Actually, I found modern to be about the same amount of reading as ancient... but I suppose then again, it depends how willing you are to read additional texts to compliment your studies.
It really depends on what you prefer... I love both (although am not currently studying both), and although they are both history, they are COMPLETELY different....
modern looks at things such as:
- your core study which is WW1 (really fun, so many aspects of viewing this topic that it gets more in depth and kinda fun
)
- a National study (we did 20th century germany - weimar republic, nasdap, Hitlers rise to power... etc)
- a personality (e.g albert speer)
- an international conflict (e.g, arab-isreali conflict, cold war, indo-china conflict...)
the ancient HSC course I am not too sure of, however if you float through the ancient thread I am sure you will get the gist of it.
Everyone on here has their own bias, as everyone prefers a specific history more than the other... so you will have to decide this for yourself... all you can really do is make an informed decision... which I am sure everyone on this board is happy to do.