advice on choosing HSC subjects (1 Viewer)

[TheKey]

Hi guys,

Ive already done my HSC years ago (2003) but much has changed since then and this is really for my sister going to yr11 now.

Much like her brother she sux at maths and anything related to it, ie physcis, chem...

So what do you guys think, i know in my days if you chose stuff like gen maths, standard english, or that IT course at TAFE you already had things going against you due to scaling and things.

I dont know how much this has changed since then and I can no longer find that article that had this subject list ranked. It was a list with each subject on left and a number on the right. If the number was 50, it shows that subjects had no scaling...if >50 scales up if <50 that subject scales you down...

I think her current choice is english adv, english ext1, drama, society & culture, economics and i forget the last one...

Can someone comment on whether these are sufficient to getting a normal UAi (ie 80s). She is not one of those that actually study, someone that is just average in all her subjects and doesnt want more..hence why subject choice is so crucial as with crappy scaling subjects the average person gets screwed..at least in my days they did.

Thanks in advance

 

[pLuvia]

Any subject combination can achieve any UAI. But since she is in year 11 right now, not much can be determined on how well she can do.

http://www.boredofstudies.org/scaledmeans.php

This may give an indication on how well each subject scales.

 

[the.chosen.one]

i havn't done the HSC yet, but i'm in yr 11 this year, and i have a brother who did it a couple of years back....2003 isn't that old. i don't think the syllabus or anything has been changed since then.

firstly : http://boredofstudies.org/scaledmeans.php <-- you can get a list of subjects and how they've been scaled for the past couple of years (haha! ironically the last year they show is 2003 and u no doubt want a newer version than that....ah well...). it should give you a general idea of what the subject's will be scaled like now, though.


also, i dn't think ...when i was doing subject selection, the first and foremost thing is not to depend on the scaling. i'm not sure about what things were like in your time but i know many peopl who took high scaled subjects, but got very low marks since the sole reason they opted for that sub. was becoz of the scaling.

granted...if ur stuck between 2 subjects and both are equal to u in interest and ability, and one is scaled higher, you may opt to go with that one.

i'd say a UAI in the 80's is fairly good - but i don't think you can assure that kind of UAI simply by looking at the scaling.

some ppl don't study, but as long as they try their best in h/w assesments etc, then they do ok. but ultimately, thats what it comes down to....some ppl do incredibly well with low scaled sbjects too.


but seeing as i'm only in yr11 as well and not experienced with the HSC, perhaps u'd prefer an experienced opinion.....

but that was mine

 

[the.chosen.one]

oh...didn't see ur post pLuvia.


jee u said everythin i said in just one line.


i really need to work on cutting down and being consise :S

 

[TheKey]

Thanks guys thats the site i was trying to find.

Any subject combination can achieve any UAI.

Sure i know its possible but its not likely. If a person is happy with being an average student in a non top-100 school, that person is unlikely to even achieve a UAI in 80s . (In my school i was like 10th/120 with a UAI of 89).

In my experience its always harder to be at the top of an "easy, crappy scaling" subject (ie IPT) than it is to be average in a "hard, well scaled" subject (adv english, ext1 eng).

Anyways, thanks again for the help.

 

[insert-username]

Sure i know its possible but its not likely. If a person is happy with being an average student in a non top-100 school, that person is unlikely to even achieve a UAI in 80s . (In my school i was like 10th/120 with a UAI of 89).

In my experience its always harder to be at the top of an "easy, crappy scaling" subject (ie IPT) than it is to be average in a "hard, well scaled" subject (adv english, ext1 eng).

Anyways, thanks again for the help.

A 95 in IT is far better than an 75 in Ext. English. It's as simple as that - any subjects can get you a high UAI as long as you do well in them. Doing Maths Ext. 2 and ending up with 42 is much, much, much worse than doing General Maths and getting 95. And for your sister, if she sucks at Maths, don't even bother doing it. It will drag your results down. Same general principal applies with any subject: if you suck at it, don't bother. Forget about scaling. If you go crap in a subject, scaling will not magically change the crap into gold. Stick to your strengths.

Also, keep in mind that a UAI of 80 means you have beaten around 80% of the state, give or take. That's relatively hard to achieve and it will not happen if you don't work and are content not to work. There are plenty of people who are competitively pushing to do as well as they can: that is the competition in the HSC. Some people are freakish and do well without studying as much as they should, but as a whole: do the work, reap the rewards.

My advice: if your sister is content not to actually study seriously, then she should be content with the result she's likely to get. It's unfortunate, but when you compete against the entire state, you have to put the work in or others will beat you.


I_F

 

[TheKey]

A 95 in IT is far better than an 75 in Ext. English. It's as simple as that - any subjects can get you a high UAI as long as you do well in them. Doing Maths Ext. 2 and ending up with 42 is much, much, much worse than doing General Maths and getting 95.
I_F

I agree.

But thats not what im talking about. Obviously a freak in a low scaling subject will be better than a loser in a high scaling one. I was talking about the likelihood of attaining certain results for a studnet content with being average in ones class.

Only look at average students, and then getting 75-85 in moderate and high scaling subjects becomes more likely than attempting miracles in low scaling subjects.

My sister is average in all her subjects except maths. But im afraid being average in the subjects she had chosen, along with her school (150something-th) will make it impossible to get a UAI >80.

Btw that last subject i couldnt remember what she took was something at TAFE which doesnt seem to count for UAI (1 year course), so i think il suggest she takes 1 of the science subjects instead of that. That way 5 units will have moderate-high scaling, better than just 3.

 

[kristy_lee26]

I think that i may be able to give the best advice you guys have ever recieved.

Ok i finished by Hsc in 2005.

The story starts like all of yours, i wanted a high Uai but wanted to do subjects i enjoyed. I searched all the internet sites, i asked all the teachers n i even asked people on this forum... most of the time i was told to just do the subjects i enjoyed that way i had more chance of doing well in the subjects cos i enjoyed them.

So, i did all the social science subjects...all the ones that "ranked low"...but the whole time i was skeptical about how my subjects would rank.

Anyway, the 2 years went by and i was really enjoying the subjects and what i was learning...therefore i wanted to study. The overall result 93 in Aboriginal Studies, 3rd in the State, and 95 in Community and Family Studies.

However i was still worried that my Uai would not be very good, but it was alot better than it should have been... i came 4th in my school, and only a few marks different to the top mark.

The 4 people that beat me and all the "smart" people i beat at my school, spent 2 boring years workin their butts off doing 3 unit maths and biology...and crap, only to end up with basically the same result as me!

The other funny thing is the school had ranked me as like 10th, and the teacher that had done it had a "smart" son. But i beat him and ended up being ranked 4th.

So basically my "best" advice is to do what you want to do, because it doesn't matter if the subjects don't rank well cos if ur enjoying them, ur bound to be working harder and getting better marks, therefore they can't bring your marks down..no matter how they scale.

My tecaher had told me that if you get a band 6 in any subject they can't bring that mark down.

 

[lala2]

Yep, go with your strengths. Also look at the quality of staff at your little sis' school, but don't let that be a prime motivation. If your sister enjoys the subject, she will do average, if not better, in it because she enjoys it (since she doesn't seem to be the type to actually sit down and study). I did Music 2, and though I didn't put in any effort besides practising, I enjoyed it and ended up with 85.

 

[Rax]

Kristy_lee26 what did your UAI end up being?

 

[Rax]

Kristy_lee26 what did your UAI end up being?