Biology or Psychology (Year 12)

[Versace]

Hey everyone
I am thinking of dropping Biology next year and picking up Psychology 3/4 instead.
I have been doing well so far but think that I am terrible at the application questions and thus, my SAC marks are not very consistent. I think Psychology will be a much more easy alternative and will allow me to get a better score.

Anyway, I have an interest in both subjects. I still have a love for psychology and that of biology too. I've heard psychology is much easier and thus, why it is scaled down.

Any advice?

Thanks

[masonruc]

Stick with bio, you'll love it trust me I was the same in year 11, practice makes perfect TRUST ME

[hannah2013]

i did bio and psych this year
no psych is not easy - it does not get scaled down anymore. Please don't just chose psych because you think it is going to be an easy subject to get a good score in because its no where near as easy as you think, i was the same.
Don't get me wrong i loved it i think you should do it - biology is really hard but if you study for it a lot you will do really well. Both subjects require application of knowledge and to work out what the question wants you to right rather than just giving definitions etc
So i don't know if i was you i would do psych but don't just do it because you think it will be easy

[walkec]

I did psych for a semester and transferred to biology and biology was by far the better choice. It might just be because I see biology as more helpful in the long run with pre reqs but psych is by no means easy. I'm not saying biology is either but I think if you're willing to work at biology is would potentially be a better choice (maybe I'm just being biased because psych wasn't really me but oh well)

[vashappenin]

I switched from bio 3/4 to psych 3/4 as well and it was probably the best decision I ever made. If you want to stick to bio 3/4, then by all means stick to it.. I don't know much about the course to say whether it's better than psych or not, but psych is so much more interesting. Also, in your sig it says you'll be doing chem as well, so if you really don't like bio and change to psych you're at no real disadvantage because chem's a pre-req subject for a lot of the courses that bio is as well, so look into that as well.
However, don't fall into the trap of thinking that it's easier to do well in - the thing is, most people that choose psych choose it out of interest, and are thus more inclined to do well in it as opposed to bio. I know a lot of my friends chose bio and didn't like it at all, and thus did a lot worse than they could have if they chose something they liked. So keep that in mind - if you enjoy the subject you'll love studying for it, and thus you're probably more likely to do well than if you didn't like the subject.
Good luck deciding!

[Versace]

Thanks for the replies
Its just that in Year 10 I did Year 10 Psychology and literally loved it until, I found out I didn't do as well as I expected.
Biology is pretty interesting too and I actually like most parts of it.
I really like learning psychological concepts and ideas like that though.

I don't know.
I leaning more towards Psych ... but I don't know.
I think I've worked fairly hard for Biol although I've heard it gets fairly harder next year, according to friends.

I think I'll go speak to my teachers when I go back to school and ask them about it.

 

[Yacoubb]

Thanks for the replies
Its just that in Year 10 I did Year 10 Psychology and literally loved it until, I found out I didn't do as well as I expected.
Biology is pretty interesting too and I actually like most parts of it.
I really like learning psychological concepts and ideas like that though.

I don't know.
I leaning more towards Psych ... but I don't know.
I think I've worked fairly hard for Biol although I've heard it gets fairly harder next year, according to friends.

I think I'll go speak to my teachers when I go back to school and ask them about it.

 

I can speak from the perspective of Biology, as I have not done Psychology. Biology in year 11 was really boring. Trust me, I hated unit 2 with a passion. But year 12 Biology is so rewarding and interesting. Yes, some topics are a bit difficult to wrap your head around. The beauty of Biology lies in the fact that you need to understand rather than memorise. You don't need to memorise a gazillion definitions. Understanding concepts & using key terms in your answers is all you need.

The negative of Biology is just that there is so much to remember. Although you can make a link between topics in unit 3 and 4, a lot of topics are different. So, constant revision is imperative!! Biology is an amazing subject, that if you give enough time to, is very rewarding! Good luck on your selection.

i did bio and psych this year
no psych is not easy - it does not get scaled down anymore. Please don't just chose psych because you think it is going to be an easy subject to get a good score in because its no where near as easy as you think, i was the same.
Don't get me wrong i loved it i think you should do it - biology is really hard but if you study for it a lot you will do really well. Both subjects require application of knowledge and to work out what the question wants you to right rather than just giving definitions etc
So i don't know if i was you i would do psych but don't just do it because you think it will be easy

This! Don't fall into the trap of 'This is an easy subject'. Sure, it may be easy, but if you don't give it enough time, you wont do well.

[simpak]

I was going to drop Biology for Psychology in Year 12 too...
Until my teacher advised me not to!  And I'm glad I listened to her because I got a 50 in Biol.
Do Biollllll #noregretz

[psyxwar]

On that note psychology seems to have moved away from being a rote-learning intensive subject to a more application based subject with the new study design (given the opinions of my friends who did the subject this year anyway).

[teletubbies_95]

Do both

[Scooby]

Do both

Agree with this 

[Damoz.G]

On that note psychology seems to have moved away from being a rote-learning intensive subject to a more application based subject with the new study design (given the opinions of my friends who did the subject this year anyway).

Yup, it definitely is. There is more greater focus on Neurons and Neuronal Development for Learning and Memory in particular. I feel as though its moving closer and closer to content that is covered in the Biology course.