Both subjects are difficult and require a lot of time. I would personally not recommend Eng Ext 2 (I did it last year lmao) but here are my own experiences.
Pros:
- Genuinely a really fun subject since you get to write about WHATEVER you want and do WHATEVER you want to do
- You get 1 whole unit done right after trials and don't need to worry about it after HSC
- If you know what you are doing and you have vision/passion it will be genuinely really enjoyable
Cons:
- Being good at English is not enough. You need to have a really good idea and be able to execute it well (I got a 94 for Adv Eng, 47 for Ext 1, was ranked top 3 in a top 10 selective school and didn't E4 Ext 2 even though I was rank 2)
- You need to be really self-motivated - which doesn't seem hard but it's really tough because Y12 is a trainwreck and you will definitely be preoccupied by other subjects so you need to make sure you never prioritize other subjects over ext 2
- Major work is due right after trials, which means you need to have REALLY good time management throughout the year
- Depends on how useful your teachers are (personally mine were useless) but I would recommend talking to the current Y12s or people from older years and seeing their experience which will be v helpful
- It is a lot of work for just 1 unit (plus the emotional trauma and stress LMAO)
Obviously Ext 2 math is also a lot of work but generally if you're solidly good at Ext 1 math you will be pretty decent at Ext 2 and guaranteed decent marks (as long as you put in the effort). Ext 2 eng is a lot harder to predict in that respect but you get a lot of freedom if you know what you want to do. Would not recommend Ext 2 eng if you aren't really sure about your idea though, it is so much work and not worth it if you aren't sure of what you want to do. PM me if you want more specific info or have any questions about Ext 2 eng, more than happy to answer them.