VCE Subject Selection Help

[lm21074]

Hello,
The subjects I want to do are:
Psychology, English Language, Chemistry(pre-req for uni), Legal Studies, Maths Methods and Biology.
I am thinking of doing two unit 1/2 subjects in Year 10, although I don't know which ones. Any suggestions? 

EDIT: Thank you for your responses. I have decided to switch Legal with HHD as I am more suited to it. 

[Quantum44]

Bio and psych 3/4 are good subjects to accelerate in year 11 by doing the 1/2s in year 10. Then you could do eng lang, legal, methods and chem in year 12.

[K888]

Hi lm21074!
Welcome to the forums

I think Quantum44's suggestion is great. Bio & Psych are certainly great subjects to do early - they can be quite content heavy and so doing them early lets you devote a bit more time to them They are certainly popular subjects to do as 1/2s in Year 10 then 3/4s in Year 11.

I think you should also base your selection off what you think you're good at, and what you think you'll enjoy doing the most
I would perhaps suggest leaving English Language, Chem & Methods to do in Year 12 - personally, I think having that extra bit of maturity from doing them when you're one year older will have an added benefit. That being said though, there are a fair few students who choose to do Methods early - I think though, to make that decision, you'd want to be quite strong in Methods (personally, I couldn't have imagined doing Methods early, I struggled enough with it in Year 12! I think it's definitely a subject where you benefit from being a year older when you do it). Particularly for Chem, a lot of schools actually don't let students do the subject early, because students really need an understanding of the basics of Chem as well as 1&2 under their belts before they tackle it, as well as for a few other reasons.

Legal Studies could be another one to consider doing as a 1/2 in Year 10 then 3/4 in Year 11. I think humanities subjects can be great to do early (I might be a little biased here, having done History as my accelerated subject ), because they have lots of content to memorise/learn, and so doing them early means you can dedicate more time to them. I believe it also allows the subject to become much more enjoyable and less stressful

I'd recommend going and having a chat with your careers advisor at school, some teachers of the subjects you're looking at doing, or your year level coordinator Their help can be invaluable, and they can give you personalised advice because they know you much better than we do.

All the best!

[Aaron]

What uni course are you thinking of doing? It's clear you've had a good think about this already, given you identify that Chemistry is needed.

If it's a science-y degree, I would definitely load up on bio+psych early as recommended above, rather than take on a humanities subject. That's just my thoughts on things anyway Good luck.

[Yertle the Turtle]

Maybe it's just me, but I have always thought that it is a bit silly to do Unit 3,4 subjects in Year 11. You will be competing with students who have had a year more VCE experience than you. On the other hand, one 3,4 in Year 11 will clear up your Year 12.
Looking at the options you have, I think that Chemistry, Methods and English Language are going to be a lot tougher for Year 10 than the other three, so I guess that probably Psych and Legal Studies are a good idea, as the really content-heavy Biology could also be hard to cope with in Year 10/11.
Hope this helps!

[patriciarose]

Maybe it's just me, but I have always thought that it is a bit silly to do Unit 3,4 subjects in Year 11. You will be competing with students who have had a year more VCE experience than you. On the other hand, one 3,4 in Year 11 will clear up your Year 12.

you don't want to be doing six in year twelve though (she says while currently doing that haha). if you want to get the full six to contribute towards your atar, it makes sense to do one in year eleven (: if nothing else, you get the experience of doing a year twelve subject so you know what to expect next year, and if you do a super content heavy subject you get a bit of an advantage over year twelves because you can dedicate more time to it. but people can be successful in vce with or without an early 3/4, so you do you haha. (:

for op, i'd do bio and pysch OR legal, not the latter two together, but it comes down to what you like best, honestly. if your school is cool with you switching after year ten, you could do the two sciences and then if you dislike one, swap it out for legal 3/4 in year eleven because that's not super hard to pick up, so it's not as if you're stuck with the subjects you pick for 1/2. but tbh it's personal preference so nobody can really give you a definite answer (:

[Bri MT]

I'd go with psychology and biology as they tie together quite well, and I think that doing biology aids understanding of chemistry. On the other hand, (I've heard) legal studies  is very time consuming, so getting that out of the way could reduce stress in year 12, as could completing a pre-requisite. I think you should probably ask yourself what your main motivation to do 2 subjects early is, and have that shape your decision.

Good luck!

[clarke54321]

Hey!

I'd definitely suggest that you consider doing Legal Studies early. There's no denying that Legal, like so many other subjects, is time consuming and content heavy. But I think the real advantage of doing Legal early is that you have time to consolidate all of this knowledge. Finding time for quality consolidation is not so easy to do in Year 12. It's more a matter of keeping your head above water.

In terms of consolidation, I mean doing lots of practice questions, extra research and seeking all the feedback that you can from teachers.

Hopefully this helps you out