Specialist without Physics?

[T-Infinite]

Hey guys, I'm in need for some opinions on my situation for next year....
So.. initially I was enrolled to do English, Chem, Methods, Specialist, Biology( finished it this year), Vietnamese and Physics. Yes yes I know, that's 7 subjects and I know they only count 6.

Within those subjects, I dislike Physics the most.. I find it so boring and annoying plus I have one of the crappiest teacher in the school for it as he always give worksheets and a little bit of notes on the board, hardly any detailed explanations from him whatsoever. Half the class dropped it, and I decided to drop it as well.

Now, I've heard that Specialist maths overlaps with Physics in terms of Dynamics.... but is it REALLY crucial to do Physics in order to own that chapter? Anyone here on AN did Spesh without Physics? If yes, please give me some some tips.  Some told me that it's the other way around, as in you need Spesh to do well in Physics? I dunno...

I kinda like maths, I did Methods and 1/2 Spesh this year in year 11 and I didn't find it difficult but rather interesting. I spoke with most of my friends and teachers, so far, they supported my decision because dropping Physics would give me so much more time to focus on other subjects. (I only have Vietnamese once a week on a saturday at a different school, so it would make sense to leave some time and focus on that as well)

So yeah, please give any tips or suggestions on whether I should continue with Physics or just forget about it. Thanks

[Stick]

You'll be just fine without Physics. Sure, there's an overlap but Physics students are not at any unfair advantage. Like you, I also did Physics Units 1 & 2 and hated it so much that I dropped it for Biology Units 3 & 4 (best decision ever, for lots of reasons) so I know where you're coming from. You'll be fine.

[datfatcat]

You don't need to do physics in order to do specialist maths. Many of my friends didn't and they got amazing study score for specialist maths

[pi]

Don't ever do VCE Physics

[alchemy]

Like you, I also did Physics Units 1 & 2 and hated it so much that I dropped it for Biology Units 3 & 4 (best decision ever, for lots of reasons) so I know where you're coming from. You'll be fine.

Just to add on this point, I did the same and couldn't be happier. pi would be proud c:

[Stick]

I'm probably taking the thread very off-topic in doing this, but I'll say that I am a bit of a believer in things happening for a reason. At the end of Year 11, I dropped Physics and my school dropped Italian and so I had no choice but to pick up another subject at Units 3 & 4 and I elected Biology. At the time, I was really upset about not being able to continue Italian but I insisted that it was meant to be. Now that I got my study score for Biology, I completely understand why.

Anyway, back to the OP. It's really important you enjoy your subject load in Year 12 and that you don't feel you're obligated to complete any subjects. It sounds like you'll be much happier without Physics and I assure you it won't hurt your Specialist Maths scores. Good luck for next year.

[Lasercookie]

Now, I've heard that Specialist maths overlaps with Physics in terms of Dynamics.... but is it REALLY crucial to do Physics in order to own that chapter? Anyone here on AN did Spesh without Physics? If yes, please give me some some tips.  Some told me that it's the other way around, as in you need Spesh to do well in Physics? I dunno...

There is an overlap, but it's only for a small portion of spesh - the last area of study. You can study both quite independently. Physics students might be able to jump onto that final section of Specialist maths a bit faster, but the advantage isn't that much in the long run.

[drake]

i must admit, i was in your exact situation in the middle of this year... i didn't do physics and i thought all the physics students in my class had an unfair advantage over me for the topics mechanics and kinematics! while it is true that physics gave them a much greater understand of what was going on, i simply repeated and repeated dynamics and kinematics exercises. you will find that almost every question is the same! in the end, i beat them haha, without physics! so yeah, physics is not needed so long as you do as many exercises as possible and recognise the question structures!

[T-Infinite]

Oh wow, thanks for all the wonderful inputs! It definitely made me feel much more confident for next year.
I thought I made a bad decision but now, I feel that it was a great decision for me to drop Physics.

OH ONE MORE THING! !! I just remembered. I intend to do Biomedicine/Biomedical Science at either UoM or Monash, and I remember Physics being one of the subjects in that course?? Is it? I'm not quite sure. That was also one of the reason why I felt uncertain about dropping Physics. Will it affect me in anyway? It's listed in the pre-req but only said "one of Spesh, methods, or Physics" so...yeah.. I'm already doing Methods and Spesh + Chem anyway.

[Stick]

They cover Year 12 Physics in those courses anyway, so it's OK. Apparently it's also taught in a more biomedical context as well.

[datfatcat]

OH ONE MORE THING! !! I just remembered. I intend to do Biomedicine/Biomedical Science at either UoM or Monash, and I remember Physics being one of the subjects in that course?? Is it? I'm not quite sure. That was also one of the reason why I felt uncertain about dropping Physics. Will it affect me in anyway? It's listed in the pre-req but only said "one of Spesh, methods, or Physics" so...yeah.. I'm already doing Methods and Spesh + Chem anyway.

Don't touch VCE physics. It will get your hands dirty. #firsthandexperience