Drop Bio 1/2 and do Physics 3/4 next year?

[farbevys]

Hi everyone, I'm in Year 11 and I currently do Further 3/4, Specialist, Methods, Chemistry, Biology and English. I am thinking of swapping Biology for Physics 3/4 next year despite the fact that I have never done any physics subjects before, however i have covered physics based topics in Year 10 Enhanced Maths where we went over vectors, kinematics and velocity-time formulas, and I was extremely comfortable with these topics and scored well on them. My grades for Specialist and Methods are currently averaging around 97% so i think i am more than capable in the maths aspect. For bio my grades are solid at around an 88% average, but the way it is taught at my school annoys me as they include topics on SACs that arent taught to us and it is extremely hard to understand what we need to know on SACs due to the disorganization of how the course is taught, and this has kind of killed my desire to do the subject. Ive seen everyone saying biology is a great subject and the content is very enjoyable and interesting but my school just sort of kills it for me. Would it be a good idea to change to Physics 3/4 next year considering my circumstances?

If you don't want to read all that, should I swap Biology 3/4 with Physics 3/4 next year while doing Specalist and Methods?

[mabajas76]

Ok well your talent for math will certainly come in handy, especially with the relativity stuff. You doing spec will also be a big help as mechanics/kinematics and trying to use models are a big part of physics 3/4. However, a large part of the year 12 course is not covered in year 11(only like the motion/energy stuff, which it seems u r familiar with, electricity and maybe some electromagnetic wave but it takes like 4 seconds to learn. One thing to be aware of is that AOS 3 is a big prac which you have to design, create and discuss yourself, this is something the people who did the 1/2 have done before and so may already have this set up, the prac can be as easy as dropping a ball and measuring efficiency but it better be a damm good report to get a very high grade with that lol. It is not that big a deal but definitely something you should think about and be aware of sinc eu lack experience writing a report (easy to learn tho). Beyond that tho, you really won't be at that big a disadvantage, especially with ur capabilities with math and the fact that a lot of the content is new for everyone. The physics stuff is definitely clear and personally, way more fun. (shhhhhhhhhhh), bio can be a messy subject in terms of order and how content but doesn't mean it ain't fun.
In the end, the last thing to consider would be what ur planning to do after year 12, how much you are enjoying bio and maybe chatting to the physics teacher to see what they are like, mine is great (also my spec teacher) so the subject is a heap of fun and easy grades. I have almost the exact same work load as you (Physics, chem, spec, methods, English Language, Italian and religion and society 3/4) and i think it is manageable. Before u talk to ur teachers, take a peak at the study design to see whats up, but don't stress about some of the language or weird formulas they r easier than they look (most of the time). Or even try to drop bio 1/2 and pick up physics now in the mid semester.

[Stormbreaker-X]

I encourage you to do what you want to do, if you are good at math then physics seems like a good option for you. There is one guy at my school who went into physic 3/4 without 1/2 and seems to be doing pretty well. Although with that being said I didn't do physics, but I did do biology. Biology can be tough I am doing 3/4 this year and there is a lot of memorising that needs to be done.

[farbevys]

Ok well your talent for math will certainly come in handy, especially with the relativity stuff. You doing spec will also be a big help as mechanics/kinematics and trying to use models are a big part of physics 3/4. However, a large part of the year 12 course is not covered in year 11(only like the motion/energy stuff, which it seems u r familiar with, electricity and maybe some electromagnetic wave but it takes like 4 seconds to learn. One thing to be aware of is that AOS 3 is a big prac which you have to design, create and discuss yourself, this is something the people who did the 1/2 have done before and so may already have this set up, the prac can be as easy as dropping a ball and measuring efficiency but it better be a damm good report to get a very high grade with that lol. It is not that big a deal but definitely something you should think about and be aware of sinc eu lack experience writing a report (easy to learn tho). Beyond that tho, you really won't be at that big a disadvantage, especially with ur capabilities with math and the fact that a lot of the content is new for everyone. The physics stuff is definitely clear and personally, way more fun. (shhhhhhhhhhh), bio can be a messy subject in terms of order and how content but doesn't mean it ain't fun.
In the end, the last thing to consider would be what ur planning to do after year 12, how much you are enjoying bio and maybe chatting to the physics teacher to see what they are like, mine is great (also my spec teacher) so the subject is a heap of fun and easy grades. I have almost the exact same work load as you (Physics, chem, spec, methods, English Language, Italian and religion and society 3/4) and i think it is manageable. Before u talk to ur teachers, take a peak at the study design to see whats up, but don't stress about some of the language or weird formulas they r easier than they look (most of the time). Or even try to drop bio 1/2 and pick up physics now in the mid semester.

That's great news, and hopefully I will get some experience with pracs in chem and bio for the rest of the year so that might help. I'm more learning towards doing something in engineering because i had a sort of change of heart from medicine, however i haven't completely thrown medicine out the door yet so its good that ill have some background knowledge of that from bio. And yeah that exactly how I feel about bio, i like the content and its fun but the order and the way everything is taught is so disorganised and messy to me and that is hard for me to adjust to considering i feel as if maths is taught in order and direct (from my personal experience). And yeah I would drop bio and do physics next semester, but unfortunately my school is annoying and will only let me change at the end of the year. I guess ill just have to do lots of catchup on the holidays, and i did look at the study design and all the content seems quite interesting. Ill probably have a more in depth chat about it with the physics teacher when we choose our 3/4 subjects next year

[farbevys]

I encourage you to do what you want to do, if you are good at math then physics seems like a good option for you. There is one guy at my school who went into physic 3/4 without 1/2 and seems to be doing pretty well. Although with that being said I didn't do physics, but I did do biology. Biology can be tough I am doing 3/4 this year and there is a lot of memorising that needs to be done.

Yeah that's one thing that kind of scares me about biology is the content heaviness and memorisation.