Year 10 into Year 11 Subject Selection Help!! (1 Viewer)

[ashaaaa]

Hi everyone,
I'm new here. I really want to do medicine in university but I'm not sure what subjects to pick. I know I want to do:
Advanced English - 2 units
Mathematics - 2 units
Mathematics Extension 1 - 1 unit
Biology - 2 units
Chemistry - 2 units
Physics - 2 units
TOTAL: 11 units
My school says that I have to have a minimum of 12 units for Year 11 so I don't know what subject to pick to fill up the remainder units. Also, I'm not too keen on doing Physics as it's not my strong suit but I hear that it is a high scaling subject. So my questions are:
1. Are the subjects that I have sufficient to help me get into medicine?
2. What subjects would you suggest I take to fill up the remainder units?
3. Should I or should I not take physics?
As I said, I'm new here so if I'm wrong about something please correct me and help me out. Much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Green Yoda]

you need chem or bio and maths ex1 as an assumed knowledge for med

 

[Green Yoda]

pick you you like..history related..commerce related..or music, art, language

 

[Speed6]

3U Maths
Adv English
+Whatever else you are interested in and that will give you the best shot. Don't worry so much about these things now though, see how you go, shoot me a message if you need confirmation or queries about these things.

 

[enigma_1]

1 Yeah
2 Something easy like IPT or business
3 if you want

 

[ashaaaa]

Okay thank you

 

[ashaaaa]

Thank you so much!!

 

[BLIT2014]

If you went well in junior commerce I'd definitely suggest something like business studies!

 

[RivalryofTroll]

In regards to getting into medicine:
- Your top priority should be ATAR maximisation. Be strategic in your subject selection - i.e. consider scaling but your priority should be choosing subjects that you're ''keen'' to do or subjects that you're more likely to do well in.
- Adding to that, while Biology and to a lesser extent, Chemistry, are helpful when you begin a Medicine degree - they are usually not necessary (i.e. are not pre-requisites for Medicine at MOST universities). Knew someone who didn't take up HSC Biology or Chemistry and ended up doing UNSW Medicine. They had state ranked Economics and did very well in Legal Studies, thus it reinforces that you should choose subjects based on interests and strengths.
- Not keen for Physics? Consider something else.
- In short, you can get into Medicine with basically any subject combination. Play to your strengths and interests.
> You don't need to do Extension 2 Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology to get into Medicine. The person I talked about above did Extension 1 English, 2U Mathematics, Economics, Legal Studies and Physics (which was their worst subject).

In regards to fulfilling the 12 units minimum for Year 11:
- You have a choice between 12 and 13 units basically.
- If you want 12 units, your school may offer a '1 unit' subject such as SOR I or a terminating course (i.e. stops after Year 11) such as photography.
- If you want 13 units, feel free to pick another '2 unit' subject. You may also want to keep Physics to see if you're good at it/like it - you can always drop it after Year 11.

 

[ashaaaa]

Yes I am doing well in junior commerce but I heard business studies is basically a subject where you make dot points and memorise them to do well on the test and as I am planning on doing biology and chemistry which will require a lot of studying, I didn't think I'd be up to memorising things for business studies.

 

[ashaaaa]

Thank you this was very helpful! I'll take everything you said into consideration. Thanks again

 

[Drongoski]

In regards to getting into medicine:
- ary (i.e. are not pre-requisites for Medicine at MOST universities). Knew someone who didn't take up HSC Biology or Chemistry and ended up doing UNSW Medicine. They had state ranked Economics and did very well in Legal Studies, thus it reinforces that you should choose subjects based on interests and strengths.
-
In regards to fulfilling the 12 units minimum for Year 11:
- You have a choice between 12 and 13 units basically.
-

As a matter of curiosity:

- what was his ATAR?

- is he white or non-white?

 

[Flop21]

All 3 sciences?

I don't think you need physics for med. Up to you though, do the subjects you will do well in - the ones you like you are more likely to do well in and get a better ATAR to get into uni.

You might also have to be prepared to have subjects clash.

 

[si2136]

1. Are the subjects that I have sufficient to help me get into medicine? It doesn't matter, there are no prerequisites.
2. What subjects would you suggest I take to fill up the remainder units? You could take a SOR I course or take on 13 units. Anything you like would be good.
3. Should I or should I not take physics? Take something you definitely like. It's not worth the scaling if you fail the subject, my teacher did 2U Maths and received a raw mark of 98.

 

[RivalryofTroll]

As a matter of curiosity:

- what was his ATAR?

- is he white or non-white?

ATAR was 99.30 (from memory). Their UMAT was 99 though.

White (however, I think he might have been 'Eurasian' so to speak).

 

[Drongoski]

ATAR was 99.30 (from memory). Their UMAT was 99 though.

White (however, I think he might have been 'Eurasian' so to speak).

Thanks for the info RivalryofTroll.

Mine must be a very antiquated concept of medical training. In this, a Biology and a Chemistry in the HSC is a prerequisite. Nowadays, I find it hard to understand why this is no longer the case. As far as I'm concerned, I'd prefer my doctors to have a solid background in Bio/Chem; not one who did not study these in their HSC.

But by the way you must be aware of the very serious conflict of interest universities have; e.g. I'd have thought a credit and above in Maths Ext 1 or higher and in Physics should be a prerequisite for pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering or Electrical or Electronic Engineering. Yet the universities no longer have these as prerequisites. Why?? Let me suggest to you that the unis want as many students enrolled as possible (cannot survive financially otherwise) - so cannot have these down as prerequisites; else they'll have to reject many many students they know will eventually fail or struggle in their courses.

My message to those choosing their subjects for Yr 11 & 12. Think carefully what courses you plan to pursue. Don't do what you like, but what you need. If pursuing Engineering, make sure you have Maths Ext 1 at least plus Physics. I don't care what the Unis say or no longer require as prerequisites. If you are pursuing a course that requires you to do one Maths course in Yr 1, make sure you do Maths 2U as a mininmum.

 

[blackbird_14]

Doing all three sciences (or doing any combination of three sciences) can be detrimental as usually the science tests are all around each other (like a few days apart). As someone said up there, prepare to have other options (aka back-ups) if your subjects clash for some reason. (Hint Hint Nudge Nudge, you should do music 2! )