ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => Victorian Education Discussion => Topic started by: wedges_ on November 24, 2020, 03:28:01 pm

Title: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: wedges_ on November 24, 2020, 03:28:01 pm
Hi.

I am a year 11 student moving into year 12.

My current subjects are English Language, Maths Methods, Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and Politics.

I had planned to drop Politics and only Politics since the start of the year (as my school requires 6 subjects in year 11 and 5 in year 12), but as the year progressed, I realised that Chemistry isn't really for me (my lack of interest for the subject has resulted in a decline in SAC scores) and I would like to drop it for something else.

Further Maths is one of the subjects I can switch out for Chemistry, and is the only one that looks interesting to me. I enjoy maths to an extent and am mainly taking Methods to satisfy course requirements for university (Bachelor of Science at University of Melbourne).

Is it a good idea to switch out Chemistry for Maths Further for year 12, given my subject spread and my goal course? Will doing this hinder my chances of getting a very high (90+) ATAR with a good study score? My overall academic goal is to study Psychiatry later in University.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: Sine on November 24, 2020, 03:29:41 pm
I don't think a single subject change will really massively change someone's ATAR but If you want to do psychiatry you might need Chemistry as a pre-requisite for Monash Medicine. Unless you wanted to go via the graduate pathway.
Title: Re: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: wedges_ on November 24, 2020, 03:39:10 pm
I don't think a single subject change will really massively change someone's ATAR but If you want to do psychiatry you might need Chemistry as a pre-requisite for Monash Medicine. Unless you wanted to go via the graduate pathway.
The current plan is doing it through the graduate pathway via. Bachelor of Science
Title: Re: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: Sine on November 24, 2020, 04:00:51 pm
The current plan is doing it through the graduate pathway via. Bachelor of Science
The current plan is doing it through the graduate pathway via. Bachelor of Science
Ok cool, you won't need chemistry then.

I think doing chemistry might be more beneficial than further maths in terms of obtaining knowledge before you go to university but since you don't really like it doing it probably isn't something you need to force yourself to do. You can definitely still get a high ATAR without out.
Title: Re: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: wedges_ on November 24, 2020, 04:19:36 pm
Ok cool, you won't need chemistry then.

I think doing chemistry might be more beneficial than further maths in terms of obtaining knowledge before you go to university but since you don't really like it doing it probably isn't something you need to force yourself to do. You can definitely still get a high ATAR without out.
Okay, that's great to hear! Thank you for your time.
Title: Re: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: AngelWings on November 24, 2020, 05:19:12 pm
I agree with Sine’s points above. I did almost all your subjects, except switching Biology for Japanese SL and Further instead of Politics.

To be honest, it should be alright for the path you wish to go but at some point or another you might find that you’ll need to brush up on some basics of chemistry (but not the entire VCE syllabus).

Side note: Also remember that Further is competitive up the top end so beware of mistakes which can be costly in terms of SS, and subsequently ATAR.
Title: Re: Doing Maths Further and Maths Methods?
Post by: wedges_ on November 24, 2020, 05:37:36 pm
I agree with Sine’s points above. I did almost all your subjects, except switching Biology for Japanese SL and Further instead of Politics.

To be honest, it should be alright for the path you wish to go but at some point or another you might find that you’ll need to brush up on some basics of chemistry (but not the entire VCE syllabus).

Side note: Also remember that Further is competitive up the top end so beware of mistakes which can be costly in terms of SS, and subsequently ATAR.

That last part is something that didn't come to mind. Thanks for that.