Dropping CAFS? (1 Viewer)

[ShadowLighte]

CAFS in Year 11 was an okay subject for me and I was debating whether or not to drop that or Biology for Year 12 because they weren't my best subjects. I also really didn't want to do the IRP. I decided to keep the two and go with 12 units though I realised that I am possibly wasting me time when I could drop one and use that time to study for the other. I am determined to keep Biology now but with CAFS, I want to drop it.

What do you guys think, good/ bad idea? I know it's up to me but I'd like some advice, especially from those who completed the course.
Why I want to drop it:
- not doing as well as I want to
- can use that time to study for other subjects
- content isn't very appealing; I find it really rather boring in comparison to the prelim course
- IRP is a pain, takes so much time and I have a good feeling I'm not going to do very well.
- scales really badly unless you do well

Btw, my CAFS teacher said she wasn't going to let anyone drop CAFS because of the IRP- I don't know whether or she was joking, is this allowed? We're allowed to drop whenever we see fit, right? So as long as we have 10 units?

 

[Kat92]

I think the question you really need to ask is what sort of job are you looking at doing in the future? If it involves some form of community or government interaction, I would say perhaps stick with CAFS. Otherwise, if you believe that you can devote that time to your other subjects and ace those 10 units- drop it.

And to answer your question about dropping- you can drop a subject at any point. Teachers just find that if you have started a major project you should stick with it and see how your results go.

Perhaps have a talk to your teacher, year advisor, or a careers counsellor before dropping if you are contemplating this. Ultimately, they will be able to provide you with all alternatives that you may have neglected to consider.


Good Luck, I hope that it all works out for you in the end!

 

[Drifting95]

Personally i would drop it if you aren't going particularly well in it. The IRP needs a lot of time and effort put into it in order to get decent marks, and this can be used for your other subjects. CAFS doesn't scale and align well so you really need to be getting a b5 minimum to justify even having it, however this depends on your atar aims. If you were aiming for 90 + you really need a b6.

You have to understand though that the course is very different in the hsc content wise (from my perspective). It is mostly generic knowledge so the study demands aren't that heavy (from my experiences), with the majority of your marks coming from your analysis, how effectively you respond to the question and use of relevant examples. I found this quite easy personally however it is all relative.

 

[ShadowLighte]

Okay that's the thing, I'm not sure what job I want to do in the future which isn't a good thing, I know but I really can't decide. I'm probably one of the most indecisive people there are and a career is a huge thing. I only know that I definitely don't want to be involved in business because I can't handle that kind of stuff. Medical Science, maybe but somehow I have to do really well. The reason why I chose CAFS is because it seemed pretty much like general knowledge and was the closest thing to sociology/ psychiatry besides Biology and I was looking into studying that in the future at the time but I'm on the fence now.

The scaling is probably one the worst. I know the course isn't hard and is mostly general knowledge but I have to do extremely well. For my prelim half yearly I scored 87%, ranking 4th but in my yearly I scored 73% also ranking 4th. If I put that into the atar calc. that's a horrible score.

Thanks guys, we'll see how this goes. I have to get the note signed by my teacher + parent + HT + deputy before I can actually drop it so gosh darn, the lecures I'll probably be given, especially by the teacher.

 

[Drifting95]

Okay that's the thing, I'm not sure what job I want to do in the future which isn't a good thing, I know but I really can't decide. I'm probably one of the most indecisive people there are and a career is a huge thing. I only know that I definitely don't want to be involved in business because I can't handle that kind of stuff. Medical Science, maybe but somehow I have to do really well. The reason why I chose CAFS is because it seemed pretty much like general knowledge and was the closest thing to sociology/ psychiatry besides Biology and I was looking into studying that in the future at the time but I'm on the fence now.

The scaling is probably one the worst. I know the course isn't hard and is mostly general knowledge but I have to do extremely well. For my prelim half yearly I scored 87%, ranking 4th but in my yearly I scored 73% also ranking 4th. If I put that into the atar calc. that's a horrible score.

Thanks guys, we'll see how this goes. I have to get the note signed by my teacher + parent + HT + deputy before I can actually drop it so gosh darn, the lecures I'll probably be given, especially by the teacher.

School marks are no reflection of hsc performance. You're putting raw marks into a calculator that requires aligned marks. E.g an 80 raw may actually align to 90, which is then also scaled to get the mark that contributes to your atar. Although the problem with cafs is that i don't think it aligns at all? From the raw mark database a 92 raw aligned to 92, so you really need to be getting good marks.

Don't worry about what you want to do later on. School subjects don't play any influence in career maths (except for maths really). The only benefit would be bonus points offered for certain uni subjects however i have never seen uni's give bonus points for cafs.

 

[Kat92]

Okay that's the thing, I'm not sure what job I want to do in the future which isn't a good thing, I know but I really can't decide. I'm probably one of the most indecisive people there are and a career is a huge thing. I only know that I definitely don't want to be involved in business because I can't handle that kind of stuff. Medical Science, maybe but somehow I have to do really well. The reason why I chose CAFS is because it seemed pretty much like general knowledge and was the closest thing to sociology/ psychiatry besides Biology and I was looking into studying that in the future at the time but I'm on the fence now.

The scaling is probably one the worst. I know the course isn't hard and is mostly general knowledge but I have to do extremely well. For my prelim half yearly I scored 87%, ranking 4th but in my yearly I scored 73% also ranking 4th. If I put that into the atar calc. that's a horrible score.

Thanks guys, we'll see how this goes. I have to get the note signed by my teacher + parent + HT + deputy before I can actually drop it so gosh darn, the lecures I'll probably be given, especially by the teacher.

As Drifiting has pointed out ATAR calculators and scores at the end of the day are not the end of the world! There are always going to be other pathways to get where you want to go in life.

If you are considering sociology or the likes perhaps stick with it, as CAFS does provide a good foundation to help with understanding some of the more in depth constructs. It is not essential but will set you apart from others who have no knowledge in this field.