10 or 11 Units? (1 Viewer)

[Pyramid]

Hiya

So I'm wondering whether to go through next year with 10 or 11 units. My courses atm:

3U Math
3U English
2U Physics
2U Chemistry

I've signed up for MX2 and EE2, both of which will start in week 8 this term. So, my options for the road ahead are:

1) Keep my current setup. [10 units]

OR

2) Drop to 2U Math and move up to 4U English. [10 units]

OR

3) Move up to 4U Math. This would leave me with 11 units, because I cannot drop Ext1 English. [11 units]

---

As for whether I prefer/am better at Math or English, I really don't know, and I don't think I ever will, not least 'til I get my final HSC scores come December 2010. All I know is that I've never heard of anyone doing 4U Eng, 2U Math, Phys and Chem -- the courses don't seem to 'gel'...so I'm kinda worried.

My ATAR aim is 99.90, not cos of some snazzy Uni course, but because that seems to be the cutoff for the more general academic scholarships @ UNSW / Sydney Uni.

From a scaling standpoint, the 4U Math option is obviously better. In which case, I'd ignore Ext1 English anyway, it'd just be a class I attend and do the minimum to get by...so I'd be 'studying' 10 or 10.5 units anyway.

If I wanted 95 ATAR I'd choose EE2, simply because it's something I could have fun and take a risk with. But when your talking 99.90...there's really no room for risk. I'm no genius, I just think that if I study hard and smart, I just MIGHT make 99.90.

While I will wait and see what the MX2 and EE2 classes are like before making a concrete decision, I'd like whatever advice / opinions I can get. I just thought I'd get some ideas now rather than later, so I can deal with this promptly.

So yeah, thanks for reading.

Thanks...now to get a poll up. Edit: haha, poll didn't work

 

[Pyramid]

Aw man, no advice?

 

[Nyxie]

Hmmm... what extensions do you genuinely feel you will enjoy more? Because you will inevitably go best in what you enjoy- whether it be math or english.

 

[p0-tah-t03z]

I'd say pick up ext 2 maths 'cause if you look scaling wise it is more beneficial. Although at the end of the day it is your decision. Have fun with whatever you do. ^^

 

[Nyxie]

even though ext. 2 math scales higher, if you don't think you'll enjoy it don't do it. then again, this is coming from an english-nut- as you can probably tell from my signature, as I'm really into all the humanities...

do you enjoy math or english more?

 

[Misyndo]

From a scaling standpoint, the 4U Math option is obviously better.

Shut the fuck up about scaling and just do what you enjoy most.

However, since it is obvious that you don't know, why don't you just pick up both?

If you find that you cannot deal with the workload drop whichever one that you dislike more.
And there is always the option of dropping it later if you find it to be a bore later on anyways.

 

[Pyramid]

Thanks guys

Yes, I will continue with both at least initially. The aim of this thread was simply to get some advice on the matter sooner rather than later. All and any additional advice will be appreciated.

 

[Pyramid]

Any more opinions? I'll always take them with a pinch of salt.

 

[iSplicer]

You know you're fucked when you're considering dropping down to advanced mathematics AND considering taking up Extension 2 Mathematics at the same time.

 

[Pyramid]

You know you're fucked when you're considering dropping down to advanced mathematics AND considering taking up Extension 2 Mathematics at the same time.

lol, so very true

 

[Shadowdude]

Scaling does help factor in the decision - and it very well should if you are aiming for the highest ATARs. If you are going to do CAFS, PD/H/PE, Society and Culture, Aboriginal Studies and whatnot and aim for 99.95 ATAR - because you like that, well, we'd say "Scaling makes it easier - you should pick the Sciences and Maths - you can still get 99.95 ATAR, but you have the chance of someone having the exact same DNA profile as you, working against it."

In any normal situation, scaling should not be a factor - but the HSC is a game, and to play the game, we have to play with the rules, and the smarter students are going to find loopholes (take high scaling subjects) and get the high ATARs they desperately crave.

 

[fredinhose]

fucking retard

you're as good as gone

expect a ~85 atar

 

[Shadowdude]

Because...?

Those are high scaling subjects and even if she gets 80 in all of them she's probably got 85 right there. Then if she improves to 90 she's got 93-95.

 

[possessionless]

Scaling does help factor in the decision - and it very well should if you are aiming for the highest ATARs. If you are going to do CAFS, PD/H/PE, Society and Culture, Aboriginal Studies and whatnot and aim for 99.95 ATAR - because you like that, well, we'd say "Scaling makes it easier - you should pick the Sciences and Maths - you can still get 99.95 ATAR, but you have the chance of someone having the exact same DNA profile as you, working against it."

In any normal situation, scaling should not be a factor - but the HSC is a game, and to play the game, we have to play with the rules, and the smarter students are going to find loopholes (take high scaling subjects) and get the high ATARs they desperately crave.

stop fucking stereotyping subjects!
the person that got the highest atar at my school did PD/H/PE. 3 of the people that got the highest ATAR at my school did CAFS.

dont think of scaling, do what you enjoy. you want especially your last year at school to be enjoyable. you wont enjoy it doing subjects you dont like, hence why i dropped ext 1 maths.

 

[Shadowdude]

It's not stereotyping if it's usually true. Besides, just ask the 99.95-ers this year what subjects they did - you'll find perhaps only 1 or 2 did one or more of those subjects, out of the 48. I even doubt one.

 

[speedofsound]

It's not stereotyping if it's usually true. Besides, just ask the 99.95-ers this year what subjects they did - you'll find perhaps only 1 or 2 did one or more of those subjects, out of the 48. I even doubt one.

fucking hell stop talking like you know everything. the dux at my school did society & culture as well as a bunch of other humanities, even DRAMA for fucks sake.

 

[bob fossil]

Do the subjects you will enjoy. Your not going to get band 5's in subjects you hate. The people with the top ATARs usually do math/science because the are most challenging/rewarding.

 

[alex09hsc]

Definitely do 11.
I did 12, which worked out well because I choked so bad in one subject.

 

[Shadowdude]

fucking hell stop talking like you know everything. the dux at my school did society & culture as well as a bunch of other humanities, even DRAMA for fucks sake.

speedofsound, I went through every single ATAR in the 2009 ATAR thread, and out of the 20 99 ATAR's or more, ONE did Society and Culture. 17 did Maths Extension 1, 14 did Chemistry and/or Physics, 15 did Maths Extension 2, 5 did Extension 1 and/or 2 English. So really, at the uppermost ATARs - that is simple proof, vivid, true and real - that the highest ATARs are achieved most of the time by those who do the high scaling subjects.

By contrast, of the 104 people who posted their subject's and ATAR's this year - of the 20 who got less than 90 ATAR, only 1 did Maths Extension 1, 5 did Chemistry, 4 did Physics, none did Maths Extension 2 or the English equivalent, 3 did English Extension 1.

Furthermore, 9 of the 20 who got less than 90 did General Maths (in contrast to 7 who got 90+ but none got 99 or higher). 3 did Standard English, compared to 8 who got 90+ but none got over 99. Out of the 7 who did Society and Culture, 1 got 99 or higher, and 5 got from 90-99, while the outlier from it - one person - got an ATAR of less than 65.

Out of the 3 who reported Drama, 2 got less than 90 (although reported ATAR's of 80-90) while the other got 95 but did not break 99.

Sure this is very preliminary, but since I have tons of time on my hands - I could do this for last year's cohort, and the year before that, etc, etc, etc. Of course converting to ATAR from the UAI.

My conclusion is, it is very clear that those who get high ATAR's do high scaling subjects in general. The data for lower ATAR's does not have a large enough sample space to make observations.

 

[Arcorn]

So you're just getting your info off of Bored of Studies? FFS look at the overall stats not just the ones on here. Something you learn from junior school, sample sizes have to be large to establish a clear indicator of the population. There are what about 300 from each year 12 that come on here regularly and report? That's not even 10% of each yr 12. Seriously shut up Shadow.