10 units vs 12 units. (1 Viewer)

iJimmy

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^ haha same, we always did math in english
 

strawberrye

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I did 12 units. At the start of year 12, I had considered of dropping visual arts and picking maths extension 2 so that I would be on 11 units. But I guess I felt very unsafe, particularly considering most of the individuals picking maths extension 2 already had at least a whole year's tuition in the subject before, and also because I wanted to have the experience of doing a body of work-and enjoy the sense of achievement that comes with a year's effort. I knew I couldn't do 13 units since our school had restricted us to 12 units in year 11, and I was just coping and I didn't want to over-burden myself unnecessary in year 12. In the end, it was a good choice. I know a lot of people who drop down to 10 units, particularly at the start of year 12, and absolutely regretted it by the end of the year. So unless you are confident you will do extremely well in 10 units, a back-up unit or two is always good:)
 

anomalousdecay

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shit don't your teachers get really pissed off and stuff? omg I'm pretty sure if that happened at my school it would be awkward silence and general controversy haha
Yeah teacher got pissed off. But my excuse was that he wasn't doing a good enough job for eco (He was but I was obviously focused on other subjects). I also used to say this to the teacher : "Its only eco. Its my backup."

There was quite a bit of controversy, but its not a first. Most low ranking schools have much more disobedient students.
He was close to kicking me out a few times, but I was persistent not to move.

And I only did it for the week before each MX2 exam.
 

iJimmy

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just say you study eco in other subjects
 

turnerloos

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Yeah teacher got pissed off. But my excuse was that he wasn't doing a good enough job for eco (He was but I was obviously focused on other subjects). I also used to say this to the teacher : "Its only eco. Its my backup."
Learning study tactics from the best.
 

anomalousdecay

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Learning study tactics from the best.
I'm not the best. And you shouldn't do what I did, because I was under special circumstances.

I don't advise this, unless you have mastered this idea and have been doing it since year 7.
 

aimpacc

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12 units, i had 12 and i screwed up english but still got all-rounders because everything else b6/e4
 

chardy2651

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12 units in-case i screw up in 2 unit maths as it is my worst subject and my other 10 units are good
 

such_such

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DO 12! I did worse when I had 10 units as opposed to 12 units lol. I think everyone should be good with 12 units:)
 

laura-jayne14

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I do 12 units just in case. Business is my "relaxing" subject, but counts 100% exam for ATAR, on the other hand Italian has so many different sections and a speaking exam which I am so nervous about (enjoyable subject none the less) and biology is somewhat challenging.
I just want a safety net to maximize atar. However, want to improve English... I'm slowly getting there.
 

williamdaft

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if you're confident in your top 10 units, do 10. saves much time.
 

obliviousninja

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if u do 10 and ur ultraconfident your not gonna bomb one, you will get a higher atar coz of the extra time u put into other subjects. My downfall was that I spent most of my time on 4u
 

elkedag

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I do 14 and I do enjoy all my subjects so I don't know which one to drop if I would need to.
 

Kiraken

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This thread crops up pretty much every year

11-12 Units is pretty standard for most people but if you are confident enough that you can perform well on your 10 units then don't be afraid to do so. If you do 10 units really well throughout the year that would give you more time to focus on those 10 units

In short, if you're confident with 10, do 10. If you are unsure about how well you can perform in those 10 and/or you don't feel confident in knowing you will do really well in those 10 units, do more.
 

Kiraken

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If you did 11 units, how would that work?
When calculating your aggregate mark for your 10 units each unit counts for "50" so most subjects, which are two units, will give you are mark out of 100. If for your ATAR, since they count your top 10 units, and you have 11 units and your "bottom" subject is 2 units, they will count one unit of it, i.e. a mark out of 50 instead of 100 (someone feel free to correct me if i am wrong)
 

RivalryofTroll

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Did 12 units for my HSC (Year 12).

(Adv Eng, MX1, MX2, Business Studies, Economics and Physics)

By the end of Year 11, I was contemplating on whether to drop Physics or Business Studies so I could do 10 units.

I think at that time, Physics was clearly my weakest subject and Business was like my 2nd strongest or strongest subject (but I was like - its my lowest scaling subject) but I'd think most would say I should have dropped Physics.

Anyways, I went for the safer option of 12 units (possibly dropping a subject by Year 12 half-yearlies).

Fast forward to Year 12, my Physics' rank started to improve (within the band 6 range) and I became more consistent. I had a belief that I could get a band 6 for Physics and I had a thought where I'd get like 91 or 92 for business (since 1st in business at my school the year before got 91 or 92 for business). This means Physics would potentially out-scale it if I got like 90 for Physics and 91 for Business.

In the end, I got 96 for Business (95 exam mark, 96 assessment mark - was 2nd internally) and 86 for Physics (82 exam mark but 90 assessment mark - i.e. I had an internal rank that was in the band 6 range but screwed up the HSC exam for Physics). No amount of scaling would help Physics out-scale Business at that point :haha: (and I got 93 in Economics) so Physics ended up NOT COUNTING.

To be honest, I don't regret doing 12 units either way - Physics was interesting and I don't think I'd spend much extra time on my subjects if I was on 10 units cause I really didn't do too much for Physics.

I was a ''12 units'' person but like people have said, if you're 100% confident in your 10 units - you might be better off doing only 10 (the extra time might prove useful). To win big, you've got to play big and go for it. (But make sure you don't bomb out in a subject :haha:)
 
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GabbyS

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I started year 12 with 12 units, but a few weeks before the end of term I dropped down to 10. The subject I dropped was Chemistry, which didn't really 'mesh' well with my other subjects and I found it exceptionally difficult, both in class and studying at home. The only reason I chose it was because I was good at junior science and thought 'why not'. Even though there is an element of risk in only doing 10 units, especially with my EE2 major work and doing French Continuers, which can be hard subjects in which to gauge progress, it's ultimately better for me because I don't have the added stress and all the worry of failing Chemistry. Since doing 10 units I feel much happier and more in control of all my subjects.
 

Examine

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I did 12 units (2 accelerated 10 in year 12). In year 11 I was ranked quite badly in Legal Studies, so I was contemplating dropping Legal altogether so that I could focus on my other units (and as I already accelerated Business Studies and received 93, I thought I would be alright). I ended up keeping Legal anyway despite stuffing up many assessments (I really screwed up my half yearly exam to the point where I wasn't even in the top 5 and I even didn't know an assessment was on one time) though it ended up being my highest scored subject (95 HSC mark, 96 externals). In the end, Business Studies ended up not counting as well (something I wouldn't have ever predicted lol).

I guess my point is unless you know 100% that the subject won't count it won't hurt to go through with it.

shit don't your teachers get really pissed off and stuff? omg I'm pretty sure if that happened at my school it would be awkward silence and general controversy haha
It's similar in my school if you are blatantly studying for another subject (so quite a lot of people did it secretly), though one time my economics teacher made an exception (the day I didn't know the Legal assessment was on LOL)
 

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