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What subject should I drop in Yr12? (1 Viewer)

fesi2w3

New Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2024
Messages
6
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2025
I'm thinking of picking up Japanese Extension in Yr12 via distance education, which means I'd only be allowed to do 11 units. I'm thinking of dropping either Biology or Visual Arts, but it's tough TT I'm greedy so I'm aiming for a 99.95 ATAR, which is why I'm fumbling around with this decision so much. I want to do something science-related in the future, so keeping both Biology and Chemistry would be picture-perfect, but...

Right now I'm doing:
- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Chemistry
- Japanese Continuers
- Biology
- Visual Arts

BiologyVisual Arts
- I genuinely, truly, LOVE biology. Absolutely love it.
- My first assessment wasn't spectacular due to time management. I'm hoping my second will be better.
- I really don't like my teacher much, I just don't vibe with her. There's no passion, just grind. Her classes are drab and I lose focus easily. We might have our teachers get shuffled around next year, but who knows if that'll apply to my class? We won't know what teachers we'll get until literally the start of Yr12, which is not something that I can afford to wait and see for since applications are due in the beginning of November.
- I just don't like the people either that much either, so I feel awkward in that class. I only really talk to a couple people in that class, and then there's just a massive boys clique in the back that I DEFINITELY cannot talk to.
- My specific biology class has a very strange arrangement where it's half computer lessons. Honestly not sure how I feel about it, they're very lazy lessons where our teacher assigns us work beforehand and we have to submit it, and a non-science teacher supervises us (not my biology teacher) during the lesson.
- Honestly, my class is such a throw-away class. We straight up didn't have a teacher for 6 weeks of term 2, and so we'd get either random textbook lessons, patchwork biology lessons from science teachers that may have been free, or just free periods to do what we liked.
- Don't get me wrong, I love it so much that I genuinely think I would do great in it if I were to just study it all on my own (except I wouldn't be able to afford that very much, because time-management). School biology has been brought down for me because of my horrendous teacher situations throughout the year, but I think I could definitely learn to love studying it. I'm spectacular at science.
- I really don't want to drop biology for some inexplicable reason, maybe I'm just trauma-bonded to that stupid class. Maybe it's because I'm attached to my status as one of the top science students, so dropping the class feels a bit like an ego hit.
- LOVE visual arts, I'm a massive artist, I do art in my free time and it's my primary hobby.
- I always get full marks on my artworks (which concerns me, because I'm not sure if this means my teacher is just a really gentle marker.)
- I do well on my written assessments too, I always get full marks on my essays, although the short answer portions vary a little! I think I could get it up if I tried (most of the time I nap in the middle of my assessments and get As anyways). I'm just nervous that the HSC assessment will be significantly harder than my internals since I've somehow consistently scored so high (90s-100s).
- Time management is so key in this subject, so having a BOW subject could be an issue if I'm also taking on online classes. Plus, I'm such a flighty and indecisive artist that it's hard to get me hammered into one idea, so I'm worried I'll waste a lot of time jumping between topics.
- I know, I know, I'm falling to the same pitfalls as everyone else. But, scaling... it scales horrendously unless I get a Band 6. Yes, I'm consistently getting an A in Visual Arts, but the fact that it's so consistent worries me. I'm nervous my teachers grade too kindly, and that I'll get decimated in the HSC. Maybe I'm being silly though.

Things might change once I complete my preliminary exams and see the results.

One thing: I could 100% excel in either of those subjects if I put in the work, but it's difficult to convince myself to study for biology when my classes are so draining emotionally. I could learn to love the subject more if I tried, but I feel so stiff and uncomfortable in my class that I honestly would still hate (or at least feel very very very neutral and apathetic about) being in biology class.

Lastly, there's always the option of not doing Japanese Extension. But I want to take risks and try something new, and I think I'll regret it if I don't do it. You only live once, you know? I'm first in Japanese Continuers and I almost never receive less than 100% on any of my assessments, and if I do it's only the stray singular mark. I think I could excel in Japanese Extension. I want to excel in Japanese Extension. It's a challenge, but I want to take it on since I'll be getting more serious in my studies in Yr12 (obviously). It's a big change, and a lot of work, but I'm willing to put in the effort. It seems like a lot of fun, and I want to try. And more importantly, I love the subject!

Some thoughts, or encouragement would be appreciated!!!!!! Thank you for reading through this all!
 

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That's all irrelevant. Ask yourself inside which one do you want to choose.
 

Average Boreduser

Rising Renewal
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Jun 28, 2022
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3,017
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I'm thinking of picking up Japanese Extension in Yr12 via distance education, which means I'd only be allowed to do 11 units. I'm thinking of dropping either Biology or Visual Arts, but it's tough TT I'm greedy so I'm aiming for a 99.95 ATAR, which is why I'm fumbling around with this decision so much. I want to do something science-related in the future, so keeping both Biology and Chemistry would be picture-perfect, but...

Right now I'm doing:
- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Chemistry
- Japanese Continuers
- Biology
- Visual Arts

BiologyVisual Arts
- I genuinely, truly, LOVE biology. Absolutely love it.
- My first assessment wasn't spectacular due to time management. I'm hoping my second will be better.
- I really don't like my teacher much, I just don't vibe with her. There's no passion, just grind. Her classes are drab and I lose focus easily. We might have our teachers get shuffled around next year, but who knows if that'll apply to my class? We won't know what teachers we'll get until literally the start of Yr12, which is not something that I can afford to wait and see for since applications are due in the beginning of November.
- I just don't like the people either that much either, so I feel awkward in that class. I only really talk to a couple people in that class, and then there's just a massive boys clique in the back that I DEFINITELY cannot talk to.
- My specific biology class has a very strange arrangement where it's half computer lessons. Honestly not sure how I feel about it, they're very lazy lessons where our teacher assigns us work beforehand and we have to submit it, and a non-science teacher supervises us (not my biology teacher) during the lesson.
- Honestly, my class is such a throw-away class. We straight up didn't have a teacher for 6 weeks of term 2, and so we'd get either random textbook lessons, patchwork biology lessons from science teachers that may have been free, or just free periods to do what we liked.
- Don't get me wrong, I love it so much that I genuinely think I would do great in it if I were to just study it all on my own (except I wouldn't be able to afford that very much, because time-management). School biology has been brought down for me because of my horrendous teacher situations throughout the year, but I think I could definitely learn to love studying it. I'm spectacular at science.
- I really don't want to drop biology for some inexplicable reason, maybe I'm just trauma-bonded to that stupid class. Maybe it's because I'm attached to my status as one of the top science students, so dropping the class feels a bit like an ego hit.
- LOVE visual arts, I'm a massive artist, I do art in my free time and it's my primary hobby.
- I always get full marks on my artworks (which concerns me, because I'm not sure if this means my teacher is just a really gentle marker.)
- I do well on my written assessments too, I always get full marks on my essays, although the short answer portions vary a little! I think I could get it up if I tried (most of the time I nap in the middle of my assessments and get As anyways). I'm just nervous that the HSC assessment will be significantly harder than my internals since I've somehow consistently scored so high (90s-100s).
- Time management is so key in this subject, so having a BOW subject could be an issue if I'm also taking on online classes. Plus, I'm such a flighty and indecisive artist that it's hard to get me hammered into one idea, so I'm worried I'll waste a lot of time jumping between topics.
- I know, I know, I'm falling to the same pitfalls as everyone else. But, scaling... it scales horrendously unless I get a Band 6. Yes, I'm consistently getting an A in Visual Arts, but the fact that it's so consistent worries me. I'm nervous my teachers grade too kindly, and that I'll get decimated in the HSC. Maybe I'm being silly though.

Things might change once I complete my preliminary exams and see the results.

One thing: I could 100% excel in either of those subjects if I put in the work, but it's difficult to convince myself to study for biology when my classes are so draining emotionally. I could learn to love the subject more if I tried, but I feel so stiff and uncomfortable in my class that I honestly would still hate (or at least feel very very very neutral and apathetic about) being in biology class.

Lastly, there's always the option of not doing Japanese Extension. But I want to take risks and try something new, and I think I'll regret it if I don't do it. You only live once, you know? I'm first in Japanese Continuers and I almost never receive less than 100% on any of my assessments, and if I do it's only the stray singular mark. I think I could excel in Japanese Extension. I want to excel in Japanese Extension. It's a challenge, but I want to take it on since I'll be getting more serious in my studies in Yr12 (obviously). It's a big change, and a lot of work, but I'm willing to put in the effort. It seems like a lot of fun, and I want to try. And more importantly, I love the subject!

Some thoughts, or encouragement would be appreciated!!!!!! Thank you for reading through this all!
for a 99.95 you want to think about scaling. Go with bio.
 

Bastani

Active Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2024
Messages
274
Gender
Female
HSC
1998
I'm thinking of picking up Japanese Extension in Yr12 via distance education, which means I'd only be allowed to do 11 units. I'm thinking of dropping either Biology or Visual Arts, but it's tough TT I'm greedy so I'm aiming for a 99.95 ATAR, which is why I'm fumbling around with this decision so much. I want to do something science-related in the future, so keeping both Biology and Chemistry would be picture-perfect, but...

Right now I'm doing:
- English Advanced
- Maths Advanced
- Chemistry
- Japanese Continuers
- Biology
- Visual Arts

BiologyVisual Arts
- I genuinely, truly, LOVE biology. Absolutely love it.
- My first assessment wasn't spectacular due to time management. I'm hoping my second will be better.
- I really don't like my teacher much, I just don't vibe with her. There's no passion, just grind. Her classes are drab and I lose focus easily. We might have our teachers get shuffled around next year, but who knows if that'll apply to my class? We won't know what teachers we'll get until literally the start of Yr12, which is not something that I can afford to wait and see for since applications are due in the beginning of November.
- I just don't like the people either that much either, so I feel awkward in that class. I only really talk to a couple people in that class, and then there's just a massive boys clique in the back that I DEFINITELY cannot talk to.
- My specific biology class has a very strange arrangement where it's half computer lessons. Honestly not sure how I feel about it, they're very lazy lessons where our teacher assigns us work beforehand and we have to submit it, and a non-science teacher supervises us (not my biology teacher) during the lesson.
- Honestly, my class is such a throw-away class. We straight up didn't have a teacher for 6 weeks of term 2, and so we'd get either random textbook lessons, patchwork biology lessons from science teachers that may have been free, or just free periods to do what we liked.
- Don't get me wrong, I love it so much that I genuinely think I would do great in it if I were to just study it all on my own (except I wouldn't be able to afford that very much, because time-management). School biology has been brought down for me because of my horrendous teacher situations throughout the year, but I think I could definitely learn to love studying it. I'm spectacular at science.
- I really don't want to drop biology for some inexplicable reason, maybe I'm just trauma-bonded to that stupid class. Maybe it's because I'm attached to my status as one of the top science students, so dropping the class feels a bit like an ego hit.
- LOVE visual arts, I'm a massive artist, I do art in my free time and it's my primary hobby.
- I always get full marks on my artworks (which concerns me, because I'm not sure if this means my teacher is just a really gentle marker.)
- I do well on my written assessments too, I always get full marks on my essays, although the short answer portions vary a little! I think I could get it up if I tried (most of the time I nap in the middle of my assessments and get As anyways). I'm just nervous that the HSC assessment will be significantly harder than my internals since I've somehow consistently scored so high (90s-100s).
- Time management is so key in this subject, so having a BOW subject could be an issue if I'm also taking on online classes. Plus, I'm such a flighty and indecisive artist that it's hard to get me hammered into one idea, so I'm worried I'll waste a lot of time jumping between topics.
- I know, I know, I'm falling to the same pitfalls as everyone else. But, scaling... it scales horrendously unless I get a Band 6. Yes, I'm consistently getting an A in Visual Arts, but the fact that it's so consistent worries me. I'm nervous my teachers grade too kindly, and that I'll get decimated in the HSC. Maybe I'm being silly though.

Things might change once I complete my preliminary exams and see the results.

One thing: I could 100% excel in either of those subjects if I put in the work, but it's difficult to convince myself to study for biology when my classes are so draining emotionally. I could learn to love the subject more if I tried, but I feel so stiff and uncomfortable in my class that I honestly would still hate (or at least feel very very very neutral and apathetic about) being in biology class.

Lastly, there's always the option of not doing Japanese Extension. But I want to take risks and try something new, and I think I'll regret it if I don't do it. You only live once, you know? I'm first in Japanese Continuers and I almost never receive less than 100% on any of my assessments, and if I do it's only the stray singular mark. I think I could excel in Japanese Extension. I want to excel in Japanese Extension. It's a challenge, but I want to take it on since I'll be getting more serious in my studies in Yr12 (obviously). It's a big change, and a lot of work, but I'm willing to put in the effort. It seems like a lot of fun, and I want to try. And more importantly, I love the subject!

Some thoughts, or encouragement would be appreciated!!!!!! Thank you for reading through this all!
bro i am not reading allat
 

iloveeggs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2023
Messages
340
Gender
Female
HSC
2025
i put your courses through the uac atar compass and did a little experiment bc i was curious. it might help you understand how scaling differs between the courses.

i put all courses as a borderline band 6 in the first column bc you need straight b6s for a 99.95 anyways. in reality you'll obv need more than just a borderline band 6 in most subjects.

in the second column i gave you a 100 in the courses you kept so you can see how keeping those subjects and doing as well as you possibly can will contribute to your atar. i kept jap ext as a borderline band 6 for both columns.

getting borderline band 6 in all of your courses (90/100 or 45/50)getting borderline band 6 in all courses except you get full marks on the subjects you keep
take jap ext + keep bio + drop va95.8097.55
take jap ext + keep va + drop bio94.8597.35
keep bio and va + don't take jap ext95.7097.40

i think you should keep bio and jap ext. you can see how when you take va either way your estimated atar reduces bc va just scales down unless you get very high marks as you can see. its a very minute difference but its best not to be too wishful bc if you put the same effort into bio and do well it will contribute more towards your atar.

also in regards to your concerns about your bio class, everyone has one or two bad teachers at least and bad class settings and i suggest to just study on your own ngl. you just have to suck it up unfortunately. also since it sounds like the teacher lets you muck around anyways just put that time towards study. also you are dropping to 11 units which means your workload won't be that bad.

ultimately do whatever subject you want to do and whichever one you enjoy. its good that youre aiming high but i think unless you want to do undergraduate med you don't particularly need a 99.95, so don't focus too hard on that particular number. you will be fine just take it easy
 
Last edited:

fesi2w3

New Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2024
Messages
6
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2025
i put your courses through the uac atar compass and did a little experiment bc i was curious. it might help you understand how scaling differs between the courses.

i put all courses as a borderline band 6 in the first column bc you need straight b6s for a 99.95 anyways. in reality you'll obv need more than just a borderline band 6 in most subjects.

in the second column i gave you a 100 in the courses you kept so you can see how keeping those subjects and doing as well as you possibly can will contribute to your atar. i kept jap ext as a borderline band 6 for both columns.

getting borderline band 6 in all of your courses (90/100 or 45/50)getting borderline band 6 in all courses except you get full marks on the subjects you keep
take jap ext + keep bio + drop va95.8097.55
take jap ext + keep va + drop bio94.8597.35
keep bio and va + don't take jap ext95.7097.40

i think you should keep bio and jap ext. you can see how when you take va either way your estimated atar reduces bc va just scales down unless you get very high marks as you can see. its a very minute difference but its best not to be too wishful bc if you put the same effort into bio and do well it will contribute more towards your atar.

also in regards to your concerns about your bio class, everyone has one or two bad teachers at least and bad class settings and i suggest to just study on your own ngl. you just have to suck it up unfortunately. also since it sounds like the teacher lets you muck around anyways just put that time towards study. also you are dropping to 11 units which means your workload won't be that bad.

ultimately do whatever subject you want to do and whichever one you enjoy. its good that youre aiming high but i think unless you want to do undergraduate med you don't particularly need a 99.95, so don't focus too hard on that particular number. you will be fine just take it easy
Thanks for the insight!! I appreciate it! You’re probably right, I got extremely lucky with my other classes, so biology class was a let down, but I guess we can’t have everything TT Unfortunately due to my brain wiring mishaps, class environment/teacher can be the difference between me excelling or me barely scoring an A in that subject no matter how hard I try (the former being me with visual arts, and the latter being me with biology) so there’s a bit more at stake, although I want to believe I can persevere in biology regardless TT I guess we’ll have to see how prelims go
Thanks again!
 

Bastani

Active Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2024
Messages
274
Gender
Female
HSC
1998
Thanks for the insight!! I appreciate it! You’re probably right, I got extremely lucky with my other classes, so biology class was a let down, but I guess we can’t have everything TT Unfortunately due to my brain wiring mishaps, class environment/teacher can be the difference between me excelling or me barely scoring an A in that subject no matter how hard I try (the former being me with visual arts, and the latter being me with biology) so there’s a bit more at stake, although I want to believe I can persevere in biology regardless TT I guess we’ll have to see how prelims go
Thanks again!
 

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