2 english is taking up too much of your time, and you are not getting the results you desire from it, then it's best that you drop it.

 

[xxJTxx]

Hehe, wow, a lot more replies then I expected Thanks for all the advice guys!

Well i've made all these pros and cons tables for my subjects, based partly on results, time they take up and how I feel about them in general.

At the moment, I am pretty sure I will keep EE2 until the Proposal is due in Week 2 (term 1) next year. If for some reason my teacher isn't happy with the proposal and gives me crappy marks, I think I will just drop it. No point in starting it out with a crap assessment mark.

If I wait until the half yearlies to drop off EE2...there isnt much point, cause I would have done a whole bunch of work on the actual development of the major work (website in my case) that I might as well just finish it then drop it.

How I see it:
EE2 is a big risk. Although I might be able to maintain a high assessment mark, the markers may not like my major work and give me a crappy mark..which just defeats the purpose of it. In that time it would have taken to do my major work, I could have used ALL of that time to secure a band 6 in ADV Eng (which is pretty amazing I hear) by studying extremely hard.

Conclusion: EE2 will probably go after the proposal.

I think 13 units is maintainable, as tezza said (btw your my hero, congratz on 100 uai), but I probably won't be able to go as well as I can in my 2u subs with all that time for the major work. So yes. Time will tell what I do

 

[vron7987]

you might know by the end of these holidays whether its worth keeping. if you've done very little or nothing on ur major work by the end of the holidays in comparison to what you have done for ur other subjects - you may find ur really not into it and prefer to work harder on eng adv which u may find more interesting.

-xxx-

 

[xxJTxx]

Yep. But from the thread about EE2, apparently, by the end of these holidays, the proposal should be finalised (and still subject to change and even a totally new direction).

I have done more then enough research, and fortunately I have kept up with journalling...so it is strange. I guess all will be revealed when I get my first assessment back...

 

[mitsui]

Speaking from experience of myself and many others,
the subject you are best at often turn out to be the one you bombed out in the end.

 

[melsc]

EDIT: Like, is it even possible to get UAI 99.5+ without crazy "good scaling" subjects like extension two maths, chem etc. I just dunno...

Any combination of any subjects can give rise to any UAI. You need to pick the subjects you are best at, the ones you enjoy and the ones that will benefit you, not the high scalling ones. I was no where near the dux of my school so this example may not be as useful but with 10 units Legal (Band 6), IPT (Band 6) Italian Beg. (Band 6), French (Band 4), English (Band 5) which arent all great scalling subjects, no maths, science or 3u subjects I managed 94.0, now that isnt quite 99.5+ but with a more capable student at a better school, I think any UAI with any subjects is possible, don't fall into the scalling will pull me up trick...

Good luck but in the end it is your own decision,

 

[xxJTxx]

Really? I haven't heard that before.
My sister was best at Legal and Maths, and she band sixed both of them...In my time at school, i've never gone bad in a subject I thought was my "best".

 

[xxJTxx]

Yeah mlsc. I totally agree. That is why my subject choice is what it is.
I guess on some level I picked up EE2 with the mind set that it is a good scaling subject. I don't really want to do it now that I think of it.

 

[melsc]

Yeah at my school a lot of my friends did that and ended up having to do pathways at the end of yr 11 etc... I hold that if you stick with interests and ability you can achieve. I never expected over 90 and many told me I couldnt with my subjects, but it still happened.

Good luck

 

[xxJTxx]

Hehe congratz on your UAI a fine achievement

 

[chocolate_lover]

Do u enjoy your subjects?? I personally think that's what it comes down to.

Also, if you have a strong feeling which units won't count towards your UAI (as you do), I'd say drop those ones, and spend more time on your other units.

 

[xxJTxx]

Yep, I enjoy my subjects.
EE2 is gonna go, or else I am pretty sure it is...I had like a relisation moment a couple of hours ago.. I am not in for that long road of EE2 - not that I can't cope..seem like such a chore to do it.
Thanks for all the advice dudes! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

 

[xxJTxx]

Oh and by all means, if oyu still have any other suggestions/advice/experiences to share, please do! I still have a month of holidays left till I can do anything..and during that month, I will continue work as per usual for EE2