Advice on whether to drop subjects? (1 Viewer)

[Espy25]

Hello, new member, been a lurker for a while but recently signed up and this is my first time posting.

Firstly I'd like to state that I'm doing 12 units at my school (rank: around 50th) and they are as follows:

4 Unit Mathematics Extension 2
2 Unit English Advanced
2 Unit Physics
2 Unit Economics
2 Unit Legal Studies

As of now, I'm contemplating on whether to drop Extension 2 Maths or Physics as they are my weakest subjects and also require the most effort to learn in my opinion. My teachers have told us to figure out what to drop after we've done our half yearlies, to reassure ourselves that it's for the best. I haven't had an Ext 2 Test due to my school's weird schedule but I've done Physics and am doing average if not slightly below. If I drop physics I'd have 10 units and if I drop Ext 2 Maths i'd have 11 units. I was thinking 11 is safer than 10 but dropping Physics means that I don't have to split my focus on a COMPLETELY different subject such as Physics. However I'd have 10 units and I am told it isn't safe. Dropping Ext 2 on the other hand means I'll have 11 units but I'm not sure if I can do well in Physics.

However there is an option of dropping NONE and just spending more effort and time to ensure a higher ATAR. I am aiming for 95+ or around.

Just an extra question, between Ext 2 Maths and Physics, which would require more effort/give bigger workload?

Thank you.

 

[someth1ng]

I would drop Physics. Maths Extension 2 has immensely high scaling so "doing bad" could be as good as getting a 90 in another subject. Also, if you drop Maths Extension 2, Physics will definitely count as a "good" but not incredible scaling subject so not doing good in it will most likely pull you down.

 

[Bored_of_HSC]

Welcome to BOS.

How are you going in your other subs? Because if you are quite confident about these then you could just drop without too many worries.

As for your last question, for most people ex2 maths requires more effort. The leap from 3u to 4u is really big (as compared with the increase from 2u to 3u).

But yeah i'd agree with some1thing. If you don't mind pulling off the hard yards for 4u then it can be VERY rewarding. (85 in 4u is basically the same as 95 in 2u).

 

[SunnyScience]

From the way you've constructed your post, i am going to go with drop physics, as it comes across to me as that's what you really want - but wait till after the half-yearlies.

Edit:
Seeing as you're doing extn 2 anyway, your teachers and/or yourself must have had a reason to let you do it/want to do it

 

[Dylanamali]

if aiming for 95+, i'd drop physics..
if aiming for 99+, i'd drop mx2..

reason being.. mx2 prevented me from attaining 99+, because I was quite a dodgy maths student. In saying that, i only achieved probably 50% raw in the hsc exam and that still aligned to 80 hsc mark and that 80 hsc mark will still be equivalent to an atar of 95+. IMO, it's preety easy to attain 50% raw in mx2 in comparison to a 80-85% raw in physics to get a similar mark.
In the end, if I was to do 2u maths, I'd most likely finish with an allrounders and a 99+ atar. food for thought.

 

[Aceitachi]

If your good at maths stick with everything you have and i suggest you drop legal studies.

 

[Bored_of_HSC]

If your good at maths stick with everything you have and i suggest you drop legal studies.

Lol win for randomness!!

 

[study-freak]

I'd say wait till you do your 1st MX2 assessment and get your results/compare it to Physics keeping in mind the aligning/scaling.

It is generally agreed that MX2 requires heavier workload than Physics but it depends on your Maths vs Physics abilities.

Drop either one of those if you feel that you can quite surely not do as well in one subject as all other subjects, but if similar, try asking yourself which one you find more tedious and time consuming. If very very similar in the end, it shouldn't matter which one you drop, right? but if that case comes, I'll just say that it's easier to 'bomb' the exam in MX2 than in Physics (generally).

 

[Cl324]

if aiming for 95+, i'd drop physics..
if aiming for 99+, i'd drop mx2..

reason being.. mx2 prevented me from attaining 99+, because I was quite a dodgy maths student. In saying that, i only achieved probably 50% raw in the hsc exam and that still aligned to 80 hsc mark and that 80 hsc mark will still be equivalent to an atar of 95+. IMO, it's preety easy to attain 50% raw in mx2 in comparison to a 80-85% raw in physics to get a similar mark.
In the end, if I was to do 2u maths, I'd most likely finish with an allrounders and a 99+ atar. food for thought.

For mark of 80, you achieved just above the 25th percentile of the state. You probably got less than 50% raw.
For the same scaled mark in 2u, you'd have to achieve within the 85th percentile.
According to your 3u mark, you're pretty decent at maths and youd be the rare case of someone who wouldve performed better with 2u.
Your marks are great anyway, im sure it wouldnt have had that much impact on your atar!
However generally the rule is if you have a chance to study 4u, do it
Scaling is phenomenal and if you are equally weak at mx2 and physics, drop physics
Only keep phyysics if you are SIGNIFICANTLY weaker at mx2

 

[someth1ng]

If you got 80 exam mark - your raw must be lower than 50%.

I think Shadowdude for 83 with 59/120 so an 80 is probably low-40s% raw mark.

 

[Dylanamali]

yeah, preety bad i think around 50-55/120 probs.. preety bad flunk hahaha, in comparison to my other marks :O

 

[ibbybiby]

As of now, I'm contemplating on whether to drop Extension 2 Maths or Physics as they are my weakest subjects and also require the most effort to learn in my opinion. My teachers have told us to figure out what to drop after we've done our half yearlies, to reassure ourselves that it's for the best. I haven't had an Ext 2 Test due to my school's weird schedule but I've done Physics and am doing average if not slightly below. If I drop physics I'd have 10 units and if I drop Ext 2 Maths i'd have 11 units. I was thinking 11 is safer than 10 but dropping Physics means that I don't have to split my focus on a COMPLETELY different subject such as Physics. However I'd have 10 units and I am told it isn't safe. Dropping Ext 2 on the other hand means I'll have 11 units but I'm not sure if I can do well in Physics.

However there is an option of dropping NONE and just spending more effort and time to ensure a higher ATAR. I am aiming for 95+ or around.

Just an extra question, between Ext 2 Maths and Physics, which would require more effort/give bigger workload?

Thank you.

I'm in pretty much the same situation except I do Chemistry instead of Legal Studies. I'm juggling between MX2 and every other 2u subjects but English (so sad I can't drop it D: ) I've been told to wait till half-yearlies, but I don't know if I want to, it would feel so good to have some more free periods. It's really hard to decide what to drop because my marks are all about the same for everything >80%.

 

[Sacredoblivion]

This is what I suggest:

Keep all your subjects for as long as possible till after the half yearlies. From you half yearly examination results, decide on what to drop. I was a science/maths sort of guy so if I was in your position I would drop legal studies. However, if you are good at humanities, physics has a significant humanities/history section which you can do well in. If you want to well in MX2, you will have to put a lot of effort in.

For those of you in year 11 atm, I would advise you to start year 12 with 14 units and then drop down subjects later on. The logic behind this is that the early strain of having 14 units is a lot less compared to the flexibility you will have later on in your more stressful periods (ie trials).

 

[alstah]

If you're getting great grades in Legal Studies and you enjoy it, then keep it! Drop the subject you don't like the most, its as simple as that...lol

 

[Bobbo1]

Don't drop anything atleast until after the half yearlies...

 

[someth1ng]

Don't drop anything atleast until after the half yearlies...

Too late, already dropped Modern History.

 

[zoelea]

Your teachers are giving you the right advice, its best to decide after half yearlies when you get a better idea of your performance. However, i personally believe your better off sticking to the subjects you'll do better in, rather than worrying about scaling, which changes from year to year as it dependent on how hard the test for that year was, not the particular subject, for example if everybody in the state smashes physics, it'll get scaled down because the exam was to easy compared to another subject were everybody struggled. You cant predict scaling, so it shouldnt be a factor when choosing subjects.

 

[Dylanamali]

Your teachers are giving you the right advice, its best to decide after half yearlies when you get a better idea of your performance. However, i personally believe your better off sticking to the subjects you'll do better in, rather than worrying about scaling, which changes from year to year as it dependent on how hard the test for that year was, not the particular subject, for example if everybody in the state smashes physics, it'll get scaled down because the exam was to easy compared to another subject were everybody struggled. You cant predict scaling, so it shouldnt be a factor when choosing subjects.

it definitely should be a factor when choosing subjects..
scaling may change from year to year, but if you look at the past 5 or so years it's quite clear that chem, phys, mx1 and mx2 ALIGN so much better than most other subjects.. I'm quite sure that these will always be the best aligning and scaling subjects.. so if your good at sci and maths choose 4u and chem+bio.

 

[someth1ng]

if everybody in the state smashes physics, it'll get scaled down because the exam was to easy compared to another subject were everybody struggled. You cant predict scaling, so it shouldnt be a factor when choosing subjects.

This isn't true. If everyone did well (easy test), then the subject would align lower. If everyone met criteria for Band 6, everyone would get Band 6.

Scaling is done by UAC and is based upon how the cohort performs in a subject compared to another subject (usually English) to make a comparison between difficulty of the exam/subject and how good the candidature is.

Take last year's Physics exam as an example. Last year's exam was considered very easy but the scaling was almost identical to other years. Go figure.

 

[Dylanamali]

This isn't true. If everyone did well (easy test), then the subject would align lower. If everyone met criteria for Band 6, everyone would get Band 6.

Scaling is done by UAC and is based upon how the cohort performs in a subject compared to another subject (usually English) to make a comparison between difficulty of the exam/subject and how good the candidature is.

Take last year's Physics exam as an example. Last year's exam was considered very easy but the scaling was almost identical to other years. Go figure.

+1, very good post, repped. edit: would rep but i've repped you too many times =/

yeah scaling was the same.. however i think the exam aligned less favourably then previous years.