Year 11 Subjects

[Niskii]

Hi everyone, I'm new here, so I'm hoping this is the right place for this to go.

So, I'm in Year 10 and I'm in the process of picking my subjects for next year.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

• English Language 1/2
• Business Management 3/4
• Maths Methods 3/4
• General Maths Advanced (the one that leads onto Specialist)
• Chemistry 1/2

And I'm looking to do one more. I was going to pick Legal Studies 1/2 but that clashes with GMA timetable-wise.

So now I'm tossing up between French and Psychology. I'm pretty science/maths inclined, but I enjoy the whole concept of being able to speak another language, however French is probably my lowest scoring subject, percentage-wise anyway. However, that said, My French teacher thinks I should do French in VCE because I'm one of the better students in the class.

I really do like French, but I'm worried about listening and reading comprehension. I'm fine with speaking and grammar work though. I was thinking of doing Psych for an interesting change (never done a Psychology-like subject), but I was pretty put off when I put some scores in an ATAR calculator for fun and a 35 in French scales to be higher than a 45 in Psych.

That said, I am aiming high with my ATAR, hoping for something > 99.

Would it be worth putting in the extra work to do a language when I'm already doing two 3/4s and GMA or just do Psychology and aim high instead?

Thanks for any advice. I hope to be coming around here more often once next year begins (: Sorry if this is too long! Haha.

[vexx]

If you are aiming high, the best bet is to do a language to ensure you get the best possible scaling. Work hard at your language, not taking focus off your 3/4s, but over the holidays when you end, to do heaps of practice - there are heaps of practice materials available to self-teach (better than school teaching), so you can definitely improve to a very high level in just a few months after you finish your 3/4s this year. Psych requires a lot of memorising, and while it is interesting, it just a ROTE learning subject that is annoying. If you want to learn psych, learn yourself, or wait until uni.

[Niskii]

Thanks for the advice, vexx

I will definitely take that on board.

I'm currently leaning towards French- I figure that if I really don't like it as a VCE subject, I can always do some other subject in Year 12 by jumping straight into the 3/4 if I really have to.

[Chavi]

LOTE FTW. Seriously, this is the best advice I could give for VCE and Vexx is spot on. If you finish VCE with a language under your belt it feels like such a big accomplishment

[burbs]

Hmm.. very good subjects. I think french may give you something different from Maths/science that you currently have, that said, Psych is apps v. interesting.

best of luck

[Hutchoo]

I'd go for French.
If you're really interested in psychology, you can always learn it yourself.. the concepts aren't too hard to grasp etc.
I don't like it because my class is full of d3rps and it feels like i'm being exposed to some common sense with fancy words (unit 1/2)

If you want to learn psych, learn yourself, or wait until uni.

^ 100000% godly.

[Slumdawg]

Psych is extremely interesting (well for me anyway haha) but it's super competitive. Be prepared to have to learn concepts back to front to get a score over 45 and even then, some multiple choice questions are ambiguous so it can come down to luck on the day as to what you choose. Considering you're aiming for 99+ I'd say go with french. Psych is a very risky subject. A couple of mistakes will impact you a LOT since so many people do it and heaps of people are good at it, hence it's quite hard to do well in.

So my pick would be french even though psych has been my favourite subject this year haha.

I'd say the best thing about psych is how much it applies to us all. Every single topic I learnt I saw on tv on some medical show or with a family member or even myself with the stuff on memory etc. So it's really relevant and I think the stuff you learn will serve you well in the future. But I'd suggest just learning it in your own time if you want.

[iNerd]

Psych is extremely interesting (well for me anyway haha) but it's super competitive. Be prepared to have to learn concepts back to front to get a score over 45 and even then, some multiple choice questions are ambiguous so it can come down to luck on the day as to what you choose. Considering you're aiming for 99+ I'd say go with french. Psych is a very risky subject. A couple of mistakes will impact you a LOT since so many people do it and heaps of people are good at it, hence it's quite hard to do well in.

So my pick would be french even though psych has been my favourite subject this year haha.

You scare me about next year....a lot

[Slumdawg]

Psych is extremely interesting (well for me anyway haha) but it's super competitive. Be prepared to have to learn concepts back to front to get a score over 45 and even then, some multiple choice questions are ambiguous so it can come down to luck on the day as to what you choose. Considering you're aiming for 99+ I'd say go with french. Psych is a very risky subject. A couple of mistakes will impact you a LOT since so many people do it and heaps of people are good at it, hence it's quite hard to do well in.

So my pick would be french even though psych has been my favourite subject this year haha.

You scare me about next year....a lot

Haha well you seem to be doing fine. So you should be alright. Hasn't anyone ever warned you of the dangers of doing psychology! It's very tough to do really really well (i.e. 46+) basically anyone will tell you that..You need to put in a LOT of effort. Did you see matt123, he did 55+ papers! for EACH exam. Having said that, it's such a good subject. Choosing psych was the best decision for me. We'll have to see how I go though on dec 13th. I could have succumb to stupid mistakes

[burbs]

I hear study techniques for BM are similar for Psych?

[Slumdawg]

I hear study techniques for BM are similar for Psych?

Haha. yep. Doing bus man helped quite a bit for psych in terms of applying what you need to write about to a case study. However, with bus man they aren't AS specific. Psychology, if you're missing one key word you don't get the mark. I think psych is a lot tougher than bus man, especially in 2010 where both our exams were much harder than past years. The study design is changing next year for psych and I've heard it will be a LOT less rote learning and much more application. So it's gonna be less like bus man next year I guess. But I studied for psych COMPLETELY differently to bus man. Bus man, just basically rote learned most of the stuff and definitions while with psych I just tried to understand every concept so I could just make up a definition off the top of my head. The latter option is much more time efficient and the info will stay better in your memory too...

Are you doing psych next year?

[burbs]

Yeah, and BM this year.

Look the change in BM SD has made it more application now as well - hoping for an easy transition cause i didn't do 1/2, swapping from interpol

[Slumdawg]

Yeah, and BM this year.

Look the change in BM SD has made it more application now as well - hoping for an easy transition cause i didn't do 1/2, swapping from interpol

3/4 psych this year too? or 1/2? Yer I did see the sample bus man paper, it's more application that's true. But it was still quite similar to the old study design. I heard psych's short answer are gonna be essay type questions or something, so a much more dramatic change.

Anyway good luck for busman hope you get a 45+ score!

[burbs]

Yeah they are apparently splitting the exam to 3  sections with MC in each at the start, then short answer. Should be alright. If

Thanks, hoping to get that too (45+ in English, BM and Psych will sort out my ATAR for me)

[Niskii]

Psychology, if you're missing one key word you don't get the mark.

Serious? Wow, that's harsh.

Yeah, my parents were talking to some parents at school who have kids with similar interests to me and had similar grades in Year 10, and none of them did Psych because it's too vague? Like the 'Literature of sciences'... kind of? Probably a very farfetched metaphor though

That said neither of them did GMA/Spesh either although they probably were just as good as maths as I am now.