History and English Extensions

[Lollzza]

Hey all

I'm about to head into grade twelve ( )  and I have been encouraged to take History Extension. But, I also really want to take 4U English. I've been told this is a bad idea.

I was thinking of taking 13 units just for next term because some of my subjects do not have assessments and that way if I find History Ext was a big mistake and god save me, then i can drop it and return to my standard units. OR I love it and drop IPT because even though I love it to death,
1) I won't rank 1 in it
2) I could study Hamilton in History Ext if i swung it hard enough my way
3) No matter if I got 100 in IPT it wouldn't get me as good a mark

But at the same time I do love it dearly and dropping it straight away and taking up Ext History seems like a big risk? And I'm not taking away my English Extension because it's been my goal since like grade eight to take it up. I know they're essay intensive subjects but writing is my strength, compared to other skills.

Advice from people who have taken, one or the other, or even better, both?? Also to anyone who has ever had 13 units at any time during the HSC. I don't plan to take 13 into my exams though, so don't worry about that aha. I know it's my decision but I'd really like to hear from people who have been in a similar situation.

Thank you all!

[EEEEEEP]

Hey all

I'm about to head into grade twelve ( )  and I have been encouraged to take History Extension. But, I also really want to take 4U English. I've been told this is a bad idea.

I was thinking of taking 13 units just for next term because some of my subjects do not have assessments and that way if I find History Ext was a big mistake and god save me, then i can drop it and return to my standard units. OR I love it and drop IPT because even though I love it to death,
1) I won't rank 1 in it
2) I could study Hamilton in History Ext if i swung it hard enough my way
3) No matter if I got 100 in IPT it wouldn't get me as good a mark

But at the same time I do love it dearly and dropping it straight away and taking up Ext History seems like a big risk? And I'm not taking away my English Extension because it's been my goal since like grade eight to take it up. I know they're essay intensive subjects but writing is my strength, compared to other skills.

Advice from people who have taken, one or the other, or even better, both?? Also to anyone who has ever had 13 units at any time during the HSC. I don't plan to take 13 into my exams though, so don't worry about that aha. I know it's my decision but I'd really like to hear from people who have been in a similar situation.

Thank you all!

Hi!

DOing more than one extension is a lot of work. 4U English has a major work.  History extension has a big History Project. This is why they don't recommend it.

If writing is your strength, I'd say keep Eng Ext and drop history extension.
...
The History Extension Course has a LOT of work that is required.There is insane amounts of research required for your internal project which is >70% (iirc) of your internals. You need to create notes for a lot of topics that are hard to remember.  You need the dedication required to do the coursework, project AND learn the essay structure required for your HSC and your trials(most likely), then you should consider it more carefully.

For Extension english, here is a sample of how long your story needs to be https://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/stds-matl/english-ext-2/english-extension-2-15--major-works-and-reflection-statement-band-34-sample-1.pdf. You even need to do a personal statement and keep up a diary.

Do not do 2 extensions.

[sudodds]

Hey! Got a bit of an alternative view to EEEEEEP!

Though I didn't study two extension subjects, I did study two major work subjects - Drama and History Extension. Now I don't like to get into the whole "which is harder" debate too much, because at the end of the day it is subjective, and for the most part is case by case. But purely in terms of workload, I'd bet that Drama is more full on than EE2, simply because there are TWO major works rather than one (our drama teacher used to complain about how bad it was all the time: "its a three unit subject with only two units worth of credit!! The IP should be extension drama instead! ya da ya da ya da") - the IP and the GP. In fact, for my drama IP I made a short film, something that many people do for EE2!

And I found it manageable. Easy? No. But definitely manageable.

History extension is a big project that is true, but at the end of the day, it is only a 2500 word essay, and if you are consistently chipping away at it, it doesn't even feel like a crazy amount of work, considering you have an entire year to do it (granted you want to make sure that your topic is something your interested in as well, so you don't feel like procrastinating as much!). The class content is tricky, but again, if you stay on top of it, managable. Plus, most of the time its not really stuff you can write notes on anyway, but about forming your own opinions and arguments (I didn't write notes for any of my subjects last year, including History Extension.) - discussion and debate (and doing past papers when you can!) will serve you better in history extension than just writing notes on the readings. I studied 12 units in the HSC - would have been 13, but I dropped maths in year 11.

On another note though, do you think IPT won't get you a good mark because of scaling? Because if so, then I wouldn't take that into account! Drama is notoriously "low scaling" as a subject, however I got a raw mark of 82 and it scaled to 91, counting towards my ATAR when economics, my "highest" scaling subject didn't! Scaling doesn't matter if you do well, and you can definitely do well if you are willing to work hard, and have a passion for the subject!!

[Lumenoria]

I'm wondering the same thing too. I considered English Ext 2, but the principal thinks it's not 'economically practical' for it to run because less than 8 people are interested in it, which is so fucking annoying because I've heard cases in which only 1 people take it and it still runs.

[sudodds]

I'm wondering the same thing too. I considered English Ext 2, but the principal thinks it's not 'economically practical' for it to run because less than 8 people are interested in it, which is so fucking annoying because I've heard cases in which only 1 people take it and it still runs.

Yeah :/ The same thing happened at my school with French. They refused to run a class unless 10 students wanted to study it (despite the fact that Japanese Continuers/Italian Continuers both run with <4 students  ). Have you looked in to distance education? I don't know if they offer it for English Extension, but I know that you can do History Extension through it so maybe?