Should I drop Physics? (1 Viewer)

[dom_c]

I’m currently in the middle of year 11 and do extension maths and eng as well as eco, physics, society and culture and ipt. I’m planning on dropping both society and physics next year as they are by far my worst subjects and are generally not interesting to me at all, but I’m worried that some ipt/it or eco university courses would have physics or at least one science as a prerequisite, can someone enlighten me on this?

 

[jimmysmith560]

While Physics may be treated as assumed knowledge (not a prerequisite - assumed knowledge means that taking a particular subject is preferable if you wish to study a particular degree, although it is not a requirement) for degrees such as a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and a Bachelor of Science, it does not seem like it is treated as such in the case of a Bachelor of Economics or IT-related degrees. In the case of such degrees, maths seems to be more emphasised in terms of assumed knowledge and prerequisites, the former being the case of universities such as UNSW (Mathematics Advanced) and the latter being the case of universities such as USyd. This means that there is no mention of Physics as assumed knowledge or prerequisite for degrees such as a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor or Bachelor of Computer Science (and similar).

Additionally, USyd provides a document containing details regarding each degree/program it offers as well as their respective assumed knowledge and/or prerequisites (where applicable). It can be accessed using the following link:

https://www.sydney.edu.au/content/dam/corporate/documents/about-us/governance-and-structure/university-calendar/assumed-knowledge.pdf

Of course, the safest option would be to keep Physics in year 12 while prioritising your other subjects in order to maximise your performance in those. Keeping Physics will allow you to gain the assumed knowledge (if relevant to the degree that you wish to study) at no expense, given that Physics will likely not count towards your ATAR based on the information that you have provided.

I hope this helps!