How difficult is Legal 3&4?

[kaganz]

I was considering dropping Biology for legal studies this year to reduce some work load as I have the 'Asian Five' subjects. However I have not done unit 1&2 for legal studies and I was wondering if it would make the subject much more difficult for me. Furthermore  I was wondering if the subject in general is hard, because I am looking for 40+ in all my subjects, I don't want to waste my time with something that is very demanding and hard, because I might aswell just stay in Biology then.
Lastly I have not but a clue on what Legal Studies actually is and I would like to know what we would be covering in units 3&4. The law and humanities does interest me further then Biology, yet many students claim it to be very tedious and strenuous when actually studying for it.

Hopefully your replies will clear things up for me.

[playsimme]

It's not that bad. Being able to write well isn't a must, but it definitely helps when bullshitting your strengths and weaknesses which is basically all you do in this mundane subject. Stick with biology or cry yourself to sleep learning all the content. jk! But it was pretty demanding, although it can be rewarding if you put in the effort.

[Tobias Funke]

I doubt you'd really reduce the workload if you did Legal instead of Biology that much at all, if anything your workload would be similarly as difficult but in a different way.

But I'm guessing you're in year 11 because you wouldn't be doing 6 3/4 subjects in a year.

Do the subject you enjoy doing, look into the Legal Studies course, personally I enjoyed it but if you're just thinking of decreasing a workload that isn't the right approach to take

[kaganz]

Personally I would enjoy Business Management more, however, I'll be in year 12 this year and the subject is full. Therefore Im left with legal

[greenbeans]

I was considering dropping Biology for legal studies this year to reduce some work load as I have the 'Asian Five' subjects. However I have not done unit 1&2 for legal studies and I was wondering if it would make the subject much more difficult for me. Furthermore  I was wondering if the subject in general is hard, because I am looking for 40+ in all my subjects, I don't want to waste my time with something that is very demanding and hard, because I might aswell just stay in Biology then.
Lastly I have not but a clue on what Legal Studies actually is and I would like to know what we would be covering in units 3&4. The law and humanities does interest me further then Biology, yet many students claim it to be very tedious and strenuous when actually studying for it.

Hopefully your replies will clear things up for me.

hey there - i was in your situation.. i chose legal 3/4  in year 11 after doing no legal!

i found it tedious because i am just not the type of person that studies subjects where you copy chunks of info and have to somehow process it all and find nice and tidy spaces in that memory bank of yours in ya brain to puke out for SACs and the exam... but then again my teacher wasnt the greatest and i wasn't really sure what to expect, i prefer skills based subjects!

but if you can find a way to enjoy the content, i.e. visiting court houses, or you enjoy subjects where you memorise slabs of information and if you see a longterm benefit of knowing that sorta stuff (i.e. you want to be a lawyer and find it riveting to know this info) then go for it! imo (but i really wouldn't know so don't grill me coz i'm not a sciency person) all the sciences are like that in the content based subjects, so it might be perfect for you! have a chat to other students who have done it!

you cover: parliamentary system, ways of changing the law, constitution, rights and charters, courts, etc.

[LOLs99]

You might have more stuff to memorize though and I did legal 1/2 in yr 10. It's mainly about memorizing and reading.

[nisha]

My friend dropped Physics for Legal, and now she is loving the subject. It requires alot of memorising (as said before, but there are always different ways to make your information fun--make mind-maps or even listen to court cases online (if they have any) or judge judy or something). Its a great subject, and relevant to life (if your like me, who is addicted to crime shows) but find a way to space out the info and relate it to things so you can break it down.

But definately do it.

[werdna]

If you're passionate about this subject, then all of the coursework will become second nature to you and it will require only a slight amount of memorising and rote-learning. However, it can be a time-consuming subject at times and you have to be able to accomodate that and work effectively. For me, learning this subject was all about really understanding, not memorising, the key concepts and applying them to different questions and being able to look at both sides of different aspects of the course (understanding the strengths and weaknesses of pretty much everything).

Also, it's not too difficult a subject if you really nail down your technique in answering questions - know what each question is asking for, follow the task words to a tee, use examples where appropriate and write accordingly to the mark allocation. Mind you, it is a very, very competitive subject - there isn't very much room for error in the exam, at the 40+ level you're looking at 1 mark lost in the exam costing you 1 study score point... The A+ cutoff for last year was a 60.5/70 under the new study design.

[Liuy]

Content: copious amounts but not difficult
Applying knowledge to questions, fitting content to what the question is asking: takes hours and hours of practice
Learning how to perfect responses/exam technique: long and tedious process

[schnappy]

I did a course very similar to the asian 5, including legal studies in year 12. I hit my targets for most of my 'asian' subjects, I was quite confident with Legal Studies however my result at the end - LS was by far my worst subject despite it usually being considered an 'easy' subject. I wouldn't recommend it, but I haven't done biology to offer a comparison.

[Mech]

Legal Studies is interesting, but your cohort can bring you down. 95+ SAC average and A+ on exam and I got a 41. Maybe because my cohort scored poorly in the exam and VCAA went, "The SACs must have been easy; lets drag the scores down!"

[playsimme]

If you're passionate about this subject, then all of the coursework will become second nature to you and it will require only a slight amount of memorising and rote-learning. However, it can be a time-consuming subject at times and you have to be able to accomodate that and work effectively. For me, learning this subject was all about really understanding, not memorising, the key concepts and applying them to different questions and being able to look at both sides of different aspects of the course (understanding the strengths and weaknesses of pretty much everything).

Also, it's not too difficult a subject if you really nail down your technique in answering questions - know what each question is asking for, follow the task words to a tee, use examples where appropriate and write accordingly to the mark allocation. Mind you, it is a very, very competitive subject - there isn't very much room for error in the exam, at the 40+ level you're looking at 1 mark lost in the exam costing you 1 study score point... The A+ cutoff for last year was a 60.5/70 under the new study design.

Yup the top end for legal is absolutely brutal. I lost 2.5 marks and had high A+ sacs for 46 :s I think with sciences there's much more room for error, for example in psych I lost 35 marks in total over both exams for 42. Just pick the one which interests you most, vce is a game with unfortunately weaknesses at both end.

[Rhettski999]

Wait, in Legal, assessors don't give you half marks for your exam :S

In relation to the question, I personally think Legal is a far more interesting subject compared to Bio. But as other comments have said, play to your strengths, so if Bio works better for you, go for it.

I agree with the comments about the 40+ for Legal being extremely competitive, you can't afford to lose those easy marks. A kid in my cohort last year got 49 and I think she lost 1 mark on the exam and had near perfect SAC marks, it just shows you how difficult getting a perfect score would be. Further, the A+ cutoff is a lot higher than many other subjects..

[eeps]

I won't repeat what everyone has already said, but it may also be worth reading this thread for future students considering Legal Studies as well.