Better to do 6 or 7 3/4 subjects?

[SamiJaneOwen]

Hello! So I will be completing three 3/4 subjects this year and have course selection this monday and I'm not too sure if I should select three or four subjects.

So what I'm asking is, would it be better to take three and be more focused or take four incase one study score sucks?

[spectroscopy]

i would do 4, in case you dont like one or are stuffing up in one - you can just forget it and focus on your others, or if you dont do so well in a 3/4 this year you can try really hard in your 4 next year
most people do 5 in year 12 so youre already at an advantage

[Drunk]

there's pros and cons for both options, but i would recommend doing 3 - the atar calculation already takes into account that you might not perform as well in other subjects, giving you your bottom 2 units as 10% increments to your aggregate. it's easy to underestimate the work required for a subject, but the more subjects you take on, the less time you'll have for your other subjects. with 7 subjects, your poorest subject will not count to your atar at all, so essentially, the time you would have spent doing that subject is pretty much wasted, which could have been better spent working in other subjects.

with 3 subjects, you'll be able to spend more of your time perfecting them. of course, you'll be doing nearly half the normal workload of a year 12 student, so you'll have to be self-motivated as well to keep yourself studying since you'll be spending less time in class.

[mark_alec]

I'd do as many subjects as interest you. I did 7 subjects, but would have liked to have done more if given the time.

[nerdgasm]

Hi SamiJaneOwen!

As someone who did 7 3/4 subjects in a similar way to what you might be planning (I did 3 3/4's in Year 11 and 4 in Year 12), I'll throw in my two cents:

If I may ask, when did you do your 1/2's for the 3/4's that you're doing? I'm guessing that your VCE program is effectively spread over three years, so I'll put up what I did:

Year 10: 6 1/2's
Year 11: 2 1/2's and 3 3/4's
Year 12: 4 3/4's.

Personally, while I agree that it's very important to be able to focus on your 3/4 subjects and having fewer of them certainly helps with this, I think that the added 'safety net' of having one extra subject outweighs this concern. In my humble opinion, if you're taking 3 3/4's in Year 11, (and maybe doing 1 or 2 1/2's as well), you're definitely more than capable of taking 4 3/4's in Year 12. I found that in Year 12, I definitely had a decent amount of time to try to learn the content of my subjects.

I think that taking any 3/4 unit in Year 11 is a great way to 'test the waters' of VCE so to speak, because after trying the exams and SACs, you'll have a great knowledge of how high the bar is set, what works and doesn't work for you in terms of studying, and general knowledge of how VCAA likes to ask questions on exams. So if you have a score from Year 11 that you might want to improve upon, I think taking 4 3/4's is a good way to ensure that it becomes an increment, or doesn't even count at all!

Also, if you do 4 3/4's in Year 12, and find it's not really working out for you, there's really no reason why you have to devote equal time to all 4 of your subjects! You could effectively focus on only 3 of your subjects, which would have happened anyway had you only taken 3! So to me, it's certainly no worse than taking 3 subjects, but has the potential to be better!

Finally, one last argument I'd like to make is that in this case, taking one more 3/4 means you'll learn more. I know that the ATAR is important, but I personally believe that your high school experience will be made all that much better if you're learning something you really want to, and in this case, have the time to put good effort in. I mean, if there's nothing you like apart from the 6 subjects you're currently doing, then maybe it's worth doing 3 in Year 12. But if there's a subject that you enjoy that you might not be doing because you're worried about time management in Year 12, then I say go for it! I definitely think it will be a plus.

Anyways, I hope sharing my perspective helps, and I wish you all the best!

[SamiJaneOwen]

Hi here is my current plan and past, if that helps

Year 10: 1/2 English, 1/2 Philosophy, 1/2 Legal Studies + 3 core subjects.
Year 11: 3/4 English, 3/4 Legal Studies, 3/4 Global Politics + 2 1/2s + Spare
Year 12: 3/4 Philosophy, 3/4 English Language, 3/4 Australian Politics (+ Maybe another 3/4) + 2/3 Spare

[Professor Polonsky]

If you're satisfied with your Year 11 results, I don't see a reason for doing seven 3/4s (unless you would enjoy doing the extra subject).

[nerdgasm]

If you're satisfied with your Year 11 results, I don't see a reason for doing seven 3/4s (unless you would enjoy doing the extra subject).

That's a really valid point, but unfortunately you have to choose your Year 12 subjects before you know how well you've done in your Year 11 (in terms of study scores and all).

[Professor Polonsky]

Hmm, true, but you can enrol in an extra subject then drop it when you get your results if you want to.

[chasej]

That's a really valid point, but unfortunately you have to choose your Year 12 subjects before you know how well you've done in your Year 11 (in terms of study scores and all).

Your school may need you to choose soon but you can always drop one later on, you can drop Unit 3 right up to IIRC April without incurring any penalty (as in they charge some sort of fee, not a penalty on your ATAR)