PDHPE or ECONOMICS (1 Viewer)

[lux19]

I am going to be in yr 11 this year and want to change my subject from PDHPE to ECONOMICS the first week from school. I am not sure which one to choose, i like them both!
My other subjects are:
Maths EXT 1
English ADV
Bio
Chem
SOR I

So those who are doing any of the two subjects, can you give me an insider and what to expect?
And the pros and cons of each of the subjects. thanks

 

[iJimmy]

what uni course do you want, PDHPE will broaden down your knowledge to courses such as physio, psychology, sports science etc. where as economics is much better for business related courses. im pretty sure eco also scales better than pdhpe. if you did commerce in yr 10 and you enjoyed it you will enjoy prelim and hsc eco, mostly just expanding on harder topics.

 

[lux19]

I am not sure yet what course i want to do, but yes i did do commerce in yr 10 and i enjoyed it....i think i will be picking Economics
Thanks for your advice

 

[iJimmy]

you did commerce in yr 10 and i am sure PDHPE is compulsory upto yr 11, how did you perform marks wise in each subject?

 

[rumbleroar]

What I like to do when I need to choose between two things, is I draw up a table weighing "pros" and "cons" of whatever I'm looking at. In your case, between PDHPE and Economics. You need to consider the enjoyability, likelihood of success (often this has a strong correlation with the enjoyment of your subjects), usefulness of your subject to future pursuits and sometimes even the environment of your class (i.e. teacher, peers, etc.) of both subjects on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most and 1 being the least.

I suggest you stick with PDHPE for the first couple of weeks before deciding on whether or not you're going to drop it, because you can usually tell in the first couple of weeks whether or not you're going to like the subject.

edit: looking at your other subjects, PDHPE would suit your sciences better and you can form stronger links amongst your subjects. Also, don't take scaling into consideration, as enjoyment >>>>>>> scaling any day (if you enjoy you're subject, you're more likely to do well, making the scaling process obsolete if you score 90+)

 

[Examine]

Hey there, I don't do PD/H/PE though I can provide information for Economics once you reach HSC level.

Economics is quite a rigorous course and that's reflected in its favourable scaling once you reach the higher ends. However, the standard needed for achieve a b6 is quite high, so the aligning for Economics throughout the years has less favourable than its social science counterparts (the standard of getting a b6 in PD/H/PE is high as well, though still a bit more favourable than Eco as previous data suggests). Based on the data UAC has given us 5% of PD/H/PE students received b6 while 12% received a b6 in Economics. (keep in mind that this stat is greatly influenced by the amount of academically strong students that choose Economics due to its high scaling as well as the cohort of PD being nearly 3x the size of Eco)

In terms of content, I feel as though my current knowledge of the prelim course is a bit hazy, so I might leave that for someone else. I dicussed something similar in another thread:

Economics:
The global economy - Basically seeing the impact of globalisation on individual economies. You will also have a case study where you analyse the impact that globalisation has had on another country (nearly everyone goes with China) as well as strategies they undertake to promote eco growth and development as a result.
Australia's place in the global economy - How changes in the exchange rate, balance of payments and free trade and protection affect Australia's position in the global economy. Quite an interesting topic IMO though I think people would agree that the balance of payments (especially the CAD) is one of the harder concepts you will need to grasp. People also have difficulty in exchange rates.
Economic issues - As the name suggests, you learn about issues such as eco growth, unemployment, inflation, what causes them and what effects they have on the economy as well as the trends in the Australian economy in regards to these issues. At first I really did not like this topic due to the sheer amount of information you need to learn (6 subtopics) but I find that after you learn it it is really rewarding and your general knowledge of economics increases.
Economic policies - The different types of economic policies. You will learn what they are, how they are applied, and how they affect the Australian economy. All you need to know is that for the majority of people macro policies are heaps fun (fiscal and monetary), micro policies are not as fun (labour market and enviro policies drove me up the wall)

The only con I can think about in picking Eco is that it is packed with a lot of content and it'd be hard to get through it all unless you have a degree of interest in the subject.

IMO, despite having lots of content I really enjoyed studying Economics and I feel that my understanding of the world of economics (as corny as this sounds) has broadened as a result. Although I never achieved my primary goal of picking Eco (back in my naive days a greatly influencing factor of my choice of eco was that I thought I'd learn how to invest in shares LOL). I'd recommend Economics anybody willing to put in the extra effort to excel in the course, it's definitely worth it and you'll learn a thing or two here and there which you will be able to apply irl in the future. (though my view is a bit biased since I didn't do PD/H/PE)

 

[Drifting95]

Hey there, I don't do PD/H/PE though I can provide information for Economics once you reach HSC level.

Economics is quite a rigorous course and that's reflected in its favourable scaling once you reach the higher ends. However, the standard needed for achieve a b6 is quite high, so the aligning for Economics throughout the years has less favourable than its social science counterparts (the standard of getting a b6 in PD/H/PE is high as well, though still a bit more favourable than Eco as previous data suggests). Based on the data UAC has given us 5% of PD/H/PE students received b6 while 12% received a b6 in Economics. (keep in mind that this stat is greatly influenced by the amount of academically strong students that choose Economics due to its high scaling as well as the cohort of PD being nearly 3x the size of Eco)

In terms of content, I feel as though my current knowledge of the prelim course is a bit hazy, so I might leave that for someone else. I dicussed something similar in another thread:



The only con I can think about in picking Eco is that it is packed with a lot of content and it'd be hard to get through it all unless you have a degree of interest in the subject.

IMO, despite having lots of content I really enjoyed studying Economics and I feel that my understanding of the world of economics (as corny as this sounds) has broadened as a result. Although I never achieved my primary goal of picking Eco (back in my naive days a greatly influencing factor of my choice of eco was that I thought I'd learn how to invest in shares LOL). I'd recommend Economics anybody willing to put in the extra effort to excel in the course, it's definitely worth it and you'll learn a thing or two here and there which you will be able to apply irl in the future. (though my view is a bit biased since I didn't do PD/H/PE)

+1

If you enjoyed commerce i would strongly recommend economics. The people i knew who did well are those who enjoyed the subject as eco requires you to look beyond the textbook and be up to date with current global economic events and conditions. The subject was really an eye opener for me and has significantly improved my logical reasoning and thinking (another corny post).

 

[iEatOysters]

Very little Economics is covered in years 8-10 commerce, meaning that basically everyone is on even ground in years 11-12. However, enjoying commerce does suggest that you have a natural affinity for social sciences, so as the spanish ad says



Or do both for a week or so, and see which one you like better.
Looking at your other subjects, it might be a wise idea to keep Eco if you want to keep your options open and do something business-related in uni.

 

[Drifting95]

Very little Economics is covered in years 8-10 commerce, meaning that basically everyone is on even ground in years 11-12. However, enjoying commerce does suggest that you have a natural affinity for social sciences, so as the spanish ad says

View attachment 29650

Or do both for a week or so, and see which one you like better.
Looking at your other subjects, it might be a wise idea to keep Eco if you want to keep your options open and do something business-related in uni.

+1

That is what i was trying to emphasise if it wasn't clear.

 

[Futuremedstudent]

Do economics, it scales waaay better than PE.

 

[IcyRain]

Or...you could do what you like instead of worrying about scaling.

+1!

 

[favvify]

I did PDHPE and still received a 90+ ATAR, and scored really well in it because it was something that I genuinely enjoyed. This year it scaled really well because it was an ass of an exam. Having said that, you shouldn't be basing your choices on what scaled well, because a) scaling changes every year, and b) you should be doing subjects that you like, and that may even give you bonus points for band 6s in certain courses (e.g. PDHPE and health sciences related courses often go hand in hand).

I regret not doing bio now as it clashed with a subject that I ended up dropping (go figure), but there is a major bio/PDHPE crossover especially in Factors Affecting Performance (HSC Core 2).

Just my opinion from a PDHPE-er's point of view.

 

[laura-jayne14]

Scaling changes from year to year - don't rely on it. Do what you're interested in and enjoy.

 

[Examine]

Scaling changes from year to year - don't rely on it. Do what you're interested in and enjoy.

Despite changing from year to year the scaling of Eco tends to stay high along with Phys and Chem while PD/H/PE's stays average with Legal and Business.

But yeah I agree with the above posts. There's a reason why it has high scaling, it really is packed with content and the subject would be hell if you don't have some form of interest for it.

 

[lux19]

Thankyou so much!!! it defineatly helped me!

 

[lux19]

I have chosen to try out PDHPE for the first week or so, and will change to Economics..later on. And yes i would like to keep my options open so doing economics will allow a range of courses in the future. Thankyou again to everyone for helping me in making this decision.