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What HSC subjects do future doctors choose in Australia? (1 Viewer)

Anonnnnnymous

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You will be fine. just apply to every single school in Australia and maybe overseas if u have the funds. If that fails, possibly take a gap yr and grind UCAT. If that fails, postgrad route gives u 4 yrs in undergrad to grind.
Wait why do I need to go for UCAT only offers? Cant you use ATAR a year after HSC?
 

quickoats

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no way they actually give this to anyone.
They do... quite generous on their behalf. Law is a phat cash cow so idk why they aren’t offering tonnes of spots - probably trying to stay “prestigious”
 

Nacseo

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I'm also gonna do med

My picks for Year 11 are 3u Maths and English, Bio, Chem, PDHPE and Legal Studies

HSC- Bio, Chem, 2U Eng, 4U Maths(if not 4U maths, I'll do 2U and PDHPE).

How are my subjects? I was planning to do either Economics or Legal, but for easy marks I picked Legal, not everyone will agree with me.
 

Speed’o’sound Sonic

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I'm also gonna do med

My picks for Year 11 are 3u Maths and English, Bio, Chem, PDHPE and Legal Studies

HSC- Bio, Chem, 2U Eng, 4U Maths(if not 4U maths, I'll do 2U and PDHPE).

How are my subjects? I was planning to do either Economics or Legal, but for easy marks I picked Legal, not everyone will agree with me.
Fairly solid subjects, you’ll want to do really well in Bio and PDH should you choose to do it
 

Speed’o’sound Sonic

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Im just worried abotu 3U Maths, I've been working my ass off to get on that level before year 11
As long as you hold a good internal rank you should be fine if you’re going to one of the big schools, if you’re not feeling confident then you don’t NEED to take 4U
 

Nacseo

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Im just worried abotu 3U, I've been working my ass off to get on that level before year 11
Some of my peers said that u should do ext if you wanna get into med.
 

Pikapizza

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Maybe consider taking more than 10 units (so possibly keeping PDHPE and/or Legal Studies or whichever subject you enjoy more, or keeping extension mathematics); taking just 10 units has a few possible risks (namely, no backup units in case of any stuff-ups), but it is fine to take 10 in year 12 if you already have a good mark in an accelerated subject beforehand. Plus, 2023 means you are in Year 10 now right? Might be a little early deciding all your year 11 and 12 subjects. Take this year to find your interests and extracurriculars, because you are more likely to pop off in subjects you like than just subjects you feel are "easy marks" (that is subjective). Plus, although learning the Prelim/HSC course content before the year might be good, it is not essential since you will be learning everything in those two years and you will get to a great level of skill by the HSC.
 

Nacseo

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Maybe consider taking more than 10 units (so possibly keeping PDHPE and/or Legal Studies or whichever subject you enjoy more, or keeping extension mathematics); taking just 10 units has a few possible risks (namely, no backup units in case of any stuff-ups), but it is fine to take 10 in year 12 if you already have a good mark in an accelerated subject beforehand. Plus, 2023 means you are in Year 10 now right? Might be a little early deciding all your year 11 and 12 subjects. Take this year to find your interests and extracurriculars, because you are more likely to pop off in subjects you like than just subjects you feel are "easy marks" (that is subjective). Plus, although learning the Prelim/HSC course content before the year might be good, it is not essential since you will be learning everything in those two years and you will get to a great level of skill by the HSC.
Oh well u see, Im gonna go st marys senior high, so I have to pick them early so I can get in, I might also do hast too. Thank you, I'll take that into consideration.
 

totally_screwed

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I'm also gonna do med

My picks for Year 11 are 3u Maths and English, Bio, Chem, PDHPE and Legal Studies

HSC- Bio, Chem, 2U Eng, 4U Maths(if not 4U maths, I'll do 2U and PDHPE).

How are my subjects? I was planning to do either Economics or Legal, but for easy marks I picked Legal, not everyone will agree with me.
for the popular uni's (UNSW, Western, Newcastle) there are no subject prerequisites, for Usyd med, a 2u maths background is sufficient (and at least a B4 in it), and idk about other uni's. so the subjects you've picked so far are perfectly fine, as long as you can get a competitive atar with them, for med this would be 99+ or even 99.5+. as sonic said, this means you'll need to perform well in your lower-scaling subjects like bio and PDHPE which isn't impossible since you're good at them, but you'd need to aim for B6 in all your subjects not just these two in order to get 99+. so yea your subjects are fine, in fact any combination of subjects is okay if you're going for med, you just need a competitive atar (and/or ucat and/or interview, but it's way too early to be worrying about these)
 

Nacseo

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for the popular uni's (UNSW, Western, Newcastle) there are no subject prerequisites, for Usyd med, a 2u maths background is sufficient (and at least a B4 in it), and idk about other uni's. so the subjects you've picked so far are perfectly fine, as long as you can get a competitive atar with them, for med this would be 99+ or even 99.5+. as sonic said, this means you'll need to perform well in your lower-scaling subjects like bio and PDHPE which isn't impossible since you're good at them, but you'd need to aim for B6 in all your subjects not just these two in order to get 99+. so yea your subjects are fine, in fact any combination of subjects is okay if you're going for med, you just need a competitive atar (and/or ucat and/or interview, but it's way too early to be worrying about these)
Alright, I'm trying hard this year to get at least majority Band 5-6 this year. @hstb_ is a goat, he helped me out a lot
 

dasfas

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The best subject is NOT Biology.

The best would be 4U Maths, 4U English

Hear me out.

Med school isn't about memorising. Certainly you need it to survive, but the core of it is UNDERSTANDING and PROCESSING.

It's so so much easier to derive intuitively something than to remember all the individual steps via rote learning.


You need to think creatively, abstractly and make inferences. Biology can teach you this, but you can get through it by memorising. You will not be able to get through 4U Maths or 4U English by memorising. They force you to think differently, and that is crucial.
 

Speed’o’sound Sonic

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The best subject is NOT Biology.

The best would be 4U Maths, 4U English

Hear me out.

Med school isn't about memorising. Certainly you need it to survive, but the core of it is UNDERSTANDING and PROCESSING.

It's so so much easier to derive intuitively something than to remember all the individual steps via rote learning.


You need to think creatively, abstractly and make inferences. Biology can teach you this, but you can get through it by memorising. You will not be able to get through 4U Maths or 4U English by memorising. They force you to think differently, and that is crucial.
However, some people, myself included, simply can’t handle 4U English, and if I had undertaken the subject it would just wear me down and demoralise me. To a certain extent everyone needs to play to their strengths
 

dasfas

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However, some people, myself included, simply can’t handle 4U English, and if I had undertaken the subject it would just wear me down and demoralise me. To a certain extent everyone needs to play to their strengths
100% agreed. 2 units of english is fine, the point was more to subvert the idea that biology is necessary.

However, I would even go so far to argue that (depending on the type of physician you want to become), you should do an undergrad in an underelated stem area before going to med school. You can bring so much more to the table.

Additionally, all innovations come from someone who thinks outside the box, or in other words, thinks creatively and can source ideas from different fields. Having that broad and diverse background facilitates innovation.
 

Nacseo

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you should do an undergrad in an underelated stem area before going to med school. You can bring so much more to the table.
[/QUOTE]

What options you think I should consider?
 

dasfas

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you should do an undergrad in an underelated stem area before going to med school. You can bring so much more to the table.
What options you think I should consider?
[/QUOTE]

I'd recommend Engineering and Computer Science. You have great back up options, and a doctor with CS/Engineering background is absolutely a lethal combo if you ever want to do research/become a biomedical entrepreneur
 

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