Which subject should I change to? (1 Viewer)

[Aurae]

Hi all,

I'm considering switching from Geography to either Economics or English Extension 1 for this year, but I'm not sure which one to switch to, and I can't take both as I have too many units. Ideally, I'd be able to take all 14 units for Year 11, but with heavy extracurricular commitments and timetabling issues I don't think it's reasonable. My current courseload is below, and currently totals 13 units.

• Mathematics Extension 1 (3 units)
• English Advanced (2 units)
• Latin Continuers (2 units)
• Japanese Continuers (2 units)
• Modern History (2 units)
• Geography (2 units)

I believe I'd be capable of doing either Economics or English Extension 1, as my overall performance last year was creditable. As for any potential departmental issues, my school is quite good at both subjects, with a few state rankers in both subjects over the past decade or so, but if I had to make a decision on which department is better I'd say English, with a slim margin.

Perceived pros of studying English Extension 1

• I looked at some sample essays and discussions from past years, and they look very interesting - I was fascinated (and baffled!) by the terms and the philosophical discussion that the writer engaged it.
• I'm reasonably good at English (top 10/200+ in a 20-40th ranked school)
• I get another 3 study periods compared to Economics or Geography.

Perceived cons of studying English Extension 1

• Despite my rank, last year English was my worst performing subject.
• I have heard that it is very time consuming for a 1 unit subject.
• Set texts for this year are poor (but next years' look very interesting!)
• Economics seems like a more 'practical' subject.

Perceived pros of studying Economics

• Practically quite useful. If I ever want to pursue a university degree in economics, this will be quite useful.
• A very interesting subject from the looks of it - I glanced over a friend's copy of the textbook.
• Department is certainly very capable at teaching the syllabus.

Perceived cons of studying Economics

• The HSC papers look like the stuff of nightmares.
• The Economics department, while good, is (in my view) not quite as good as English Department.
• I get less study periods (1, versus 4 for EE1)
• I have no idea whether or not I will be good enough at Economics (for more info, scroll down)

Additionally, if this is relevant, I'm trying to achieve 99.95 or as close to it as possible. I'm not entirely sure if I am capable of scoring 99.95 with EE1 or Economics. This may be a difficult question, but for those who have taken both subjects and achieved state rankings/95+ marks, how difficult was it, how much time and energy did you spend to achieve that mark and was it worth it? Would there be a disadvantage to taking English Extension 1, for instance, because it scales worse compared to Economics at the 99th percentile?

If you've read this far, thank you so much for your time. Are there any other factors I should consider?

 

[Zerodeath]

Sorry I’m a bit late. But I would change to economics. I do both Ext 1 Eng and economics and I can say that I personally enjoy economics a lot more than Ext 1 English.

 

[Pedro123]

You don't want to hear this, but do what you enjoy. Neither of those subjects will do you any good in the HSC if you are torturing yourself to go through them. Since we are 7 weeks into the term, I suggest you find 2 people who do eco and english and see their workloads and materials - do you like what they have learned, or do you not? Based off that, switch.
I personally wouldn't suggest switching to eco, since it is a large workload seeing as you already do 2 languages, but that is an only subject based view. As I said - enjoyment should be your basis.