Advice on dropping subjects? :) (1 Viewer)

[mollytee]

Ok I feel really confused right now. My subjects for year 12 are Extension 2 English, Modern, Ancient, History extension, Legal and Business. My initial plan was to drop business as well as economics (dropped already) but I thought I'd test out my extension subjects first. I want to drop either business or ext 2 english. I found business quite dry in prelims and since I thought I would drop I didnt try at all/missed a heap of classes. Saying that, the first week of hsc hasnt been too bad and I managed to get around 70% in the yearly without even opening the book.

In regards to extension, I really enjoy it but compared to my classmates I'm not doing as well. I'm ranked around the bottom out of 10 girls. My yearly mark was also around 70% with limited preparation (didn't wanna try too hard in yearlies so I dont burn out). I think with practice and work I could definitely improve. I've always wanted to do extension 2 but suddenly I dont feel so confident in my ability. I genuinely enjoy writing though.

In this case, do you think I should focus more on scaling or ranks? I feel like I could really ace business if I tried even though it's not my favourite but the scaling isnt too great. On the other hand, extension english I enjoy and it scales well but it requires more work on my end. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[A E S T H E T I C]

Ok I feel really confused right now. My subjects for year 12 are Extension 2 English, Modern, Ancient, History extension, Legal and Business. My initial plan was to drop business as well as economics (dropped already) but I thought I'd test out my extension subjects first. I want to drop either business or ext 2 english. I found business quite dry in prelims and since I thought I would drop I didnt try at all/missed a heap of classes. Saying that, the first week of hsc hasnt been too bad and I managed to get around 70% in the yearly without even opening the book.

In regards to extension, I really enjoy it but compared to my classmates I'm not doing as well. I'm ranked around the bottom out of 10 girls. My yearly mark was also around 70% with limited preparation (didn't wanna try too hard in yearlies so I dont burn out). I think with practice and work I could definitely improve. I've always wanted to do extension 2 but suddenly I dont feel so confident in my ability. I genuinely enjoy writing though.

In this case, do you think I should focus more on scaling or ranks? I feel like I could really ace business if I tried even though it's not my favourite but the scaling isnt too great. On the other hand, extension english I enjoy and it scales well but it requires more work on my end. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I love writing too, but I'm not doing 4U because basically everyone I've asked about it said that it killed their enjoyment of writing.
I'd recommend keeping business as your marks are more consistent in that, and dropping down to 3U. Continue writing for the fun of it, without the pressure of having to worry about marks.

That's just me tho

 

[BLIT2014]

Also have a look at how previous cohorts performed in the external HSC exam?


Why don't you wait and see how you feel after you've completed the first lot of assessments?

 

[mollytee]

Also have a look at how previous cohorts performed in the external HSC exam?


Why don't you wait and see how you feel after you've completed the first lot of assessments?

Well my business cohort is really weak but I still think I can get in the top 10 if I word hard. Extension all get E4's.

That's what I was thinking but I have two days a week that are literally hell. Almost 9 hours of class a day and I'm getting anxious just thinking about it.

 

[mollytee]

I love writing too, but I'm not doing 4U because basically everyone I've asked about it said that it killed their enjoyment of writing.
I'd recommend keeping business as your marks are more consistent in that, and dropping down to 3U. Continue writing for the fun of it, without the pressure of having to worry about marks.

That's just me tho

Thanks

 

[mollytee]

Anyone else?

 

[egal]

I came first in advanced and extension 1 English for prelims and picked up e2, but it was so time consuming and such a big workload. I was so stressed and it just took the fun away from English because I wasn't passionate enough about my major work. For some of my classmates they're in love with it, but for me it wasn't worth keeping because it was taking away from other subjects and made me too stressed.

 

[pikachu975]

Ok I feel really confused right now. My subjects for year 12 are Extension 2 English, Modern, Ancient, History extension, Legal and Business. My initial plan was to drop business as well as economics (dropped already) but I thought I'd test out my extension subjects first. I want to drop either business or ext 2 english. I found business quite dry in prelims and since I thought I would drop I didnt try at all/missed a heap of classes. Saying that, the first week of hsc hasnt been too bad and I managed to get around 70% in the yearly without even opening the book.

In regards to extension, I really enjoy it but compared to my classmates I'm not doing as well. I'm ranked around the bottom out of 10 girls. My yearly mark was also around 70% with limited preparation (didn't wanna try too hard in yearlies so I dont burn out). I think with practice and work I could definitely improve. I've always wanted to do extension 2 but suddenly I dont feel so confident in my ability. I genuinely enjoy writing though.

In this case, do you think I should focus more on scaling or ranks? I feel like I could really ace business if I tried even though it's not my favourite but the scaling isnt too great. On the other hand, extension english I enjoy and it scales well but it requires more work on my end. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

EE2 is definitely a lot of work but it's much different to advanced english and extension 1 in terms of assessments and content. Since you enjoy writing I'd recommend you keep it (depending on how you did in the term 1 assessment) and you have lots of time these holidays to write up a draft for your major work. Just drop the subject you did the worst in or do not enjoy because enjoyment means you're more likely to study for it.

 

[egal]

So much research has to go into an ee2 major work (if it is a critical) and you will probably spend the majority of your time on ee2 reading articles and primary texts. It is definitely not as simple as just writing a draft

 

[Son of Thatcher]

Perhaps a tad late here but heck, I'll throw in my two cents anyway =) Unlike most others here, I never took EE2 but did take EE1 in Year 11 and HistX in Year 12 and as you've probably figured out already, the workload in any extension subject is significant. Only take the subject if you are deeply passionate about it.

Although you sound like you really enjoy English, taking two extension subjects, especially ones with such levels of writing is in my opinion, a big no-no. Not only will you need to divide your attention to properly tackle these subjects, but you'll just find yourself tired and worn-out as both have large majors. Not to mention you may not even be operating with the guarantee of a better ATAR. I know a girl at my school this year who managed to get E4s in EE1, EE2 and HistX. Clearly she worked very hard and diligently as I'm sure you will. But, even with all that, her ATAR was lower than mine. The point of the story is to not unnecessarily exert yourself when you can achieve the same results (more or less) with less stress.

My advice would be to keep Business and drop EE2. Although the scaling of the former is lacklustre, it is so much easier to do well if you just learn the content. Speaking from personal experience, let me just say that unlike some subjects, Business doesn't throw curveballs, it doesn't try to trick you; if you know the syllabus you will do well. It's as simple as that. Aside from normal 2 unit English, I'd say it is probably the easiest course to rote learn. Use that to your advantage.

Nevertheless, whatever you choose to do, decide quickly (if you haven't already) because time flies in Year 12. I originally only intended to *test* out HistX and ended up staying with it; by the time a decision had been made, I had already invested so much of my energy that it felt wrong to just drop it.