Should I drop Specialist - ENTER wise?? Please Help!!

[Plan-B]

I posted this as a post in the spec forums and wasn't getting any responses.. I really need help with this as teachers aren't helping, and dont really know who to talk to.

I am currently doing General Advance this year and am thinking of dropping this subject next year in opt to focus on only four subjects (Currently doing I.T Applications Unit 3 and 4 this year). I am doing relatively well in the subject, averaging above 80% due to consistent practice and sacrificing study time spent on other subjects. However, I am getting really tired of this subject as the amount of work I put into studying it does not yield the same level of results if I were to spend on other subjects.

Do you think I would suffer considerably, ENTER wise, if I were to drop it and simply focus on the four next year? And would the lack of doing specialist affect placement in University courses greatly? (E.g. both students have same ENTER, one does specialist the other doesnt, if requirement is methods/specialist)

Thanks if you guys help

[iNerd]

Specialist won't affect your university options but if you plan on engineering...well 1st year engineering is basically Y12 Spesh..
Are you saying you'll drop Spesh and therefore only have 5 subjects to count towards your ATAR? This is detrimental to your ATAR!
Take spesh! Even if you get like a 20...scale that to 28...you get 2.8 counted towards your ATAR.
And dude if you don't want to work in spesh...don't work...take your chem book to spesh class or whatever...but yes, your ATAR will be affected if you only have 5 subjects instead of 6.

[Plan-B]

Yeah I am planning on doing 5. That means 10 study periods next year for me a week, which I would be really helpful.

How detrimental is it? Do I get marked down or something for only doing 5 subjects? I know my max aggregate drops by about 4-5 points, assuming its in my bottom and I actually somehow achieve a 40. I just feel I can do far better with specialist out of the way, and not lingering in the back of my mind.

Thanks for quick response

[98.40_for_sure]

There's nothing wrong with doing <6 subjects... i did 1 in yr11(got in the 20's) and 4 in yr12 and im still capable of getting a higher enter than those than did 6 in total. but spesh in year 12 is fun, might wanna think about that

[iNerd]

There's nothing wrong with doing <6 subjects... i did 1 in yr11(got in the 20's) and 4 in yr12 and im still capable of getting a higher enter than those than did 6 in total. but spesh in year 12 is fun, might wanna think about that

obviously your "capable" cuz a freaking nerd ...however having 6 is obviously going to give you a POTENTIALLY higher score then having 5 subjects...as soon as you have <6 subjects you sacrifice the right to a 99.95 and also your marks will be out of 205 whereas everyone else's is out of 210...

[98.40_for_sure]

Not true... just smash your subjects you're doing and get +5 higher than everyone elses, to compensate for the 6th sub they got. For the guy that created this thread... maybe consider doing a uni enhancement program? they boost your enter nicely and from what i've heard from people doing them, they aren't hard at all, and don't require much work. or maybe if you don't mind a lot of maths, do spesh + muep maths, they complement each other really well. +5.5 for close to no work is better than going balls to the wall and getting 45 in a subject or something...

[Plan-B]

Thanks guys,
I believe I will most likely drop it, as I know I dont have a shot at 99.95 in the first place, and that by dropping Spec, I have a higher chance of hitting a score closer to it. I dont think an enhancement program is a good option for me, as the reason I'm thinking of dropping Spec is the fact that Im getting really sick of doing maths.

[luken93]

Thanks guys,
I believe I will most likely drop it, as I know I dont have a shot at 99.95 in the first place, and that by dropping Spec, I have a higher chance of hitting a score closer to it. I dont think an enhancement program is a good option for me, as the reason I'm thinking of dropping Spec is the fact that Im getting really sick of doing maths.

have a play on atarcalc.com , and see whether you consider it to be a huge disadvantage or not. You are the only one that can decide what to do, afterall you are the one doing the subject

[chansthename]

spesh is very useful, and puts methods to shame (in terms of fun of course).

I find that spesh is a lot more exciting and really other than harder exam questions the content isn't all that hard. The topics pretty much carry over from GMA (mostly complex numbers, kinematics, mechanics and vectors)

It is a nice little boost and although some practise exams have me almost in tears, I believe that it will be worth it.

The extra frees are overrated, I have 10 frees a week and most of it is really wasted (more my fault than anything), I do more work at home than during frees.

seriously have a long think about it and as the previous poster has said, play with an ATAR calc.

[kyzoo]

they boost your enter nicely and from what i've heard from people doing them, they aren't hard at all, and don't require much work. or maybe if you don't mind a lot of maths, do spesh + muep maths, they complement each other really well. +5.5 for close to no work is better than going balls to the wall and getting 45 in a subject or something...

Are you freaking kidding me? My Uni Extension Program is like 10x harder than all my other subjects. Honestly I've never had so much trouble grasping concepts before.

And yeah, I agree that extra spares is overrated.

[98.40_for_sure]

they boost your enter nicely and from what i've heard from people doing them, they aren't hard at all, and don't require much work. or maybe if you don't mind a lot of maths, do spesh + muep maths, they complement each other really well. +5.5 for close to no work is better than going balls to the wall and getting 45 in a subject or something...

Are you freaking kidding me? My Uni Extension Program is like 10x harder than all my other subjects. Honestly I've never had so much trouble grasping concepts before.

And yeah, I agree that extra spares is overrated.

Hmm... is there a huge difference in difficulty between MUEP and UMEP maths perhaps? i know someone who got +5.5 for not much work, and he only got like 35 or something in spesh

[chansthename]

Hmm... is there a huge difference in difficulty between MUEP and UMEP maths perhaps? i know someone who got +5.5 for not much work, and he only got like 35 or something in spesh

some say there is a large difference, others say here was a difference years ago. personally IDK, however it is easier to get a good grade in Uni enhancement because the exam isn't full of potholes like VCAA exams. There have been many places where I am going through the MUEP book trying to learn the concept but ending up blank. There are many sections that I have had to read multiple times and research on the internet to understand properly.

The last chapter I did really felt like the writer of the book was showing off their maths skills, rather than showing what is expected of students.

[kyzoo]

Hmm... is there a huge difference in difficulty between MUEP and UMEP maths perhaps? i know someone who got +5.5 for not much work, and he only got like 35 or something in spesh

some say there is a large difference, others say here was a difference years ago. personally IDK, however it is easier to get a good grade in Uni enhancement because the exam isn't full of potholes like VCAA exams. There have been many places where I am going through the MUEP book trying to learn the concept but ending up blank. There are many sections that I have had to read multiple times and research on the internet to understand properly.

The last chapter I did really felt like the writer of the book was showing off their maths skills, rather than showing what is expected of students.

Dude the UMEP Notes book is the msot RETARDED thing I have ever seen. It takes me 40 minutes just to understand two pages of it, and after that my brain too fried to do anything else. It's like they purposely write it with obfuscation in mind. If I wrote my own notes on the entailed concepts they would be so much more clear and easier to understand =.=

[chansthename]

Dude the UMEP Notes book is the msot RETARDED thing I have ever seen. It takes me 40 minutes just to understand two pages of it, and after that my brain too fried to do anything else. It's like they purposely write it with obfuscation in mind. If I wrote my own notes on the entailed concepts they would be so much more clear and easier to understand =.=

Totally agree, for stuff like right sums and left sums I worked out my own summation notation independant of the book so that I could do it on a calculator, the stuff the book has was killing me. And I too have that 40 minutes on two pages then feeling dead afterwards thing.

[2317]

Spares are overrated. Only time I did work in spares is if I had a SAC next period. If your reasonable at spec then keep it. Just do what your good at is the secret to massive ATAR scores in VCE. eg. U can do Art and all that and if ur good cha-ching. 45+. plus u enjoy it.
IMO drop spec if u think its going to be detrimental to ur other subjs but pick up another subj. Remember if ur only doing 4 subjects then you're going to get sick of them pretty quickly. What subjs are u doing? If your doing Asian ones then perhaps pick up a subj that will give u a break from Maths/Science such as HIstory, BM, PE, Health. This is what i did. just gotta see if it pays off. (yn)