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Biology or physics? (1 Viewer)

sluGzxxX

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I'm better at biology this year, but I don't really like memorising and year 11 seems boring. I do like human biology though. I like and did well in accelerated prelim advanced maths, but I don't know if that will mean I will do well in physics. Do you think it's better to do biology if I think I can do really well in it even if it doesn't scale as well?
 

Masaken

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I'm better at biology this year, but I don't really like memorising and year 11 seems boring. I do like human biology though. I like and did well in accelerated prelim advanced maths, but I don't know if that will mean I will do well in physics. Do you think it's better to do biology if I think I can do really well in it even if it doesn't scale as well?
if you like human biology like i do (which relates more to genetics and diseases, which is covered in y12) then you'd have to bore through the year 11 course content. mod 1 and mod 2 do delve into human biology in terms of cells and organ systems but it's not just restricted to humans (i remember learning about the respiratory systems of fish and insects in mod 2), whilst the other half (mod 3 and mod 4) is ecology/ecosystems (looking at organism relationships and evolution and all that); however all in all mod 3 and mod 4 are pretty easy if you just make some basic summary notes and read your textbook

but if you find physics more interesting than bio and aren't ready to stick with y11 bio for y12, then definitely go for physics. i kind of regret not taking it not gonna lie
 

Average Boreduser

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I'm better at biology this year, but I don't really like memorising and year 11 seems boring. I do like human biology though. I like and did well in accelerated prelim advanced maths, but I don't know if that will mean I will do well in physics. Do you think it's better to do biology if I think I can do really well in it even if it doesn't scale as well?
go with something that fits your preferred career.
 

Masaken

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isn't it harder doe?
yea, that's why its scaling is usually pretty good
but then again, there are a lot of physics students in my school who did all three sciences and who found bio to be hard (in terms of content and memorisation), i find memorising content pretty easy though

Physics is fun

Exactly 10x more people at my school dropped bio than physics (no, that’s not an exaggeration)
oh yeah definitely same at my school, though i think it was more because many of them were taking bio as a bludge subject (dropping it for 4u maths)
 

sluGzxxX

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If you did well in advanced math then definitely do physics. I know people who struggled with the math in advanced math, but did extremely well with physics math.

But I personally recommend biology, no wonder it seems boring if your only trying to memorise content. That’s not at all what biology is about. It’s actually so much fun if you try to understand the content instead, fathering than memorising
Does biology have a lot more content than physics?
And also, hsc biology is much more interesting than prelims right?
Thanks.
 

synthesisFR

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If you did well in advanced math then definitely do physics.
This is not necessarily true, only algebra is needed for physics and most physics students are able to do basic algebra anyways.

Anyways, do physics if you will enjoy the subject, not because of scaling. I personally hated physics and found it boring (idk blame my teacher?) and hence did not study for it at all.
 

Nedom

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This is not necessarily true, only algebra is needed for physics and most physics students are able to do basic algebra anyways.

Anyways, do physics if you will enjoy the subject, not because of scaling. I personally hated physics and found it boring (idk blame my teacher?) and hence did not study for it at all.
Hiva posted faster than me. But what I have to say reinforces/supports what they have said, and also has a bit to add on

I don't remember too much about the subject, but being better at maths, i.e. being in MX1 or even MX2 (kind of overkill for phys, but why not) is much more helpful than adv because the mathematical mindset/skillset transfers over.

Not saying that you are or aren't correct synthesisFR, but then again when you look at when they graduated (2021) and when you are graduating (2023), there is some discrepancy between the reliability/validity of what you have to say. (Just saying the source does matter)
 

Nedom

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This is not necessarily true, only algebra is needed for physics and most physics students are able to do basic algebra anyways.

Anyways, do physics if you will enjoy the subject, not because of scaling. I personally hated physics and found it boring (idk blame my teacher?) and hence did not study for it at all.
Scaling is certainly a factor to consider when choosing subjects, no matter what people say, it still does play a role in the ATAR you get relative to the effort you put in. The subjects that you like aren't always filled with what you like/want to do (e.g. Like art ==> go into VA ==> Theory is cancer (you get bored/ sleep in class)). The other argument about turning hobby/passion into work is that there may be a removal of the ability to control when you engage with this interest of yours because you have a need to interact with the subject regardless of your mood/feeling towards the subject in the moment. (aka. When does working on something you like become 'work')

With what Hiva said above, I would disagree with placing Chemistry beneath Physics in terms of difficulty when one excels at logical/maths-based thinking. The math in physics is much more straight-forward, you either apply a formula or derive a formula, and explain what the equations are if asked (just look at the components of the equation), while chemistry's maths is abstract and weird, and absolutely a hellhole (if you think that maths is going to carry you in any way in the subject, it's really not). Yes, there is maths involved, but basic arithmetic is not what is going to get you the marks, it's first working out what to do with the information, deciphering and allocating the correct method/formula (really different from the straight-forwardness of physics) to find a method is what I believe as the 'maths' people refer to.
 

pikachu975

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I'm better at biology this year, but I don't really like memorising and year 11 seems boring. I do like human biology though. I like and did well in accelerated prelim advanced maths, but I don't know if that will mean I will do well in physics. Do you think it's better to do biology if I think I can do really well in it even if it doesn't scale as well?
I did both and felt that physics had more memorising than biology (heaps of bio content was more understanding than memorising, e.g. kangaroos use fur as endotherms to fight against the cold - doesn't really require memorising). Also yeah year 11 bio is boring compared to year 12.

I found bio more fun than physics but OBVIOUSLY this is up to the person.

In terms of maths helping with physics, I can't 100% remember, also the syllabus changed, but from memory of my syllabus I don't think it was TOO related. Like physics was more making sure you got all the information correctly from the question and in the correct units then just plugging into formulas/basic algebra.

EDIT: Also like mentioned physics does scale/align better cos I 100% did better in my biology HSC, I estimated that I got high 80s in physics and low to mid 90s in biology yet they came out to about the same mark (biology is easier anyway).
 

synthesisFR

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No, I did chemistry and it's just like this and from what I've heard from other physics kids. Sure it only uses basic algebra, but the cognitive features that are used in math are also used in chem and physics. Every 4u math student I know effortlessly handles chem and physics, because math, chem and physics both use similar cognitive features, that is they require you think and solve abstract problems. So if math naturally comes to someone then so will physics and chem. Although math uses these skills to a higher extent than chem and physics.
I agree with what ur saying, but 4u cognition is no where near what u need in physics. Physics is literally just understanding the concept so you can relate a few formulas together, which really is not that difficult. Even extremely difficult physics question are difficult due to the data they provide, you just need to figure how to break it down. IMO doing well in adv math does not equate to "ur gonna do well in physics" thats just my opinion tho
 

synthesisFR

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actually nvm ur probably right but my point is that theres more to physics than just maths and equations, like really knowing the content and scientific skills and all yk
 

sluGzxxX

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Thanks, everyone.
What do think is a good raw mark for both physics and biology to get a band six?
Does biology actually scale much worse than physics, and what should I get in biology for it not to scale badly.

Also, I like maths a lot and want to do 4 unit maths. I won't be disadvantaged if I don't do physics right, as I think I'll do biology due to being more interested in it.
 
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pikachu975

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Thanks, everyone.
What do think is a good raw mark for both physics and biology to get a band six?
Does biology actually scale much worse than physics, and what should I get in biology for it not to scale badly.

Also, I like maths a lot and want to do 4 unit maths. I won't be disadvantaged if I don't do physics right, as I think I'll do biology due to being more interested in it.
Check rawmarks.info for your first question

For second question check rawmarks.info for aligning of marks (+ATAR calc for actual scaling)

For third question, physics is irrelevant to 4u maths (unless they added some topic extremely similar to physics since I did it)
 

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