What subjects do I pick?

[Theo1290]

So I'm in Yr 11 now, and freaking out about subject selection for next year. I've never really known what I want to after school, but I know I want to get into uni and maybe study software or something and get a reasonable paying job with reasonable hours? I don't know all the different branches that lead from IT, but I've learned a bit of html and started learning python. (which I like, programming is pretty interesting to me)

The subjects I picked at the start of this year and my semester 1 average for them were:
1. English: 91%
2. Literature: 90.6%
3. Maths Methods: 53.75%
4. Specialist Maths: 42.5%
5. Chemistry: 66.2%
6. Physics: 69.25%

I'm also doing Greek outside of school as an extra subject, my average was around 70% from what I can remember.

As you can see my maths averages are horrendous, and my chem/physics are average-ish. I picked these subjects partly because a) they synergise b) My performance in English has always been consistent, same can't be said about Maths- which I used to be pretty good at but due to lack of early discipline I started to fall behind when the content got harder and have since struggled to keep up. c) Some pressure from my parents, though I do like the majority of the subjects I've chosen.

Now I have to drop at least one subject from my list, and I'm a bit lost. It's even more complicated by the fact that I need a 70% average in all the subjects listed minus English/Literature (any grade) and Specialist Maths (60% in it, and 80% in methods) to continue them next year. Obviously I don't have the average for my maths subjects, but I am confident that I can get the prerequisite average for at least maths methods this semester. I don't know about specialist maths however, I want to continue it but realistically speaking it's a subject I'm only passing thanks to my cas calculator and the fact the teacher allows us to use any notes, and he gives us revision sheets with worked out answers, and the questions on the assessments are pretty similar to the revision sheet.

I've talked a bit with the careers woman (not sure how to properly describe her role) at my school, she said I'll only need 1 maths course and if my grades are worse in spec than in chemistry then I should drop it. She said I could also drop both spec and chemistry, and pick up unit 3/4 computing at school. Now I have a few friends in computing and they say it's a lot of data management, which I'm not sure I'm too thrilled about, however I did mention this to her and she said it's nonetheless a very good subject to graduate with if I want to get into any I.T branch of work. She also told me to check out the VTAC course search.

I told a few classmates I may drop chemistry, they all started telling me don't do it, it's a prerequisite subject for many courses etc. I'm not sure if I should follow their advice or not, as I have heard it from my dad as well, however chemistry is hard- I'm not sure if I'll get the average required to continue next year, and I don't particularly enjoy it.

I'm also pretty scared as using the vtac course search didn't turn up many results for "programming" or "software". Most have the word "game" in their title and from the academy of interactive entertainment. I don't really know how different universities work, but I'm worried if I pick one of these options I'll fall into the "useless arts degree" stereotype situation, with my parents forever disappointed I didn't just become an engineer or doctor. I also don't know how vet or he-grad or other qualification levels work, or what a degree or diploma or certificate entails. Or what majors is. And I don't know if I want to get into animation, I'm not particularly creative and have always sucked at art.

Any answers I would greatly appreciate.

[sdfg]

- Chem is a course pre-req but it isn't a common one like methods. Courses that need it are very niche - things like biomed, med, chemical engineering etc - so I would drop it if you're not enjoying it, don't have any interest in that <-- kind of stuff, and would rather be doing something else.
- Check out the VCAA exams and study design for computing if want more of a gist of what the subject entails.
- 'Major' is essentially what you specialise in within your degree. For instance, you might be doing a Bachelor of Science degree which is really broad, but you might specialise and mostly do subjects in (in other words "major in") Biochemistry or Data Science.
- I think what you're looking for is a software engineering or computer science degree. Universities you could check out for that include: Swinburne, RMIT, University of Melbourne, Monash. Those are the most reputable ones from the top of my head but if you want more info about them or a better gauge of which one best suits you, some open days are coming up soon and they're an excellent opportunity to get information directly from the uni themselves. All being that said though, I honestly wouldn't worry too much about course selections now. You have more than 1 year to think about it and a lot can change from now to then so no need to stress about locking down a decision right now.

[AngelWings]

As you can see my maths averages are horrendous, and my chem/physics are average-ish. I picked these subjects partly because a) they synergise b) My performance in English has always been consistent, same can't be said about Maths- which I used to be pretty good at but due to lack of early discipline I started to fall behind when the content got harder and have since struggled to keep up. c) Some pressure from my parents, though I do like the majority of the subjects I've chosen.

IT courses often require a minimum of Methods, so clearly that's something you'll need to keep. English too. You probably heard this from the 'careers woman'.

I told a few classmates I may drop chemistry, they all started telling me don't do it, it's a prerequisite subject for many courses etc. I'm not sure if I should follow their advice or not, as I have heard it from my dad as well, however chemistry is hard- I'm not sure if I'll get the average required to continue next year, and I don't particularly enjoy it.

Do a subject based on three facts: prerequisites, if you enjoy it and if you are good at it. 
Final choice is yours to make alone; you're the one who'll ultimately decide your own future. If you're 90% sure you don't want any of the areas listed above, then it's okay to drop chemistry. 

I'm also pretty scared as using the vtac course search didn't turn up many results for "programming" or "software".
-snip-
 I don't really know how different universities work

It's ok. AN's got your back. Check out this board, this board and this thread to understand how VTAC and uni works. For VTAC course search, try searching for more general terms, like "Information technology" and "computer science", even though it may not be specifically what you're after, checking under "majors"/ "major studies" of these should return more results that should satisfy you. While Course Search is pretty great, there is often more courses than listed, so it's beneficial to check out individual institutions for their courses and requirements too. It does mean a half hour of researching, but what's half an hour when this is going to save you years in the future?  Also, I recently put out a list of Open Days. Some of these have already passed, but you still have plenty of opportunities to contact your institute of choice and/or go to other events. As Sdfg said, best to have general areas in mind for now and you'll have a year to figure out the specifics, like which course/ uni/ etc. and the order of preference later on. Please feel free to ask more questions if you have any.

[avery_02]

I'm choosing my subjects for year 11 soon, but I am struggling to know what's the best decision. The five I know I want to do are units 1/2 of english, religion and society (have to do re at my school), chemistry, biology and maths methods. I know it would be good to do a 3/4 in year 11 but I'm am worried that I am going to miss content without doing 1/2 and my school doesn't offer many options. Now I'm deciding between either Italian 1/2, Specialist Maths 1/2 or Further 3/4 (I quite enjoy maths). Which would be a better option?

[Elsa//768]

Hi,
Ultimately, there are only three things that matter when selecting subjects--- prerequisite (must check), your passion and what you are good at. If you enjoy Specialist, then maybe keep it, but do not do it simply for the sake of scaling or meeting the pressure from your family. After all, you are the one who's going to learn it for two years 
Me personally, I chose Specialist thinking that it would help me because of its scaling... But as it turned out, I was neither good at it nor passionate about it. Further, it was preventing me from focusing on my 3/4 subjects (History and Bio). I changed to Legal Studies and it's great.
I'm sorry I cannot precisely tell you what to choose but I hope this helps 

[AngelWings]

I'm choosing my subjects for year 11 soon, but I am struggling to know what's the best decision. The five I know I want to do are units 1/2 of english, religion and society (have to do re at my school), chemistry, biology and maths methods. I know it would be good to do a 3/4 in year 11 but I'm am worried that I am going to miss content without doing 1/2 and my school doesn't offer many options. Now I'm deciding between either Italian 1/2, Specialist Maths 1/2 or Further 3/4 (I quite enjoy maths). Which would be a better option?

As said by Elsa//768, you need to consider those three points, which I also stated in my previous post on this thread. From another post you typed, I see you're aiming for Med.
Going to run down the checklist:
1. Pre-req.s: Only undergrad med course in Victoria is at Monash. You must get certain scores for the UMAT (uh, 50/50/50 rule IIRC and another numerical score overall that vary every year), a high ATAR with a minimum 30 raw SS in English (or equivalent, excludes EAL, which needs 35) and a 30 in Chem. These you would've ticked off in your current plans, so I'll skip this.
2. Subject you like better: You'll know better than anyone about your interests. I'd recommend checking out the study designs for these subjects to help decide.
3. Subject you do better in: Pretty self explanatory. One caveat I didn't mention is that this is last for a reason - Reason #3 should never outweigh your enjoyment. (Only exception there is if you need it for your course, because we can't bypass those pre-req.s without taking a scenic route.) Again, see the study designs to figure out which you'd fare well in, but keep in mind if you enjoy one and think you'll do better in the other, take the former option. Reason being that you're going to be doing these subjects for 8 months minimum. VCE is a marathon, not a sprint, so you'll be defeated if you take the one you'll do better in purely for that reason. (Also, never choose for scaling or familial pressure, as mentioned above. You'll fail for the same reasons.) If you enjoy it, it'll be less of a hassle and, 9 out of 10 times, results in either you needing it or continuing it at higher levels/ as a hobby. If not, then you usually have a deeper appreciation of said subject.

Hope this helps!