Question about subject selection (1 Viewer)

[Balajanovski]

Hello,
I have recently received my subject selection forms and I would like
a second opinion based on subject scaling, difficulty, and relevancy to my future career of being a programmer.
Subjects I am debating taking have a (?) next to them.

Preliminary:
- Mathematics extension 1
- English Advanced
- English Extension 1 (?)
- Physics
- SDD
- Engineering studies
- Modern history (?)

 

[Frostguard]

For English Extension, if you do enjoy/have interest in English and perform well then select the subject but if you're choosing it on the basis that it'll help your ATAR, then that's not a very good reason. I personally don't think E Ext will help you that much in programming and the technological world except for maybe helping you understand some difficult terminology and stuff but most of that will derive from maths and other maths concept based subjects. If you don't enjoy English that much, then you'll maybe struggle in understanding the theories and concepts in E Ext, sure the scaling is high but it won't matter unless you do well and enjoy the subject.

As for Modern History, this too won't probably help you in the event that you do pursue a career in programming and computer related jobs. It scales relatively well, obviously not as high as the Extension subjects and in terms of difficulty is not hard to grasp because most of I think isn't memory and rote learning based where you remember the content and basically spit out all you've learned into essays and short answer questions. Judging with your subject selection, Modern won't be as interesting and relevant as your other subjects but who knows maybe you enjoy History and might even choose this subject as a sort of refresher subject from all your mathematical based subjects of Physics, Maths Ex, Engineering and whatnot.

Good Luck for the future and hopefully you'll choose subjects you'll like and enjoy!

 

[Vankyrie Ludenberg]

Hey! LOL those are the two subjects I have been debating about for like the past half year (in y12 rn)
These are the considerations I have made:
-my school is relatively weak in both subjects (ie they count in the atar for a limited amount of people); how have the previous cohorts in your school performed?
-both subjects are heavily essay oriented but the things you will be writing about are very different (eg in ext 1- how does X text reflect the ways of thinking in this era, mod - account for the fall of the weimar republic). Maybe you don't mind what you write but I personally enjoy writing mod essays more as they seem more meaningful
-that said ext 1 can be a back up for 2u english v v

Tbh neither is relevant to engineering studies so you would probably be picking mod/ext for the atar/ for personal interest
I really am enjoying mod and think it has given me insight into politics and those weird memes, but yeah are you going into prelim/hsc? You could always try them out and drop if it doesnt interest you

 

[Lumenoria]

Agreed with Frostguard. I'm in the middle of prelims and I take English Extension 1. I really think whether or not it's the right choice is dependent on your passion for English. The content is more interesting than Advanced, sure, but it requires a higher level of critical thought than you're used to. It's also marked way harsher than Advanced (atleast in my school it is) and though it's only one unit, your workload is essentially double that of Advanced. Thus, doing well here would require you to enjoy the subject because it can be, frankly, quite monotonous if you lack this. I've got friends who are really good at English, but chose the subject for scaling and now they have regrets. However, I personally enjoy English and find it quite a rewarding subject. Basically, if you dread English now then you may want to reconsider English Ext. Also, keep in mind this is on top of all your other subjects PLUS Maths Ext, which will be tough. Good luck!


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[si2136]

Don't base your subjects on what you want to do in university. It doesn't matter at all.

English Extension 1 is really different from English Advanced. Requires more critical understanding, but in a way, it's easier than Advanced (less boring).

It's not hard doing 3U Maths + 3U English. You'll be able to cope with your other subjects, since they aren't that content heavy.

In terms of scaling, the extension subjects you wish to partake and physics scale the best out of the other ones. However, scaling changes every year but it's around the same usually.