My advice:
You're not even in year 10 - you don't need to completely understand the VCE system yet, you're not really going to be in it for another two years.
But, you should be picking subjects based on what you might want to do after school and based on what you like - if you're only halfway through year 9, nobody expects you to have that figured out yet.
So, try not to pick everything now and say "I'll definitely do this" - leave yourself some wriggle room for when you get to subject selections at the end of year 10.
Euler's got a really good point. Actually, I discussed the bold stuff here:
Re: Realistic goal setting Seriously, your perspective of your own future will change over time.
Anyway, about the basics of VCE:
General Overview: You MUST complete an English, regardless of whether it's: English, EAL (previously ESL) where applicable, English Language or Literature. As a VCE student, you will have to complete all four units of that and pass a minimum of 3.
Most will complete Maths, Psychology, Business Management, etc. and, except for English, the other subjects are really up to your choice.
VCE units are a semester long. It's that long, because in most subjects (actually, basically all), they will fit a LOT of information for you to learn and apply. i.e. It's a full semester's worth of work. Also, what Pi just said is true too.
Generally 1 semester per unit is the rule.
Most people would do something like this:
yr10: year 10 subs + 1 Unit 1/2 subject
yr11: 5 Unit 1/2 subjects + 1 Unit 3/4 subject
yr12: 5 Unit 3/4 subjects
Generally, students will study about 6 subjects in Year 11 (give or take 2) and, depending on how they fare and what they've completed, the number of Year 12 subjects studied as a Year 12 student will vary.
Choosing subjects:Most schools won't even ask you much about VCE subjects until the back end of Year 9. Even then, the teachers will ask you what sort of subjects you want to do as a Unit 1 subject next year in Year 10 (if they think you're up to it). You don't have to even know what you're doing - just know what you like to study and work hard at it. The number offered usually depends on your school. Most do one or two. Three together as a Year 10 student gets a little cumbersome and hard to handle. (Most cases when somebody does 3, the last one is usually a language.)
The rest of your subjects are chosen in Semester 2 of Year 10 for Year 11 as Unit 1 subjects (and whether you want to continue your current Year 11 subject/s.) If you want, you may choose to change subjects and in some rarer occasions, you can drop a subject altogether. NOTE: Most of the time, it is quite difficult to change subjects between Unit 3 and 4, because you will be examined on all of the content at the end of the year.
Factors in choosing subjects:Most students will choose their VCE subjects according to:
- what they like to study. Let's face it... if you hate Art and you believe you can't draw/ paint/ do anything artistic well, then there's not a lot of point in doing it, unless it's necessary, which brings me to my next point.
- the pre-requisite subjects for the course they'd like to do or even considering. Usually, this means something like a study score* of 20, 25, 30 or 35 from English (and slightly higher ones for EAL) and a 25,30 or 35 from a Maths subject.
- what you are being forced into doing. If you're at a religious school, chances are you'll be told you HAVE to do religion. Sometimes, it's even having those strict parents that argue that "You'll never make a living if you're studying Music/ Art." so they force you into doing Accounting or something. Personally, I'd actually rebel in that scenario. Look, only one person knows what will benefit your future and that's you.
*Study Scores: After completing a Unit 3/4 subject, you will receive a number out of 50. It's a ranking against all the other kids doing that subject as part of their VCE. This number is called a study score.
Some other subjects that will count as part of your ATAR:OK, so you may not like some VCE subjects, not a big enough range for you, you can't get it at your school or you just want something a little more practical. Some TAFE and VET courses count as parts of your ATAR (just a ranking system that spits out a number after completing VCE) too. These are typically more "hands on". If you can't get a subject at your school and you still want to study it, try a Distance Education program. These are usually still VCE subjects though, just not so much a regular classroom visit. Some people want to try the university life as well and some courses also count as a smaller percentage (5th/6th subject). These are usually filed as "Extension Programs" and typically tried when a student is in Year 12.
Other informationTo be completely honest with you, now is only a good time to check out what sort of courses you might consider doing, but keep it broad. Something like: "I'd like to go to Melbourne University because it's closest." is much better than "I want to do this course at Melbourne University in a few years' time."
There is more than enough time for you now to be enjoying your early/mid teenage-dom, because VCE isn't that pretty. Seriously. It's a LOT of hard work and determination to put in.
If you want to know more about it, it's better to wait it out and all these terms, lingo, information, etc. will make sense eventually. If you're
that curious, ask a few questions and stuff on here or ask a VCE teacher at school.