ATAR Notes: Forum

HSC Stuff => HSC Subjects + Help => Topic started by: frog1944 on April 28, 2017, 04:33:30 pm

Title: Should I drop Economics?
Post by: frog1944 on April 28, 2017, 04:33:30 pm
Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask such a question, but anyway. I'm currently uncertain as to whether or not I should drop economics. I've just received my midcourse results back and this is how I've performed (across my subjects), Physics (90% - 1st), Chemistry (90% - 1st), Mathematics Extension 1 (98% - 1st), Mathematics Extension 2 (93% - 1st), Economics (86% - 2nd), English Advanced (88% - 3rd).

I haven't got any invested interest in economics, other than perhaps a backup. I have simply kept it as I had it during year 11. If I did drop it, I would be planning on investing that time into improving my science results.
Should I drop or keep economics?

Thanks
Title: Re: Should I drop Economics?
Post by: Wales on April 28, 2017, 05:54:43 pm
Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask such a question, but anyway. I'm currently uncertain as to whether or not I should drop economics. I've just received my midcourse results back and this is how I've performed (across my subjects), Physics (90% - 1st), Chemistry (90% - 1st), Mathematics Extension 1 (98% - 1st), Mathematics Extension 2 (93% - 1st), Economics (86% - 2nd), English Advanced (88% - 3rd).

I haven't got any invested interest in economics, other than perhaps a backup. I have simply kept it as I had it during year 11. If I did drop it, I would be planning on investing that time into improving my science results.
Should I drop or keep economics?

Thanks

I mean if you can maintain those results across the 10 units til the end you won't need a backup. Do you plan to do anything related to economics or finance at uni? If so it might be worth a keep. If you also don't particularly enjoy it then you can also consider dropping it over your other subjects I suppose.
Title: Re: Should I drop Economics?
Post by: brenden on April 28, 2017, 06:13:47 pm
I would personally keep it. There's no reason you couldn't end up getting a higher score for Economics than Chem/Phys.
Title: Re: Should I drop Economics?
Post by: frog1944 on April 29, 2017, 09:11:25 am
Ok, thanks for your advice guys  :) . What factors should I take into account when deciding whether or not to drop a subject?
Title: Re: Should I drop Economics?
Post by: sudodds on April 29, 2017, 10:46:27 am
Ok, thanks for your advice guys  :) . What factors should I take into account when deciding whether or not to drop a subject?

Hey! Do you enjoy economics? That is the biggest factor here. If you do not enjoy economics then get the hell out! I wish I did :(

However! If you do enjoy economics then it is a different story :) Economics is a hard course, and I really believe that it requires a level of passion to do well (for most people at least). Though like any subject, there are those lucky few that can do well in any subject with little study, for the majority I'd say economics would be a pretty hefty workload, and not something you can really cram (you can cram theory but eco isn't just theory). Last year my class was constantly badgered about getting relevant stats (i.e. not the stats from your probably 3 year old textbook!) and being on top of the current trends - this requires consistently looking up and reading newspaper articles, reports and financial reviews - something that I personally was just not interested in at all, which is why in comparison to my other subjects my mark for eco was significantly lower (and probably would have been even lower if I hadn't managed to grab a pretty good rank through the assessment tasks).

However, if this is something that you genuinely find interesting, and are willing to put in the necessary effort, then I'd definitely keep eco! As much as scaling isn't really an important factor in comparison to enjoyment (eco was arguably my highest scaling subject but wasn't even counted in my ATAR!), it can't really be denied that doing well in economics can really bump up your final result. Even getting a band 5 in economics can do wonders! For example, last year the girl who got the highest ATAR in my cohort only studied 10 units, so her band 5 in economics counted. Even so, she still pulled a higher ATAR than the 5 students that received an All-Rounders Award. Again, if you absolutely hate economics, then this is irrelevant, but if you do find the subject interesting it is something to keep in mind :)

Judging by your current marks in eco and your other subjects, aptitude wise you are more than capable to do well in the subject - in my opinion its really just gonna come down to how passionate you are :)

Hope this helps!

Susie
Title: Re: Should I drop Economics?
Post by: AnnaBethy on May 07, 2017, 02:23:46 pm
Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask such a question, but anyway. I'm currently uncertain as to whether or not I should drop economics. I've just received my midcourse results back and this is how I've performed (across my subjects), Physics (90% - 1st), Chemistry (90% - 1st), Mathematics Extension 1 (98% - 1st), Mathematics Extension 2 (93% - 1st), Economics (86% - 2nd), English Advanced (88% - 3rd).

I haven't got any invested interest in economics, other than perhaps a backup. I have simply kept it as I had it during year 11. If I did drop it, I would be planning on investing that time into improving my science results.
Should I drop or keep economics?

Thanks

In my personal opinion, I would keep Economics as it scales really well. It will also be helpful as a backup in case as you are doing quite intense sciences.