Taking Up Six Subjects in Year 12

[Trxjan]

Hey There!

I moved to Mel after the first term of Year 11, and joined school from Term 2 of this year. I have since been working extremely hard and brought up my grades, but I'm still a little shaky. [Got the concepts right, but not really translating into grades, especially methods]. I studied different topics before this, but have picked up pretty well.
Going on to Year 12, I had two questions.
1. Is taking up a 3/4 without doing a 1/2 feasible? [Software Dev]
2. Is taking up a 6th subject worth it?
The second question comes from the fact that, even if I don't perform too well, my 6th subject adds on to my ATAR, but is it worth the time?

Cheers!

EDIT: I sincerely thank you all for the responses!
After careful consideration, I have decided to stick with five subjects and do SoftwareDev 3/4 in Year 12.
I'm leaving this post here for people who may have the same question, unless mods tell me to take it down
Have a great day!

[Maya24]

Here are my thoughts on this.

1. Yes, it is absolutely possible. I did further 3/4 without 1/2. I know many people who have done subjects like chemistry without having done the 1/2.
2. Personally, I don't think taking a 6th subject is worth it. it will not have much effect on your atar and it is not worth the stress that it gives you. I know people who are only doing 3, 4 or 5 subjects in year 12 and have struggled with the workload. My advice with methods is to keep pushing and working hard. Your marks will improve.

[PhoenixxFire]

Unless you really love the subject, I don’t think it’s worth doing a 6th.

Think about it this way:
-Either it or one of your other subjects will only contribute 10%

-The max it will contribute to your ATAR will be 5 points (either it or the subject that gets pushed to 6th place). And it will only contribute 5 if you get 50 in all of your subjects. More likely it will give you 3-4 points.

-So you either do an extra subject that will give you 3-4 points or you have extra time to spend on your other subjects. Increasing your other subjects by 1 point each will give a greater benefit to your ATAR.

[Joseph41]

Hey There!

I moved to Mel after the first term of Year 11, and joined school from Term 2 of this year. I have since been working extremely hard and brought up my grades, but I'm still a little shaky. [Got the concepts right, but not really translating into grades, especially methods]. I studied different topics before this, but have picked up pretty well.
Going on to Year 12, I had two questions.
1. Is taking up a 3/4 without doing a 1/2 feasible? [Software Dev]
2. Is taking up a 6th subject worth it?
The second question comes from the fact that, even if I don't perform too well, my 6th subject adds on to my ATAR, but is it worth the time?

Cheers!

Hey, welcome to ATAR Notes (and Melbourne!). Some general thoughts:

1. Feasible? Sure. I don't have any experience with Software Development specifically, but taking up certain 3&4 subjects without the 1&2 units isn't uncommon. You could ask more specifically on the Software Development board if you're looking for subject-specific advice.

2. Think it depends. What sort of ATAR are you gunning for? Case study: I got a 44 raw in my sixth subject, and the difference between getting that score and not doing the subject at all was like 0.25 or something on my ATAR. It definitely won't be like this all the time, but does show that having a sixth subject isn't necessarily worthwhile.