Question about subjects that scale up or down

[mariec]

Hi guys, I'm doing VCE over two years and just finished my first year. Having trouble picking my subjects for next year, I need another 3.
I've been trying to avoid subjects that scale down so I can get my desired aTAR to do Psych at uni.
So far I've done English Language, International Studies, and Psychology.

I am deliberating Biology, Religion & Society, and no idea what else??
1. Does Biology scale down a significant amount?
2. Does R&S go up or down?
3. Keeping in mind that I am mathematically retarded, what other subjects would you recommend?

Thanks x

[thushan]

Ignore the scaling. Really. Subjects only get scaled down because it is easier to do well in them, so like if you get a 42 in Psych it is really only worth a 40, so it gets scaled down accordingly. Subjects that scale up do so coz it's hard to do well in them, so the adjustment just makes it fair.

1. Biology actually scales up by like 0-1.
2. Religion and Society also scales up, by like 0-1.
3. Choose what you will do well in, let the scaling take care of itself.

[99.99]

1. Bio scales up by one.
2. R+S also scales up by one.
3. I suggest you find out which subjects you enjoy. Scaling is a giant misconception, it doesn't help you, it adjusts your score to reflect your achievement. So for example, if you took a subject with duds studying it, you would score very highly and it would be adjusted down by a bit. If you did a subject with Thushans studying it, you would score poorly (most likely) with the same effort and thus you would be adjusted up.


Ultimately, the more you work the higher ATAR and if you choose subjects you enjoy this will make you work harder, I promise.

[pi]

Bio scales up by 1, not sure about R&S. I would give further a go, even if you're not into maths, I think doing SOME sort of maths opens up job opportunities and may even help if you ever have to do any stats in uni. Other than that, I'd recommend giving a history/geo a go.

Good luck!

[kensan]

Scaling report 2010: http://www.vtac.edu.au/pdf/scaling_report.pdf
But you should do subjects you enjoy or are interested in, because you will perform better in those.

[frebbb]

Bio would be incredibly helpful for Psych, as you learn about the brain and nervous systems and such. I am doing both subjects, with the intention of studying Psychology at Uni as well

[JSB]

I also would really, really recommend you ignore scaling completely - hell I still don't know how my subjects scale. I have a friend who chose her subjects based on scaling alone, she didn't do too well in them as they were quite difficult for her and now she is probably looking at low 30's for her study scores, whereas if she had chosen the subjects she herself was interested in, despite how they scaled, I would guess she'd be getting mostly low 40's.

So in the end go with what you enjoy, but hey if you already like the subjects you've listed here and they all scale up then I guess that's a bonus 

[aiming_95]

At the start of this year I chose all my subjects according to scaling, so I was doing Methods, Chem, Physics etc.

Even though I really don't enjoy them, maybe the word hate is more appropriate.
(sorry to the people who love the Asian 5)

I think if I didn't change my mind and finally decide to do the subjects I enjoy (all of them in my sig) I would've given up mid way through next year.

Put it this way you decide to do Methods simply because it scales up, and you end up getting a 30 which I'm assuming will scale up to 36 or 37, but if you did Business Management and thoroughly enjoyed it you could easily get 44 which will scale down to about 42.


That's just a quick example of how disregarding scaling can help you in the long run.

[giveup]

Didn't even know there was a religion and society subject

WHY
DO
THEY
HAVE
THIS
SUBJECT?

Given that religion is so contradictory, it seems that the optimal answer is always the most illogical.
One of the questions on the previous exams pretty much asked what sort of superstition leads a person to hold a faith. 

[WhoTookMyUsername]

Bio would be incredibly helpful for Psych, as you learn about the brain and nervous systems and such. I am doing both subjects, with the intention of studying Psychology at Uni as well

definitely not "incredibly helpful." There is a tiny bit of overlap but nothing that gives a sizeable advantage

[Special At Specialist]

Bio would be incredibly helpful for Psych, as you learn about the brain and nervous systems and such. I am doing both subjects, with the intention of studying Psychology at Uni as well

definitely not "incredibly helpful." There is a tiny bit of overlap but nothing that gives a sizeable advantage

Agreed.
Chemistry helps biology more than psychology helps biology.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

yep i read through Chem book for bio (DNA section + protein)