Is it too much to be doing ancient history and modern history ? (1 Viewer)

[mrbananaman]

I'm starting the prelim course next year and i was wondering whether both ancient and modern will be too much? Is the course an extremely heavy workload, and please share experiences much appreciated !

 

[Ryan_T90]

I do both. It isn't a heavy workload if you manage your time well. But in saying that, you have to manage your time well for any other subject. You'll be fine.
Both the Ancient and Modern Prelim courses were quite easy and I found the workload very minimal. However, from what I hear, the Modern workload during your HSC year is pretty extensive.

 

[amourpenelope]

I'm currently doing Ancient History and it involves lots of essay writing, which I enjoy. Modern and Ancient are both very different histories. I have a few friends doing both histories, and they're coping quite fine c:

 

[alstah]

I do ancient and history extension. However, I know my friend last year did: Ancient, Modern and History Extension.

You need 2 things to be successful in history:

- Content - and a lot of it
- You need to write well, know how to answer the question

Modern History in my opinion looks a lot more interesting, it scales better and I think tbh easier because it concentrates on argument more than content.

I'll be honest though, at one stage I as overwhelmed with the amount of content there was in Ancient, but if you work hard, learn the content - you'll do exceptionally fine.

All the best. I highly recommend doing both, it's very enjoyable and you'll do well if you learn the content, go over the content consistently and you know how to answer the question, incorporating sources etc.

Don't be worried about the work load, because think of it as another 2 unit course, if you were doing legal studies in place of modern your question wouldn't be any different.

 

[powlmao]

I'm starting the prelim course next year and i was wondering whether both ancient and modern will be too much? Is the course an extremely heavy workload, and please share experiences much appreciated !

No.

I am doing Business Studies, Legal Studies and economics and thoses subjects are heavy content based.

 

[enoilgam]

I'm starting the prelim course next year and i was wondering whether both ancient and modern will be too much? Is the course an extremely heavy workload, and please share experiences much appreciated !

It shouldnt be to difficult. People manage with much harder subject combos all the time.

 

[powlmao]

It should be to difficult. People manage with much harder subject combos all the time.

I think he means it shouldn't be to difficult

 

[avro]

It's only too much if you make it too much. If you enjoy those subjects, and are willing to put in the work, you will be fine. Ultimately, nothing will be an 'easy' subject, you have to have the motivation to put in effort regardless of the content. I did both for prelim, and I'm still living

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Many people do the two subjects in conjunction with no strain. I have four friends that do, and I think about 1000 in state do both each year?

 

[petermeetswendy]

I have two friends who are doing both histories, and they are perfectly fine. Occasionally they get load of work but I think it's because of the teacher. Like everything else, use time management and it shouldn't be hard. as long as you love it then go right ahead. I chose Modern thinking that it would be reasonable, learned Russia, WWI & China and I think I was just about to kill myself because I disliked those topics. The only thing that I liked was for a term we did our own topic from a list (it couldn't be a topic that we were doing next or for the HSC course), I chose the Meiji Restoration in Japan.

 

[amyshaw]

I do both Modern History and Ancient History, along with history extension I enjoy them both and they are both very different content so you never feel like your doing to much history. Ancient history is less date focused and more general in content while modern tends to be more specific. Both are great especially if the topics you study are intersting, i would definitely recommend both.

 

[starshine02]

If you enjoy history then both of them should be fine! I know a few people doing both and the only busy times you have are when both hists require you to hand in a giant assignment or something. But most of the time those people seem pretty relaxed anyways.

 

[dr cookie]

reading this, I feel scared!!

I do ancient, and we are yet to write ANY essays. We do minimal work; about half of our lessons are legit waiting for the teacher (although a legend) to work out technology or to actually come to the right room.

but it's a good laugh, and after all, what's life without some giggles

 

[Erin_Elizabeth]

I'm in year 11 now though I'm only doing modern history. I wouldn't say that it's an excessive workload but I'd say it's probably the most difficult out of my (not so hard) subjects except for extension English. There are quite a few essays and as someone said earlier you do need to know quite a lot of content and need to be able to write well. However, I don't think that doing both histories would be too much. Obviously you'd have to like history quite a lot to do both of them because otherwise you'd get sick of it pretty easily but if you like it go for it. I've got quite a few friends who do both and I've never heard them say that there's too much work or anything like that. So I don't really think that it'd be too much.

 

[StephanieMit]

Hey there! I have chosen the following subjects for year 11 preliminary:
Advanced English, General Maths, Legal Studies, Modern History, Textiles and Design, Visual Arts and Studies of Religion I. I love creating things in textiles except I'm really bad at the theory and I don't know how to sew. I was thinking to change and do ancient and modern, then drop Maths and do history extension. I'm not so sure if this will be too much but I like history. I'm just afraid that ill mix up the dates for different topics. Any suggestions?

 

[alyssa21]

Doing Modern and Ancient is definitely doable: Modern can become pretty intense in Yr12 due to the sheer breadth of the syllabus and unpredictability of questions, but it is definiely such an enjoyable course and I'd recommend it to everyone to do! I currently do Extension but don't do Ancient (purely because I don't have as great as interest in Ancient History), but there are people in my grade doing all three. So I'd say that it's definitely a manageable workload, especially if you love what you're doing!

@StephanieMit, doing 5units of History is definitely manageable for Yr12, but i'd probably advise you to just think about Yr11 subjects first, before thinking what you'll do in Yr12! I thought I would never drop or pick up some subjects which I'm currently doing, so just think about Yr11 subjects first? Doing Ancient and Modern together isn't a problem seeing as the nature of the courses are so different. If you enjoy history, then go for it!

 

[gleeek]

I do both modern and ancient and I can tell you that it's not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. I personally find ancient history much easier than modern, in terms of content and expectations of my teachers. If you love history, like myself, I would recommend doing both. History is a great subject and it teaches you a lot and makes you appreciate the past in a way most people do not. Good luck with your choice!

 

[inJust]

I do modern. It's pretty hard. For me, I don't really learn the content, I just blitz the assessments and bludge in class. Like, usually when I do assessments, THATS when I learn about the content. So I guess that's why I find it hard. If you're on top of things, should be easy.

 

[StephanieMit]

@Alyssa21: Thank you so much! I really appreciate your opinion! I'll definitely consider it now.