Biology and Cosmology (1 Viewer)

[hurikai]

Hi guys, I just wanted to ask, from your HSC experiences, some questions about biology and cosmology (rethinking subject choices - I'm in year 10):

Biology
How hard/easy is it? Is the scaling good, in proportion to its difficulty? And in the assessments, are the questions general short answer/multi-choice/etc.?

Cosmology
Year 12 entry only? And what are the requirements for entry? And are the classes done at school, and what do they involve? Are the concepts similar to astronomy in physics? How hard is it, and is the scaling good comparatively? And what kind of stuff is in the papers - extended response?

Thanks heaps for any help, could make year 12 a heck of a lot easier for me...

OH and one last thing -
I've been told there's a rule in the HSC that you must do at least 4 subjects, does this mean I have to have attempted 4 subjects, or does that mean my 10 units must consist of 4 subjects?

Because this would screw up any arrangements of 4,4,2 or 4,3,3. Our deputy said in some cases we could take a single unit from another subject to make up 4 subjects, does this mean I can make arrangements splitting up 2 unit subjects as 4,4,1,1 or 4,3,2,1?

Thanks heaps for any help! Sorry if I'm being confusing..

 

[hurikai]

bump =(

 

[pLuvia]

Biology is quite alright, although I dropped it in year 12 it was a nice subject, scaling was average but don't look at scaling if you do well then scaling won't affect you.

The setting out of tests is similar to all the other science subjects, that is multiple choice and short answer responses

Assessments could be practical or just assignments, I didn't have any test like assessments that counted in preliminary so it depends on the teacher

It terms of difficulty it's not that hard, it's more if you take in a lot of information and remember and also understand it, because there is a lot of information and points you must know for exams etc.

For cosmology, it is a distinction course, and there way to get in is if you have accelerated a subject, in year 7,8,9..11 and done well in it usually 95+ in HSC. Here's some information on it

http://www.distinction.nsw.edu.au/what.asp

 

[lala2]

^^On that note, entry to Distinction courses is minimum 90 in your accelerated course. People have gotten in with marks between 90-95, but of course it'd be best to do your best as there's only so many places available, especially Cosmology and Comparative Literature, where I think there's not more than 20 people as opposed to Philosophy with around 40.

 

[pLuvia]

Regarding your subject issue, yes it is a requirement that you do at least 4 subjects. I don't think there's any 1 unit courses in the HSC course, apart from the extensions.

You have to do at least 4 different subjects i.e. Maths, English, Chemistry, Japanese (this is what I did).

I'm not sure what you mean by splitting the units up

 

[SoulSearcher]

Regarding your subject issue, yes it is a requirement that you do at least 4 subjects. I don't think there's any 1 unit courses in the HSC course, apart from the extensions.

Studies of Religion 1.

I'm not sure what you mean by splitting the units up

What he means is that each 2 unit subject can be split into 2 groups of 1 unit each, and that 1 unit from a 2 unit subject can count towards your UAI.

 

[pLuvia]

Studies of Religion 1.

Shh..

What he means is that each 2 unit subject can be split into 2 groups of 1 unit each, and that 1 unit from a 2 unit subject can count towards your UAI.

Well if he means that, I don't think you can split up a 2unit course so you can fill up your four subject requirement. You need four different subjects as I mentioned above

 

[hurikai]

Wow, thanks heaps! I'll try my best...