Balancing two 3/4s and 4 1/2s

[KiNSKi01]

For those who accelerated in subjects in VCE, how important do you think it is to spend time on your 1/2s when you are going to be completing your 3/4s at the end of year. It seems sort of counter productive to put too much effort into your 1/2s when you take into consideration that your performance in them has no direct impact on your final VCE scores. Next year I will be doing 3/4 Psyc and Physics and 1/2 Methods, Further, Lang and Chem. Is there anything you wish you did differently during VCE in relation to balancing work between your 3/4s and 1/2s??

Thanks in advance!!!! 

[Vaike]

Heya, personally I invested a large proportion of my time (>75%) on my two 3/4's during year 11. Definitely don't completely neglect your 1/2 subjects, especially Methods, as Year 11 methods is crucial for laying foundations for the 3/4. However, for further and chem (and I assume lang but not sure), you'll be able to afford to spend less time on these, further because of the shallow/short 3/4 course, and Chem because a fair portion of 1/2 is irrelevant to 3/4. Again, don't completely neglect them, but ensure you prioritize your two 3/4 subjects and methods

[Aaron]

Obviously your priority is going to be with your 3/4's. However I would recommend that you still pay some attention to your 1/2's. You are not guaranteed an S automatically for the unit.

It is also good practice to try and juggle multiple subject demands throughout a year. You will need to do it for at least 4 of them in yr 12. Practice run next year.

[exit]

I don't think Lang and Further need particularly significant amounts of studying. I totally neglected Chem in year 11 (and spent most class time not paying attention or fooling around) and for example, failed the end of year exam. However, I ended up ranking in the top 1/4 of a strong (median score raw 35) cohort even though some of the sacs I only studied the day before for. (One SAC I didn't study for at all since I prioritised another subject). I do not think you should neglect Chem like me, but I do think that all you need to do is have an understand, even if its vague, of each concept. Thus, the concepts you will encounter will not catch you off guard as you've seen them before

I would say for Methods, just keep on top of the bookwork and make sure you understand the concepts and you don't need to do much more than that.

[KiNSKi01]

Thank you all for the advice! 

And good luck to Vaike and exit! I hope that in a few weeks time you receive the ATAR you want! 

[Joseph41]

For those who accelerated in subjects in VCE, how important do you think it is to spend time on your 1/2s when you are going to be completing your 3/4s at the end of year. It seems sort of counter productive to put too much effort into your 1/2s when you take into consideration that your performance in them has no direct impact on your final VCE scores. Next year I will be doing 3/4 Psyc and Physics and 1/2 Methods, Further, Lang and Chem. Is there anything you wish you did differently during VCE in relation to balancing work between your 3/4s and 1/2s??

Thanks in advance!!!! 

Broadly, I think the advice here has been pretty sound! It's definitely a balancing act. Like, your 3/4s should be your priority - that much is pretty clear - but to what degree? Whilst your 1/2 subjects won't directly impact you or your ATAR, as you've alluded to, they're still important. Reinforcing Aaron's comments, it's important to be mindful of how you're going in your Year 11 subjects, too.

This whole thing is very subjective, because the amount of time you spend on whichever subject will likely be the result of multiple factors (competence, experience, enjoyment, necessity etc.), but if I had to rank "importance", I'd probably go with something like:

1. Psych & Physics
3. Methods & Chem
5. EngLang
6. Further

But take this with a huge grain of salt - I'd just back your instinct with whatever you think is right for your particular situation.