Help! Deciding on whether or not to drop to 10 units :(

[hungrymuffin]

Hey Guys!

I'm fairly new to atar notes, but I love the way the friendly community has always provided help and advice to students. I'm currently about to go into year 12 next year with 12 units and I need some advice on whether or not to drop down to 10 units. The subjects I do are:

- biology
- visual arts
- society and culture
- mathematics standard
- english advanced
- english ext 1
- english ext 2

I'm doing pretty well in all of them and I'm hoping for a high atar, and till recently I was pretty sure I wanted to keep them. However, recently ive been considering dropping visual arts. Its not that im bad at the subject, I just don't like the class. I took art because I always did well in it in junior years and its always been a hobby of mine, but I don't enjoy it anymore. my teacher is terrible and doesn't give us right feedback - where she often contradicts herself or gives information contradicting what the other class has been told. She's been a pain. I always lose marks in the practical component - but im doing alright with theory (for prelims I got a 86% which was highest in the course - obviously im aiming higher but I do fairly well in written components). Our first assignment was just planning ideas for our major work. I came up with an idea and I thought it was alright - got it checked by my teacher and she said she liked it too - but then I went and spoke with the other class's teacher (she's a HSC marker) and she didnt like my idea at all and told me to reconsider everything. she told me that if I wanted to go ahead with the idea I currently had I would have to make a bunch of adjustments (change colour scheme, add different things, reconsider subject matter) - ideas which quite frankly I didn't like. It just sucks because I spent 2 months building up to an idea that my teacher cleared - but when I spoke to the other teacher - she completely dismissed it. Now, these holidays, considering I have 3 major works - I feel the least confident about my art one and honestly just the impending doom of having to do my BOW is really just stressing me out. Im thinking of dropping it to focus on my other subjects because I feel like my theory will be alright but my BOW will bring my marks down. But, at the same time im unsure because ill lose that extra subject I can bounce back on if I flunk another subject. Is it risky? would it be worthwhile dropping? Im really aiming for a 90's atar ((

Also - sorry for the massive chunk of text lol, I needed to vent and get some opinions loll.

Thank You!!!!!

[kauac]

Hi hungrymuffin, a big welcome to atar notes!

Sounds like you have already done a fair bit of thinking on the topic. Enjoyment and workload are definitely good factors to consider. As you said, 3 major works would definitely be a lot to juggle!

As for feeling a "riskiness" to the decision, if you are enjoying and tracking well with your other subjects, I don't see any reason why you couldn't drop art. It should give you some free periods to focus on other subjects, right?

Also, maybe not having the stress of doing HSC art would allow art to be an enjoyable hobby again! Whatever you end up deciding, all you can do is put your best effort in, and I believe you can do well with either choice.

[Nomsie]

Hey Guys!

I'm fairly new to atar notes, but I love the way the friendly community has always provided help and advice to students. I'm currently about to go into year 12 next year with 12 units and I need some advice on whether or not to drop down to 10 units. The subjects I do are:

- biology
- visual arts
- society and culture
- mathematics standard
- english advanced
- english ext 1
- english ext 2

I'm doing pretty well in all of them and I'm hoping for a high atar, and till recently I was pretty sure I wanted to keep them. However, recently ive been considering dropping visual arts. Its not that im bad at the subject, I just don't like the class. I took art because I always did well in it in junior years and its always been a hobby of mine, but I don't enjoy it anymore. my teacher is terrible and doesn't give us right feedback - where she often contradicts herself or gives information contradicting what the other class has been told. She's been a pain. I always lose marks in the practical component - but im doing alright with theory (for prelims I got a 86% which was highest in the course - obviously im aiming higher but I do fairly well in written components). Our first assignment was just planning ideas for our major work. I came up with an idea and I thought it was alright - got it checked by my teacher and she said she liked it too - but then I went and spoke with the other class's teacher (she's a HSC marker) and she didnt like my idea at all and told me to reconsider everything. she told me that if I wanted to go ahead with the idea I currently had I would have to make a bunch of adjustments (change colour scheme, add different things, reconsider subject matter) - ideas which quite frankly I didn't like. It just sucks because I spent 2 months building up to an idea that my teacher cleared - but when I spoke to the other teacher - she completely dismissed it. Now, these holidays, considering I have 3 major works - I feel the least confident about my art one and honestly just the impending doom of having to do my BOW is really just stressing me out. Im thinking of dropping it to focus on my other subjects because I feel like my theory will be alright but my BOW will bring my marks down. But, at the same time im unsure because ill lose that extra subject I can bounce back on if I flunk another subject. Is it risky? would it be worthwhile dropping? Im really aiming for a 90's atar ((

Also - sorry for the massive chunk of text lol, I needed to vent and get some opinions loll.

Thank You!!!!!

Hey, I too was considering doing 3 major works and every teacher said to do only two, it is a major relief, and the fact that dropping Art is an entire subject worth of time that can be allocated to either your other major works or harder subjects. Ultimately, it is your decision but if you feel comfy with all your subjects, I suggest dropping VA

[beatroot]

Hello!

Sucks to hear that your VA teacher isn't giving great feedback VA has always been my favourite subject when I did the HSC and it sucks when I hear other students not having the same great experience that I had.

Doing 3 major works does sound crazy to do in Year 12. I know our major work queen Angelina (angewina_naguen on the forums) did four so might be worth having a chat to her if you're still deciding about doing three majors.

Admittedly, VA did take out a huge chunk of my time during the terms and during the holidays as well. I enjoyed both prac and theory and I'm grateful that I had two great teachers and an amazing class to support me on the journey. However, I understand that the impending doom of doing the BOW can stress you out. Though, I believe that the BOW journey is so well worth it (I'll acknowledge the fact that I'm very biased towards the subject) Doing my BOW was a great break from doing my other HSC studying (the fact that you're making an artwork rather than writing an essay is pretty rad imo) VA is a crazy subjective subject so I understand the feeling you get when your art teacher doesn't like your idea. But again, the journey to get from point A to B is so rewarding.

At this point, it really is about- how can you manage your time if you decide to go ahead with continuing the subject. But I'll also recommend considering what you want to do for your tertiary studies (if you plan on going to uni) and your career goals. Will VA help you get closer to your goals? Rank the importance of the subjects that involves a major work.

We've got the VA resources thread here https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=173255.0 You might be able to find some useful things to read and stuff to consider before going ahead with your decision.

Hope that helps

[hungrymuffin]

Hello!

Sucks to hear that your VA teacher isn't giving great feedback VA has always been my favourite subject when I did the HSC and it sucks when I hear other students not having the same great experience that I had.

Doing 3 major works does sound crazy to do in Year 12. I know our major work queen Angelina (angewina_naguen on the forums) did four so might be worth having a chat to her if you're still deciding about doing three majors.

Admittedly, VA did take out a huge chunk of my time during the terms and during the holidays as well. I enjoyed both prac and theory and I'm grateful that I had two great teachers and an amazing class to support me on the journey. However, I understand that the impending doom of doing the BOW can stress you out. Though, I believe that the BOW journey is so well worth it (I'll acknowledge the fact that I'm very biased towards the subject) Doing my BOW was a great break from doing my other HSC studying (the fact that you're making an artwork rather than writing an essay is pretty rad imo) VA is a crazy subjective subject so I understand the feeling you get when your art teacher doesn't like your idea. But again, the journey to get from point A to B is so rewarding.

At this point, it really is about- how can you manage your time if you decide to go ahead with continuing the subject. But I'll also recommend considering what you want to do for your tertiary studies (if you plan on going to uni) and your career goals. Will VA help you get closer to your goals? Rank the importance of the subjects that involves a major work.

We've got the VA resources thread here https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=173255.0 You might be able to find some useful things to read and stuff to consider before going ahead with your decision.

Hope that helps

Hi!

So I'm hopefully planning to study psychology in uni, and I don't really think art will have a major impact on any of my tertiary studies, so maybe it would be worthwhile dropping it :/  It does really make me sad too, since I was so sure it would be a subject I would love and stick with till the end when I did my subject selection in yr 10. My class isn't that supportive, most of the kids don't even really try. Its probably me and 1 or 2 other people who are actually committed in putting in effort into the subject, everyone else just uses it as a free period and do nothing.

The more I think about it- the more I think it would be worthwhile to drop I'll probably update on whether I drop or not when school starts again lol

Thank You everyone for your help! Any other opinions are greatly appreciated!