Should I focus on English or sustain my ranks in my other subjects? (1 Viewer)

Flise

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I’m still deciding whether I want to go into either Comp sci, psychology or a degree in politics, philosophy and economics and I believe they all require around a 96 atar.

My ranks in so far:

Economics: 1/14
Business: 1/80
Math Ext 1: 2/12
Math Ext 2: 4/5
SOR 1: 3/30
English Advanced 10/40 (I performed terribly in Task 1)

My school is ranked in the 90s
Should I dedicate more time to english and risk losing my high ranks in my other subject or continue to sustain my ranks as I’m not sure of the extent of the weight of English to my Atar. Any suggestions or personal experiences will be greatly appreciated :)
 
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jimmysmith560

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Your position in Economics, Business Studies, Mathematics Extension 1 and Studies of Religion I seems favourable and is likely consistent with your ATAR goal (especially Economics and Business Studies). The main thing to keep in mind is that, in your case, English Advanced will definitely count towards your ATAR because the best 2 units of English count towards a student's ATAR. This evidently implies that focusing on being ranked as highly as possible in English Advanced is essential if you wish to maximise your chances of achieving a 96 ATAR.

At the same time, the fact that you are taking 11 units will likely work to your advantage, especially given your current position in Mathematics Extension 2, in which case, if you don't succeed in performing favourably, it will end up counting as one unit and Studies of Religion I will consequently cover the other unit, which of course indicates that maintaining (and, if possible, improving) your rank in Studies of Religion I is important and will assist you in terms of reaching your desired ATAR.

I hope this helps! :D
 

totally_screwed

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I’m still deciding whether I want to go into either Comp sci, psychology or a degree in politics, philosophy and economics and I believe they all require around a 96 atar.

My ranks in so far:

Economics: 1/14
Business: 1/80
Math Ext 1: 2/12
Math Ext 2: 4/5
SOR 1: 3/30
English Advanced 10/40 (I performed terribly in Task 1)

My school is ranked in the 90s
Should I dedicate more time to english and risk losing my high ranks in my other subject or continue to sustain my ranks as I’m not sure of the extent of the weight of English to my Atar. Any suggestions or personal experiences will be greatly appreciated :)
you rlly don't wanna be the person whose atar gets stuffed up because of English, it definitely has a weight on your atar since it's a solid 2 unit subject and will count

your other ranks are impressive 99+ atar potential, the English rank isn't so bad but if you don't improve then I can still see you getting 96+ overall

dedicating more time towards English shouldn't be compromising your other ranks, not if you have good time management skills and can study for all your subjects equally or as necessary. like business for instance, from personal experience I never studied (only did before exams) and my internal and external were great, instead I dedicated the freed up time towards English which I struggled with a lot more. if English needs to be prioritised then do prioritise it, but obviously don't totally neglect your other subjects
 

Flise

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Your position in Economics, Business Studies, Mathematics Extension 1 and Studies of Religion I seems favourable and is likely consistent with your ATAR goal (especially Economics and Business Studies). The main thing to keep in mind is that, in your case, English Advanced will definitely count towards your ATAR because the best 2 units of English count towards a student's ATAR. This evidently implies that focusing on being ranked as highly as possible in English Advanced is essential if you wish to maximise your chances of achieving a 96 ATAR.

At the same time, the fact that you are taking 11 units will likely work to your advantage, especially given your current position in Mathematics Extension 2, in which case, if you don't succeed in performing favourably, it will end up counting as one unit and Studies of Religion I will consequently cover the other unit, which of course indicates that maintaining (and, if possible, improving) your rank in Studies of Religion I is important and will assist you in terms of reaching your desired ATAR.

I hope this helps! :D
Thanks for your words of wisdom Jimmy.
 

Flise

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you rlly don't wanna be the person whose atar gets stuffed up because of English, it definitely has a weight on your atar since it's a solid 2 unit subject and will count

your other ranks are impressive 99+ atar potential, the English rank isn't so bad but if you don't improve then I can still see you getting 96+ overall

dedicating more time towards English shouldn't be compromising your other ranks, not if you have good time management skills and can study for all your subjects equally or as necessary. like business for instance, from personal experience I never studied (only did before exams) and my internal and external were great, instead I dedicated the freed up time towards English which I struggled with a lot more. if English needs to be prioritised then do prioritise it, but obviously don't totally neglect your other subjects
Appreciate the words of wisdom. Though the thing I find with English is that sometimes whenever I try to sit down and ‘study’ (whatever constitutes study) I sometimes end up getting no work done which is frustrating as that time could’ve been directed elsewhere more productively. Perhaps as a perfectionist I struggle to actually write things down if it isn’t perfect or if I don’t actually believe the ideas I am arguing.
 

pikachu975

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I’m still deciding whether I want to go into either Comp sci, psychology or a degree in politics, philosophy and economics and I believe they all require around a 96 atar.

My ranks in so far:

Economics: 1/14
Business: 1/80
Math Ext 1: 2/12
Math Ext 2: 4/5
SOR 1: 3/30
English Advanced 10/40 (I performed terribly in Task 1)

My school is ranked in the 90s
Should I dedicate more time to english and risk losing my high ranks in my other subject or continue to sustain my ranks as I’m not sure of the extent of the weight of English to my Atar. Any suggestions or personal experiences will be greatly appreciated :)
I had a similar situation to you (english being the worst rank) and didn't bother trying to study hard for english because the subject is useless and it's the only subject where you can study hard for it and somehow decrease ur marks due to the subjectivity. Rather study for stuff that you can guaranteed increase your marks like maths or anything that isn't english. Not saying I did terribly in English but I didn't bother studying for it at all besides memorising quotes right before the exam because I had no idea what to do to push up to a high band 6 in that subject....

Note: In saying that, ofc you should study for English if the gap between english and your other subjects will be gigantic (you should estimate if this would be the case based on your school's previous performance)
 

Flise

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I had a similar situation to you (english being the worst rank) and didn't bother trying to study hard for english because the subject is useless and it's the only subject where you can study hard for it and somehow decrease ur marks due to the subjectivity. Rather study for stuff that you can guaranteed increase your marks like maths or anything that isn't english. Not saying I did terribly in English but I didn't bother studying for it at all besides memorising quotes right before the exam because I had no idea what to do to push up to a high band 6 in that subject....

Note: In saying that, ofc you should study for English if the gap between english and your other subjects will be gigantic (you should estimate if this would be the case based on your school's previous performance)
Glad to know that I’m not entirely alone in this boat. I guess you could say this struggle is a common human experience wink wink I’m so funny ;)
 

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