Should I Change Psychology to Biology

[gcfkn.j]

Okay hear me out because this is going to be quite long.

I'm currently in Year 10 doing Psychology Unit 1 and 2, however I don't think I plan on doing Psychology Unit 2. Reason being is I don't think it would be too beneficial for me. I've spoken with my teacher and she says I'm at the top of both of her classes. I enjoy learning Psychology, but I believe doing Biology as an advanced placement would be a better decision. I have a very vague understanding on the scaling system but I think if I replace Psychology Unit 2 with Biology Unit 2 right now, then I'd have a slight advantage against the Year 11s doing Biology. So I'd hopefully get a higher rank compared to them.

I have quite a few questions so it'd be great if someone could answer them for me. 1) Do I need Biology Unit 1 in order to understand Unit 2? 2) Is there a crossover from Unit 1 and 2 into 3 and 4 for Biology? 3) Is Biology difficult? 4) Should I remain in Psychology since it's a subject I find quite easy to pick up on and because I am at the top of my class?

Another reason why I'm planning on changing to Biology and stop doing Psychology is because of Psychology's scaling. I'm scared that the scaling will heavily affect my result (that's the probably the only reason why I'm reconsidering it). This year, since I'm a Year 10, my subjects would be Methods 1/2 and Biology 1/2 (if I do end up changing). Therefore next year I would be undertaking Methods 3/4, Biology 3/4, Chemistry 1/2, English 1/2, Chinese 1/2 and Specialist 1/2. I want to do Specialist as I enjoy learning maths and think I can do it. It also scales better than Psychology.

If you couldn't tell I'm little stressed for my subject choices and where I'm heading

[Sine]

I'm currently in Year 10 doing Psychology Unit 1 and 2, however I don't think I plan on doing Psychology Unit 2. Reason being is I don't think it would be too beneficial for me. I've spoken with my teacher and she says I'm at the top of both of her classes. I enjoy learning Psychology, but I believe doing Biology as an advanced placement would be a better decision. I have a very vague understanding on the scaling system but I think if I replace Psychology Unit 2 with Biology Unit 2 right now, then I'd have a slight advantage against the Year 11s doing Biology. So I'd hopefully get a higher rank compared to them.

Not too sure what you mean by this, what you do in unit 1 and 2 has zero impact on your study score (including your sac ranks)

I have quite a few questions so it'd be great if someone could answer them for me. 1) Do I need Biology Unit 1 in order to understand Unit 2? 2) Is there a crossover from Unit 1 and 2 into 3 and 4 for Biology? 3) Is Biology difficult? 4) Should I remain in Psychology since it's a subject I find quite easy to pick up on and because I am at the top of my class?

Another reason why I'm planning on changing to Biology and stop doing Psychology is because of Psychology's scaling. I'm scared that the scaling will heavily affect my result (that's the probably the only reason why I'm reconsidering it). This year, since I'm a Year 10, my subjects would be Methods 1/2 and Biology 1/2 (if I do end up changing). Therefore next year I would be undertaking Methods 3/4, Biology 3/4, Chemistry 1/2, English 1/2, Chinese 1/2 and Specialist 1/2. I want to do Specialist as I enjoy learning maths and think I can do it. It also scales better than Psychology.

If you couldn't tell I'm little stressed for my subject choices and where I'm heading

1) No, you don't even need units 1 and 2 for units 3 and 4 (however they may help just to learn a few basic broad biological concepts)
2) Not really, it is not like maths where you need to learn units 1/2 to do units 3/4
3) Depends on your aims/effort you put in
4) I can't really comment on the significance of being at the top of your class since I have no idea about your cohort strength and for the most part people are quite slack in units 1 and 2. I think you should pick the subject you prefer studying rather than guessing which one you may score better on.

In terms of scaling: Scaling is just there to make sure that each subject is standardised so scores between different subjects can be compared with each other. Scaling highly (e.g. specialist maths) doesn't make it easier to score highly in a subject it just means it is really difficult to get a high raw score. Students are more likely to get higher scores in subjects that they like and enjoy studying rather than subjects that scale highly.

[AngelWings]

that's the probably the only reason why I'm reconsidering it

-snip-

If you couldn't tell I'm little stressed for my subject choices and where I'm heading

Big tip: Don’t take subjects purely for the scaling (reason is as Sine said).

Go for subjects you like and subjects you require as prerequisites for future courses (e.g. uni courses) you’d like to do after Year 12. If you like Psych better and/ or considering a career or higher education in psychology, then psych is probably a better choice, and vice versa.

Doing subjects you like will help immensely when getting through VCE, especially when you get to Year 12. (Doing ones you don’t like will feel like nails screeching very very slowly on a chalkboard.) You’ll thank yourself later.

[gcfkn.j]

Big tip: Don’t take subjects purely for the scaling (reason is as Sine said).

Go for subjects you like and subjects you require as prerequisites for future courses (e.g. uni courses) you’d like to do after Year 12. If you like Psych better and/ or considering a career or higher education in psychology, then psych is probably a better choice, and vice versa.

Doing subjects you like will help immensely when getting through VCE, especially when you get to Year 12. (Doing ones you don’t like will feel like nails screeching very very slowly on a chalkboard.) You’ll thank yourself later.

Thank you so much for the quick reply, I will take these into consideration!! I also strongly believe that I will do well in subjects I really enjoy. I needed this advice as I don't want to make any decisions I'd regret later

[Bri MT]

My psych score got scaled down by like 0.1 or something and bio went up by a small amount. Bio and psych usually both don't get a heap of scaling anyway.

I don't recommend making decisions for the scaling in general either; I 100% agree with Sine and AngelWings' advice.