:S Need help on my Year 12 subject selections. (1 Viewer)

[runnable]

Oh Jesus, how many times can I explain this to you? People pick high-scaling subjects because it scales them UP. Their 86 could be scaled up to a 93. This doesn't mean that you can't do well in medium-to-low-scaling subjects, where a 92 will most likely still remain a 92. It just doesn't scale you up like a subject like Latin Extension would.

I don't even know what you're arguing anymore. I know people who have received UAIs over 99 with "low scaling" subjects, let alone over 90. It happens. What don't you understand?


That's not logical. That's bullshit. How is it logical to presume low-scaling subjects don't "reward well" when there are so many people who can show you their subjects and their UAI and prove you wrong?

did you even completely read my post before posting? The whole point im making is that... imagine this:

CASE 1
Dux of J Ruse

Maths EXT2 (1st) 92%
Maths EXT1 (1st) 94%
English EXT2 (1st) 93%
English EXT1 (1st) 94%
Latin EXT (1st) 94%

amazing marks. but if you are telling me poor scaling marks do not get scaled.

CASE 2:
Dux of J Ruse

English Stnd (1st) 96%
Bus.Studies (1st) 96%
Maths General (1st) 96%
Aboriginal Studies (1st) 97%
Textiles (1st) 96%

You are telling me the person will get the same, if not better UAI in the second case, since "top marks in poor scaling subs do not get scaled."
If that is really the case, why wouldnt the Dux want to do the 2nd case and it would obviously be a lot easier to handle, especially for someone like him.

SO please tell me the logic between the two cases. When was the last time you saw an UAI 100 with the subjects in the second case? Yearly, we see UAI 100s do highly scaled subjects, im sure they are all capable of doing extremely well in those Case 2 subjects, so why not do it? There is obviously a reason why they still prefer high scaled subjects, instead of topping low scaled subjects and according to you, "get the same high UAIs".

 

[Jachie]

I'll repeat myself for what, the fourth time now? The student in case 1 would get his or her results scaled UP. While Aboriginal Studies might pull down Case 2 slightly since as far as I’m aware that’s the only subject there that’s capped, the rest would not have any major detrimental effect.

Getting scaled up is the reward for doing high-scaling subjects. However, do particularly shit in it and scaling isn’t going to help you. There aren’t any penalties for doing low-scaling subjects, only a handful are capped now and it’s the obscure, rarely taught ones. Your marks aren’t going to be scaled up in subjects like Business or General Maths but that doesn’t mean you can’t do well in them.

Are we clear? Do you want to now quit with the hypotheticals and listen to me when I tell you that it IS possible and you CAN get high UAIs with subjects like Business and General Mathematics? It's happened in the past and it will continue to happen. If you don't like it go whinge to BOS directors about it, I don't give a shit. I'm just telling you how it is.

 

[tanjin]

im sure they are all capable of doing extremely well in those Case 2 subjects, so why not do it? There is obviously a reason why they still prefer high scaled subjects, instead of topping low scaled subjects and according to you, "get the same high UAIs".

Why would some who is very capable of doing difficult subjects, avoid them and pick easier subjects? People choose high scaling subjects because usually, they know that they're capable of doing well in them.

No one wants to sit through the last year of high school doing subjects, which don't challenge them - like me & general math. And of course there is the fact that the more difficult the subject, the better the scaling - but that's not to say that doing easier subjects will scale you down. Do well in either and the end result won't differ by much.

I know several people who have done 'low scaling' subjects and finished with uais above 95.

End of story.

 

[Kujah]

No one wants to sit through the last year of high school doing subjects, which don't challenge them - like me & general math. And of course there is the fact that the more difficult the subject, the better the scaling - but that's not to say that doing easier subjects will scale you down. Do well in either and the end result won't differ by much.

Agreed. I wouldn't just pick my subjects based on how easy they were, but rather on what subjects that I am strong in and what subjects actually interest me.

 

[watatank]

its entirely possible to get a high uai with just about any subject combination. there was a document somewhere that showed people have got 99.xx uai with subjects like general maths and business studies and even lower scaling subjects. i've got no idea where it is now though...

the reason why so many people who get high uais just happen to be doing extension subjects and other such high scaling subjects is because they were smart enough and capable of going extremely well in the first place...

go with what you're good at and what you enjoy doing. you're aiming exceptionally high so regardless of what subjects you do you are going to have to ace them so basically scaling doesn't and won't be a huge factor at all.

 

[763259826t35647]

Guy at our school last year got 99.55 with business studies being his top subbie (scaled as well as raw, atleast based on the scaling of the previous year which would be accurate for bus st. because so many people doing it reduces yearly fluctuations in the scaling curve) so with business studies counting you can still get the mega awesome uai's.

 

[763259826t35647]

ive got a real problem choosing my subjects to go into Year 12.

My current subjects are (13 units total)
Eng Adv (english is not ranked in our school, but in top 25%)
Maths Ext 1 (10th)
Biology (1st)
Bus Studies (1st)
Economics (2nd)
Physics (1st)

my school is ranked in top 50 NSW


I am thinking of doing Ext 2 Maths but im afraid that it would take up a lot of my time from my other subjects. So i was wondering what are your thoughts on that.

Also, i was also thinking of dropping Business Studies as i heard its scaling is not really good, and its not really worth the effort of doing it. Dropping it will give me a lot more time with my other subjects. Im doing well in bus studies atm but so am i in other subjects, so business is not really going to be in my top 10 units.


So, i would like some help pls

Business scaling curve is kinda funny, its very poor for low to mid-high scores, but for band 6, its scaling is actually quite good. For example, a 91 in business is the equivalent of 90 in ecos after scaling, and physics is like a 89. So for the higher scores the scaling of business is much better

 

[ywontuend]

heyyyy

i am havin the same probs...

i am doin 15 units....

and i do not know wat to drop??????????

with scaling if ur at the top of a relatively good subject then ur fine....but if ur sumwhere other than the top of the bunch u then get dragged down accordin to how much standard deviation u are away from the mean mark...

to be serious gettin 100% in any subject requires odius amounts of work and thats y HARDER subjects will have ppl who dnt get full marks but get scaled heaps yet a subject like business wnt exactly scale up or in ur case if ur doin relli well, it wnt scale u down..

 

[lionking1191]

like said before, scaling only affects you the most when you are around average. EVERY SUBJECT HAS A 100. if you are ranked 1st in your school, pray that your grade (preferably, you) do really well and get a high mark, which then will be determined by your rank. hsc aligned mark will always have a 100, if it's not you, then you didnt do good enough. obviously, high scaling subjects means its harder to get a higher mark, hence the scale up (or in most cases, less scale down)

regarding ext 2 maths. if you like maths, by all means, do it. (if you are confident of getting above 85%) which scales up looads well. if you fail...you've wasted the best half of the year AND you're screwed for 2u maths..

 

[763259826t35647]

hmm although im not really sure how the whole scaling thing works but i was told by my dean of studies that:

business' highest score last year was 97 after scaling while for my other subjects, 100 is possible.

thus the 97 shows that bus studies is poor scaling (or poorER scaling).

whats more, im doing well in my other subjects so even if i did well in bus studies, it most probably would not be in my top 10 units so would not be considered anyway. so i guess the only chance of using bus studies is when i do actually mess up another subject, but is it worth it doing a subject just because you are afraid of messing up in another? :S

the highest anyone got in bus st last year was 98, so only scaled down one mark. Anyway, if you could get scaled mark 97 in each mark, your TER would be 485, which is a 100 UAI anyway. So dont worry bout the top scaled mark thing.

Also, top scaled mark, or scaled mean, only provide information of scaled mark for a certain hsc mark. the scaling CURVE is what is important. For top marks (90-100), which is what your undoubtedly aiming for, bus st has a GOOD scaling curve.

e.g) comparing bus st which is supposedly poor scaling, and economics which is supposedly high scaling using hsc published Table A3:

...................Aligned Hsc...................Scaled
Business...........93.............................87.2
Economics.........91.............................84.8

this person's hsc marks are very close, with bus st a couple of marks better than eco's, and in there scaled marks, bus st is correspondingly a few marks ahead of ecos.

Basically, for top band marks in almost all subject, scaling essentially becomes a non-issue.

Hope this helps, good luck!