Bio and Revs (or Psych) in Year 11?

[quinn_03]

I'm definitely doing 3/4 Bio early in Year 11, but I really want to do 2 3/4s early. For the 2nd subject, I'm thinking of doing Revs or Psych. I'm not too interested in the content for Psych, but I wouldn't mind it - I'd be fine with taking Psych.
I think I would enjoy Revs more because it's more English-based and I do have an interest in history. But I've heard that it's really really difficult and heavy-content and I'm just scared that doing both Bio and Revs early would be too much of a workload (considering I want to get a 42-45 for each) and it'd also be difficult to balance my 1/2s as well?
Would be great to hear your opinion! And peeps who have done revs - can you confirm the workload?

[K888]

I'm definitely doing 3/4 Bio early in Year 11, but I really want to do 2 3/4s early. For the 2nd subject, I'm thinking of doing Revs or Psych. I'm not too interested in the content for Psych, but I wouldn't mind it - I'd be fine with taking Psych.
I think I would enjoy Revs more because it's more English-based and I do have an interest in history. But I've heard that it's really really difficult and heavy-content and I'm just scared that doing both Bio and Revs early would be too much of a workload (considering I want to get a 42-45 for each) and it'd also be difficult to balance my 1/2s as well?
Would be great to hear your opinion! And peeps who have done revs - can you confirm the workload?

Bruh, obviously a bit biased here, but Revs is amazing. Easily my favourite subject that I did in VCE by far. Do you know which revolutions your school studies for the subject?

Doing 3/4 Revs in year 11 sets yourself up for success. It's content heavy, sure, but so is everything else in its own way. Plus, it's super interesting, and you know, I think it's really cool because you learn some critical analysis skills when you do Revs - learning to interpret sources, bias, etc. is pretty interesting! And it's an important skill to have - not just accepting everything that someone says to you.
But yeah, back on the workload - I think it's manageable, particularly if you do the subject in year 11. It lets you dedicate more time to the subject, you can do more practice pieces, and I think it gives you more of an opportunity to be interested in the subject and learn things because you find them interesting. It's a subject that rewards the time and effort you put in. So if you make the effort to know your revolutions, and show it - you're gonna ace it. Another thing to consider is that you're learning this over the course of a year - so yeah, from the outside, it seems like heaps of stuff to know, but you're learning it gradually, and if you look at it that way, it's not too bad.

The key thing with the subject is learning how to respond to the questions - it's not enough to just spew out dates and events - you have to talk about their significance, which is pretty cool, and if you learn how to do this, it separates you from everyone else and will boost your marks. In terms of the class - class sizes for Revs tend to be smaller and more tight-knit (at least, in my experience) which is neat. I became friends with year 12s that I wouldn't have dreamed of talking to if I didn't do Revs with them!

In terms of balancing Revs and Bio, I can't really speak from first-hand experience as I did them in separate years, but I reckon you'll be sweet. If you're worried about your time management skills, maybe have a chat to your teachers at the start of the year and work out a system - I did this with my Revs teacher to see how much study he thought I should be doing and all that.

Last thing - I think it's always better to take the thing you're more interested in. You'll be happy to spend time on it, you'll enjoy going to class, which are both positive things for your marks.

Anyway, tl;dr: pick Revs!!! Best subject out there

[Sam M]

Aha! a question for me (I'm doing/have done all three).
Bio and psych don't really have too much crossover. I think there is greater crossover between biology and chemistry (from back when I did units 1&2 *shudders*) in terms of content. The main similarity I guess between psych and bio are the types of questions and the way you answer them, although this is a skill developed through the year with either subject anyway.
Revs is definitely very content heavy if you want to do well, but similar to psych in that there is a lot to remember. Although I think overall, revs requires more work to have a detailed knowledge necessary for the course.
You're definitely right in that revs is more english based. If you're good at english, it is likely you can begin with an advantage in being able to spend more time learning the content rather than teaching yourself how to right a proper, fluent response.
If you choose to do history, however, I would definitely recommend doing it as a 3/4 in year 11. Especially if it is something you are interested in. Doing the subject this year amongst all my other subjects, it has been the subject which I have probably devoted the most time to (I sometimes wish I had done it in year 11).
Ultimately, If I'm able to scrounge the time together to do both revs and bio this year amongst my other subjects, I'm sure that if you have good dedication and stay on top of things you will be able to do the same if thats what you choose.

Whatever you choose, revs and psych are two of my favourite subjects, so you can't really go wrong 

[Bri MT]

I've done bio and psych, and haven't done revs. I do think that they work well together BUT I'd recommend you to do the subject you are interested in. Being less engaged in psych will make it more difficult for you to get a great score in it, and I never recommend picking subjects for "ATAR impact" because I think it's a bad way to spend the year.

[quinn_03]

Bruh, obviously a bit biased here, but Revs is amazing. Easily my favourite subject that I did in VCE by far. Do you know which revolutions your school studies for the subject?

Doing 3/4 Revs in year 11 sets yourself up for success. It's content heavy, sure, but so is everything else in its own way. Plus, it's super interesting, and you know, I think it's really cool because you learn some critical analysis skills when you do Revs - learning to interpret sources, bias, etc. is pretty interesting! And it's an important skill to have - not just accepting everything that someone says to you.
But yeah, back on the workload - I think it's manageable, particularly if you do the subject in year 11. It lets you dedicate more time to the subject, you can do more practice pieces, and I think it gives you more of an opportunity to be interested in the subject and learn things because you find them interesting. It's a subject that rewards the time and effort you put in. So if you make the effort to know your revolutions, and show it - you're gonna ace it. Another thing to consider is that you're learning this over the course of a year - so yeah, from the outside, it seems like heaps of stuff to know, but you're learning it gradually, and if you look at it that way, it's not too bad.

The key thing with the subject is learning how to respond to the questions - it's not enough to just spew out dates and events - you have to talk about their significance, which is pretty cool, and if you learn how to do this, it separates you from everyone else and will boost your marks. In terms of the class - class sizes for Revs tend to be smaller and more tight-knit (at least, in my experience) which is neat. I became friends with year 12s that I wouldn't have dreamed of talking to if I didn't do Revs with them!

In terms of balancing Revs and Bio, I can't really speak from first-hand experience as I did them in separate years, but I reckon you'll be sweet. If you're worried about your time management skills, maybe have a chat to your teachers at the start of the year and work out a system - I did this with my Revs teacher to see how much study he thought I should be doing and all that.

Last thing - I think it's always better to take the thing you're more interested in. You'll be happy to spend time on it, you'll enjoy going to class, which are both positive things for your marks.

Anyway, tl;dr: pick Revs!!! Best subject out there

Thanks so much for the detaild reply and tips about revs!! I really appreciate it I am definitely leaning more towards it 

Aha! a question for me (I'm doing/have done all three).
Bio and psych don't really have too much crossover. I think there is greater crossover between biology and chemistry (from back when I did units 1&2 *shudders*) in terms of content. The main similarity I guess between psych and bio are the types of questions and the way you answer them, although this is a skill developed through the year with either subject anyway.
Revs is definitely very content heavy if you want to do well, but similar to psych in that there is a lot to remember. Although I think overall, revs requires more work to have a detailed knowledge necessary for the course.
You're definitely right in that revs is more english based. If you're good at english, it is likely you can begin with an advantage in being able to spend more time learning the content rather than teaching yourself how to right a proper, fluent response.
If you choose to do history, however, I would definitely recommend doing it as a 3/4 in year 11. Especially if it is something you are interested in. Doing the subject this year amongst all my other subjects, it has been the subject which I have probably devoted the most time to (I sometimes wish I had done it in year 11).
Ultimately, If I'm able to scrounge the time together to do both revs and bio this year amongst my other subjects, I'm sure that if you have good dedication and stay on top of things you will be able to do the same if thats what you choose.

Whatever you choose, revs and psych are two of my favourite subjects, so you can't really go wrong 

so the content level between revs and psych are similar?
thanks so much for all of your opinions, i really appreciate it!