Subject selection for HSC (1 Viewer)

[qweeosh]

Yeah lowkey we did. I kinda forgot lol but maybe more stuff to do with budgeting and investing or smth. Like idk what adult people do with their money.

no need to wonder. It’s clearly buying labubus.

 

[dumNerd]

content difficulty is subjective, however, exam questions can be viewed objectively:
chem: harder calcs, more application 3-4 mark questions and if you know your content knowing what to write for the 7/8 mark questions is easy
phys: easy calcs, harder extended response questions --> by "hard" extended response its more so knowing what to put down to get the 7/8/9 marks (HSC marking is lenient though so in the recent years phys as a whole has become a lot easier --> thus as of late phys scale is worse by quite a bit)

 

[coolcat6778]

content difficulty is subjective, however, exam questions can be viewed objectively:
chem: harder calcs, more application 3-4 mark questions and if you know your content knowing what to write for the 7/8 mark questions is easy
phys: easy calcs, harder extended response questions --> by "hard" extended response its more so knowing what to put down to get the 7/8/9 marks (HSC marking is lenient though so in the recent years phys as a whole has become a lot easier --> thus as of late phys scale is worse by quite a bit)

physics calculation questions could be made more difficult within the confines of the syllabus, but the exam makers don't care for some reason even though those kind of questions would be very differentiating. basically everyone gets calculation questions in physics right, the only thing seperating a band 5 student from a band 6 is how they do in the 15 marks of history questions. 2020 and 2019 are the only papers with reasonably difficult calculation questions (probably because at that time the physics syllabus was new, and the main feature about the syllabus reform was more math than history so the exam writers prioritized calculation questions) .

 

[theonestudy]

u should do physics instead of chemistry. practically equal scaling but physics is 100x much easier. Content is less heavy and way less memorisation. Exams are also much easier as a result of less memorisation required.

and you should do mx2 if u actually want a 99+ atar. even a 96 atar is actually really hard to get with just extension 1

If

physics calculation questions could be made more difficult within the confines of the syllabus, but the exam makers don't care for some reason even though those kind of questions would be very differentiating. basically everyone gets calculation questions in physics right, the only thing seperating a band 5 student from a band 6 is how they do in the 15 marks of history questions

do you think physics would be better even with the worse scaling? my goal is medicine but my deputy principal said not to worry about the subjects you take as long as you enjoy them and they scale well. and that uni prerequisites aren't that important because you can always do a bridging course or study up on things yourself, knowing that chem can be assumed knowledge.

 

[theonestudy]

what if little bro doesn't like physics? or unable to pick the subject lol?

physics is still an option, i just flunked my recent exam tho and just made the cutoff for y11 phys

 

[coolcat6778]

do you think physics would be better even with the worse scaling? my goal is medicine but my deputy principal said not to worry about the subjects you take as long as you enjoy them and they scale well. and that uni prerequisites aren't that important because you can always do a bridging course or study up on things yourself, knowing that chem can be assumed knowledge.

Very insignificant scaling difference when compared to History. Chemistry is much more content heavy compared to physics and more time dedication is required to memorize the stuff which isn't easy either since you also need to understand the abstract content.
And if your goal is 99 atar, you probably are aiming for 95 hsc mark for your subjects. If you don't manage to get in the 95+ mark range, scaling does become more important. It becomes even more important in the <90 range as you can see in the graph where a low mark in a bad scaling subject such as history is very detrimental.

 

[qweeosh]

physics is still an option, i just flunked my recent exam tho and just made the cutoff for y11 phys

Well the most important question is whether you actually enjoy physics. If you don’t then don’t bother with it, half my class in year 11 dropped because they were forced by their parents and then got horrendous results simply because they didn’t like the subject so they couldn’t process the information.

 

[theonestudy]

Well the most important question is whether you actually enjoy physics. If you don’t then don’t bother with it, half my class in year 11 dropped because they were forced by their parents and then got horrendous results simply because they didn’t like the subject so they couldn’t process the information.

I enjoyed physics but didn't get good marks (around the mean at sydney boys) even though I thought I was prepared

I was thinking tutoring would be a good option if i just lock in on trying to study forward.. do you know if tutoring would make a large difference/if kids in your cohort that do phys tutoring are substantially far ahead?

 

[theonestudy]

View attachment 48950
Very insignificant scaling difference when compared to History. Chemistry is much more content heavy compared to physics and more time dedication is required to memorize the stuff which isn't easy either since you also need to understand the abstract content.
And if your goal is 99 atar, you probably are aiming for 95 hsc mark for your subjects. If you don't manage to get in the 95+ mark range, scaling does become more important. It becomes even more important in the <90 range as you can see in the graph where a low mark in a bad scaling subject such as history is very detrimental.

thanks, this is helpful

 

[coolcat6778]

I enjoyed physics but didn't get good marks (around the mean at sydney boys) even though I thought I was prepared

I was thinking tutoring would be a good option if i just lock in on trying to study forward.. do you know if tutoring would make a large difference/if kids in your cohort that do phys tutoring are substantially far ahead?

an 87 in physics isn't bad. By reading the scaling graph, it's the same as a 91 in modern history. Normally people do worse in physics than extension 1 or 2 maths because the exams are aligned much worse + more subjective.

 

[coolcat6778]

Also HSC physics is much easier compared to prelim physics since the calculation questions are basically plugging stuff into the calculator for the most part. So you should be able to do better if you weren't good in maths or prelim calculation questions

 

[theonestudy]

View attachment 48952
an 87 in physics isn't bad. By reading the scaling graph, it's the same as a 91 in modern history. Normally people do worse in physics than extension 1 or 2 maths because the exams are aligned much worse + more subjective.

by it being more subjective do you mean the history parts? do you know what is involved in those questions and what % that would be worth? i think that personally i might be able to do better in that if it's like a long response

 

[theonestudy]

Also HSC physics is much easier compared to prelim physics since the calculation questions are basically plugging stuff into the calculator for the most part. So you should be able to do better if you weren't good in maths or prelim calculation questions

ohh i see, yeah i was struggling with the maths aspect for the most part

 

[coolcat6778]

by it being more subjective do you mean the history parts? do you know what is involved in those questions and what % that would be worth? i think that personally i might be able to do better in that if it's like a long response

10-15% are history questions which is just testing ur english skills tbh. then there are 20% mcq questions which obviously aren't subjective. remaining 30% calculation questions and 35% content explanation questions (subjective especially if u get assigned an unlucky hsc marker)

 

[theonestudy]

10-15% are history questions which is just testing ur english skills tbh. then there are 20% mcq questions which obviously aren't subjective. remaining 30% calculation questions and 35% content explanation questions (could be considered subjective)

oh wow, thats actually quite a bit for history... i was lowkey fixed on chem but now i think physics suits me much more. thanks so much

 

[Study to success]

oh wow, thats actually quite a bit for history... i was lowkey fixed on chem but now i think physics suits me much more. thanks so much

I’d recommend looking at the syllabus for both subjects cause this person’s clearly trying to sell physics to u. Cool cat’s successfully made someone hop boats to the physics club

 

[coolcat6778]

just look at the exam papers, theres so much jargon and bs in the chem paper. in the physics paper u can even answer all the explanation questions and get some marks with just prelim knowledge

 

[Study to success]

But that might be subjective tho. I know people who enjoyed chem more and found it easier than physics including the dux of my school a few years ago

 

[theonestudy]

I’d recommend looking at the syllabus for both subjects cause this person’s clearly trying to sell physics to u. Cool cat’s successfully made someone hop boats to the physics club

yeah i'll look at the syllabus cos this sounds too good to be true

 

[theonestudy]

just look at the exam papers, theres so much jargon and bs in the chem paper. in the physics paper u can even answer all the explanation questions and get some marks with just prelim knowledge

did you do physics or chemistry btw?