Should I have kept English Ext 1? (1 Viewer)

[happycupcake]

{Year 12 2010}
Prelim year, I was kind of bad in English Extension. I didn't get great marks (I got 15/25 TWICE), but normally I got around 18/25, 11/15. Sometimes I put in the effort, sometimes I didn't.
I dropped Ext 1 this term because we were given heaps and heaps of work and I thought it was just too much. Also, I'm not particularly excited about reading additional texts as well as the texts for Advanced. But now I'm wondering if it was the right decision to drop it.

My rank was 12/19 (crappy I know) and my prelim exam mark was 60. (bear in mind I KNEW I had completely screwed it up, I didn't even practise or study for it).

I know that if I put in a LOT of extra effort I could do well, but just generally speaking, do you think it was the right decision for me to drop extension?

Would a HSC mark of, say, 75 scale you up or down? Or have no impact?
Thanks

 

[supercalamari]

A mark of less then 85 would do you very little benefit.
I personally love and adore Ext 1 and would never drop it, but maybe you did the right thing for you.

 

[happycupcake]

A mark of less then 85 would do you very little benefit.
I personally love and adore Ext 1 and would never drop it, but maybe you did the right thing for you.

Thanks. But would you get scaled down if you got below 80?

 

[dorian]

{Year 12 2010}
Prelim year, I was kind of bad in English Extension. I didn't get great marks (I got 15/25 TWICE), but normally I got around 18/25, 11/15. Sometimes I put in the effort, sometimes I didn't.
I dropped Ext 1 this term because we were given heaps and heaps of work and I thought it was just too much. Also, I'm not particularly excited about reading additional texts as well as the texts for Advanced. But now I'm wondering if it was the right decision to drop it.

My rank was 12/19 (crappy I know) and my prelim exam mark was 60. (bear in mind I KNEW I had completely screwed it up, I didn't even practise or study for it).

I know that if I put in a LOT of extra effort I could do well, but just generally speaking, do you think it was the right decision for me to drop extension?

Would a HSC mark of, say, 75 scale you up or down? Or have no impact?
Thanks

Even in Year 12 I never did particularly well in E1. I maintained an average of about 65% in the various assessments and exams, but in the term leading up to the HSC exams I worked my ass off and got the result I wanted. It really brought up my overall mark and I'm glad I kept the subject.

 

[ninetypercent]

drop it

 

[Schoey93]

{Year 12 2010}
Prelim year, I was kind of bad in English Extension. I didn't get great marks (I got 15/25 TWICE), but normally I got around 18/25, 11/15. Sometimes I put in the effort, sometimes I didn't.
I dropped Ext 1 this term because we were given heaps and heaps of work and I thought it was just too much. Also, I'm not particularly excited about reading additional texts as well as the texts for Advanced. But now I'm wondering if it was the right decision to drop it.

My rank was 12/19 (crappy I know) and my prelim exam mark was 60. (bear in mind I KNEW I had completely screwed it up, I didn't even practise or study for it).

I know that if I put in a LOT of extra effort I could do well, but just generally speaking, do you think it was the right decision for me to drop extension?

Would a HSC mark of, say, 75 scale you up or down? Or have no impact?
Thanks

No marks "scale you up or down". That is not how the universities work with your marks. They do not look at them and say, "easy subject, minus 10 points." Or "super hard MX2, plus 50 points". That's not how ATARs are calculated.

This "scales up" and "scales down" business is just a simple way of explaining things. It's somewhat accurate, but really what happens is complex algorithms and linear+quadratic equations are used. It's quite a mathematical process and they have Bachelor of Mathematics people doing it.

That said, it was a good decision to drop English (Extension). You didn't enjoy it - it was too much work and it was becoming unbearable.


How could it ever be a good decision to do something you hate?

 

[Schoey93]

Thanks. But would you get scaled down if you got below 80?

Technically almost every achievable mark scales down in almost every subject. You have to get >95 normally to receive a scaled mark (/50) that is a higher percentage than you original (raw) mark. Universities use your moderated assessment mark and raw HSC examination mark to calculate the ATAR. So good raw exam mark in the externals would yield a good aggregate (total "mark" out of 500) and a good aggregate gets a good ATAR.

 

[Aquawhite]

No marks "scale you up or down". That is not how the universities work with your marks. They do not look at them and say, "easy subject, minus 10 points." Or "super hard MX2, plus 50 points". That's not how ATARs are calculated.

This "scales up" and "scales down" business is just a simple way of explaining things. It's somewhat accurate, but really what happens is complex algorithms and linear+quadratic equations are used. It's quite a mathematical process and they have Bachelor of Mathematics people doing it.

That said, it was a good decision to drop English (Extension). You didn't enjoy it - it was too much work and it was becoming unbearable.


How could it ever be a good decision to do something you hate?

This shows nothing and doesn't answer the OP's questions. And besides, scaling is based on that particular subject's candidature and their achievement (how well they go).

In short, English Extension 1 scales rather well for your ATAR. A mark of 80 as your HSC mark in English Extension 1 (or rather 40/50 since it's 1 unit) would scale okay. but wouldn't really benefit your marks if your other subjects are higher than this

Technically almost every achievable mark scales down in almost every subject. You have to get >95 normally to receive a scaled mark (/50) that is a higher percentage than you original (raw) mark. Universities use your moderated assessment mark and raw HSC examination mark to calculate the ATAR. So good raw exam mark in the externals would yield a good aggregate (total "mark" out of 500) and a good aggregate gets a good ATAR.

Wrong. The ATAR is caclulated from HSC examination raw marks, not aligned marks... because aligning stuffs up the scaling process and their algorithms.

To the OP, it depends on what ATAR you are aiming for as well. If you liked it, then you should have kept I think.

 

[kcrocks]

I never really put much effort into it. Should have kept it