Subject Selection Dilemma (1 Viewer)

RivalryofTroll

Sleep Deprived Entity
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
3,805
Gender
Male
HSC
2013
Uni Grad
2019
So I'm currently facing a dilemma in choosing my Year 12 HSC subjects in terms of what to drop and what to keep:
Currently I do: (Preliminary)
Advanced English
Extension 1 English
Mathematics
Mathematics Extension 1
Physics
Business Studies
Economics

Despite Physics being my worst subject, statistically, I want to keep it due to the monetary investment I've put into it in the form of tutoring.

So the rough skeleton of what I will have at the very least: (I plan to pick up MX2)
Advanced English
Mathematics Extension 1
Mathematics Extension 2
Physics
Economics

This adds up to 10 units but I plan to do either 11 or 12 units in the HSC.

If I keep Extension 1 English - I'd have 11 units.
If I keep Business Studies - I'd have 12 units.

The Stats
Half Yearly Report: 92/100 for Business Studies, 47/50 for Extension 1 English (mark was based off only one assessment which was an essay where I got 23/25)

Recent assessments:
Business Studies - Pre-business plan - 10/10, Business Plan - 19/20. (Have to make subject selections before the Yearly Exam for Business Studies so the yearly mark is irrelevant)
Extension 1 English - Creative Hand-in - 12/15, Oral (Speech) - Exact mark yet to be confirmed but it's definitely somewhere within the B range.

In terms of which subject I enjoy more, I'd say EE1 is more interesting than Business Studies because preliminary Business is dry in terms of content. However, the difference is very minimal.

Pros of Business

- More consistent marks (mainly within A range)
- More confident in performance and I believe I should rank well in Year 12 as well.

Pros of EE1

-Higher scaling than Business.
-Essay writing and Creative writing skills CAN be further developed to help with Advanced.
-It's only 1 unit (where as Business is 2 units) so I'd get some free periods and overall HSC workload may be reduced.
-Tactical choice: If I get a high mark (so approx E4) for EE1, 1 unit of Advanced and 1 unit of EE1 will be counted towards my ATAR (rather than the 2 units of Advanced) for the compulsory 2 units worth of English cause EE1 scales higher than Advanced. This is more beneficial towards my ATAR in a sense.
Notable con:
A big problem with EE1 is that I'm not naturally great at English in general so there is no guarantee I'll excel in HSC Extension 1 English. It is more inconsistent, in terms of marks, compared to Business for me.

So any advice or tips? Discuss.

Combo A: 12 units
Advanced English
Mathematics Extension 1
Mathematics Extension 2
Physics
Economics
Business Studies

Combo B: 11 units
Advanced English
Extension 1 English
Mathematics Extension 1
Mathematics Extension 2
Physics
Economics

Which combo for the HSC?
 
Last edited:

RivalryofTroll

Sleep Deprived Entity
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
3,805
Gender
Male
HSC
2013
Uni Grad
2019
Just keep them for now.
So go into the HSC with 13 units to start off? Oo"

(I think it's a bit too much)

Plus it means I have no free periods AND I'll have offline lessons. Will be a pain cause travel isn't too great.
 

enoilgam

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
11,904
Location
Mare Crisium
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2010
Just keep them for now.
I know its probably not the answer you're looking for, but I would go with this. Try out all your subjects for even just a few weeks next term just to get a feel of what the HSC course is like. You will have a far better perspective of what to drop then.
 

RivalryofTroll

Sleep Deprived Entity
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
3,805
Gender
Male
HSC
2013
Uni Grad
2019
I know its probably not the answer you're looking for, but I would go with this. Try out all your subjects for even just a few weeks next term just to get a feel of what the HSC course is like. You will have a far better perspective of what to drop then.
Only problem is timetable issues. I'd hate having no free periods + offline lessons.
If I choose Combo A, I'd have no free periods but no offlines.
If I choose Combo B, I'd have free periods but some offlines. (EE1 and MX2 conflict in terms of lines on the time table)

I'd prefer having MX2 being online rather than offline but I don't mind too much. Mainly cause of travelling to school.

Thanks for the contribution :)
 

theind1996

Active Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
1,256
Location
Menai
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
I'd say A, since I have a strong feeling that Physics and Business will compete for your last 2 units - so you will have a useful backup as you can be assured of doing well with proper study. English Extension 1, as you said is unpredictable, and the creative section could fuck you over - and 1 ruined assessment would mean that you're basically on 10 units.

So I'd say A ----> drop Physics/Business byr Half-Yearlies depending on performance ---> if both are similar, keep both ---> if one's substantially better/worse, drop it.

Keep 4U (obviously) and Eco (since you're good at it and it scales well, and there's always the guarantee that study --> good marks).
 

RivalryofTroll

Sleep Deprived Entity
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
3,805
Gender
Male
HSC
2013
Uni Grad
2019
I'd say A, since I have a strong feeling that Physics and Business will compete for your last 2 units - so you will have a useful backup as you can be assured of doing well with proper study. English Extension 1, as you said is unpredictable, and the creative section could fuck you over - and 1 ruined assessment would mean that you're basically on 10 units.

So I'd say A ----> drop Physics/Business byr Half-Yearlies depending on performance ---> if both are similar, keep both ---> if one's substantially better/worse, drop it.

Keep 4U (obviously) and Eco (since you're good at it and it scales well, and there's always the guarantee that study --> good marks).
atm, I'm also quite inclined to choose A rather than B but still need to think about it.

Thanks for your input.
 

enoilgam

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
11,904
Location
Mare Crisium
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2010
Only problem is timetable issues. I'd hate having no free periods + offline lessons.
If I choose Combo A, I'd have no free periods but no offlines.
If I choose Combo B, I'd have free periods but some offlines. (EE1 and MX2 conflict in terms of lines on the time table)

I'd prefer having MX2 being online rather than offline but I don't mind too much. Mainly cause of travelling to school.



Thanks for the contribution :)
Fair enough - I usually tell most people to hang onto their subjects for a bit of year 12, but if you dont feel comfortable with it then I would drop sooner. If I had to choose between A and B I would go A pretty much for the reasons given by ind. EE1 sounds a bit risky for you so I would go with the safer option in A.
 

such_such

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2010
Messages
416
Location
yes
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2013
A!

Remember its is your best 10 units. I'm thinking you're familiar about that extra 1 unit and how it will split your lowest 2 unit subject... and yeah. But then you should check what topic you're doing for EX1 in year 12 and see if that interests you. Because I regret picking up EX1 (hoping it was a type of genre study) and I should've dropped it and stuck to religion... but no, I was young and stupid.
 

theind1996

Active Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
1,256
Location
Menai
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
A!

Remember its is your best 10 units. I'm thinking you're familiar about that extra 1 unit and how it will split your lowest 2 unit subject... and yeah. But then you should check what topic you're doing for EX1 in year 12 and see if that interests you. Because I regret picking up EX1 (hoping it was a type of genre study) and I should've dropped it and stuck to religion... but no, I was young and stupid.
Incredibly important - since there's only 1 topic in Yr 12 - make sure that you're willing to be doing it for the entire year.
 

enoilgam

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
11,904
Location
Mare Crisium
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2010
I still think A, but one advantage of EE1 is that it can cover you if you screw up advanced english.
 

theind1996

Active Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
1,256
Location
Menai
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
I still think A, but one advantage of EE1 is that it can cover you if you screw up advanced english.
That's only 1 unit though - if he focuses on Advanced heaps, and screws up Physics or Business or Economics, that's 2 units of backup which is much more useful in my opinion - or else I'd go with 10 units.
 

RivalryofTroll

Sleep Deprived Entity
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
3,805
Gender
Male
HSC
2013
Uni Grad
2019
Why don't you pick up EE2?
Cause I'm not a creative student when it comes to English really.

Incredibly important - since there's only 1 topic in Yr 12 - make sure that you're willing to be doing it for the entire year.
I did Gothic for the entire of Year 11. I think we do Romanticism in Year 12?

A!

Remember its is your best 10 units. I'm thinking you're familiar about that extra 1 unit and how it will split your lowest 2 unit subject... and yeah. But then you should check what topic you're doing for EX1 in year 12 and see if that interests you. Because I regret picking up EX1 (hoping it was a type of genre study) and I should've dropped it and stuck to religion... but no, I was young and stupid.
I still think A, but one advantage of EE1 is that it can cover you if you screw up advanced english.
Okay, I'm choosing A. Hopefully, no regrets.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top