Is it safe to do ten units for the HSC (3 Viewers)

[12o9]

I'm glad I kept 12 units cause I bombed out in 2 of my units which I thought would count for sure. Keep 2 units as backup but focus on the other 10 units instead.

 

[Jeee]

Aren't you the girl who said she couldn't write an essay? =\

I'm the girl who said I had an English faculty that hasn't taught us how to write a top notch essay.

Thank you so much you guys.
I'm also worried about big projects.
Next year, for Society I have the PIP, in Modern I have the HIP, and if I pick up Ext 2 English, I'll have the major work...
Do you guys have any tips on how to accomplish all of these excellently?

 

[lychnobity]

I'm the girl who said I had an English faculty that hasn't taught us how to write a top notch essay.

There is very little teachers can teach beyond a good foundation, structure, grammar and basic thematic elements.

They also can't teach how to make a strong argument, good expression, nor discussion.

But they can judge good writing - the only way to learn is to practice and refine your writing.

I'm also worried about big projects.
Next year, for Society I have the PIP, in Modern I have the HIP, and if I pick up Ext 2 English, I'll have the major work...
Do you guys have any tips on how to accomplish all of these excellently?

I do none of those, but I'd suggest getting an organiser and putting aside 2h/wk on each.

 

[Saccharine]

I'm the girl who said I had an English faculty that hasn't taught us how to write a top notch essay.

Thank you so much you guys.
I'm also worried about big projects.
Next year, for Society I have the PIP, in Modern I have the HIP, and if I pick up Ext 2 English, I'll have the major work...
Do you guys have any tips on how to accomplish all of these excellently?

Same problem :/

But, 10 units.. pretty risky.
It's always good to have back-up.
Just in case.

 

[TrainXIV]

Well I just finish year 10 n goin to year 11 now and i know i lack the experience compared to u but all my seniors told me that 10 units is way too risky cuz there is ALWAYS room for something to goes wrong. Twelve is better they recommend to be safe n go for 13 at least.

 

[veeveearnh]

cons: depending on your uni course your application may look less impressive as you've done less work overall.

When is this applicable? On scholarships? On job applications? Most courses ask for an ATAR cut-off only and after that your HSC is history (from what I gather) so who exactly would be less impressed by someone doing only 10 units?

 

[adomad]

think of it like making cup cakes. the topping tastes really nice. you have 1000 grams( assuming you have the potential to get 100% of every unit you do) of icing, if you have 10 cupcakes ( 10 units ) you can put 100 grams( 100% for that unit) on each. but if you need to put icing on 13 cakes, you can only put 76.9 grams on each( 76.9 %). hence by doing and extra 3 units, you have dropped the amount of icing by 23.1 grams.

aslo, if you have a basket, 10 cakes are easier to hold than 13.....

(analogy told by my career advisor)
true IMO. you can focus more on a smaller amount of subjects and its more manageable. sucked in to the people doing 16 units.

 

[Phoenix Fury]

^ you could have just said 10 units means maximum time for all subjects however it was a good and very accurate analogy and I must say +1 to it as I completely agree

 

[philphie]

will i went overkill and did 16 units...

burnt out pretty bad.

do 12, one extra subject isn't that bad.

 

[Shadowdude]

This person who did 10 at my school screwed up in his Physics exam - he had a migraine mid-way through - and ended up getting a UAI in the 60's, instead of the high 80's. Or so I'm told. I do know he is in Theological College now, and not Uni.

I'd do 12, at least. I do 14 as of current, but I'm being tested only on 11, because EX2 has no exam, and since I do MX2 or 4u, I do no 2 unit exam. So I think it's a nice mix.

 

[determine]

I really think it boils down to individual choice. Individual perceptions of whether you are comfortable in your subjects or not. Whether you think you're going to do well etc. I don't think there is any set formula or 'advice' about whether one person should do 10 units or 11 or 12 units or any other number of units for that matter.

 

[Schoey93]

Agreed with the above post, myself

I'm going to positive repute them when I can. Basically, some smart people do 10 units and acheive a rank that puts them in the top 10% against the students they started Yr 7 with i.e. approximately >/ [greater than or equal to] an ATAR of 87.00

 

[irvine]

Me, along with another small slice of my grade are only doing 10U.
But the 99.95 kids are doing 12-13U (or are doing 10U but accelerated in 2U)

 

[Shadowdude]

"All work and no free periods makes Jack a very dull boy"

I have eight study periods totalling 440 minutes of study a fortnight.

 

[wats]

come hsc time it is much easier to have 12 units it takes the pressure off knowing that something won't count. personally i would say keep them and neglect it if you have too

 

[bubbrubb]

All of you can shut up with the "can't fail one test" rule of thumb.
You are all wrong.

I myself did 10 units.
At the start of the year i was very cocky and i got punished by two early tests.

Chemistry: My first test I got 56 percent - was ranked 94/100.
By the end of the year i was ranked 20/100 by gunning every test thereafter.

Modern History: My first test was the half yearly and it was worth a whopping 40%. I ended up getting a mark ranked 32/35 or worse.
By the end of the year i only managed to scrape up to 22/35 because the tests were so easy that even with good marks I could not jump ranks as everyone did only slightly worse.
However, come the HSC I was able to achieve 95 examination with an 89 internal, lifting myself up into the band 6.

Now you can see i screwed up two tests VERY badly but i was able to redeem myself by losing the arrogance.

10 Units is stressful and it is not for everyone - especially if you are not solid under pressure. However, it is not in any way "so dangerous" that any slip up "throws away your chances of a decent ATAR".

However, i found that doing 10 units helped me mentally because it gave me the necessary stress to study for the hsc. This is because psychologically you are aware that all the work you put in will see a result. Every subject counts and, to someone like me who tries to do the least amount of work possible for the most amount of gain, it gave me more incentive to study. If i had an extra subject (12 units) i would have probably been too relaxed and felt hesitant to study in case i "wasted" my energy on a subject that wouldn't be counted anyway.

So if you hate to "waste" effort like me, then 10 units is for you.

 

[ashie0]

I do ten units and it's fucking wonderful.

 

[Schoey93]

All of you can shut up with the "can't fail one test" rule of thumb.
You are all wrong.

I myself did 10 units.
At the start of the year i was very cocky and i got punished by two early tests.

Chemistry: My first test I got 56 percent - was ranked 94/100.
By the end of the year i was ranked 20/100 by gunning every test thereafter.

Modern History: My first test was the half yearly and it was worth a whopping 40%. I ended up getting a mark ranked 32/35 or worse.
By the end of the year i only managed to scrape up to 22/35 because the tests were so easy that even with good marks I could not jump ranks as everyone did only slightly worse.
However, come the HSC I was able to achieve 95 examination with an 89 internal, lifting myself up into the band 6.

Now you can see i screwed up two tests VERY badly but i was able to redeem myself by losing the arrogance.

10 Units is stressful and it is not for everyone - especially if you are not solid under pressure. However, it is not in any way "so dangerous" that any slip up "throws away your chances of a decent ATAR".

However, i found that doing 10 units helped me mentally because it gave me the necessary stress to study for the hsc. This is because psychologically you are aware that all the work you put in will see a result. Every subject counts and, to someone like me who tries to do the least amount of work possible for the most amount of gain, it gave me more incentive to study. If i had an extra subject (12 units) i would have probably been too relaxed and felt hesitant to study in case i "wasted" my energy on a subject that wouldn't be counted anyway.

So if you hate to "waste" effort like me, then 10 units is for you.

Well yes but if the Board didn't moderate grades like they do you would screwed

This is why people who do different subjects to you get screwed over by the Board...moderating of assessment marks... there has to be a better way than basing all the aligning+moderating on one stupid test... it's all relative to how you feel mentally and physically on the day...if you get joint inflammation and can't get out of bed... even with a Doctor's Cert you're somewhat screwed


SC is fair

HSC is unfair and thankfully it will be GONE when Rudd's National Curriculum comes in ... it might have the same name but it will be a fairer system with more interesting,practical courses IMO

 

[Schoey93]

I do ten units and it's fucking wonderful.

I'm doing 13 for prelim because of SOR1U (religion 1 unit) and I'm gunna do 10 for Yr 12 (take Italian Extension, if my school is nice enough to let me do it one-on-one with signorina Carlino, as per Continuers...))

And 10 units...5 subjects I like...none I hate...one I'm "meh" about (Mathematics-calculus) BLISS

So agrreeedd 10 units is fucking amazing...I dunno anyone who has regretted it to the point that they say "I should have done 12 or 14 or 16 and had hardly any frees"

At my school:

1. A period is 52 min long
2. 6 periods a day, sixty per cycle
3. 1/3 of them are free periods if you do 10 units (exactly 17 free periods, but 2 are "Personal Development-Ethics" and 1 is Year Meeting p/f)

Ah, the joys of private education providers...mind you this churchy crap is not growing on me...stupid catholic school

 

[determine]

think of it like making cup cakes. the topping tastes really nice. you have 1000 grams( assuming you have the potential to get 100% of every unit you do) of icing, if you have 10 cupcakes ( 10 units ) you can put 100 grams( 100% for that unit) on each. but if you need to put icing on 13 cakes, you can only put 76.9 grams on each( 76.9 %). hence by doing and extra 3 units, you have dropped the amount of icing by 23.1 grams.

aslo, if you have a basket, 10 cakes are easier to hold than 13.....

(analogy told by my career advisor)
true IMO. you can focus more on a smaller amount of subjects and its more manageable. sucked in to the people doing 16 units.

but then at the same time, what if you clumsily miss the cupcake as you're adding the icing and it all splatters over the table and the floor? there goes 200 grams of it, for example, hence 2 units, and thus the end result (in both the appearance of the cupcakes, and in a larger sense your HSC results) are far worse. whereas if you had an extra cupcake, you could have had another one to use and maximise.