QUESTION: Unit 3/4 Physics without 1/2

[Tyleralp1]

Greetings fellow VCE students,

I myself am in a bit of a predicament and require some advice. I for one am a keen Maths and Sciency person, and enjoy Physics a lot. However, currently I am in Year 10, and have chosen not to undertake Physics next year as I have chosen French instead. (My other subjects are Biology, Methods, Specialists, English Language and Chemistry). At present, I'm doing relatively well in French, but not in the most ideal way. Therefore, I was wondering, incase things don't turn out as planed, am I able to undertake Physics 3/4 in Year 12 without Units 1/2, and not be at a significant disadvantage?

I'm assuming I'll need to read up on some content, but would anyone know as to how much? Additionally, should I wait until the end of Year 11 to make that choice of French to Physics, or try make it as early as possible during Term 1.


I will be putting 110% effort into whatever choice I chose. However, I do find Physics a lot easier, and a ton more enjoyable. Therefore, it can be said I'm also questioning if I can achieve a higher study score in Physics without scaling, than in French with scaling.

I appreciate all your responses and suggestions.

Cheers!
Tyleralp1

[pi]

You can depending on your school, but you'll be at a disadvantage as at least 1/3 of yr12 course is the same as in the yr11 course.

Having said that, the subject is quite easy to get 40+ in and is dreadfully underwhelming and boring.

[LazyZombie]

I say don't do it because there are a ton of other subjects you can pick up on

But provided you do the reading during the summer, and have the motivation to do it, its not impossible to pick up 3/4 physics. You'd need to cover motion, light and electricity from the 1/2 course. But still try to make the decision early on.

But really, if you do mess up french, pick up another subject, like economics, a humanities subject, environmental science or maybe the new EI subject and make it easier for yourself. And more enjoyable.

[Tyleralp1]

Thank you for the replies. Turns out I need a 43 in Physics, or a 35 in French, anything more in French would be more beneficial than Physics.

[Robert123]

Inmy opinion it is better to do 3/4 physics without 1&2, I'm currently doing all 4 units this year. Some of the repeated topics, I started first in yr 12 before doing it in yr 11. The hardest thing I found so far was doing electricity, it took me a while to understand what goes on around a circuit, other then that, all of the other topics came across fairly easy for me.
The main reason for doing 3&4 without 1&2 is because you are not burnt out from the dry topic to early on in the year (most of my 1&2 class have given up even trying anymore).

[Alwin]

You can check this thread out too, Can you do 3/4 physics without 1/2? and the many other ones like it but the main message is that its possible to do 3/4 physics without 1/2 and do well!

As for choosing between French and Physics... I guess that's quite subjective. Like pi said, you will be disadvantaged a bit, but if you're determined enough you'll be fine ^^

The thing is, with a language, you want someone to talk to + practise with, especially for the oral component. Like I have no one at home who speaks indonesian so kinda screwed lol.. Also ask around about past results as they'll give you an indication of how hard you need to try / how good your teachers are. Eg for Indo the class my current teacher (this year) taught all got 40s.. or 20s. There were no 30s there, so I know what will happen if I don't keep up. As for physics, two years ago my mate got a 48 in physics so I knew the teacher was at least half decent and with some work it's possible to do well.

I mean all that in a nice way of course Even if your particular school hasn't done well in a particular subject, with enough motivation and determination anyone can do well!