Year 11 of 2019, advice on subjects choice? (1 Viewer)

[ntlng]

So the following are my subject choices for year 11 and I would like you to assess and give your opinion on whether or not these choices are really balanced and the workload is humanely bearable

English Adv
Maths Ext (Ext 1 in Year 12)
Biology
Society and Culture
French Beginners OR Italian Beginners
Ceramics OR Photography (Non-ATAR)

 

[BLIT2014]

You have to do 12 units for year 11. I'd probably advise you to do 12 units worth of "ATAR" courses if possible for year 11.

What are you planning to do in the future?
University, tafe or work etc?
If uni or TAFE what "degree" or "diploma"?

 

[c8]

Hey, I would just like to drop my advice.

Do not do Society and Culture. if you think you are capable of doing English Advanced, then opt for something with a bit better scaling such as Studies of Religion 2 or even undertake Eng Ext1, it honestly won't feel like much.

I was a pioneer of the new 3-assessment for y11 thing NESA did and more units you do better chances you have at acing y12.

definitely think about picking English Extension 1, aim to do high scalers that you think you will enjoy.

As for Languages, unless you are very good at learning new languages, you shouldn't really risk a Beginners course. Furthermore, do an ATAR subject instead of Photography or Ceramics.

Personally, some subjects that I know off are very easy and scale a little bit up are
- Business Studies (memorising can get you very far here)
- SOR 2 (barely any content, easy to do well)
- Information Process and Technology (don't be put off my everyone in this forum saying its a low scaler, it barely has any content and is an absolute breeze to study for)
- Legal Studies (surprise, surprise, again very easy to do well with consistent study)
- PDHPE (need to memorise body parts and stuff, but nothing hard)
- Chemistry (not as hard as its portrayed to be, if you are shit at it, get a tutor, can give you very easy marks given you put in the work)


FUN FACT:
Teachers and everyone will tell you that "choose subjects that you like, blah blah," that is true to an extent, but the HSC is a big game. To be good at any game, you need a strategy and need to make sacrifices. Don't be afraid to spend money on tutoring, resources, chances are it'll all be worth it in the end. The HSC is a game and you need to beat all the other players, this means ensuring you have an edge or advantage over everyone in your grade, I.e. either choosing unpopular but easy subjects so you can rank high or really competing with everyone. Ranking are as important as your marks, in some cases even more important. Take as many units as you are allowed to and make sure they all count. Be nice to your teachers, build a connection and be respectful. Don't be vicious while competing for marks, do it low-key.

Look into online HSC Subjects that you can do, it will take serious load off your shoulders for school.

You just have to work extra-hard in Y11 and Y12, after that it'll be very good.



More advice I can give is, especially for Biology, set a goal to summarise the whole syllabus within the 6 week holidays coming up. This way you will be very significantly ahead of your class. The Biology in Focus book is only 400 Pages and isn't hard to summarise.

im in year 11 next year and this information was actually very helpful so thank you haha

 

[ntlng]

I plan to go to uni but not dead set on a particular degree yet.

Honestly the less I have to memorize the better. I'm good with coming up with ideas and think creatively, and too much rote learning is not my favorite thing to do. I just thought Society and Culture would be sth like that

 

[quickoats]

Don't do Society and Culture, the scaling is really bad, and the effort is not worth the output. It's good if you want a bludge though.

 

[GMonkey222]

Re: your language choices for the HSC.

I don't really think they're that much of a gamble. Like anything you need consistent effort but I find languages much more enjoyable than my other subjects. There is a real sense of gratification (personally) in studying languages At the end of the course I know I'll be able to show off my skills (also just finished Continuers and definitely feel like this ).

I think it's difficult to assess whether to take a languages subject because: 1) Such a low percentage of students take one so it's hard to find out what they're actually like 2) Scaling is different for each stream - yes the beginners courses don't scale as well but let me tell you now - Italian will probably be my best subject as I got 99/100 in prelims. I enjoy it so much

If you're not sure I'd say go for it and choose one - only one person in my class dropped because we all love the Italian culture and language . Languages aren't for everyone but the majority of people taking the Beginners stream (esp. at my school) haven't learnt a language beyond the compulsory requirement - they dropped theirs from Year 7 straight away. Don't discount yourself and give it a go. If you have any interest right now I think that's a great sign

Re: French or Italian. I don't know what French Beginners is like but just think about which culture you prefer/ which country you connect most with. Helped me to decide in year 7

Also workload is manageable. Like I did a lot of work for French but it was my fave subject plus I was accelerated (I therefore had more time). It was a very consistent workload and I just did more to extend myself further.
Good luck and hmu if you have any questions!