is it worth dropping any of these subject? (1 Viewer)

saythename

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hey everyone 👋 hope ur enjoying ur summer holidays (whether ur studying or chilling, or both).

since we're heading into term 2 of the hsc 2024 year, ive been thinking about my subjects and how to relieve my workload. however, im not sure if the best way to do this is to drop subjects (i do enjoy them all to some extent). if i keep them all, i will have completed 14 units, and it sounds pretty extreme to me 😭

im currently doing: eng adv, maths adv, maths ext 1, ees, ancient, history ext and design and tech.
i previously did ipt for the 2023 HSC and got a mark in the mid-high 90s (basically guaranteed to be counted in the 10 units for the ATAR).

my averages and ranks for my yr 11 (of what i remember) are below:
1. eng adv - 89, rank 6/140-150s
2. maths adv - 85, rank 25/120s
3. maths ext 1 - 59, rank 48/60s
4. ees - 91, rank 1/10s
5. ancient - 81, rank 6/10s
6. design - 91, rank 2 (tied)/30s

however, for the first set of yr12 assessments i got pretty sick, and definitely did not perform as well as i could've. so idk if i can really judge my abilities off of them.

is it worth dropping any of these subjects, or should i just stick with them all?
any advice on studying these subjects or balancing an academic workload is also appreciated :D
 

liamkk112

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hey everyone 👋 hope ur enjoying ur summer holidays (whether ur studying or chilling, or both).

since we're heading into term 2 of the hsc 2024 year, ive been thinking about my subjects and how to relieve my workload. however, im not sure if the best way to do this is to drop subjects (i do enjoy them all to some extent). if i keep them all, i will have completed 14 units, and it sounds pretty extreme to me 😭

im currently doing: eng adv, maths adv, maths ext 1, ees, ancient, history ext and design and tech.
i previously did ipt for the 2023 HSC and got a mark in the mid-high 90s (basically guaranteed to be counted in the 10 units for the ATAR).

my averages and ranks for my yr 11 (of what i remember) are below:
1. eng adv - 89, rank 6/140-150s
2. maths adv - 85, rank 25/120s
3. maths ext 1 - 59, rank 48/60s
4. ees - 91, rank 1/10s
5. ancient - 81, rank 6/10s
6. design - 91, rank 2 (tied)/30s

however, for the first set of yr12 assessments i got pretty sick, and definitely did not perform as well as i could've. so idk if i can really judge my abilities off of them.

is it worth dropping any of these subjects, or should i just stick with them all?
any advice on studying these subjects or balancing an academic workload is also appreciated :D
what are u planning to do at uni? if theres a math prereq/any math courses or background, id recommend keeping at least advanced.

if u feel like you're overwhelmed by taking too many subjects and that it will affect ur grades, then just drop whatever u think u will do the worst in, looks like ancient here (if u are taking a math course at uni). otherwise, theres nothing wrong with keeping all the subjects. worst comes to worst, your performance in one of the subjects drops off, and u drop it later in the year.
 

Cute-Duckie

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Personally I think 14 units is overdoing it and an unjustifiable amount.

From what you've got here it seems like math extension one is your worst subject, and extension subjects are very time consuming for being only one unit. That being said if your ATAR is very important to you and/or you want to get into a difficult university course, it scales very well.

I might suggest dropping ancient if not for history extension, as I'm fairly sure you have to do either ancient or modern to do that course, and dropping three units is probably not advisable as while you would have more time, you also wouldn't have a fallback course.

I would definitely talk to your teachers before making this decision, and your careers advisor assuming your school has one. Maybe even talk to a DP? It's kind of luck of the draw with deputies but you might have some good ones who can see the full picture, unlike some of your subject teachers. Maybe even talk to your year advisor?

To sum up, I would get feedback from teachers who know you and understand your potential before making this decision. However I do think it would be wise to drop a subject as that many units is just ridiculous in my opinion.
 

carrotsss

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contrary to what other people will say, I wouldn’t automatically consider maths ext 1 to be your worst subject - from some very rough scaling calculations it is actually a significantly higher ATAR equivalent than your ancient history mark - obviously I realise internals have varying difficulty and this is far from a perfect reflection but it’s worth considering that a lower percentage alone in maths ext 1 doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing worse in it.
 

saythename

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what are u planning to do at uni? if theres a math prereq/any math courses or background, id recommend keeping at least advanced.

if u feel like you're overwhelmed by taking too many subjects and that it will affect ur grades, then just drop whatever u think u will do the worst in, looks like ancient here (if u are taking a math course at uni). otherwise, theres nothing wrong with keeping all the subjects. worst comes to worst, your performance in one of the subjects drops off, and u drop it later in the year.
im not looking to take a maths course and the subjects im looking at dont need a maths prereq. between adv and ext, i wanna stay in ext because my maths ext teacher is really good and knowledgeable for HSC and ive been in her class for a couple of years, so im worried if i drop to adv i'll be less adjusted to the teaching style of another teacher.

i think i'll wait to see between the extensions later in the year on how im handling the coursework. thanks 👍
 

saythename

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Personally I think 14 units is overdoing it and an unjustifiable amount.

From what you've got here it seems like math extension one is your worst subject, and extension subjects are very time consuming for being only one unit. That being said if your ATAR is very important to you and/or you want to get into a difficult university course, it scales very well.

I might suggest dropping ancient if not for history extension, as I'm fairly sure you have to do either ancient or modern to do that course, and dropping three units is probably not advisable as while you would have more time, you also wouldn't have a fallback course.

I would definitely talk to your teachers before making this decision, and your careers advisor assuming your school has one. Maybe even talk to a DP? It's kind of luck of the draw with deputies but you might have some good ones who can see the full picture, unlike some of your subject teachers. Maybe even talk to your year advisor?

To sum up, I would get feedback from teachers who know you and understand your potential before making this decision. However I do think it would be wise to drop a subject as that many units is just ridiculous in my opinion.
thanks for your advice :D the courses im looking at need atars between 80-90, but i would still like to aim for a higher ATAR (ego lol). i think i'll try talking to my teachers about this when i return to school cause i completely agree that 14 units is overkill T-T
 

synthesisFR

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thanks for your advice :D the courses im looking at need atars between 80-90, but i would still like to aim for a higher ATAR (ego lol). i think i'll try talking to my teachers about this when i return to school cause i completely agree that 14 units is overkill T-T
I dont think putting pressure on urself for that reason is justified. U stop caring about atar in like one day trust me. and if u have family who make it a big deal i feel bad for u cus thats bit sad. But dont do 14 units how will u enjoy ur time at highschool. in year 12 just do 10 or 12max if u want but like why study those extra units since u quite literally have to spend like 120 hours extra in class for those subjects. unless u like studying over free time socialising n hobbys then u do u ig lol.
 

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