dropping physics - should I do it? (1 Viewer)

[ilikemomo]

Hey guys, I recently got back my physics task (I knew I wasn't going to do well), but it was actually terrible, below 50%.
I also did terribly in the last task, 66%, and I thought maybe I would be able to salvage my mark in this task but obviously not.

So I've been thinking of dropping the subject altogether, but people around me are still advising me not to. I'm getting 90+ marks in all my other subjects, beside advanced math which I improved in, but am sitting around a 70%.

My teacher told me that she thinks I can do better, but my question is like is there even a point? With these marks currently, I'm probably destined to get below a band 4. Another thing I've been told is that we are already 50% of the way into the HSC, and it's pointless to drop now so I should just stick it through.

Will appreciate any advice, thanks!

 

[Hehehe22]

How many units are you on right now? It might be worth keeping physics if you still have time to do your best in your other subjects and maintain those 90%+ marks. It depends on your current rank because physics is notoriously hard and the average tends to be low. I think if you get around an 80% raw mark in the HSC you have a chance at a band 6, and at my school the average was consistently around 65%. You might not be doing as badly as you think, or at least you might have less to catch up to than it seems.

Do you know what's preventing you from getting better marks? Do you really not understand the content, or are you struggling to apply it to the questions? If it's the latter, then you might just need to spend more time doing practice questions. However, if you're really demotivated to put a bunch of effort into physics, it might be a better idea to drop. Personally, when I dropped physics, it freed up quite a lot of time and brainpower.

Also, why did you choose physics in the first place - were you interested in it, or does it align with your future career/degree goals?

 

[ilikemomo]

How many units are you on right now? It might be worth keeping physics if you still have time to do your best in your other subjects and maintain those 90%+ marks. It depends on your current rank because physics is notoriously hard and the average tends to be low. I think if you get around an 80% raw mark in the HSC you have a chance at a band 6, and at my school the average was consistently around 65%. You might not be doing as badly as you think, or at least you might have less to catch up to than it seems.

Do you know what's preventing you from getting better marks? Do you really not understand the content, or are you struggling to apply it to the questions? If it's the latter, then you might just need to spend more time doing practice questions. However, if you're really demotivated to put a bunch of effort into physics, it might be a better idea to drop. Personally, when I dropped physics, it freed up quite a lot of time and brainpower.

Also, why did you choose physics in the first place - were you interested in it, or does it align with your future career/degree goals?

Hey, thanks for the reply!

So I'm on 12 units, but legit all my teachers advise not to drop bc "anything can happen". My marks were stellar in year 11, but I think I've been burning out lately and haven't been able to achieve the same since the start of year 12. I understand what you were saying about the averages, except the average for this task was a 35/50, and I got 22/50... so you can see what I mean.

I think I just don't understand physics like I do my other subjects. I genuinely think it takes me longer to get because I have to watch external resources for hours and I still won't understand. This is probably a terrible comparison, but I did only start studying like 2-3 days before the task (I was lowkey busy with other tasks, not an excuse though ik) and got the mark that I did, but other people who also studied the same amount got much higher than me, so I feel like its telling. At first, I did choose physics because of a genuine interest, but I don't think it's meant for me. I was really excited for the Quanta to Quarks module, but again, I might drop.

When you dropped physics, what did you consider beforehand?

 

[Hehehe22]

Hey, thanks for the reply!

So I'm on 12 units, but legit all my teachers advise not to drop bc "anything can happen". My marks were stellar in year 11, but I think I've been burning out lately and haven't been able to achieve the same since the start of year 12. I understand what you were saying about the averages, except the average for this task was a 35/50, and I got 22/50... so you can see what I mean.

I think I just don't understand physics like I do my other subjects. I genuinely think it takes me longer to get because I have to watch external resources for hours and I still won't understand. This is probably a terrible comparison, but I did only start studying like 2-3 days before the task (I was lowkey busy with other tasks, not an excuse though ik) and got the mark that I did, but other people who also studied the same amount got much higher than me, so I feel like its telling. At first, I did choose physics because of a genuine interest, but I don't think it's meant for me. I was really excited for the Quanta to Quarks module, but again, I might drop.

When you dropped physics, what did you consider beforehand?

Hmm I see! The burnout at this point is real, and managing 12 units is actually quite hard (lol I'm silly, I realise that it's in your signature). 10 units is risky, but if you're confident in all your other subjects it shouldn't be a problem.

I was in the same position as you in physics at the end of yr 11. I also chose it for interest, but back then I did consider going into engineering. When I dropped physics, I had to kinda give that up. It was also discouraging because I still put effort, yet my marks were just getting worse. If you don't think it's going to help you in the future, maybe it won't be worth holding on to? Physics doesn't seem to complement any of your other subjects either - if you did ext 2 maths or other sciences, it might feel like less work.

It may be a little difficult to catch up in ranks if the average isn't that low... although it isn't high either. It's up to you!

 

[iloveeggs]

hey @ilikemomo

what atar do you want, what ranks are you approximately in your subjects and how many band 6s does your school usually get in your subjects? this will prob give us an idea of how likely you are to band 6 your subjects and if you can make a comeback and band 6 phys as well and overall help us give you better advice

 

[ilikemomo]

Hii
im aiming for 95+
this is like only the 4th year my school is running hsc, so the cohorts are quite small, so like the band 6 rate for each subject is quite low as well, if it helps my school is like 130 ranked I think not too sure
rn I'm sitting at I think 6/40ish adv eng, 4/20 legal, art 1/7, 2/40ish sor2, and adv math I have no clue

plus there's like 12 ppl in my physics and deadass I'm probably last

 

[Hehehe22]

Hii
im aiming for 95+
this is like only the 4th year my school is running hsc, so the cohorts are quite small, so like the band 6 rate for each subject is quite low as well, if it helps my school is like 130 ranked I think not too sure
rn I'm sitting at I think 6/40ish adv eng, 4/20 legal, art 1/7, 2/40ish sor2, and adv math I have no clue

plus there's like 12 ppl in my physics and deadass I'm probably last

Hmm yeah in that case, unless you feel like you're chilling on time, dropping physics could be your best bet. Your other ranks are pretty solid, so if you push a lil harder on all of them you should be on track

 

[jane1820]

this is like only the 4th year my school is running hsc

what does this mean? was ur school ib before or do most students just drop or is it a newly opened school?

 

[iloveeggs]

@ilikemomo unless you think you can make an insane comeback and come up top in physics dont keep it. you are so much better off trying to improve your ranks in your other subjects to rise as close to like rank 1 or 2 as possible bc you dont knwo yet if more than 1 or 2 ppl can band 6 each of your subjects (bc you guys dont havs hsc b6 data).