subject selection for year 11 (1 Viewer)

[fisa0227]

Hey guys, just need some help with subject selection for year 11! My original choices were mathematics 2u , advanced English , chemistry, biology, visual art and pdhpe but at the recent interview with the principal to confirm my selection she said my teachers have recommended ext English and maths and she encouraged me to drop pdhpe. Will this be too much of a workload ? I'm hoping to get into medecine

 

[Drongoski]

If you want to do Medicine (extremely difficult to get in) of what use are lightweight subjects like PDHPE and Visual Arts to you? You see what type of subjects successful students by and large in the past chose. They don't do wimp subjects.

You should choose subjects that are relevant to your goal, and not do subjects just because you love them or think you are good in them. Most people nowadays have a different view from mine, which is rather old-fashioned. Better talk to your parents as well. In year 10, you are a making very important decision but for which you may be too young and immature to make a right one.

 

[WrittenLoveLetters]

If you want to do Medicine (extremely difficult to get in) of what use are lightweight subjects like PDHPE and Visual Arts to you? You see what type of subjects successful students by and large in the past chose. They don't do wimp subjects.

You should choose subjects that are relevant to your goal, and not do subjects just because you love them or think you are good in them. Most people nowadays have a different view from mine, which is rather old-fashioned. Better talk to your parents as well. In year 10, you are a making very important decision but for which you may be too young and immature to make a right one.

What you are saying definitely has truth to it, and a majority of the successful 99+ ATARs are derived from high scaling subjects which are done well by the students who have chosen them.

But there is the rare occasion that students do achieve an extremely high ATAR with what you refer to as "wimp" subjects.

My school is in the rank 100s ~ 200 and last year, which is recent and relevant to 2015/2016 and closer years, there was a boy who had Eng Std/Adv (don't remember), Mathematics, Drama, Art and I believe the last one was...either a Science or Hospo and he achieved a raw ATAR score of 97. It is definitely achievable, but may be difficult in terms of scaling. This goes for other subjects like the notorious Business Studies and Legal Studies, which have assisted students in achieving high 95+ ATAR, heck, there are some amazing people like Drifting who did English Standard, General Maths, Business Studies etc who achieved 97.

I think subject combinations are endless. And at the end, if you know you are capable of struggling through subjects you hate and not good at (which is what I'm doing in Physics) and believe you can still maintain a high rank, then go for it. Otherwise, I believe a good balance of subjects, whether "wimp"y or not, will help you build your path

 

[fisa0227]

I'm thinking of taking on ext English amd studies of religion as I need 12 units

 

[WrittenLoveLetters]

I'm thinking of taking on ext English amd studies of religion as I need 12 units

I recommend you to not just take Extension subjects just to fill units. I kind of did that with English Extension 1 (although I seriously thought English Extension 1 was going to be amazing but it wasn't, for me) and now I regret not taking up Legal Studies and doing 13 units in Year 11 :C

 

[crowley926]

I guess it really depends on your work ethic. I know a lot of people who are doing 3u/4u maths as well as 3u english (And some even 4u maths and 4u english) and they are doing really well.

I think it might be worth considering dropping PDHPE - I'm aware it is quite a content heavy course and seeing as you're already doing Chemistry and Biology (Bio especially is very heavy on content) then it would be wise to not bog yourself down with 3 content heavy courses because in the long run, they become very hard to balance and keep on top of. + You have a major work for VA to worry about. And Eng Ext is literally 1 creative and 1 essay (granted they are around 1300 words each) but in the big picture, that requires relatively less time.

Also, if your teachers recommended it then obviously they believe you have the capacity to successfully manage the two extension courses so I think that as long as you put the work in (this is a no-brainer and literally applies to everybody) for all your subjects then the workload shouldn't be too much of a problem