4 subjects in Year 12?

[EMAHER]

Hello
I am currently considering doing only four subjects next year and am still desperate for advice!
I got a suprise on Monday with my two 3/4 results - I got 43 for Polish, and 45 for Texts & Traditions (both raw, Polish gets scaled up by about 3). So yeah, I'm over the moon with my results but now some serious decision making is awaiting me!!

Initially I was going to do the following subjects next year:
1. English - I'm pretty good at English averaging A's/A+'s throughout year 11. So yeah I'd be hoping for 40+. Must keep.
2. Methods - I'm not excellent at Maths, but better then average. I got an A overall for year 11, averaging around the 80's. Will keep it as it opens up almost all options. Hoping for around 35 as I heard its VERY hard in year 12.
3. Chemistry - I personally dislike it, have a horrible teacher, but I have a nice tutor who think I am fairly capable in it, and its important in keeping options open, especially since I have a possible interest in health science uni courses, or pharmacy. Would be happy with a 33ish.
4. Accounting - I like the subject, love the teacher & class and am enthusiastic about it. Def won't drop it as I am planning on doing a commerce degree (maybe) and I like it. However I heard its very hard to get 40+ for it, but I think its worth a shot.
5. Further Maths - Like mentioned, I am capable at maths and think I would not struggle to get 40+. However I guess it is the subject to drop so I have more time to study. Also I am doing the Trig module which I hate, and I am prone to silly mistakes.

SO AH, I DUNNO!! LOL... which one do you suggest dropping? And would you drop one? Any advice is appreciated

[ben_ess12]

I'm not in year 12 or anything but by reading your pos probably further. If your doing methods and think you van do well keep as it opens up options then u don't really need further and I assume by having one less subject you will get spare periods to use to revise/study in

[Greatness]

The only subject i would suggest dropping is further. BUT you may as well just those 5 subejcts because you dont really need to do much for furhter maths, only study before sacs and 10~ prac exams. Who knows, you may even get a very high score in further...

[vexx]

Agreed with above, the only thing to drop would be further.
However, you do not know what is going to happen this year with your subjects, so it is safer to keep all 5 and study at them - most do 5 anyway. Depends on your ATAR aim? Those two mid 40 scores you achieved this year may be enough to sit in your top 4 to get what you want. If it this is the case, you do not need further since you only need 2 more subjects to be in your top 4 (including English).. If you want higher, then do further as it gives you more options.
I assumed further would be in my top 4 and neglected methods, it ended up being my 7th subject - so do not think you know what will happen.

[lexitu]

Hey, really busy, gotta be somewhere soon, but my advice to you is do four subjects! Unless you did not do one in year 11, then you have something to consider. Can really free time.

[EMAHER]

Agreed with above, the only thing to drop would be further.
However, you do not know what is going to happen this year with your subjects, so it is safer to keep all 5 and study at them - most do 5 anyway. Depends on your ATAR aim? Those two mid 40 scores you achieved this year may be enough to sit in your top 4 to get what you want. If it this is the case, you do not need further since you only need 2 more subjects to be in your top 4 (including English).. If you want higher, then do further as it gives you more options.
I assumed further would be in my top 4 and neglected methods, it ended up being my 7th subject - so do not think you know what will happen.

Yeah, realistically further would be the only one to drop. I dunno about my ATAR aim, I guess I'd love a 90+, maybe 95+. And yeah my two mid 40's would def be in my top four. I just thought my dropping one, I'd have more time to focus on the others and stress less and stuff. Congrats on you atar score btw, its amazing!

[EMAHER]

Hey, really busy, gotta be somewhere soon, but my advice to you is do four subjects! Unless you did not do one in year 11, then you have something to consider. Can really free time.

Haha, thanks. Yeah I did two in Year 11, did really good in both of them. Just worried if I have only four (fairly challenging subjects), I might struggle to get 40+ in them, you know?

[Romperait]

Do you have any idea of what you're aiming for as an atar? I'm keeping 5 subjects going into next year in the hopes of getting three other subjects (not including english) higher than my scaled methods mark of (~46.4) from this year. If those scores both more than sufficiently contribute to your aggregate, then dropping a subject (Further? I dunno) could be of benefit for you to gain you more study time. Otherwise, aim high for all your subjects and see where that takes you...

[_avO]

My brother (jasoN-) didn't get any 40's for his core studies (Chem/Spesh/Methods/Bio) whilst putting a lot of effort in each subject. He also did Further but neglected it all year because he would rather concentrate on chem and spesh. He still managed to pull off 100% in SACs and 99% in the exam getting himself a 50 with no prior study whatsoever.

What I'm saying here is that even though you might want to drop it, Further can be a real safety net when it comes to achieving a high ATAR, just in case you bomb out in one of your studies, you can get really lucky and achieve a high study score without much effort. Doing Methods and Accounting would mean you're good with numbers, so IMO keep the 5 studies and hope for the best!

Good luck!

[EMAHER]

Do you have any idea of what you're aiming for as an atar? I'm keeping 5 subjects going into next year in the hopes of getting three other subjects (not including english) higher than my scaled methods mark of (~46.4) from this year. If those scores both more than sufficiently contribute to your aggregate, then dropping a subject (Further? I dunno) could be of benefit for you to gain you more study time. Otherwise, aim high for all your subjects and see where that takes you...

Wow, congrats on methods! Thats incredible. I'm guessing I'm not hoping for as much as you - around 90, 95+ would be a bonus. And yeah, these two subjects def will be my top four. So, yeah maybe dropping further for more time/less stress. What do you think?

[jasoN-]

My opinion is keeping all 5, you'll be finding u have a lot of spare time with 2 free blocks.
Further is a real bludge if you're decent-good at math.
The subject itself takes no time to learn and can easily be done a chapter per 1 or 2 lessons if you work ahead. This gives time to study on other subjects or simply begin revision on further topics themselves.

I for one thank myself for choosing further, it really boosted my ATAR (see sig) with minimal revision and for the most part an easy year.

If i had the choice to do uni maths (which i regretted not doing half way through the year) my ATAR would be considerably less (as uni subjects partake in 10% aggregate only!)

GL with your decision, you can always ask your teachers for advice too.

[Greatness]

The thing is i dont think you will gain THAT much study time from dropping further... Ofcourse you get the free periods, but you dont have to do much work for it outside of class. Just do the 5, you sound capable enough to do so

[Romperait]

Do you have any idea of what you're aiming for as an atar? I'm keeping 5 subjects going into next year in the hopes of getting three other subjects (not including english) higher than my scaled methods mark of (~46.4) from this year. If those scores both more than sufficiently contribute to your aggregate, then dropping a subject (Further? I dunno) could be of benefit for you to gain you more study time. Otherwise, aim high for all your subjects and see where that takes you...

Wow, congrats on methods! Thats incredible. I'm guessing I'm not hoping for as much as you - around 90, 95+ would be a bonus. And yeah, these two subjects def will be my top four. So, yeah maybe dropping further for more time/less stress. What do you think?

Ummm the way I see it - if you get 30 raw in every one of your subjects you'll get over 90 and obviously you're going to be trying for a bit higher than that for all of them. I'm sure you're very capable of pulling off 40+ whether it be for four subjects or five, so really it comes down to what you want (i.e. are any of those subjects bad/unenjoyable enough that you'd rather not do them next year?).

[funkyducky]

It's a personal choice - some would argue that you're not losing anything in taking an extra subject; it's kind of a safety net, in case you royally stuff up one of your exams. On the other hand, if you dropped a subject, you'd free up some more time. Personally, I'm taking an extra subject next year, which was a hard decision to make, but if it does become overwhelming, I can always drop the 7th subject.

[Hutchoo]

Keep all 5.

My reason? Read all of the posts above me ^