Should I drop physics? (1 Viewer)

[scaryshark09]

Hi guys,

Any advice on if I should drop physics cause I am estimated mid band 5 and my other subjects are all estimated B6/E4. Also currently it doesn't count toward my ATAR.
We have only had 1 assessment task worth 20%, so there is definitely lots of room to improve my rank and mark, but I feel really far behind with the content and it will take a lot of work to catch up.
Also coming up is the depth study and prac assessment which both will take up a lot of time (especially the depth study which is intense), without directly contributing to my overall understanding of the course content for trials and HSC.
I am currently on 12 units (see my profile status for info), and would only be on 10 if I drop physics. Is this too risky, especially if I may want to drop EXT 2 math later down the track and keep my advanced mark from last year?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[carrotsss]

Do you enjoy physics? If you do, then yes it’s absolutely worth it, even if you’re behind, it’ll be much easier to catch up if you genuinely like doing it. And given that 80% of your assessment mark is still yet to be determined, it’s absolutely possible to make a comeback and if you do really well in physics, it could make a pretty sizeable difference to your ATAR.

 

[scaryshark09]

Thanks for that! I do enjoy physics though in the past, people at my school haven't done amazing in it. Usually rank 1 is 94 and only around 5 people get band 6. My teacher says that our year will get more band 6, but idk, he might just say that every year.
Also, its hard for me to spend time studying for physics and finding motivation, cause my teacher barely gives homework.
Are there any resources that anyone recommends or anything I can do on weekends to learn the content better, cuz atm, I'm basically doing nothing outside of class .

 

[carrotsss]

Thanks for that! I do enjoy physics though in the past, people at my school haven't done amazing in it. Usually rank 1 is 94 and only around 5 people get band 6. My teacher says that our year will get more band 6, but idk, he might just say that every year.
Also, its hard for me to spend time studying for physics and finding motivation, cause my teacher barely gives homework.
Are there any resources that anyone recommends or anything I can do on weekends to learn the content better, cuz atm, I'm basically doing nothing outside of class .

Ask your teacher/sort through yourself to find past hsc/trial questions for what you’re learning, they’re imo the best way to learn the content and understand how the topic is actually asked once you’ve got the basics covered, and they’re also pretty time efficient

 

[Engineer_192931]

imo i think you should drop. Mod 7 is super hard for me and i understand none of it.

 

[scaryshark09]

yeh, mod 7 is so bad and we have to do a depth study on it.

 

[Eagle Mum]

Are there any resources that anyone recommends or anything I can do on weekends to learn the content better, cuz atm, I'm basically doing nothing outside of class

Deciding whether to continue or drop a subject is a totally personal decision impacted by many variable factors that only the individual can assess, however a few points worth mentioning from your past and present subjects:

You have already completed HSC maths and engineering subjects - if you are intending to study engineering at Uni, you will likely need to study physics for at least a couple of semesters, so HSC physics will stand you in better stead if this is the case.

Since you’ve already completed two HSC subjects, your current study load doesn’t seem particularly heavy and at least for now, you don’t appear to be under much time pressure. My suggestion for physics is to work through one of the textbooks - I understand Pearson or Jacaranda would be suitable.

There is some overlap of the content of the physics syllabus with that of maths Ex 2 which might make some of your efforts doubly fruitful.

 

[scaryshark09]

Hi again,

Do you think I should drop or keep physics? I've been thinking about this for weeks now and I can't decide!!!! Its stressing me out and i really need to decide asap, so i can study for trials

pros of keeping:
- engineering doesn't have to count from last year (ie. my atar will not be limited as I currently do 10 units this year with physics)
- it can boost my atar if I do well
- maybe helps with uni?

pros of dropping:
- Physics doesn't count toward my atar atm - according to the estimate (however we have only received marks on 20% of internals atm - yes ik, physics at my school is weird)
- I'm really behind and I don't even have proper notes
- I'm worried I could spend so much time catching up, and then it still might not even count, and then I do worse in my other subjects and overall atar will be worse.

I do have the potential to do well in case you are wondering. I was ranked 2 in year 11 - but we only have like 5 band 6s a year.

any ideas?

 

[carrotsss]

Hi again,

Do you think I should drop or keep physics? I've been thinking about this for weeks now and I can't decide!!!! Its stressing me out and i really need to decide asap, so i can study for trials

pros of keeping:
- engineering doesn't have to count from last year (ie. my atar will not be limited as I currently do 10 units this year with physics)
- it can boost my atar if I do well
- maybe helps with uni?

pros of dropping:
- Physics doesn't count toward my atar atm - according to the estimate (however we have only received marks on 20% of internals atm - yes ik, physics at my school is weird)
- I'm really behind and I don't even have proper notes
- I'm worried I could spend so much time catching up, and then it still might not even count, and then I do worse in my other subjects and overall atar will be worse.

I do have the potential to do well in case you are wondering. I was ranked 2 in year 11 - but we only have like 5 band 6s a year.

any ideas?

if you haven’t sat much of it yet then it would be pretty easy to catch up rankings-wise - you’re clearly capable of a good ranking given your yr11 results. tbh imo notes for physics are a waste of time - notes have been proven to be one of the most ineffective study methods, so not having ‘proper notes’ doesn’t really matter, i can send you some if you’d like. also, catching up on content might not be as hard as u think once u get started if you do it right, i self taught mod 6/7/8 in under a week, it’s not that hard.

 

[scaryshark09]

if you haven’t sat much of it yet then it would be pretty easy to catch up rankings-wise - you’re clearly capable of a good ranking given your yr11 results. tbh imo notes for physics are a waste of time - notes have been proven to be one of the most ineffective study methods, so not having ‘proper notes’ doesn’t really matter, i can send you some if you’d like. also, catching up on content might not be as hard as u think once u get started if you do it right, i self taught mod 6/7/8 in under a week, it’s not that hard.

thanks for that, you have given me some motivation!
could you please send the notes cause that would be really helpful

 

[howcanibesmarter]

Hi, I'm also in pretty similar situation. My school generally only gets like 3 band 6's and atm i'm a little far behind. My teacher basically said we had to learn the entire Mod 8 over the break. Is there any chance you could share notes also. It would be so helpful. Thanks for this chat.

entire mod 8?? our school haasnt even started wtf

 

[scaryshark09]

lol i'm still mentally on mod 5

 

[howcanibesmarter]

wait to clear it up...ur teacher expects u to do self-learn the entire module?? whats the point of them being a teacher then

 

[carrotsss]

.

 

[Average Boreduser]

wait to clear it up...ur teacher expects u to do self-learn the entire module?? whats the point of them being a teacher then

My math teacher made us do that too when we run out of time during class

 

[howcanibesmarter]

really? my school is already almost halfway through it

yea lol we just had trials 3 days ago and it was mod567

 

[Average Boreduser]

really? my school is already almost halfway through it

not everyone goes to james ruse bud.

 

[nsw..wollongong]

wait to clear it up...ur teacher expects u to do self-learn the entire module?? whats the point of them being a teacher then

its literally like that for the entire science department, then they act surprised when the mean marks for internal assessments r so low

 

[howcanibesmarter]

its literally like that for the entire science department, then they act surprised when the mean marks for internal assessments r so low

what?? bro my teacher actually teaches (sike actually physics high does, we just get played yt videos lol)

we got a practice teacher in the 2wks leading up to the exam, never have i ever paid so much attention in physics cus the lessons were actually useful compared to me listening to some old guy through 10dollar speakers where u miss one every 3 words without subtitles

but yea our school (and my tutoring place) haven't started/just started mod 8 respectively lol ig ours is just different.