Biology or Economics? (1 Viewer)

[Jessica Mead]

Hi,

I am in Year 10, and I am picking my subjects. I am not sure on wether to do Biology or Economics?

My other subjects are:

English Advanced
English Ext 1
Mathematics Advanced
Mathematics Extension 1
Chemistry
Physics

From anyone doing either biology or economics,

what are the advantages/disadvantages?
how much content?
rote learning or logic and application?
how much time does it take?

also my best subjects are Maths and Science. I am also pretty good at English

I am a logical thinker, and do not like memorising long pieces of information and regurgitating. That is why I am considering economics even though I am a Maths/Science person. Is economics logic based? or memorisation?

And I need a very high ATAR for the course I want to do, so what is better for you ATAR? Which scales higher?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[ocatal]

I'm not too sure about economics but biology is basically all rote learning. There is a LOT of content to learn and hardly any situation where you would need to apply any sort of mathematics. Despite this, content in biology is generally easy to understand.

Also economics scales higher. But don't choose a subject on the basis of how high it scales. Choose which ever you enjoy more because you will most probably be stuck with it for another 2 years.

 

[enigma_1]

Eco goes better with your subjects. There's heaps of concepts but like once you get it, you wont forget it - that's what rocks about it!
Bio I heard is boring and it's all content. It'll take time away from your subjects. You seem capable to do Eco so why not give it a crack? Besides, doing all 3 sciences could really get heavy sometimes. Depends on your interests though. I would say Eco though.

In Eco yeah there's some parts where you gotta rote learn but there's concepts too. So it's interesting!

 

[Sathius005]

Do Economics, Business Studies and Legal studies for your HSC get rid of the crappy science subjects. You might say that your good at Science subjects for your School Certificate (SC) but trust me HSC is nothing like the SC, it is a giant leap for students. I was excellent at science in the SC but in year 11 I regretted choosing Chemistry and Biology. In year 10 I was a more of a science genius than a commerce genius. My family told me to do Biology and Chemistry and aim for medicine because I would be good at it. In year 11 Economics I performed much better than Biology or Chemistry. After doing the HSC I got into Bachelor of Business at University of Technology, Sydney ( a top five per cent business school in the world accredited by the AACSB). The regrets about my HSC was not doing Legal Studies, although in my senior years I had done Business Studies and Economics. Now I am well on the way towards becoming a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company in America. Many of my class mates say I am destined to become a Chief Executive Officer and earn millions of dollars every financial year.

 

[Menomaths]

Do Economics, Business Studies and Legal studies for your HSC get rid of the crappy science subjects.

What if she's not business minded?

 

[Menomaths]

Hi,

I am in Year 10, and I am picking my subjects. I am not sure on wether to do Biology or Economics?

My other subjects are:

English Advanced
English Ext 1
Mathematics Advanced
Mathematics Extension 1
Chemistry
Physics

From anyone doing either biology or economics,

what are the advantages/disadvantages?
how much content?
rote learning or logic and application?
how much time does it take?

also my best subjects are Maths and Science. I am also pretty good at English

I am a logical thinker, and do not like memorising long pieces of information and regurgitating. That is why I am considering economics even though I am a Maths/Science person. Is economics logic based? or memorisation?

And I need a very high ATAR for the course I want to do, so what is better for you ATAR? Which scales higher?

Thanks for any advice!

I used to do Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Economics, 2U maths, English in Preliminary. I've always been into science and I realised in like 2-3 weeks that Economics wasn't for me. I dropped it without thinking twice in my HSC year and don't regret it one bit.

Content-wise Biology is not too content heavy as people think it is.
Biology isn't entirely rote learning contrary to popular belief. There's a large proportion of Biology which you have to understand, not rote learn. Economics (from my knowledge in year 11) is more logic and understanding. I personally have written out my notes for Biology about two times and have read over them a couple of times. I think I've prepared sufficiently enough for my upcoming HSC exam (Also practised from past papers).

I hate rote-learning too, and prefer understanding things rather than reading over facts but I didn't find Biology as many people say it is. I'm doing the option 'Communication', and THAT is real rote-learning where you have to memorize the parts of the eye, the function of the parts, parts of the ear, the functions of the parts(and I hate it ). For Biology you just have to build a solid understanding of how processes occur etc and you should be fine(however there is a little bit of rote-learning which isn't too much of a problem).

If you do choose to do Biology, I would say don't do the option Communication since you dislike rote-learning.

 

[clingwrap]

I'm currently doing both Biology and Economics.

Biology is very content heavy, and the prelim course isn't great...but from what I've heard, the HSC course does get better (more about humans body/genetics if that's what you enjoy). For economics though, you can apply your general knowledge and the concepts are very logical. Bio is more of memorising content, whilst Economics is about knowing the concepts and applying it. Personally, rote-learning for Bio has worked for me so far and it does take some time and effort into knowing that content inside out.

From what you've said, I think I'd recommend Eco since your English skills will help with the essays, and if you're a logical kind of person like I am, the concepts will be very easy to pick up and less memorisation is required. Eco is actually the subject for me that's most applicable to real life...and it also scales better haha

 

[Spiritual Being]

Economics if you want a good future for yourself.

Biology if you hate yourself.

 

[RivalryofTroll]

Economics scales better.

Biology generally aligns better?

While Economics is more of a 'theory-based' and more 'conceptual' subject, there is still a degree of memorisation involved - definitions, stats and so on. As for the time required, it depends on the person.

I spend heaps of time making syllabus notes for Economics (a key to my success so far in the subject) while I know some people/friends who barely spend time on the subject (relative to other subjects like MX2) and still do really really well. If you truly understand Economics, you probably won't need to invest as much time as others - however, memorising certain parts of Economics is essential if you want to get the very best marks.

In terms of maximising your ATAR, Economics would be better due to its scaling but do whatever you specialise in.

A disadvantage of Economics (against Biology) is that you need to be constantly updated in terms of current trends/stats/relevant real life examples while for Biology, the syllabus content is static and remains the same throughout the year.

 

[pheelx3]

I quote myself from another thread:

I did both (regretfully). tbh I wish I did neither. LOL
but honestly... I find bio a tad more bearable than economics. but maybe I just had trash for teachers. Eco is so... ergh IMHO

Like honestly I think eco has just as much bullshit as bio to study (concepts and stuff to memorise). And since you (will) do chem and phys, I really think you're at a massive advantage for bio. I didn't study for my bio yearlies and turned every question into a chem question and I think I did decent... This is the same scenario if you did business and eco or something.

personally, I recommend bio from the subjects you have said that you will be doing
just my 2cents heh.

But on second thought... come again, bc I'm not too sure if you should take the all science path, I mean its sort of good to have some sort of background knowledge on eco... I'm keeping bio for my HSC (for now) purely because I'm attempting to do Med

 

[Xoenz]

I used to do Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Economics, 2U maths, English in Preliminary. I've always been into science and I realised in like 2-3 weeks that Economics wasn't for me. I dropped it without thinking twice in my HSC year and don't regret it one bit.

Content-wise Biology is not too content heavy as people think it is.
Biology isn't entirely rote learning contrary to popular belief. There's a large proportion of Biology which you have to understand, not rote learn. Economics (from my knowledge in year 11) is more logic and understanding. I personally have written out my notes for Biology about two times and have read over them a couple of times. I think I've prepared sufficiently enough for my upcoming HSC exam (Also practised from past papers).

I hate rote-learning too, and prefer understanding things rather than reading over facts but I didn't find Biology as many people say it is. I'm doing the option 'Communication', and THAT is real rote-learning where you have to memorize the parts of the eye, the function of the parts, parts of the ear, the functions of the parts(and I hate it ). For Biology you just have to build a solid understanding of how processes occur etc and you should be fine(however there is a little bit of rote-learning which isn't too much of a problem).

If you do choose to do Biology, I would say don't do the option Communication since you dislike rote-learning.

+1 for this.

I've just concluded the year 11 course with these subjects:
Adv English
3U Maths
Biology
Physics
Chemistry
Economics
Hence 13 units.

I'm dropping Economics for Year 12. I love learning about science and I find that biology accommodates this. Furthermore Biology content is transferrable in Chemistry (vice versa), so that helps too!

Economics on the other hand is a whole different train of thinking. It requires good memory and fantastic essay writing skills that are hard to come by... unless you have LOTS of practice. I also lost interest in the content albeit doing well for the effort I put in =="

I favour Biology because its knowledge is transferred with my other science subjects + I find it a very easy subject to understand and be interested in

 

[Jessica Mead]

I'm not too sure about economics but biology is basically all rote learning. There is a LOT of content to learn and hardly any situation where you would need to apply any sort of mathematics. Despite this, content in biology is generally easy to understand.

Also economics scales higher. But don't choose a subject on the basis of how high it scales. Choose which ever you enjoy more because you will most probably be stuck with it for another 2 years.

Do you think studying for biology took a lot of time out of your other subjects, because it had too much content.

Thanks for the info, and good luck in your HSC exams!

 

[Jessica Mead]

What if she's not business minded?

+1

 

[Jessica Mead]

But I like my sciences. And the HSC syllabus isn't really real science as such either.

 

[Spiritual Being]

But I like my sciences. And the HSC syllabus isn't really real science as such either.

Biology isn't a real science.

Okay, maybe it can get interesting but it needs a lot of consistency if you want to go well. It's not like reading your textbook the night before for legal and getting a band 5, it NEEDS consistent study and familiarity with HSC questions.

 

[Jessica Mead]

Do Economics, Business Studies and Legal studies for your HSC get rid of the crappy science subjects. You might say that your good at Science subjects for your School Certificate (SC) but trust me HSC is nothing like the SC, it is a giant leap for students. I was excellent at science in the SC but in year 11 I regretted choosing Chemistry and Biology. In year 10 I was a more of a science genius than a commerce genius. My family told me to do Biology and Chemistry and aim for medicine because I would be good at it. In year 11 Economics I performed much better than Biology or Chemistry. After doing the HSC I got into Bachelor of Business at University of Technology, Sydney ( a top five per cent business school in the world accredited by the AACSB). The regrets about my HSC was not doing Legal Studies, although in my senior years I had done Business Studies and Economics. Now I am well on the way towards becoming a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company in America. Many of my class mates say I am destined to become a Chief Executive Officer and earn millions of dollars every financial year.

But I like my sciences. And HSC science isn't real science either.

Good for you for getting in the course you want, and good luck in your career.

Don't make generalisations though. Just because you found HSC sciences difficult, and preferred commerce subjects over them, doesn't mean everyone will.

 

[Jessica Mead]

I quote myself from another thread:



But on second thought... come again, bc I'm not too sure if you should take the all science path, I mean its sort of good to have some sort of background knowledge on eco... I'm keeping bio for my HSC (for now) purely because I'm attempting to do Med

I'm considering Med too, why do you think bio is good for doing med? Does it help with the UMAT?

 

[pheelx3]

I'm considering Med too, why do you think bio is good for doing med? Does it help with the UMAT?

In essence, no. UMAT is derived into 3 sections, which are no longer marked as 3 sections:
1: Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving
2: Understanding People
3: Non-Verbal Reasoning
Nothing about bio.

But the problem is, GAMSAT. this requires 1st year uni bio and chem, and HSC phys. I know you'll probably study bio in uni if youre considering med, but studying it in highschool sort of gives you a (insignificant) headstart.

 

[jxballistic]

In essence, no. UMAT is derived into 3 sections, which are no longer marked as 3 sections:
1: Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving
2: Understanding People
3: Non-Verbal Reasoning
Nothing about bio.

But the problem is, GAMSAT. this requires 1st year uni bio and chem, and HSC phys. I know you'll probably study bio in uni if youre considering med, but studying it in highschool sort of gives you a (insignificant) headstart.

umat is just IQ and EQ

 

[sadgal]

Hey
I've just finished my prelim year and I did both biology and economics. Personally, I like economics WAY better!!! Biology was literally so boring (apparently the year 12 course is better-I hope) and I hated going to class, but economics was so interesting and I felt like it made me so much more aware and knowledgable about society. Both subjects have a lot of content but biology has more rote learning involved while economics is more logic and application. Obviously there is memorisation involved in some areas but not as much as biology. In biology you literally need to memorise your syllabus dot points and spit them out (in my experience). I'd probably say that economics took up more time for me only because it's harder than biology, which is why it scales so well. If I was in your position I would 100% pick economics, I love it!