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March 30, 2024, 02:57:27 am

Author Topic: Whats the competition like in these subjects?  (Read 8727 times)  Share 

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spectroscopy

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Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« on: June 16, 2012, 01:11:36 pm »
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i know with subjects like further, you need 100%'s on nearly everything to get a 50, and with spesh you have to study your brains out for days on end to get 45+, and i know that in legal, you need to be studying pretty hard as well to get 50's because theres lots of room for error etc. i was wondering what the competition is like for these subjects

- international studies
- history: renaissance italy
- classical studies
- philosophy

and also a little bit about what the subject consists of, and what you need to know on exams/sacs. Thanks !

Russ

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2012, 01:43:49 pm »
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Renaissance and Classics have very low student numbers, so there's 5 people or so who can get 46+ or something insane like that.
I did Ren and to get 50 you need 80/80 on the exam and then high SAC marks to differentiate who gets it. Ren is a very tough subject to get a 50 in without going to a private school that has expensive texts/resources etc. If you're going to take it, I'd recommend doing some prereading and familiarizing yourself with the time period and the context of the subject.

I did classics but can't remember the competitive aspect. EZ might know

spectroscopy

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2012, 02:28:14 pm »
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does the low student numbers mean more or less competition to get 45's +? i mean if you do these subjects and take them seriously would it be difficult to get such a score or a breeze (in comparison to other subjects)

paulsterio

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2012, 02:38:34 pm »
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i know with subjects like further, you need 100%'s on nearly everything to get a 50, and with spesh you have to study your brains out for days on end to get 45+, and i know that in legal, you need to be studying pretty hard as well to get 50's because theres lots of room for error etc.

Incorrect, if you're studying your brains out for days on end, you're either not studying in a correct manner or you're just not suited to the subject.

i was wondering what the competition is like for these subjects

- international studies
- history: renaissance italy
- classical studies
- philosophy

and also a little bit about what the subject consists of, and what you need to know on exams/sacs. Thanks !

It depends on whether you're suited towards those subjects. If you asked me, I'd say I'd find classics pretty tough cause I don't have much interest in that area, but if you ask EZ, he might say that it's quite decent. There's no "hard" or "easy" subjects, there are just your strengths and weaknesses, choose subjects that you think you're good at and have a good interest in, that's the advice I would give.

Competition is pretty similar for all subjects, there are very few subjects that have insane competition, like further.

I'd say go on the VCAA website and read their documents. The study design is a bit much, but look at the Study Summary

WhoTookMyUsername

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2012, 02:41:31 pm »
+1
i know with subjects like further, you need 100%'s on nearly everything to get a 50, and with spesh you have to study your brains out for days on end to get 45+, and i know that in legal, you need to be studying pretty hard as well to get 50's because theres lots of room for error etc.

Incorrect, if you're studying your brains out for days on end, you're either not studying in a correct manner or you're just not suited to the subject.

Or Dr. G writes your SACs D:

charmanderp

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2012, 02:42:05 pm »
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Unless you're quite self-driven or already knowledgeable about the subject, having a dedicated and passionate teacher is essential for subjects like Classics, Philosophy and Politics.
University of Melbourne - Bachelor of Arts majoring in English, Economics and International Studies (2013 onwards)

charmanderp

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2012, 02:43:05 pm »
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i know with subjects like further, you need 100%'s on nearly everything to get a 50, and with spesh you have to study your brains out for days on end to get 45+, and i know that in legal, you need to be studying pretty hard as well to get 50's because theres lots of room for error etc.

Incorrect, if you're studying your brains out for days on end, you're either not studying in a correct manner or you're just not suited to the subject.

Or Dr. G writes your SACs D:

If you have Dr G as your teacher though you can cope with pretty much anything though. Best maths teacher I've ever had and I only see him for 1.5 hours on Sunday when my brain is already dead.
University of Melbourne - Bachelor of Arts majoring in English, Economics and International Studies (2013 onwards)

WhoTookMyUsername

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2012, 02:46:06 pm »
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Nah i don't, and he only teaches 1 or 2 classes one day a week.
He is amazing though

paulsterio

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2012, 02:46:38 pm »
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Unless you're quite self-driven or already knowledgeable about the subject, having a dedicated and passionate teacher is essential for subjects like Classics, Philosophy and Politics.

Hahah, that can be said about any subject though :P But I guess you're right in that if you weren't directed with chem, there are 8000 other students in the state :P (for example)

Or Dr. G writes your SACs D:

Yeah, but do you see improvement when you're studying that little bit more? Because it's maths, it's not about remembering a shit load of information like I have to do now in Med, it's more about understanding and knowing how to do the problems, so once you know how to do them, doing 1,000,000 more of the same thing isn't going to really help?

KevinooBz

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2012, 02:48:29 pm »
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does the low student numbers mean more or less competition to get 45's +? i mean if you do these subjects and take them seriously would it be difficult to get such a score or a breeze (in comparison to other subjects)
Statistically it should be quite similar in terms of 45+ SS. If there were 1000 students in History it means that there should be around 20 students with a 45+ SS. If Biology had 5000 students there should be around 100 students with a 45+ SS. Every subject has the lots of competition near the top score range. 45+ is a great score which is definitely achievable, you just need to minimise marks lost in exams as there are many other students who are extremely dedicated to their studies. It will never be a breeze to achieve a 45+ because you could do the easiest subject but still underperform in comparison to other students.

WhoTookMyUsername

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2012, 02:49:52 pm »
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yeah lol, i studied for the last 4 days on the holidays (spesh only) (probably 35 hours all up) for the first SAC, i think without the extra study i would have been absolutely destroyed.
Maybe it's a bit different usually (for easier SACs / the exam) but the first few prac sacs i did i couldn't even comprehend with the solutions, took me basically all the time i spent to become reasonably confident heading into the sac

charmanderp

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #11 on: June 16, 2012, 02:50:17 pm »
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Unless you're quite self-driven or already knowledgeable about the subject, having a dedicated and passionate teacher is essential for subjects like Classics, Philosophy and Politics.

Hahah, that can be said about any subject though :P But I guess you're right in that if you weren't directed with chem, there are 8000 other students in the state :P (for example)

Or Dr. G writes your SACs D:

Yeah, but do you see improvement when you're studying that little bit more? Because it's maths, it's not about remembering a shit load of information like I have to do now in Med, it's more about understanding and knowing how to do the problems, so once you know how to do them, doing 1,000,000 more of the same thing isn't going to really help?

Mmm but for subjects like Chemistry it's reasonably easy to amalgamate all of the resources that you need and to gain depth of knowledge on your own, and it's also somewhat dependent on your foundation in the subject from previous years. Not so much with Politics, unless you have a lot of time on your hands and you know where to look.
University of Melbourne - Bachelor of Arts majoring in English, Economics and International Studies (2013 onwards)

paulsterio

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Re: Whats the competition like in these subjects?
« Reply #12 on: June 16, 2012, 08:45:53 pm »
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Mmm but for subjects like Chemistry it's reasonably easy to amalgamate all of the resources that you need and to gain depth of knowledge on your own, and it's also somewhat dependent on your foundation in the subject from previous years. Not so much with Politics, unless you have a lot of time on your hands and you know where to look.

I know what you mean, because I did Software Development, which is pretty much a dud subject in terms of proper resources, but the thing is, if you're interested in the area, you'll go out and find resources on your own, whether they be uni books, internet resources or just things you've accumulated from here and there, but I will admit, I've been interested in IT/Programming for around like 85% of my life thus far, so that's an advantage I guess.