To HSCers who did both Biology and Physics: Which one did you prefer? (1 Viewer)

[ProdigyInspired]

I'm a Prelim'er going into HSC and preparing to drop subjects. I mostly prefer rote learning (love topics like Business Studies) but can cope with calculations as I do Ext1/2 Maths.

I'm choosing between dropping Physics and Biology. I got better marks in Biology (65%) due to having a worse teacher in Physics (47%). If the scaling of the two were similar I would've dropped Physics instantly, but I'm also planning to do Engineering in university (hopefully), and want a better ATAR.

Also, I'm not all that interested in Physics and dread topics related to Motors, Cars etc., but I'm also not that keen on the idea that Biology is pure memorisation and not about thinking of concepts. I heard that in Year 12 Physics gets more rote-based, so I'm conflicted.

If I drop Biology of course I would have more time to study Physics and potentially get higher marks.

Thanks for helping and good luck on your HSC!

 

[vitamin D]

drop physics

 

[sinophile]

I liked biology a lot more, but that was my best and favourite subject so go figure. Biology has a lot of information to absorb but I wouldn't go so far as to say its rote memorisation, as much of it is logical. Physics has a lot of, not so much heavy maths, but lots of calculations and abstract thinking, such as calculating forces, the movement of plants and projectiles, the voltage of electricity, quarks etc. Emphasis on the abstract thinking- physics has a lot of it whereas the content in biology is much more intuitive and grounded in reality. Also physics has some degree of history involved too e.g history of the theory of waves, or of quantum physics etc.

The above is just my opinion though, what I honestly recommend you do is go get the syllabuses for bio and physics, read through it and decide which one seems more interesting to you. Or alternative, find the textbooks that the two uses.

 

[TehFlyaar]

Physics is probably the most interesting subject as you enter year 12. Year 11 topics dries you out and is boring. My marks exponentially increased from
Year 11 - 56%
Year 12 - 87% (mostly because assessments were super easy)
Everyone started to take more interest in the subject after Year 11 don't worry (same for Chemistry according to some people).
A bad teacher isn't a big problem. I had a horrible teacher for IPT same time frame around 1 year ago from this term and she was horrible. So bad to the point where we complained so much about her that she got fired We wasted time with the substitute and didn't have time to start the second core topic. Another teacher came in a month after that and she was even worse (she is still our teacher until now). Without her help, I studied by myself and sometimes with friends and we didn't let the teacher's attitude get in the way of our HSC. After the IPT exam on Wednesday, I felt I did well without her help. This goes to show that If you can study well on your own, you don't need to have an amazing teacher baby feeding you the whole way.
By the way Physics is important for Engineering in Uni and for some Universities it's a pre-requisite.
Keep your head up and don't let minor roadblocks like teachers get in the way of what subjects you enjoy.
Good Luck next year

 

[TQuadded]

Physics:
- Calculations, you say? Check.
- Relatively good scaling, you say? Check.
- Engineering, you say? Check.
- High ATAR, you say? Check.

Biology:
- Well, it's fun to learn about yourself. Every now and then you'll get the feeling like, "oh, that's happening to me right now".

 

[InteGrand]

I'm a Prelim'er going into HSC and preparing to drop subjects. I mostly prefer rote learning (love topics like Business Studies) but can cope with calculations as I do Ext1/2 Maths.

I'm choosing between dropping Physics and Biology. I got better marks in Biology (65%) due to having a worse teacher in Physics (47%). If the scaling of the two were similar I would've dropped Physics instantly, but I'm also planning to do Engineering in university (hopefully), and want a better ATAR.

Also, I'm not all that interested in Physics and dread topics related to Motors, Cars etc., but I'm also not that keen on the idea that Biology is pure memorisation and not about thinking of concepts. I heard that in Year 12 Physics gets more rote-based, so I'm conflicted.

If I drop Biology of course I would have more time to study Physics and potentially get higher marks.

Thanks for helping and good luck on your HSC!

Both subjects are rote-based, but I think HSC Biology is the more rote-based of the two.

 

[jackleung34]

Both subjects are rote-based, but I think HSC Biology is the more rote-based of the two.

I dont do bio but to a certain extent you are right about phys being rote-based but a lack of complete conceptual understanding will rek u

 

[InteGrand]

I dont do bio but to a certain extent you are right about phys being rote-based but a lack of complete conceptual understanding will rek u

A lack of complete understanding will not wreck you. A complete lack of understanding may though. (The two are different.)

 

[Kaido]

A complete understanding will also wreck you in Physics, as I have personally witnessed.

 

[Mr_Kap]

I prefer physics. But it wasnt always this way. Year 11 I liked it and was one of my best subjects, but found electrical energy in the home, and the motion topic pretty hard, but i did some study and ended up getting 88% in my yearly.
Then year 12 came and we did motors and generators and it fucked me so bad. Luckily i had a scientfic report not a test...and i got 89%. Then came the Space topic. By the time this topic came I HATED physics and thought of dropping it , but I dropped 4u math instead meaning i had to keep physics. I started to understand this topic a bit more and did some study and I ended up get 95% in my half-yearly. (got a bit lucky as well with the question asked). Come term 3, I liked physics. It involved a lot of rote learning but the understanding questions and calculation were pretty good, and take a small chunk of marks every year.

Biology i hated in year 11 because of stupid plants and ecosystem and australian biota. fucking crap.---> did almost no work until exams ---> got 95% overall.
Biology come year 12. ---> enjoyed the fresh content compared to year 11 shitty content ---> shit teacher didn't learn in class ---> SO MUCH TO ROTE LEARN ---> Has now become my nightmare becauase i left rote learning too late. Saying that, it is my best subject mark wise though, but there is SO MUCH TO REMEMBER and I'm dying.

If you want good marks and you are good at rote learning then bio is good.

 

[Mr_Kap]

A complete understanding will also wreck you in Physics, as I have personally witnessed.

yes. Syllabus is love. Syllabus is life.

The one and only rule: You shall not disobey the syllabus.

 

[sharoooooo]

i prefer physics.
SO MUCH CONTENT FOR BIOLOGY COMPARED TO MY OTHER SUBJECTS ARGH.
Biology is my only subject regret.

 

[TQuadded]

i prefer physics.
SO MUCH CONTENT FOR BIOLOGY COMPARED TO MY OTHER SUBJECTS ARGH.
Biology is my only subject regret.

I don't regret it at all although I admit that it has much more content. It's an extremely fun subject for me, and very interesting as it is about your own body most of the time.

 

[jackleung34]

I don't regret it at all although I admit that it has much more content. It's an extremely fun subject for me, and very interesting as it is about your own body most of the time.

i'd love to learn about your body

 

[leehuan]

Your marks tend towards biology. But your university preference absolutely shifts towards physics.

In this situation, I would actually get tutoring for physics, because your teacher is bad. Unless you have the potential to self learn.

I dropped biology in Year 11 because it was my worst unit (ignoring English) and I had enough of the lameness of the content. But when I was in Yr 10/early Yr 11 I looked at the Yr 12 syllabus. To me, it feels far more insightful than the physics syllabus, though I don't regret keeping physics at all.

 

[diladial]

Bio scales like shit compared to phys. I personally dropped phys after Space in year 12 because I couldn't take it anymore. Bio was much less strenuous and stressing, HOWEVER, is still full of so much to rote learn. If you keep up the rote learning throughout you'll surprise yourself at how much you remember about the bullshit.

but engineering --> phys

 

[TQuadded]

i'd love to learn about your body

That escalated quickly. You want to meet up or is it Pasteur expectations?

 

[RishBonjour99]

I did both and got 92 in both during 2012 hsc. Physics was a lot more challenging (especially during 2012 iirc) while bio is mainly rote learning.
Physics is something you can catch up on if you're fairly logical because my year 11 marks in phys was around 50 pc (did not care about school back then).

If you like rote leaening biology would be A LOT easier. There is really not much to understand - just memorise things. Also hsc physics won't be relevent to your actual engo degree so you'll be fine.

Also re phys becoming more rote learn based in year 12. I don't agree - pretty much the same. I did find that concepts in phys were a lot more difficult to understand mainly because some textbooks over simplify thinks and in doing so often lead to contradictions with the actual theory.

Tl;dr : drop physics, do bio

 

[InteGrand]

Really? That is one of the man reasons I am doing Physics because might want to do Engineering at uni.

HSC Physics is pointless for uni physics and engineering. The most important HSC subject for uni engineering and physics would be maths – generally, the higher level of maths you do, the better. This is because university physics is mathematical and problem-solving based, whereas the HSC Physics syllabus is essentially completely the opposite.

 

[ProdigyInspired]

I'm completely sure that Physics is going to be the right choice to drop if I decided to change my mind on Engineering during the next year, yet I realise that:

The Pros of Physics - High Scaling, Pre-Req for Engineering, Possibly more interesting due to being one of the purest, and may go well with the maths that I'm doing
Cons - Interest is not that high, Bad Teacher, Concepts and Calculations will be difficult (if not understood)

somewhat outweight the:

Pros of Biology - Interest, Rote-Learning, Good Teacher, All Memorisation, Somewhat easier
Cons - Low Scaling, Irrelevant after school, Heavy Content

The thing that shines to me the most is the Scaling and the Pre-Req. The topics of Physics are interesting especially Space except Motors, but all other subjects interest me so no point in saying that. As TehFlyar said, self-study/tutoring would be a way for me to improve my marks and dropping Biology would of course give me more time to study Physics.

I took a look at the Biology syllabus and everything looks fine and direct. Biotechnology looks interesting if we do it.

While.. Physics looks like fucking cancer. but scaling..

Yea I think my final decision will be Physics unless something else sways me.