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HARD VS EASY Subjects (1 Viewer)

Dan_the_man

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Sep 19, 2002
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Well my results can show you the differnece between hard and easy

HSC

4U Maths- 69- E2
Geog- 81- Band 5

But 4U counted to my UAI and Geo didn't even though it was my 2nd best result
 

mp3mojo

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i think scalin is jus soooo dif every yr & there's seriously no point in predictin it then choose ur subjects by it.

but if u can do ext 1 or 2 courses (or can 'just' do them), it's always betta of doin them, esp adv eng. cos remember u can alwayz drop it (but as long as its not affectin ur other courses).

and also SOR 1unit is considered as an EASY course, whereas SOR 2unit is considered as a HARD course.
 

flyin'

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Originally posted by mp3mojo
i think scalin is jus soooo dif every yr & there's seriously no point in predictin it then choose ur subjects by it.

but if u can do ext 1 or 2 courses (or can 'just' do them), it's always betta of doin them, esp adv eng. cos remember u can alwayz drop it (but as long as its not affectin ur other courses).

and also SOR 1unit is considered as an EASY course, whereas SOR 2unit is considered as a HARD course.
scaling is only slightly different (when comparing percentile scaled marks ... not the hsc marks to scaled marks - because hsc marks vary greatly) ...

this is apparent in adv english scaling ... it was very similar to last year when one inspects the percentiles and makes comparison ...
 

Schemin

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So ... basically what you guys are trying to tell us is ...

1. Choose subjects you're good in, because taking a gamble on a highly scaled subject may not pay off.

2. Scaling is different every year, so, refer to point 1.

3. Do well in comparison to everyone else and you will do fine, whether you do a "hard" or "easy" subject.

So basically, this is how it was explained to me -
The HSC is a game. The subjects you do are your cards, your skills, your tricks. If you take a gamble, and pick the right subjects (based on both skills and scaling) then you have better chances of winning in the game. Hell of a way to base what adults would like to convince us is the rest of our lives.
 

flyin'

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Originally posted by Schemin
So ... basically what you guys are trying to tell us is ...

1. Choose subjects you're good in, because taking a gamble on a highly scaled subject may not pay off.

2. Scaling is different every year, so, refer to point 1.

3. Do well in comparison to everyone else and you will do fine, whether you do a "hard" or "easy" subject.

So basically, this is how it was explained to me -
The HSC is a game. The subjects you do are your cards, your skills, your tricks. If you take a gamble, and pick the right subjects (based on both skills and scaling) then you have better chances of winning in the game. Hell of a way to base what adults would like to convince us is the rest of our lives.
i dont really agree with you the first two points ...

however like life, hsc is game ... you can work the system ...
 

Ultimate

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Originally posted by flyin'


i dont really agree with you the first two points ...

however like life, hsc is game ... you can work the system ...
That's true, there's always a way to get around the system,
 

Moon

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listen, the scaling IS very different every year, and one thing it depends on is the quality of the paper set and how people do in it. For example, last year the lowest mark in the state in History extention was 44/50 and in terms of UAI that subject scaled terribly because UAC looked at it as an easy paper, that was marked easy. Similarly, last year's eco paper was fairly straightfoward, stack of people did well and it scaled like crap. However, last year's SDD and Legal Papers (two subjects often looked at as 'soft options') scaled wonderfully because less that 3% got in Band 6. UAC looked at it as a hard paper that was marked very strictly and scaled the marks up in terms of UAI. There is no way you can tell, and it's different every year.

Secondly, DO THE SUBJECTS THAT YOU ARE BEST IN!!!!! My friend and I did no science or maths- together our subjects were 4 english, 3 history, Economcis, Geography, Legal and Religion. Any of those -except eco- could be looked at as soft options. She got 99.9 and I got 99.7.

So don't worry about giving up subjects you hate! I wouldnt have got a mark above band 2 or 3 if I'd been doing maths.

Cheers
 

Lazarus

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Uhh, Moon, most of what you posted is wrong.

Scaling doesn't depend at all on "the quality of the paper set".

Not sure whether you mean 2001 or 2002 by 'last year', but either way, in both years, aligned HSC marks of 40.2 and 31.9 placed students at the 25th percentile, so obviously the 'minimum mark' would have been much lower than that (and such details are never released - nor are raw marks).

In both 2001 and 2002, the overall academic ability of the History Extension candidature was considered to be above average, and so it was actually scaled quite well, not "terribly".

Similarly, Economics was also scaled well in both years, although not quite as well as History Extension.

Legal Studies and SDD weren't "scaled wonderfully" for either year - they had only average scaling in both 2001 and 2002.

The proportion of students achieving aligned HSC marks in band 6 in a particular course has no bearing whatsoever on how that (or any) course is scaled, and will have no effect on the resulting UAIs of the students who took that course.

Whilst theoretically the scaling is liable to change every year, the statistics released which pertain to the 2002 HSC are extremely consistent with those from 2001. Nearly all courses were scaled the same - the ones that differed greatly were LOTE courses with very small candidature sizes.

Having said that - doing the subjects that you are best in is definitely good advice. :)
 

flyin'

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i think the main misunderstanding about scaling is that people think that if the hsc marks 'scale' up, then the scaling is good ... and if the hsc marks 'scale' down then it is not good ...

the best way to see how a subject scales is through looking at the percentiles and making comparisons throughout the years because the board of studies stuffs around with marks, so you really cant tell much from the hsc marks alone ...
 

Ultimate

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Originally posted by flyin'
i think the main misunderstanding about scaling is that people think that if the hsc marks 'scale' up, then the scaling is good ... and if the hsc marks 'scale' down then it is not good ...

the best way to see how a subject scales is through looking at the percentiles and making comparisons throughout the years because the board of studies stuffs around with marks, so you really cant tell much from the hsc marks alone ...
I agree, no one should rewally take notice about the HSC marks
 

dopez

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Score required for certain UAIs

This probly isn't the right thread but anywho..
Does anyone know what total was required to get a UAI of 100, 99, 99.5, 95 etc??
 

Lazarus

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The stats haven't been released yet.

In 2001, you needed a scaled aggregate of 483.2 to get 100.
 
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Originally posted by Dino The Raja
does the actual subjects you have have a lot to do with the UAI....
I seem to be hearing stuff about "Hard" (e.g. physiscs) and "Easy"
(e.g. studies of religion?) subjects and that having more "Hard" subjects lets u have a beter UAI


personally I dont think any subject in the HSC is easy......
if you find subjects easy ,then use your intelligence to your full potential.Do the distinction courses and do physics.And have a look at the scaling section on this site on the home page, you'll find that harder subjects like advanced english with a higher average mark will give you higher scaling.Higher scaling+ outstanding performance in subjects= bloody high uai.

Good Luck


Originally posted by Ultimate


That's true, there's always a way to get around the system,
im not sure about that point, it really is hard to work the candidature in the system- you can tell how well they'll go.How can you work around that?
 
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in a far far away galaxy.... !splat!....hmmm i don
yo pri

the chances of me getting 100 are slimmer than most coz art and 4u eng are risque subjects in that the amount of work done doesnt depend on marks achieved, but I do enjoy art and english as opposed to maths and chem (in truth who REALLY enjoys them).

Pri
i may not be doing as well as u but i do enjoy chem in comparison to maths and english. i mean really its so much easier to study for. you just pluck it straight from the sylabus. duh
 

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