Torn between bio, phys and mod? (1 Viewer)

[chocolatelatte]

HOHOHO ANOTHER SUBJECT SELECTION THREAD.
ok so I'm definitely doing (for year 11)
-3 english
-3 maths
-chem

and then it's either bio and phys, bio and mod or phys and mod.

Now a few questions:

1. Should I take biology or physics? (I know biology is more memory whilst physics is more conceptual but :/ I'm more a conceptual person tbh but honestly I do not find anything in physics remotely interesting . . . )

2. What is modern history like? (is it hard? what can I expect from the course? )

THANK YOU!!

 

[Spiritual Being]

PHYSICS, MODERN, or CAFS for God's sake.

Watching paint dry is more interesting than Biology.

 

[procrastinator2]

I do physics and I enjoyed it in year 11 and I absolutely haaaaaatteee it in year 12 : /

 

[enoilgam]

Subject selection is very much a personal thing - try looking through the syllabus of the subjects and the exams in order to see whether they are for you.

I'll give you my two cents on Modern - I really enjoyed it because I am a huge history buff, especially regarding WW2 (at my school three out of four topics on the HSC were to do with WW2). The subject is content heavy, although it isnt really much of an issue. You need strong writing skills for all the essays, plus the final exam is quite demanding (three essays, 1000 words each plus 25 marks worth of MC, short answer and a two page response).

 

[nifkeh]

1. Should I take biology or physics? (I know biology is more memory whilst physics is more conceptual but :/ I'm more a conceptual person tbh but honestly I do not find anything in physics remotely interesting . . . )

2. What is modern history like? (is it hard? what can I expect from the course? )

1. physics is interesting do not underestimate. year 12 course was definitely more interesting than year 11 imo. I assume bio is too, I wish I took it but too late. but yes, there are more concepts in physics that bio doesn't have on a only conceptual understanding i guess

2. all hsies are writing. I'm going to put this out there so you don't screw up if you do choose it like I did - YOU NEED TO WRITE PRACTICE ESSAYS BEFORE ASSESSMENTS otherwise you will be close to coming last. if the teacher says 'write notes', I will tell you, writing notes is not necessary, and definitely secondary to writing practice essays. unless you are good at improvising on the spot, but I guarantee you, the top students ranked all write practice essays, and if you don't you are putting yourself at a big disadvantage

 

[enoilgam]

2. all hsies are writing. I'm going to put this out there so you don't screw up if you do choose it like I did - YOU NEED TO WRITE PRACTICE ESSAYS BEFORE ASSESSMENTS otherwise you will be close to coming last. if the teacher says 'write notes', I will tell you, writing notes is not necessary, and definitely secondary to writing practice essays. unless you are good at improvising on the spot, but I guarantee you, the top students ranked all write practice essays, and if you don't you are putting yourself at a big disadvantage

I definitely agree with you on this, although I think it is more important with the Histories as opposed to say Legal Studies or Economics. With history in particular, a lot of people spend all their time trying to learn the content back to front. Whilst this is all well and good, you need a lot more than that to do well on the exam. Essays are focused more on the issues and they require you to interpret the content and apply what you have learned, as opposed to simply regurgitating it. So you need to know the content well, but what's really important is your ability to utilise the content to answer essay questions and that requires practice.

For most people, it would probably be worth going over the content less and focusing more on the essays. A memorised knowledge of every aspect of the course is nice but it isnt essential. A knowledge of the issues and how to use your knowledge to create an essay is far more important.

 

[albertcamus]

Yeah true, I reckon for Legal it's more about just knowing evidence like media articles/cases/legislation etc. for select parts of the course that you can answer an essay with and then using that evidence to write essays - there's not much theory.

And to OP, I reckon Phys/Bio would complement it more cos exam technique for all 3 sciences is same, pracs are similar technique-wise too.

A lot of people I know can't really cope with Modern cos of the content + essay writing required, so consider that too.

 

[Spiritual Being]

Yeah true, I reckon for Legal it's more about just knowing evidence like media articles/cases/legislation etc. for select parts of the course that you can answer an essay with and then using that evidence to write essays - there's not much theory.

And to OP, I reckon Phys/Bio would complement it more cos exam technique for all 3 sciences is same, pracs are similar technique-wise too.

A lot of people I know can't really cope with Modern cos of the content + essay writing required, so consider that too.

Pretty much.

Practice essays are still important, but the good thing about legal is the intertwining of the course (e.g. crime question where you can usually use a large section of the syllabus, broad option questions) so it allows you to combine lots of LCMR and many parts of the law into one answer.

 

[enoilgam]

A lot of people I know can't really cope with Modern cos of the content + essay writing required, so consider that too.

I reckon Modern is probably the most underrated HSC subject in terms of difficulty.

 

[Amaranth_]

I reckon Modern is probably the most underrated HSC subject in terms of difficulty.

I second that.

 

[albertcamus]

I reckon Modern is probably the most underrated HSC subject in terms of difficulty.

Yeah it seems like it. Probs the hardest humanity.

Economics is really just content + stats and the essay writing has less emphasis on sophistication but more so on just concise paragraphs so there's not as much 'skill' to it.

Plus Modern has more content/less concepts and sources too so it's quite hard.

 

[chocolatelatte]

omg :'( is mod really that hard?
I'm not as worried about the analytical essay writing as I am about the content of mod. Is there really that much content to remember?
I really hate memory heavy subjects, especially if the subjects aren't interesting at all. Mod, however does seem quite interesting by the looks of the topics in the syllabus next year so . . .

I'm kind of leaning towards doing all 3 sciences now.

 

[enoilgam]

omg :'( is mod really that hard?
I'm not as worried about the analytical essay writing as I am about the content of mod. Is there really that much content to remember?
I really hate memory heavy subjects, especially if the subjects aren't interesting at all. Mod, however does seem quite interesting by the looks of the topics in the syllabus next year so . . .

I'm kind of leaning towards doing all 3 sciences now.

It isnt that hard, but it is one of the more difficult HSC subjects. I really enjoyed Modern and I definitely think it is worth doing if you have an interest in the topics. Plus, I think it prepares you well for uni stuff, especially if you do writing based degrees (i.e. Law, Teaching, some Commerce majors etc).

 

[chocolatelatte]

Aw, I really do want to do mod. I'm kind of fascinated by all the topics, with the exception of ww1 , which unfortunately is such a huge part of the HSC course ... but who knows, maybe my opinion of it will change.

And to OP, I reckon Phys/Bio would complement it more cos exam technique for all 3 sciences is same, pracs are similar technique-wise too.

A lot of people I know can't really cope with Modern cos of the content + essay writing required, so consider that too.

:'( Which is why I want to do all 3 sciences , but modmodmod I feel like I just can't neglect it :'(

So I guess it now comes down to which is the better memory heavy subject.
Bio or mod?

 

[enoilgam]

Aw, I really do want to do mod. I'm kind of fascinated by all the topics, with the exception of ww1 , which unfortunately is such a huge part of the HSC course ... but who knows, maybe my opinion of it will change.

It's only 25% of the course - there are three other topics each worth 25%.

 

[Drongoski]

Your choice should be, subject to your aptitude & interest, guided by what course you plan to pursue @ uni, or may end up doing. Make sure you have the required backgound subjects, to support the course you eventually choose. Don't end up doing a course and find yourself wishing you had chosen another subject. If you choose Mod, what would it do for you? Do you have any plans to pursue further this subject at Uni? Most people, later in life, develop an interest in History, as is very normal; but you don't need to do it in the HSC to further that interest. But, if you need Physics and have no background in it now, it would be difficult, though not impossible, to study it later.

 

[lilcutetricker]

HOHOHO ANOTHER SUBJECT SELECTION THREAD.
ok so I'm definitely doing (for year 11)
-3 english
-3 maths-chem

and then it's either bio and phys, bio and mod or phys and mod.

Now a few questions:

1. Should I take biology or physics? (I know biology is more memory whilst physics is more conceptual but :/ I'm more a conceptual person tbh but honestly I do not find anything in physics remotely interesting . . . )

2. What is modern history like? (is it hard? what can I expect from the course? )

THANK YOU!!

Dayuuuuuummm me too !