Should I regret my subject choices? (1 Viewer)

britaker

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Greetings everyone.

Keeping it brief, for Y11 the subjects I did were
Maths 2U and Ext I
English Adv. and Ext I
Biology
Chemistry
Music II

I also recently (about 1.5 weeks ago) received back my Y11 report which presented the following marks (we don't get given our ranks; only the course median. So all I know is, I'm in the top half for all those classes >_<)

Maths 2U: 94/100
Maths ext I: 39/50
English adv: 99/100
English ext I: 49/50
Biology: 91/100
Chemistry: 82/100
Music II: 74/100

Now, before I received my report I'd already made up my mind to drop music (hated it) and pick up Ext II English. So now I'm on 11 units and honestly wondering how much work it's going to be for the next year. Does it turn into a flaming hell?
Also...I'm not brilliant at Ext I Maths and I'm only doing it to (hopefully) make my 2U better, though I do about 1-2 hours of maths homework each day to keep up. I'm also wondering whether I should even keep chemistry or switch to senior science? Again it's not one of my better subjects.

In terms of where I'd like to get, I'm looking at anything >98 as an ATAR.
Ideas?

Cheers :)
 

Dan895

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Just go with the 11 that you originally wanted. Your 3u is still really good so all I would add is maybe consider 4u but apart from that you seem to be doing great!!
Keep Chem aswell imo
 

enoilgam

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I'd stick with what you have at the moment because it is obviously working for you right now. If you feel that you can handle the extra units of english or maths, you can drop it at any point. Since you want an ATAR north of 98, I probably wouldnt drop down from Chemistry to Senior Science, considering the scaling (besides, by the looks of things you seem to be doing quite well in chemistry anyway).
 

captainpigs

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To get a 98+ ATAR definitely stick with what you've got.
Dropping music is perfect because creative arts are horribly for ATARs unless your high band 6.
If you find your struggling too much in Ext 1 later on just drop it.
Keep your options open.
 

rumbleroar

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I think with all subjects with majors, you're going to be putting lots of time into it. TBH, I put so much time into English Advanced and it's only a two unit subject, if you compared it to the time I put into 4U math. So tbh, no matter what subject you do, you will put immense amounts of effort in, especially if you're gunning for a 98+ ATAR.

Ext 1 will do wonders for your 2unit math, so I really recommend you keep up. And you're not doing horribly in it either, it's a relatively hard subject so don't be too alarmed if you're not getting 50/50.

I think you should keep chemistry, just consistently make concise and detailed syllabus notes and you should be fine. I don't do chem, so I can't help you there, but I did do physics for year 11 and in terms of revision, its relatively the same. CONSISTENTLY WORK ON YOUR SYLLABUS DOT POINTS!! Cross reference all your info with a number of sources to get a detailed and informative set of notes :) Also keep a prac book to keep track of all the practicals you do, because you can be tested on it.

As long as you maintain your efforts (or increase them), you should be on your way for a 98+. Just bring chem up more :)
 

SuchSmallHands

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Hey, my marks are pretty similar to yours, mostly in the high nineties, and then chemistry drops to high eighties. While that really worried me at first I then realized that to get a band six you only need around an 83 raw mark most years thanks to scaling, so even though it looks much worse than my other subjects it's not really (if you're still in doubt, have a look at the senior science scaling, not overly conducive to 98+). Furthermore, SS expects a cross-disciplinary knowledge in 2 units in 2 years, while in chem you get to go to more depth with chemistry and understand it. I personally think chem is really interesting too.

I also have the same number of Extension units as you do, and since 3U French and 3U math are practically identical in scaling one could assume they involve a pretty similar level of work/ difficulty. My careers advisor and teachers all approved my 14 units, so you should be fine with 11 (though it is a personal thing and if you start finding it too much work you could always drop).
 

Phaze

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Considering how you're doing in your subjects, if you maintain those marks and a good rank through out the year AND you do well when you come to the HSC then you should be more than fine :)
 

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