Preparation

[DestinationAlan]

I have a question. Is it a bad idea to already start thinking about VCE even though Year 11 Orientation is well into December and I have to worry about Year 10 Exams?

(I apologize if this question has been asked numerous times. Or, If I'm too young to be on AN.)

[chasej]

I have a question. Is it a bad idea to already start thinking about VCE even though Year 11 Orientation is well into December and I have to worry about Year 10 Exams?

(I apologize if this question has been asked numerous times. Or, If I'm too young to be on AN.)

There's no harm in creating a general plan of attack as well as starting with some units 3/4 prep. But it's probably better not to let it get in the way of your yr 10 studies. Something good to do may be to find out what books you will be doing for English and just casually read them so you get that out of the way, I defiantly wish I read more of my English texts before the school year actually began.

You'd be fine just to wait until after yr 10 finishes to begin doing some prep. I did about a week or so of work in the summer and started the year off really well in my opinion.

Oh and no need to apologies, you and your post would certainly be welcome on AN.

[DestinationAlan]

I mean obviously I want to do good on these subjects but do you know how hard is the work in general?

[Shenz0r]

I mean obviously I want to do good on these subjects but do you know how hard is the work in general?

Hard is very subjective. Let's just say every subsequent year is going to get harder and harder (Year 10 is easier than Year 11 which is easier than Year 12 which is easier than university). Obviously it depends on what subjects you study, and how you study. But I think you can start studying for whatever 3/4 subject during the latter end of the summer holidays

[walkec]

In all honesty, I actually think year 10 was harder than year 11. Probably because there were more subjects to juggle with. Or maybe it just seems that way because I'm now just studying subjects I absolutely love, so it seems more effortless.

In terms of how hard the work is, anticipate a step up in term one of year 11, and for your grades to go down about 10-15%. As you adjust and work through it, your grades will probably come back up a bit. And don't be shocked by your first few outcomes. It's just a matter of working out how you can best prepare for them and this can take time. I remember I nearly threw up when I got back my mark for my first English assessment of year 11, as I had previously been scoring mid-90s pretty much all the time. But use these shocks as motivation, because that's what I did and I feel that I now couldn't be more on top of everything heading into my final year next year.

I've found year 11 isn't nearly as daunting as I thought it would be. It's just about adapting and taking charge and steering yourself into a direction you want to be in. If you want to talk, feel free to PM me 

[DestinationAlan]

As BasicAcid said. Doing a 3/4 seems better. I was about to get into Geography 3/4 but I had two  bad marks and that was the downfall of me (And I didn't do a 1/2 Subject this year.)

So can I still get 94 as an ATAR without doing a 3/4 subject?

[Alwin]

As BasicAcid said. Doing a 3/4 seems better. I was about to get into Geography 3/4 but I had two  bad marks and that was the downfall of me (And I didn't do a 1/2 Subject this year.)

So can I still get 94 as an ATAR without doing a 3/4 subject?

yeah You need a (scaled) average of around 42.5 if I did the maths right for 94, which is pretty achievable for any hard working student (presumably like yourself)

I'd encourage you to check out the atarcalc on AN and play around with numbers a bit if you're really concerned

[EspoirTron]

It is nice to read that someone is keen on getting on the work early!

In all honesty, if you actually have an interest in the coursework then go through and work ahead, last year for Unit 2 Chemistry I did three-quaters of the Unit 2 coursework in my two week break because I was just that excited about acids and bases. I went on and did a lot of other things myself, for example, I read literary critiques and few theses on my favourite text this year. Working ahead is not a detriment if you genuinely want to learn and place yourself in perhaps, an advantageous position. If you know that you love to learn and think the coursework is interesting, I would recommend printing out the study designs for your subjects from the VCAA website, read and take notes from your textbook (if you have it yet, otherwise just watch Youtube videos and learn), then complete practice questions. However, I stress this point, if you are going to do so, do not got Super Sayian 4 Gogeta crazy and complete everything in a term, I only say this because to really allow yourself to take all the knowledge in and have a thorough grasp with an amazing lead, it is important that you find a balance between a healthy lifestyle, a social life and studying.

[Tasmania Jones]

Well, I am in year 10 too, and I'm just going to worry about year 10 exams, especially my 1/2 subjects (Methods and Chinese SL) and their exams this term. When that's done, then during the summer, I might read up on some year 11 subject coursework and prepare for my 3/4 subjects. It has been interesting reading about VCE level stuff on these forums though. 

[DestinationAlan]

But I plan to finish the Scout Queen Scout by the end of 2015 and apparently it can be put in as an extra ten percent.

Is that counted as 6th or DO I HAVE to do 6 subjects?

[Tasmania Jones]

You only have to do some form of English and 3 other subjects for VCE. You can do an extra two subjects of which only 10% of each goes to your aggregate.
I don't know about the Scout Queen Scout or whether it contributes to you ATAR.