Should I drop my subjects/UMAT questions (1 Viewer)

[djmaddog]

I currently sit 12 units consisting of Adv Eng, Chem, Bio, Mod his and Eco. I am dishing up between dropping either 2u Maths or Economics, I go to a top 30 school.

Maths
- Consistently near lower bottom of the cohort consisting of 15 people 2u only + 2 Classes of accelerants and 3u students.
- Have finish all topics bar one
- More time to revise and consolidate, will be able to achieve 85-90%+ on the final exam
- Over all ranks have been worse due to strong cohort
- 50/70


Economics
- Middle of the year
- Understand the theory well and do crappy in the essay sections
- 34/65
- Economics cohort is ok.


Wondering which is worth doing better in considering that I have finished almost all of the 2u content which means I would have a significant period of time to study and revise all content. I will probably need 2u maths at some point and don't want to do a bridging course.


I am wondering if it is worth my time sitting the UMAT this year considering that I wouldn't be able to get a 99.95 ATAR, that said I do believe that I could achieve above 93~95. I also qualify for bonus points although I doubt any medical degree would accept this. The UMAT is in the middle of my trial exams and would require me to study for them so it's not as if there is no risk in trying. If I were to miss out on an undergraduate spot in medicine and get into medical science/advance science at UNSW what kind of grades would I need to transfer and would it be easier to transfer to another uni e.g. UWS? Finally, I have doubts whether I really really want to do medicine and it is hard to commit to the 8+ years of potential training. I don't really know what I want to do and medicine is not the kind of thing that one can strive for unless they have a strong desire to do it.
Thanks.

 

[Maancis]

if you want to be realistic, you won't get 99.95 with those ranks. Second of all, it is NEVER too late to change them. Focus on the areas you struggle with and even though it may get you down, try try try again and maybe change up what you're studying for more. The limit is YOU. If you work smart enough, maybe getting tuition for maths and improving to top 20 plus, its not out of reach. Don't be degraded by those around you. And keep your subjects, but work on them, they'll be useful, unless you REALLY suck, then drop and concentrate on the other subjects. get a tutor for essay writing, use youtube. The options are endless.

Also, if you really want something, you'll do anything and everything. You'll have your head up, ass down 24/7 because you want it. From the sounds of this, correct if I'm wrong, you don't sound like you really want medicine. Its the finical security that attracts people. Trust me, if you don't want, it won't happen, but i believe if anyone words hard and smart enough, it can. Maybe think whether YOU want to do medicine or its pressure from someone e.g.parents.

As for the UMAT, if you even have a slight interest for medicine, do it. There is no harm. My friend though there was no way she would do medicine, even though she was smart and hardworking, no genius though. She loved her subjects, and the ones she didn't like, still gave it all she had. She ended up getting 99.5 and she regretted not doing the UMAT. She's now doing science at Sydney, but obviously its not the same. Do it, you'll never know.

 

[djmaddog]

Thank you very much for your response, it is not the financial security that attracts me to medicine. Rather, it seems like a worthwhile and for-filling career path and if all I cared about was the income I would do Com-Law . That being said, I agree that regardless of what I intend to do it certainly helps to achieve the best ATAR I can.

 

[Flop21]

I'd even suggest just keeping both. Keep math for your own personal knowledge (and the chance you might excel at it finally). Keep eco as the one that will count towards your ATAR. Or visa versa.

If I wanted a better ATAR I would have done 12 units so I could have done math (for uni assumed knowledge) and not have it count towards my ATAR because I got a shit mark lol.

 

[djmaddog]

I don't generally do poorely in maths, I am a former 3 unit student who dropped to focus on my other subjects. Consequently, my maths mark suffered significantly. My motivation for sticking with maths is that my class has 2 weeks worth of content to learn before I have finished all topics I will use in the HSC. I think it is more likely that if I persistently study I will be able to achieve a significantly better mark in 2u as opposed to building my essay writing skills in economics, again thank you for the response.

 

[RyanT7]

Don't strive to do medicine if you don't have any desire to actually pursuit the career and work in that field for the rest of your life

There are plenty of other career options, that carry a high prestige and salary if that's what you are into