accelerated student and im really screwed for the chem hsc (1 Viewer)

[emmi.e]

Hi guys, I am in a really tough spot right now, I recently moved to a senior high school and I have obviously been adjusting really terribly cause my grades have absolutely plummeted. I have 'completed' almost three HSC tasks for the chem HSC this year and I haven't gotten past 30% for either of them. The first I got a mark of 21%, and the second I got a mark of 15%. My current rank is 122/127 and I have my third and final assessment before trials tomorrow (and I'm not hopeful). I'm an accelerated student and honestly, I really hate chemistry but have been forcing myself to just keep doing it cause it feels like a waste to just completely drop it (plus I'm planning to drop other subjects instead). However, at this rate I think I might even have to repeat the Year 12 chem course again because even if I do well next year with my other subjects I think chemistry would drag it down. I'll list the subjects I do incase it helps,

Physics, Korean Beginners, Engineering Studies, Maths Adv, English Adv and Chemistry Accelerated (12 units total)

I need advice. Some people are saying to drop it while others are saying to not repeat the course again since students who redo the course usually don't end up improving their marks. A note that I really hate all the subjects I chose except for Korean, I'm also not mentally well which could explain why I'm doing so terribly, anyways any advice to study for subjects you despise and especially on whether or not I should repeat the course is heavily appreciated, anything at all is great thank you

 

[jimmysmith560]

Sorry to hear that you are going through a rough time. As someone who attended the same school as you, I think that finding a solution to your problem will rely heavily on comparing your current position in each of your subjects. Based on this, I believe that there are two important factors that you should consider if you wish to make an informed decision, being the option of dropping Chemistry and the option of dropping another subject.

Dropping Chemistry:

You are completing HSC Chemistry this year and your current performance is unfavourable. While improvements can be made to your rank (if not through your assessment task tomorrow, then at least through favourable performance in your trial exam) in addition to the potential for favourable performance in the HSC exam of this subject, there is a chance that you will not be satisfied with your HSC mark (final mark) in this subject. It is never bad to be realistic and honest with yourself about any difficulties that you are facing as this can motivate you and give you the determination to perform at a higher level.

When considering the option of dropping Chemistry, it is important to have a firm belief that your performance in this subject (which you hate - this should be stressed) cannot be improved (or at least not to a level that would assist you in achieving your ATAR goal), and that you would be better off allocating your study time towards your other subjects. This is where a comparison between your performance in Chemistry and your other subjects would be beneficial. Given your dislike of this subject in addition to your unfavourable performance, I would be inclined to think that Chemistry is your worst-performing subject and one that you should probably drop.

Dropping another subject:

If you decide to drop another subject, thereby keeping Chemistry (which in turn gives you the opportunity to take this subject again next year), you should keep in mind that taking a subject again does not necessarily impose a barrier on performance. Although a different subject, I will note an example regarding one of my classmates, who accelerated Information Processes and Technology and did not perform at a sufficiently high level (band 3-4). He decided to give IPT another try and subsequently ended up achieving a band 5, i.e. a significant improvement. From this example, one can infer that, in the event of keeping Chemistry, improvement is definitely possible with the right mindset, that is, provided you are determined and diligent throughout next year.

Of course, I would suggest only considering this option if you have a worse-performing subject than Chemistry and whether you have a strong belief that a second attempt at this subject would be worth it, which I assume would be unlikely, given that you despise this subject.

I wish you the very best of luck, and I hope this helps!