chemistry or physics (1 Viewer)

[sami90210]

For me, I’ve had no option but to do Physics this year due to the subject algorithm at my school. If having no interest for the subject was bad enough, I also have a teacher who uses videos and worksheets to teach us all the time and I swear she makes sure to get as much theory on the page as possible so she can open her mouth less. Not to mention she’s very incapable of teaching Physics as she looks at some kind of textbook nearly every time a student asks a question. From what she’s told our class, she did Physics online for university. I don’t think anyone who has not had hands on experience at university should be teaching in a classroom, after all us students depend on the teacher to teach properly and doing your degree a half-assed way to get into teaching is potentially setting up the students for failure.

You're lucky your teacher at least admits that she isn't capable of teaching year 12 physics, my teacher tries to convince everyone that he worked at NASA and with elon musk and tells everyone to "google" him cuz then we'll find him. We wont LOL
Physics and chem are hard to teach oneself so I wish you luck!!! you're doing amazing

 

[Jes03]

Hi all I have chosen chemistry for next year (I'm in year 10 lol) but everyone I speak to in year 11/12 says its so bad and that they're going to drop it/have dropped it. I think schools have an option to change a subject within the first week of year 11 or something, should I drop chem and pick up another subject?

I really enjoy physics but I believe chem is going to be more useful as I am planning to study either nursing or undergrad science for medicine.

Hi sami90210,
Good question. I am currently a year 11 student studying in QLD and my subjects are English, Methods, Bio, Chem and Psych. I would also like to study medicine as well
I faced this dilemma before deciding on my subjects too. At our school, our teachers tell us to choose our subjects according to three general rules:
1. Do you enjoy the subject?
2. How well are you doing in this subject/ how well do you think you will do?
3. Is it relevant to your future studies?
Please also consider the workload and if wanting to study a science subject as any of these are very time consuming!
I love Chemistry, it's my favourite subject and have achieved the subject award this year within my school. It does involve calculations, especially unit 3 which is year 12 content, maybe don't worry about this just yet! However, unit 1 and 2 is very content heavy and if you would like to achieve a high mark, I recommend reading the textbook which may be tiresome for some people, but if you enjoy reading, its interesting. I have talked to some of the physics students at my school and they also really enjoy physics. I did briefly consider physics, but it wasn't one of my favourites so I didn't end up studying it. Personally I don't have much experience with this subject so can't really offer any helpful info.
Like previous people have mentioned, our opinions are going to be different to yours and all we can do if offer guidance. It depends on many factors. The subject itself if one thing but other factors like teachers, complexity, time management, subject satisfaction should all come into your decision.
Have a good think because this will be your senior subjects but don't stress too much! Definitely read over the syllabus of each subject which can be found on the QCAA website. Also, do you have a careers advisor or guidance counsellor at your school? I suggest talking to them and explaining what you would like to do after high school. Hopefully their input helps you to make more of an informed decision, but don't worry too much, you can always pick up one of these subjects at uni if you need to. Good luck!

 

[Etho_x]

Hi sami90210,
Good question. I am currently a year 11 student studying in QLD and my subjects are English, Methods, Bio, Chem and Psych. I would also like to study medicine as well
I faced this dilemma before deciding on my subjects too. At our school, our teachers tell us to choose our subjects according to three general rules:
1. Do you enjoy the subject?
2. How well are you doing in this subject/ how well do you think you will do?
3. Is it relevant to your future studies?
Please also consider the workload and if wanting to study a science subject as any of these are very time consuming!
I love Chemistry, it's my favourite subject and have achieved the subject award this year within my school. It does involve calculations, especially unit 3 which is year 12 content, maybe don't worry about this just yet! However, unit 1 and 2 is very content heavy and if you would like to achieve a high mark, I recommend reading the textbook which may be tiresome for some people, but if you enjoy reading, its interesting. I have talked to some of the physics students at my school and they also really enjoy physics. I did briefly consider physics, but it wasn't one of my favourites so I didn't end up studying it. Personally I don't have much experience with this subject so can't really offer any helpful info.
Like previous people have mentioned, our opinions are going to be different to yours and all we can do if offer guidance. It depends on many factors. The subject itself if one thing but other factors like teachers, complexity, time management, subject satisfaction should all come into your decision.
Have a good think because this will be your senior subjects but don't stress too much! Definitely read over the syllabus of each subject which can be found on the QCAA website. Also, do you have a careers advisor or guidance counsellor at your school? I suggest talking to them and explaining what you would like to do after high school. Hopefully their input helps you to make more of an informed decision, but don't worry too much, you can always pick up one of these subjects at uni if you need to. Good luck!

So lucky we don’t even get offered Psychology for year 11 and 12 in NSW, may I ask how is it like?

 

[Jes03]

So lucky we don’t even get offered Psychology for year 11 and 12 in NSW, may I ask how is it like?

Oh that's unfortunate! Yeah it actually wasn't a subject in QLD either until we converted from OP to ATAR last year, so it's relatively new in QLD as well.
It's a very unique and interesting subject. Year 11 includes topics like physiology of the brain and nervous systems, emotion & motivation, sleep and memory. Year 12 gets even more interesting with memory again, visual perception and social psychology where we study about the influence of power on society. Year 12 also covers attraction, the influence of social media, impossible figures and many more interesting topics.
Many people criticise the subject for being a "fake science", but this is entirely not true. Many topics within the syllabus is almost identical to biology including action potentials and the nervous system.

 

[sami90210]

So lucky we don’t even get offered Psychology for year 11 and 12 in NSW, may I ask how is it like?

I guess Society and Culture can be a substitution, as much of our year 11 and 12 syllabus focuses on social and psychological theories

 

[Etho_x]

Oh that's unfortunate! Yeah it actually wasn't a subject in QLD either until we converted from OP to ATAR last year, so it's relatively new in QLD as well.
It's a very unique and interesting subject. Year 11 includes topics like physiology of the brain and nervous systems, emotion & motivation, sleep and memory. Year 12 gets even more interesting with memory again, visual perception and social psychology where we study about the influence of power on society. Year 12 also covers attraction, the influence of social media, impossible figures and many more interesting topics.
Many people criticise the subject for being a "fake science", but this is entirely not true. Many topics within the syllabus is almost identical to biology including action potentials and the nervous system.

I wouldn't say psychology is a fake science, in fact it is a science but possibly a branch of biology. Sounds cool though! How has your studies been in Queensland as it would probably differ quite a bit here in NSW?

 

[Etho_x]

I guess Society and Culture can be a substitution, as much of our year 11 and 12 syllabus focuses on social and psychological theories

Idk I don't even do SOC, the minute I heard that you had to do a fat project for it I was like nahhh

 

[sami90210]

Idk I don't even do SOC, the minute I heard that you had to do a fat project for it I was like nahhh

mans can do 3 sciences with 3 unit math but society and culture is a hell no
jk

 

[Etho_x]

mans can do 3 sciences with 3 unit math but society and culture is a hell no
jk

mans can do 2 sciences and 4 unit math (currently) and soc is still a hell no, humanities are

 

[sami90210]

mans can do 2 sciences and 4 unit math (currently) and soc is still a hell no, humanities are

i guess u can see humanities as a break from all of the numbers you deal with in the sciency subjects
but its good to have a balance of both but I can't speak for myself I'm doing 4 units of performing arts lol

 

[Etho_x]

i guess u can see humanities as a break from all of the numbers you deal with in the sciency subjects
but its good to have a balance of both but I can't speak for myself I'm doing 4 units of performing arts lol

I tried doing performance arts subjects (drama) for Year 11 and my overall thoughts personally is no bueno hahah

 

[sami90210]

I tried doing performance arts subjects (drama) for Year 11 and my overall thoughts personally is no bueno hahah

really? I'm doing music 1 and drama and that doesn't leave me with a lot of hope because I wanted to drop chemistry lol

 

[Etho_x]

really? I'm doing music 1 and drama and that doesn't leave me with a lot of hope because I wanted to drop chemistry lol

Nah just personal experience for drama dw drama is a good subject I was just bad at it lolz

 

[Kyufruit]

mans can do 2 sciences and 4 unit math (currently) and soc is still a hell no, humanities are

You dissing my language subjects

 

[Etho_x]

You dissing my language subjects

Yes I am that’s correct what will you do about it?

 

[Kyufruit]

Yes I am that’s correct what will you do about it?

I’ll swear at you in all 4 languages

 

[Etho_x]

I’ll swear at you in all 4 languages

Of which 3 are negligible because I won't understand em

 

[Kyufruit]

Of which 3 are negligible because I won't understand em

Damn you got me

 

[Etho_x]

Damn you got me

Sorry sis, once you have a better plan which deserves my attention, then ill consider reading it

 

[dumNerd]

Sorry sis, once you have a better plan which deserves my attention, then ill consider reading it

Watch @Kyufruit get 99 atar with languages