Subject Choice Assistance? & What's Chemistry Like? (1 Viewer)

[sciencing]

I'll be in Year 11 next year, and I have chosen my subjects...but I'm still unsure about things. My subject choices are the following:

English Advanced
Studies of Religion I (it's compulsory at my school)
Mathematics Extension 1
Biology
Chemistry
Economics

The thing is, geography clashed with chemistry, and I chose chemistry because my parents and the principal pushed me to do higher-scaling subjects, but also because I want to try chemistry first since I'm good at science.

I'm just still pretty unsure about Chemistry, since geography is one of my favourite subjects that I also do very well in. I'm pretty bummed out that the two clashed!!

I really wanted some other people's opinion on the following:

• Would the workload of my current subject choices be a lot? (I'm scared since I also do outside school music exams and dedicate a lot of time to music as well. But I will be stopping music around mid-2014 or beginning of 2015)
• What is chemistry like?? Does it involve concepts that are hard to understand, a lot of memorising etc.?

 

[Queenroot]

With what you've taken, mostly the workload is the same in all your subjects... due to either the amount of content or difficult concepts you need to grasp.
Anyway, if you can still change it, change it to geography because you mentioned that you liked doing it!
Don't choose chemistry unless you like it, because if you don't like it, you will most likely not be motivated to understand quite challenging concepts which will make your performance not as good as you may have done in Geography.
You cannot memorise in chemistry, you need to understand most of the concepts to apply them.

May I also add - Chemistry in senior years is very different to what you have learned before

 

[s-tressed]

Oh chemistry, my love-hate subject! From my personal experience, chemistry is a difficult subject and I'm sure you've heard that before. The concepts aren't necessarily difficult but it is a subject that needs an extra bit of time (regular revision will get you through!). It's also a subject that I believe you need a really good teacher for so make sure you consider the possible teachers for that course. The teacher shouldn't be the deciding factor but lets be honest, bad teachers often result in bad marks unless you are prepared to put in the extra effort. It's not one of those subjects you can just rely on the textbook for, you need to understand and know how to apply the information in a range of situations. Don't pick chemistry just to fill your units up. Make sure you're actually interested in a career pathway with it otherwise you'll be wasting your time. Also it concerns me that your principal and parents are leaning towards chemistry because it scales better. Yes it does, BUT only if you do well. If you do poorly, you will be scaled down. Also, if the scaling is the only reason you're considering chemistry then you'll be likely too lose motivation for it. So please only pick it if your enjoy it, may possibly need it and if your are prepared to put in the effort. Something else to keep in mind (not to scare you) is that chemistry is very different from junior science. I was doing very well in junior years and that quickly changed for me in chemistry. This doesn't mean you can't do it. It just means that you shouldn't go in with the attitude thinking that you'll do great since your junior science years went well. By all means, your experience with chemistry may be completely different from what I've said but that's pretty much what I've picked up from mine. Just remember, hard work goes a long way!

I hope I've helped

 

[Drongoski]

If you do Chemistry, many courses are open to you at Uni. I don't know about Geography: what uni courses can you do with it?

My take is simple: with the courses I choose, what doors do they open for me? What choice is is good for me, for my future. I don't choose a subject just because, based on my yr 10 performance, I think I am good at it. Or that I like it. I know most people do not share my thinking.

 

[rumbleroar]

If you like geography more, go for it. Don't forget you have the option of changing subjects next year. And tbh, who cares if chem is better scaling? If you do crap in chem, you will get a crap mark, no matter how much scaling happens.

I think chem is either a love or hate for a lot of people. You're gonna have to decide which side you're on haha

The workload you have is decent. Not too much but not too little as well. Manage your time well enough, you will be fine!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[enoilgam]

If you like geography more, go for it. Don't forget you have the option of changing subjects next year. And tbh, who cares if chem is better scaling? If you do crap in chem, you will get a crap mark, no matter how much scaling happens.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts. Unless you need a subject for uni (there arent many courses which require HSC Chem), then you should consider which subject you believe you will like more and perform better in.

 

[strawberrye]

If you already chose chemistry and if it is too late to change it to geography-my advice is to get started in reading some preliminary chemistry books to get an actual idea of what you will be learning so you will not need to be unsure. Chemistry is basically an extension of what you learnt of chemistry in junior years, but goes into a lot more detail and you can argue, all subjects have concepts that are hard to understand and often involves a lot of memorising-this can apply to biology(memorising part) and economics(both), but if you are passionate about the subject and are willing to put in the effort in it-over time you will find it easier to connect previously learnt concepts to new ones-so they become easier to understand, and when you understand things, you will need to memorise less.

The workload of your current subject choices whether it is a lot-will depend on how well you manage your time, it is often subjective and you will probably found out for yourself next year whether the workload of your subjects and extra-curricular are too much for you to handle-you need to make a time schedule to allocate adequate time for everything, but don't just allocate equal amount of time for your subjects-allocate time according to how well you are doing in each subject ,i.e. if you are performing less well in English compared to other subjects, it makes more sense to allocate more time to English studying, perhaps use your music practicing time as a sort of relaxing time-so you will have more studying time. But whatever you do, remember to balance your study and relaxation and all the best for the next two years

 

[bangladesh]

I'd keep it as it is, if you like science do chemistry. I know everyone says that scaling doesn't matter that much but it really really does matter if you're aiming for a 95+ atar but that's just my opinion and i personally love chemistry and topped it in my school.