Stressed! I have 8 days to choose my subjects for year 12

[J_Rho]

Subjects on offer: Chem, Business, Eco, Food Studies, HHD, Literature, Media, Physics, Psych, VisCom, Studio Arts

Subjects I am going to study next year: English, Further, Legal Studies and i am going to apply to do a uni extension at Deakin

whats the issue? i need to pick 2 more subjects - one of which i will drop if i get into the Deakin accelerate program. Here's the tough thing;
Chem: i failed the chem stuff i did in year 10 and i hated it
Business - is so dry im doing 1/2 now and god save me
economics - never done it also it barely runs at my school too
Food studies - teachers said that if i want a 90+ atar this isnt a subject to do...plus i dont get along with this teacher
HHD - never done it, people have said its dry...scared i wont like it
Literature - man i SUCK at english..i love reading but cant write an essay to save my life or find that deeper meaning
Media - never done it never had an interest
Physics - never done it dont know if id like it or hate it
Psych - dont like the teacher...not keen on the actual subject
Viscom & Studio arts - Im not keen on art and was told not to do it if i wanted a 90 atar

This is a huge issue - what subjects dont i hate? Food, HHD, Lit, Physics, Psych

Why am i posting this any advice would be fab! What was your favorite subject? why? What subjects did you do in year 12?

a huge thanks in advance to anyone who responds to this im so stressed out

[Joseph41]

I don't agree with the "if you want a 90 ATAR don't do [x subject]" philosophy at all. What's the rationale?

P.S. What are you hoping to study at Deakin?

[whys]

I don't agree with the "if you want a 90 ATAR don't do [x subject]" philosophy at all.

I completely agree with this. I'm doing 3/4 food studies right now, and I'm definitely hoping for an atar above 95. I'd also be keen to hear the rationale behind this advice.

[J_Rho]

Have you done/are you doing a 3/4 subject this year?

I'm doing 3/4 Bio this year (and tbh i dont think imma get a very good ss haha)

I completely agree with this. I'm doing 3/4 food studies right now, and I'm definitely hoping for an atar above 95. I'd also be keen to hear the rationale behind this advice.

I don't agree with the "if you want a 90 ATAR don't do [x subject]" philosophy at all. What's the rationale?

P.S. What are you hoping to study at Deakin?

I think its got to do with scaling and all the past 90+ atar students at my school have done methods, eng, lit, lote, psych, hhd which all apparently fit into the category of "smart"
I'm hoping to do an extension in law or criminology

[whys]

Oh ok - I see. I'm pretty sure HHD scales down, and psych scales down too. But you should never base your subject selections on how much a subject scales up or down. Food studies doesn't actually scale down too much if you get a study score of 45+ (it scales down by 1-2 at this point). And if you put enough effort into a subject, then I'm sure you will reap the results and be able to achieve your study score goal, and therefore your atar goal. I don't really have much advice, except to base subject selection on which subjects you like, which ones are related to the uni course you want to do, and which ones you are willing to put effort in. Good luck in choosing your subjects!

[Sine]

I'm doing 3/4 Bio this year (and tbh i dont think imma get a very good ss haha)I think its got to do with scaling and all the past 90+ atar students at my school have done methods, eng, lit, lote, psych, hhd which all apparently fit into the category of "smart"
I'm hoping to do an extension in law or criminology

seriously the subject that you have won't dictate your ATAR - however, you will likely be negatively impacted if you choose subjects that you don't like for the scaling. Scaling is there for a reason so that all subjects can be treated equally in calculation of you ATAR - e.g. so methods scaling up just means that it is difficult to rank high within the cohort (because of the strong cohort).

Also for law/criminology, I don't think there will be many prerequisites (only English I THINK).

For you, I would pick any two subjects from the "subjects I don't hate" list.

[Joseph41]

seriously the subject that you have won't dictate your ATAR - however, you will likely be negatively impacted if you choose subjects that you don't like for the scaling. Scaling is there for a reason so that all subjects can be treated equally in calculation of you ATAR - e.g. so methods scaling up just means that it is difficult to rank high within the cohort (because of the strong cohort).

Also for law/criminology, I don't think there will be many prerequisites (only English I THINK).

For you, I would pick any two subjects from the "subjects I don't hate" list.

Great post.

[Snow Leopard]

I don't agree with the "if you want a 90 ATAR don't do [x subject]" philosophy at all. What's the rationale?

P.S. What are you hoping to study at Deakin?

I definitely agree with this, but as ridiculous as it sounds some of my teacher's have been telling me the same Jade's teacher have told her. Like my math's teacher said "if you want to get a good atar, don't do general maths". Overall, most of my teachers are using scaling as a way to bribe me into chosing their subjects and into not chosing subjects that scale down.

[J_Rho]

I definitely agree with this, but as ridiculous as it sounds some of my teacher's have been telling me the same Jade's teacher have told her. Like my math's teacher said "if you want to get a good atar, don't do general maths". Overall, most of my teachers are using scaling as a way to bribe me into chosing their subjects and into not chosing subjects that scale down.

Yeah, or when you get told you have to do methods to get a "decent atar" when you'd be better off getting a 40 in further then a 20 in methods

Thank you everyone for your advice, each and every one of you has helped me so much in choosing my 2020 subjects!

[yourfriendlyneighbourhoodghost]

I do further, and it's pretty good, not too hard but not too easy. May I ask why your teacher said if you want a good Atar further will do you no good?

[J_Rho]

I do further, and it's pretty good, not too hard but not too easy. May I ask why your teacher said if you want a good Atar further will do you no good?

Honestly I'm not sure but I suspect it is perhaps because every other 90+ atar student over the last 3 years have done methods???

[Snow Leopard]

I do further, and it's pretty good, not too hard but not too easy. May I ask why your teacher said if you want a good Atar further will do you no good?

They said that the only way I'll do well in Further is to get perfect scores and since I have't been getting perfect scores this year, they don't think I'll get perfect scores next year etc.

Honestly I'm not sure but I suspect it is perhaps because every other 90+ atar student over the last 3 years have done methods???

Yeah, they definitely used this as another reason, more to the whole class though, rather than to me individually.

[Joseph41]

How did you go with this in the end, J_Rho?

[J_Rho]

How did you go with this in the end, J_Rho?

Thanks for your reply Joseph41,
I ended up (in this order) putting down;
English
Legal Studies
Further Maths
HHD
Psychology
Reserves: Outdoor Ed, Economics, Business)
I'm also applying for Deakin Accelerate (Law or Criminology) so whichever subject I'm disliking most will be the one I drop if I get into the accelerate program