Subject Selection Dilemmas (Queries) (1 Viewer)

[sungkwo]

Hi, I know this thread is identical to the other subject selection threads, but I would like some unbiased advice on some matters. I'm kinda stuck what subjects I want to do in Year 11- so far I'm sure about 3maths and 3english. I'm kinda stuck on which HSIE and Science to do. I'm thinkin of Legal Eco and Modern or Geo for HSIE, and Bio Chem and Phys for sciences. I'm doing pretty well in both Science(2nd in class) and History(2nd in grade), and good in commerce (17/108) - but dunno if thats gonna help me. Thinking of doing Law in uni if i make the UAI cut.

Anways I've got some queries on some of the subjects

Modern- i heard it was accelerated in many other schools- does that mean it may scale lower?? Anyone know why its accelerated. Does history extension help with modern history

Eco- heard it useful in real life- how much compared to other HSIE subjects. Also heard it was harder than the other commercy subjects- why?
Does it help in uni if you want to do commerce or finance- by how much

Legal- heard it doesn't help with law in uni- is this true

Phys- Is the physics course more interesting than in junior years-or just more of the same. Does this course overlap with 4 unit maths in any way?

Bio- heard that it requires you to make upto 100 pages of notes- also heard that it is twice the workload of chem and phys- is this true

Also I heard from my parents that I should do the sciences rather than HSIE because there is a lower workload, and that I can't compete with poeple who are born here (I was born overseas) because they have an inbuilt advantages?

Sorry if I wrote too much, but I really need this advice from someone who isn't so biased i.e parents, teachers

Cheers

 

[rolror88]

I don't have much experience on this issue, so I'll just share my opinions and let the other guys fix up my mistakes.

Modern-You can only do history extension in year 12? I'm pretty sure if its accelerated.. it just gives students the chance to sit the exam in year 11 so its 2 less units?

Eco-From what I've read, the concepts are more harder to grasp then the other commerce subjects, and you need good analytical skills-that's what my HSIE co-ordinator told me.

Physics-I've heard that it does overlap with 3 and 4 unit maths; Need confirmation on this.

Bio-A lot of guys have said that there is a lot of content to cover, but it doesn't mean its harder then chem and physics, where the concepts are a lot harder to grasp.

Well.. I dunno about lower workload in HSIE compared with science... And I also have no idea about "inbuilt advantages" lol.

 

[kaz1]

Don't know your interests so I'll talk about the subjects I have experience in that you have listed.

Economics- Interesting subject if you have an interesting teacher. I have a shit teacher so I hate the subject. It's probably harder than the other commerce subjects (Business and Legal) because there is more thinking involved. It also scales significantly higher than the other commerce subjects.

Physics- It definetly is more intersting and it does sort of overlap with 2unit and 3unit (physical application of calculus) and 4unit (Mechanics) maths.

 

[-tal-]

Hi, I know this thread is identical to the other subject selection threads, but I would like some unbiased advice on some matters. I'm kinda stuck what subjects I want to do in Year 11- so far I'm sure about 3maths and 3english. I'm kinda stuck on which HSIE and Science to do. I'm thinkin of Legal Eco and Modern or Geo for HSIE, and Bio Chem and Phys for sciences. I'm doing pretty well in both Science(2nd in class) and History(2nd in grade), and good in commerce (17/108) - but dunno if thats gonna help me. Thinking of doing Law in uni if i make the UAI cut.

Anways I've got some queries on some of the subjects

Modern- i heard it was accelerated in many other schools- does that mean it may scale lower?? Anyone know why its accelerated. Does history extension help with modern history

Eco- heard it useful in real life- how much compared to other HSIE subjects. Also heard it was harder than the other commercy subjects- why?
Does it help in uni if you want to do commerce or finance- by how much

Legal- heard it doesn't help with law in uni- is this true

Phys- Is the physics course more interesting than in junior years-or just more of the same. Does this course overlap with 4 unit maths in any way?

Bio- heard that it requires you to make upto 100 pages of notes- also heard that it is twice the workload of chem and phys- is this true

Also I heard from my parents that I should do the sciences rather than HSIE because there is a lower workload, and that I can't compete with poeple who are born here (I was born overseas) because they have an inbuilt advantages?

Sorry if I wrote too much, but I really need this advice from someone who isn't so biased i.e parents, teachers

Cheers

Eco - is very applicable to real life. The main reason people think it's harder than most other HSIE subjects is because the terminology and concepts are realistically speaking, harder to grasp.

Legal - An otherwise straightforward subject, providing you do the stuff. it's useful in the sense that it helps you get around the terms needed to elarn law at uni (my sister does law at uni atm)

Phys - no. The concepts may help you understand whats the point of learning 3 and 4 unit maths, and how it's applicable and useful later on. But the level of maths involved, no.

Bio - not really, it's a more theory like subject. It's not twice the workload. The workload practically balances itself out. Easiness is proportional to difficulty.

 

[SimonLee13]

Legal Studies isn't a requiste for law at UNI, it helps with background info though. Out of all the uni students, not many would of done legal studies in high school.

Btw social science is all knowledge so you just learn bout stuff wheras science you need to understand concepts.

 

[XShiv]

Legal Studies isn't a requiste for law at UNI, it helps with background info though. Out of all the uni students, not many would of done legal studies in high school.

Btw social science is all knowledge so you just learn bout stuff wheras science you need to understand concepts.

Agreed.

 

[midifile]

Modern- i heard it was accelerated in many other schools- does that mean it may scale lower?? Anyone know why its accelerated. Does history extension help with modern history

Eco- heard it useful in real life- how much compared to other HSIE subjects. Also heard it was harder than the other commercy subjects- why?
Does it help in uni if you want to do commerce or finance- by how much

Legal- heard it doesn't help with law in uni- is this true

Phys- Is the physics course more interesting than in junior years-or just more of the same. Does this course overlap with 4 unit maths in any way?

Bio- heard that it requires you to make upto 100 pages of notes- also heard that it is twice the workload of chem and phys- is this true

Also I heard from my parents that I should do the sciences rather than HSIE because there is a lower workload, and that I can't compete with poeple who are born here (I was born overseas) because they have an inbuilt advantages?

Sorry if I wrote too much, but I really need this advice from someone who isn't so biased i.e parents, teachers

Cheers

Okay ill tell you as much as I can

Modern - I dont know why other schools accelerate modern, but to me it just seems like a course which is easy to accelerate. This does not mean it scales worse, but in general modern history isnt the best scaling subject (although I wouldnt say that it scales poorly). I dont do any history, but I dont think that extension history will make a difference to modern.

Economics - Yes, it is [relatively] useful in real life. Obviously I dont go around working out the participation rate in the economy, but its good as it helps you in understanding what is going on in the economy (ie when you hear about inflation, intrest rate etc you understand it). I dont do any other humanities but my friends who do one or more others say it is the most interesting but the hardest. I wouldnt say that it would help you in uni. My brother is doing business in uni and he said they retaught a lot of it in his economics course (however at a much faster pace).

Legal - I dont do it either, but my friend who does it says it is bullshit. I am certain that you do not need it to law in uni (and if you look at people doing law in uni you will see that there are lots of people who didnt do legal in high school)

Physics - I dont do it so im not sure about how interesting it is. The only parts where it overlaps with maths is motion, but that said, I do 4 unit maths, and I dont feel like im at a disadvantage because I dont do physics.

Bio - All together i'd say my notes for bio are about 80 page (almost 100 ) but thats less than my chemistry notes. For me, bio is less work than chemistry, but maybe thats just because bio comes really naturally to me and chem is a lot more study. I find that because bio is more applicable to the real world it is easier to grasp than chemistry (and im sure also physics). Also there is a lot less maths (EDIT: almost none), but I dont think that will really matter considering you want to 3 unit maths (so you must be decent at it)

I dont get what you mean about inbuilt advantages. If you are talking about scaling then dont think about it - it is better to do a lower scaling subject that you are good at than a high scaling subject that you are crap at. One main difference between sciences and humanities is the fact that there are no essays in the sciences (but you said you want to do 3 unit english so i'm sure you'd be fine with essays).

 

[phosphorescent]

Well, here goes my opinion:

Modern History - I personally haven't heard of Modern History being accelerated greatly at other schools, and it certainly isn't at mine. However, if subjects ARE accelerated (any subject can be accelerated), it does not mean they don't scale as well. They're often accelerated due to the preference of the according department of that school, and it gives students opportunity to sit the HSC in Year 11 rather than Year 12, thus alleviating some pressure for them.
Of course, History Extension can only be taken in Year 12 (provided you're not accelerated) and yes, in short, it does help with scaling. However, it's more difficult and in-depth, so only choose it if you are good/or enjoy History.

Economics - Yes, it can be quite useful in real life, as it will teach you about how the economy works. However, it is less applicable than Commerce, as Economics is a more theoritical approach to the economy and market. It obviously does help you some what if you are doing Commerce or Finance in uni, but more so provides some basics and background information than giving you a giant headstart.

Legal Studies - It does actually help [some what] if you are pursuing a Law degree at uni, but again like Economics, just provides some basic background information. You certainly can do without it at uni if you're doing Law.

Physics - Physics like the other two main Sciences are by far more interesting than Junior Science, however, is debatedly the most difficult of the three Sciences. It's quite mathematically involved, with formulas and such, so I'd advise against it if you don't like heavy maths. It doesn't ACTUALLY overlap with the 4U Mathematics course, but may help you understand the concepts slightly better.

Biology - The workload is different for every person, and Biology is probably the least mathematical of the three Sciences. There's more content for Biology than Chemistry or Physics, but it's mainly just memorising.