Stuck on dropping Chem, Bio, Ancient or Modern (1 Viewer)

[imgonnascream]

Hey, so I've been racking my head around this question for a few months and can't seem to come to a proper conclusion. I'm on 14 units with the recent addition of English Extension 2, and I absolutely love it and couldn't dream of dropping it rn, but the workload is crazy, and I need to get rid of one of my subjects, so it's come down to Biology, Chemistry or one of the histories. My school's ranking isn't anything special (171 in 2024), and I received a 37% in Chemistry (my entire class did poorly, don't judge) and a 91% in Biology for the prelims. I obviously did way better in Biology, but the root of my fear just seems to be that Biology doesn't scale nearly as well as Chemistry. Moreover, my Chemistry teacher was not very good at all, and would jump up and down the syllabus without proper explanation, leaving my basic knowledge in the subject very poor. However, we got a new teacher who's very good at explaining, and I find myself retaining the knowledge from Module 5 much better, and she is filling in knowledge gaps with lunch classes here and there. Whereas, the other issue with Biology is that my teacher in the subject is a lenient marker, and I'm afraid that a 91% may not actually reflect what I know, and I'm closer to an 80%. Moreover, homework is heavy for both subjects, but Chem tends to hand out just a bit less, which makes it easier to handle, I suppose. In regards to the histories, I know it's really risky going into the HSC with two, so I should probably drop a history instead. However, I feel uneasy about dropping one as I got 97% in Ancient and 90.6% in Modern with minimal pressure, and I really do enjoy studying and don't mind doing that extra research. Moreover, the topics I'm learning in both could tie in very well to Extension 2, and they do serve as inspo in a lot of ways. Sorry if this reads more like a long ramble than a clear post.

 

[m_avi]

Hey, so I've been racking my head around this question for a few months and can't seem to come to a proper conclusion. I'm on 14 units with the recent addition of English Extension 2, and I absolutely love it and couldn't dream of dropping it rn, but the workload is crazy, and I need to get rid of one of my subjects, so it's come down to Biology, Chemistry or one of the histories. My school's ranking isn't anything special (171 in 2024), and I received a 37% in Chemistry (my entire class did poorly, don't judge) and a 91% in Biology for the prelims. I obviously did way better in Biology, but the root of my fear just seems to be that Biology doesn't scale nearly as well as Chemistry. Moreover, my Chemistry teacher was not very good at all, and would jump up and down the syllabus without proper explanation, leaving my basic knowledge in the subject very poor. However, we got a new teacher who's very good at explaining, and I find myself retaining the knowledge from Module 5 much better, and she is filling in knowledge gaps with lunch classes here and there. Whereas, the other issue with Biology is that my teacher in the subject is a lenient marker, and I'm afraid that a 91% may not actually reflect what I know, and I'm closer to an 80%. Moreover, homework is heavy for both subjects, but Chem tends to hand out just a bit less, which makes it easier to handle, I suppose. In regards to the histories, I know it's really risky going into the HSC with two, so I should probably drop a history instead. However, I feel uneasy about dropping one as I got 97% in Ancient and 90.6% in Modern with minimal pressure, and I really do enjoy studying and don't mind doing that extra research. Moreover, the topics I'm learning in both could tie in very well to Extension 2, and they do serve as inspo in a lot of ways. Sorry if this reads more like a long ramble than a clear post.

how are ur ranks looking like for ur subjects?
you said everyone did badly for chem, was ur rank decent in comparison...?

 

[imgonnascream]

how are ur ranks looking like for ur subjects?
you said everyone did badly for chem, was ur rank decent in comparison...?

For all my subjects:

Eng Adv - 2nd by 2 marks
Eng Ext 1 - 1st
Math Adv - 5th
Anc His - 1st
Mod His - 1st
Bio - 2nd
Chem - 2nd or 3rd overall, I think, the 37% was a nosedive and ruined everything tbh

 

[m_avi]

For all my subjects:

Eng Adv - 2nd by 2 marks
Eng Ext 1 - 1st
Math Adv - 5th
Anc His - 1st
Mod His - 1st
Bio - 2nd
Chem - 2nd or 3rd overall, I think, the 37% was a nosedive and ruined everything tbh

woahh ur ranks are good

are you liking chem or bio more? what is ur interest..
i personally think you should keep ur histories... u seem to be certain abt doing well in them and ur ranking first. Get some other opnions though, cuz i don't do history

 

[imgonnascream]

are you liking chem or bio more? what is ur interest..
i personally think you should keep ur histories... u seem to be certain abt doing well in them and ur ranking first. Get some other opnions though, cuz i don't do history

tbh Bio is way more interesting, but Chem definitely sticks in my head more unfortunately. And yea, for the histories I definitely want to keep them, but I'm just scared that 4U English and 4Us of history isn't going to mesh well, none of the HSIE teachers have said anything too concerning about it tho.

 

[m_avi]

tbh Bio is way more interesting, but Chem definitely sticks in my head more unfortunately. And yea, for the histories I definitely want to keep them, but I'm just scared that 4U English and 4Us of history isn't going to mesh well, none of the HSIE teachers have said anything too concerning about it tho.

do you know what the second ranking in histories got? was it a fardifference or like are all the ranks close together?
if ur good at HSIE subjects, keep em i say.

If bio is more interesting, i think you'll be more inclined to study for it. Scaling/alignment shouldn't be a worry if you do good.
If your really concerned that you'll prolly do better in chem... then do a short quiz for urself on the topics that you've covered at skl (i'd say mod 2, mod 4 and bits of mod 5) hand it to ur teacher and have them mark it... if you perform very well in it then think abt keeping it yk.
a 37% in hsc isn't gonna get u very far

 

[imgonnascream]

do you know what the second ranking in histories got? was it a fardifference or like are all the ranks close together?
if ur good at HSIE subjects, keep em i say.

If bio is more interesting, i think you'll be more inclined to study for it. Scaling/alignment shouldn't be a worry if you do good.
If your really concerned that you'll prolly do better in chem... then do a short quiz for urself on the topics that you've covered at skl (i'd say mod 2, mod 4 and bits of mod 5) hand it to ur teacher and have them mark it... if you perform very well in it then think abt keeping it yk.
a 37% in hsc isn't gonna get u very far

Tbh none of my rankings are really too far from the other rankings near me, for Modern I tied with a peer for prelims and the in-depth research project but I edged had beaten her by a few marks back in Term 1. For Ancient, I'm definitely first by some margin, and for Bio, I came short of first by like 2 marks. Chem tho I'd say I got beat by maybe 10 or so marks.

The chem suggestion is definitely fair, I'm definitely lagging behind the rest of the state on chem, tho, since it was the independent paper I failed on.

 

[m_avi]

Tbh none of my rankings are really too far from the other rankings near me, for Modern I tied with a peer for prelims and the in-depth research project but I edged had beaten her by a few marks back in Term 1. For Ancient, I'm definitely first by some margin, and for Bio, I came short of first by like 2 marks. Chem tho I'd say I got beat by maybe 10 or so marks.

The chem suggestion is definitely fair, I'm definitely lagging behind the rest of the state on chem, tho, since it was the independent paper I failed on.

oooh okay, sorry im asking a lot of questions. But it gets me a good idea of where ur sitting.

lemme give you my chem notes and you can see where i'm up to, and the level of depth to the answers i have at my skl... my skls ranked slighly higher than urs. im unsure where im sitting in ranks rn, but i got 79% on my exam. If ur up to the quiz thingy, then i'll find some questions and quizes i've done and provide that for u

Chemistry – Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[imgonnascream]

lemme give you my chem notes and you can see where i'm up to, and the level of depth to the answers i have at my skl... my skls ranked slighly higher than urs. im unsure where im sitting in ranks rn, but i got 79% on my exam. If ur up to the quiz thingy, then i'll find some questions and quizes i've done and provide that for u

firstly, tysm this is a big help

secondly, I just had a look at the first few pages and found that the main issue stems from the fact that I understand the topics in theory, but when it comes to applying the math my mind just kinda blanks, like my structural/base knowledge is just really weak

 

[tsswhzl]

I know it's really risky going into the HSC with two

what do you mean by this, i think if they are your two favourites you should pursue them to be honest

 

[imgonnascream]

what do you mean by this, i think if they are your two favourites you should pursue them to be honest

yea that's fair but a lot of the advice I'm getting is that two histories is too much essay writing to handle for the HSC, but tbh I'd rather essays than chemical equations

 

[tsswhzl]

yea that's fair but a lot of the advice I'm getting is that two histories is too much essay writing to handle for the HSC, but tbh I'd rather essays than chemical equations

I know in english some memorise essays but i didnt and never did, in history do you have to memorise essays and such? I did do prelim modern history but just memorised some extraneous quotes and freestyled on my essays. If you have to memorise essays i guess it would be bit much since you do x1 x2 english

 

[imgonnascream]

I know in english some memorise essays but i didnt and never did, in history do you have to memorise essays and such? I did do prelim modern history but just memorised some extraneous quotes and freestyled on my essays. If you have to memorise essays i guess it would be bit much since you do x1 x2 english

Yeah I did the same as you in my prelim, I basically went in blind save for structure. I plan a general layout with evidence and my main point/argument, but I wouldn't say memorising entire essays will be an issue.

 

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For all my subjects:

Eng Adv - 2nd by 2 marks
Eng Ext 1 - 1st
Math Adv - 5th
Anc His - 1st
Mod His - 1st
Bio - 2nd
Chem - 2nd or 3rd overall, I think, the 37% was a nosedive and ruined everything tbh

Brilliant rank.

 

[imgonnascream]

Brilliant rank.

that's so nice, ty!