Should I drop a subject???? (1 Viewer)

[TrentsUnicorn]

So I'm doing thirteen units (well, 14, but I'm dropping MX2) and I'm scoring around the same in all of them. My marks are all in the mid 90's and I'm ranked 1st-3rd, so that's not really the issue.

I'm just worried that 13 units maybe too big a workload in HSC year, but I'm worried that if I drop down to 11, I don't even have a whole 2-unit subject as a buffer. In terms of school work, I'm at school for the usual 9-3 and I have extra classes after school 3 days a week and before school twice. Homework is 4-5 hours a day. I also have leadership stuff on 2-3 times a week AND I have my out-of-school commitments. I knew coming in that 13 units is alot, but I have no idea on what to drop.

Originally, I thought I should wait till half-yearly's, which are at the beginning of April for me. Is that too long to keep all my units?

I do:
Maths Ext. 1
Physics
Biology
English Adv.
Legal Studies
Studies of Religion II

 

[Hopp]

Sounds like you have a pretty heavy week! Which is good, I'm in a similar position: doing 13 units and play 3 sports with a part time job too. I personally believe that doing 11 or 12 units is a much better choice than 13, which is why I'm dropping Hix. Waiting for the half yearlies is a good idea too, I guess around then you would have had a good feel for your subjects and you'll probably know by then what the best decision is, I know very little people who regret dropping subjects as it is usually quite the contrary. Good luck either way!

 

[laura-jayne14]

I do twelve at the moment and I like that safety net Prioritise and stay organised. Good luck!

 

[TrentsUnicorn]

Sounds like you have a pretty heavy week! Which is good, I'm in a similar position: doing 13 units and play 3 sports with a part time job too. I personally believe that doing 11 or 12 units is a much better choice than 13, which is why I'm dropping Hix. Waiting for the half yearlies is a good idea too, I guess around then you would have had a good feel for your subjects and you'll probably know by then what the best decision is, I know very little people who regret dropping subjects as it is usually quite the contrary. Good luck either way!

Hmmm are you dropping straight away? And yeah a lot of people I know don't regret dropping at all, maybe it's just me being paranoid. Thanks though

 

[loversinjapan]

Keep your units (if you enjoy them) while being aware of the ten which are most likely to contribute towards your ATAR. You can drop them when the stress or work load does actually get to you. I did 12 units, and although Music 1 didn't really count towards my ATAR, it was a good break from my other subjects throughout the year.

 

[Phaze]

honestly if you are enjoying the subjects and doing well in them you shouldn't drop it, right now it acts as a saftey net and you still get the chance to learn about something you enjoy. IF the pressure and stress does begin to kick in from the work load see if it affects your mark. If yes then you can make an educated decision of what to drop and if you still manage to handle it well, have it as a saftey net.

 

[enoilgam]

As you arent performing poorly in any one subject, I'd wait a little bit longer before dropping so you can get a better perspective on each. When deciding on which one to drop, you obviously need to consider which subject is least likely to count towards your ATAR - to determine this in your case, I'd consider scaling and what you like the least.

 

[asdfghjklmz]

Well keep 13 to be safe, but they only count 10 units, so maybe if you lose interest in one subject or aren't doing that well in one, drop it
Doing 11 units is fine though.

 

[Darth_UNSW]

Out of interest, if you drop maths extension 2, do you have to pick up maths advanced?

 

[TrentsUnicorn]

Out of interest, if you drop maths extension 2, do you have to pick up maths advanced?

Pretty much. Each school does it differently, but most schools don't require you to do adv. if you're doing extension 2 as adv. isn't counted. But if you drop ext. 2, then adv. needs to be counted and therefore you need to do the subject. Depending on how late it is in the year, you might just sit the exam and they average out your school mark based on the cohort's average mark.
But again, this depends on your school, so best ask your learning advisor. I know that my school requires me to do adv. even though I do ext. 2...

 

[turnerloos]

would 10 units be too risky?

 

[Phaze]

would 10 units be too risky?

If you're confident with all of those subjects then not at all! As long as you have confidence

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[turnerloos]

If you're confident with all of those subjects then not at all! As long as you have confidence

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

What if im not too confident but i know that it'll lighten my workload?

 

[anomalousdecay]

I was in your similar shoes exactly one year ago.

My story:

The reason why I first created a BoS account was to ask whether or not to drop Economics. I had 12 units at the time.

Here is the thread I made:

http://community.boredofstudies.org...9373/12-units-10-units-extension-2-maths.html

In the end I kept Economics and did Age of Silicon as my option module for Physics.

Also I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those last year who helped me make a highly informed decision about my study for HSC.


So my view on my choice:

- I don't regret keeping Economics because it was a good stress relief subject where I would bludge and relax a little.

- I hated Economics and got 15 marks less (Band 4) in it than my main 8 units (disregarding English).

- MX2 ended up being my highest aggregate even though I was contemplating dropping because I felt we were behind (though I worked on it more than any other subject).

- I did probably less than a 4% of my overall HSC study on Economics, so it had no effect on me whatsoever. I tried my hardest on the other subjects and knew there was nothing else more I could have done.

- I started studying for Economics HSC the day before the exam (right after MX1) and pulled a miracle by answering every question in Economics like it was a Physics/Chemistry question going about that structure. My paper probably confused the crap out of the markers because I made up a lot of random stuff.

So basically, my advice to you is to drop the subject you dislike the most, as this is the one you will not study in. Using my example above, Economics was worthless to me (Bar the fact that it might help me with some future random stuff that pops up which my economics knowledge of concepts can help in). Considering that you are on 14 units, I strongly suggest you drop to either 12 units (Keep MX2 as 70% of the cohort get above 70, which will give you an ATAR aggregate of above 90) and drop some random subject, then after the half yearlies, you should decide whether to drop MX2. 12 units or 11 units are absolutely fine and can guarantee you a safety net for you ATAR.

So don't drop MX2 yet. Drop a 2 unit subject first, see how you go with 12 units, then decide whether MX2 is viable or not.

I had a friend whom did MX2 all the way until the trials, but was doing last minute study for it and was not serious about it. My friend would have kept MX2, however, the teacher and my friend were more confident that a good result would come from doing 2-unit instead. In the end, it was the best decision of my friend's HSC. By the way, my friend was on 11 units and dropped to 10 after trials to do the 2-unit exam.

So keep MX2, if you want drop anytime if you feel it isn't worth it. 11 units is still fine, though I would advise keeping it for now because:

- 13 units is a bit too much and you will most probably drop something else too, fast tracking you to 11 units, leaving you the inability to drop something else.

- 12 units is a safer option as you have more flexibility to later drop a one unit subject or two unit subject however you like.


EDIT:

I also had leadership and sporting commitments similarly to you that all together would take up roughly 15-20 hours a week through Captaincy and playing with my Soccer team.

 

[TrentsUnicorn]

anomalousdecay, that was probably the best advice I've ever read; no joke. Thankyou! I've ddecided to stick with 14, but I've talked to my teachers and told them that I've considered dropping their subject based on half-yearly results. They said pretty much the same thing as you, to keep it and if it gets too much later, to drop it.
So thanks again!

 

[anomalousdecay]

Anytime. You would most likely want to drop the one you dislike the most or has no benefit for you in the future in you like them all.

When you start feeling pressure for time, then you know that you have to drop something to relieve yourself a little.

Ask yourself which subject you study least in (if you like them all equally) or find less enjoyable and you will soon realise that is the subject to drop.