Should I drop down to 10 units? (1 Viewer)

[whoyagoncall]

I'm currently on 12 units and am truly contemplating on whether or not I should drop Ancient History to make it 10 units??
My final prelim rank was 10/68 and I honestly dread Ancient, the topics and content are really boring - I've felt this way since the prelim course. I know the HSC course is different but 6 weeks in and I am still finding it to be so boring. If I were to drop down to 10 units I would be focusing all my time on (in brackets are my final prelim ranks):

Advanced English (20/83)
Studies of Religion 2 (I just picked up SOR 2, my SOR 1 rank was 7/133)
Business Studies (10/67)
Legal Studies (7/89)
Modern History (10/34)

I don't do any maths (dropped that shit as soon as year 12 started) or sciences so I won't be needing to do any daily homework. However my subjects are still heavy in content and I wish to focus on continually updating my notes and going through them daily, write practice responses, work on my creative writing, research and do additional reading for Modern etc. Also, if I were to drop Ancient, then I would be able to spend more time on Modern which I didn't for my prelim course which brought me down a lot AND work on getting good ranks because I started off really bad during my prelim course.

Since the line I picked Ancient on has another Business class which my Legal teacher teaches (whom I prefer VERY much over my current Business teacher - I got a new one for year 12) I would also be able to (well try) to swap to that class. Because right now I feel like we are going no where in my current Business class whereas the other class is far ahead of us.

 

[rumbleroar]

If you feel as though Ancient is a dead weight, drop it. But if you're not doing as great in your other subs, wait it out? :/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gee-dee-enn95]

In a word, no. My school doesn't even let you drop to 10 units, it's really not the wisest decision. It's your 10 best units (including English) that will count towards your ATAR, so in my opinion, it's always good to have at least one "back up" unit, should you bomb out in one of your subjects. Bear in mind that if you keep Ancient, it might not even count to your ATAR...and a rank of 10/68 IS NOT THAT BAD.

Personally, I'd wait a little longer if you're still unsure. Maybe see how you feel at the end of Term 4...if you still can't stand Ancient then by all means drop it. You are only 6 weeks in, it's likely that you haven't even finished the core study yet (which I'm pretty sure is Pompeii and Herculaneum?). Give it a chance, hang in there and make an informed decision at the end of Term 4/beginning of Term 1. You could also wait until your first HSC assessment for Ancient and see how you go. Think of the HSC as a clean slate...just because you ranked 10/68 in prelim, it does not mean that you'll do the same for your HSC. I see no reason why you can't improve!

Whatever you decide, good luck! I'm sure you'll do brilliantly!

 

[gleeek]

Personally, if I were you, I would not drop. I was like you in finding that ancient was incredibly boring and tedious during year 11, even at the outset of year 12!! However, as I started my second topic, I fell in love with it and was so happy that I hadn't dropped it earlier. However, this is merely my experience, and you may be completely different. I just strongly suggest you stick with it until a week or 2 into your next topic and then drop- there won't be a major difference. I also understand about the whole business teacher thing, which I support, yet I still thing you should cling to ancient for a bit longer. Better to wait than to regret! Good luck in your HSC!

 

[whoyagoncall]

So I did decide to drop Ancient History. I was pretty much dead set on dropping it, it was just being on 10 units that worried me but I'm really happy with my decision. It turns out I won't be able to change Business classes so I'm going to have to work on it a lot. I really wanted to drop it because my disinterest in it will cause me to not study as much for it therefore, not perform as well so it probably won't even end up counting anyway. Thanks everyone, I thought about it inside out and I'm pretty keen on working hard with my 5 subjects.

 

[whoyagoncall]

@gleeek I see that you did 10 units as well for your HSC with pretty similar subjects as mine, may I ask how you went? Did you feel pressured and such or were you pretty much confident on perfecting your 5 subjects?

 

[anomalousdecay]

I really wanted to drop it because my disinterest in it will cause me to not study as much for it therefore, not perform as well so it probably won't even end up counting anyway.

This is what happened to me with economics. However, I did not consider economics an ATAR backup much. Instead, I decided to keep it just in case I needed it further in life at one stage, and that some simple stuff is related to my future uni interests.

I guess ancient is one of those subjects which does not have a broad scope of possible careers.
Just make sure that you are always going to stay happy with the decision. Good Luck.

 

[gleeek]

@gleeek I see that you did 10 units as well for your HSC with pretty similar subjects as mine, may I ask how you went? Did you feel pressured and such or were you pretty much confident on perfecting your 5 subjects?

Congrats with your choice! And I was extremely happy with my 10 units- gave me more motivation to perfect them rather than being burdened with 12 units and maths (which I dropped). That being said, I did feel more pressure to do well, but if anything, that only gave me more motivation to work hard If my experience is a testimony, I ended up with all 1st or 2nd ranks, so I personally think that 10 units allows one with more opportunity to excel.

I hope all goes well!

 

[whoyagoncall]

@gleeek this is exactly why I decided to do 10 units. Your success gives me hope! Thank you

 

[titaniumwithin]

If I was you, I would not drop. Ancient history is a bullshitting subject. I'm not saying it in a mean way because it was actually one of my favourite subjects. See how you like your option topics first. The core, I found was interesting but a lot of people hated it so much. You also can't really prepare much for exams apart from familiarising yourself with terms and your notes since the exam is based on source questions and the essay questions you get are alright and doable.

Your rank IS NOT BAD either. I would keep it if I was you. You have a better rank than you do in modern. Seeing your rank, it would honestly be a big mistake to drop it. Yes you might not enjoy the subject, but you're still doing well???? I would keep it if I was you. Some people try hard and still wouldn't be able to get a rank like yours. And the HSC is based on 10 of your best units. I know a lot of people who bombed out in at least one of their HSC externals and if they are sitting on 10 units then they're pretty screwed and better wish aligning does them justice.