Choosing three new subjects for VCE?

[Interficere]

And by new, I mean I've never done them before. I know that 1/2s aren't prerequisites for 3/4s, but I don't want to do a subject and then figure out I suck at it/don't like it.
Conveniently enough, about a week after the course change date went by, I figured out that I really don't like EngLang, I'm not very committed to Vis.Com, and Psychology isn't what I expected it to be (i.e, it's a science, and I'm really not good at stuff that has only one right answer).

Last year, I figured that if I didn't like a subject, I'd just drop it the next year. I didn't expect to not like THREE of my subjects. I'm getting high A+'s in all my subjects, except in those three. Getting 86% in a SAC isn't that bad, but I can't afford low A+'s in my subjects next year, especially since none of them scale up that much. (I'm doing all humanities, with the exception of Psychology, which scales down anyway.) 

I was planning to replace those three next year with Philosophy, Economics and Legal Studies. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine with Philosphy, but it's the last two that concern me. I looked at my friend's Eco textbook and had a minor aneurysm. It just seems like a huge risk, because if I don't do well in those subjects/don't enjoy them, then I may as well have stuck with the ones I'm doing already. At least they'd be familiar. Again, this just isn't a luxury I can afford in Year 12.

How difficult would it be to do those subjects with no background in them whatsoever? And, not only that, but do well in them? I understand that I'd have to put in a lot of effort as compared to someone who'd done the 1/2, but that's a given.

[schnappy]

Bugger all people who do Legal 3/4 have done 1/2. It's easy to pick up, a lot of its intuitive - the rest is memorising dot points (pros/cons) for the 'big' questions. My peev with it so that most of the pros and cons are the same just worded differently... atleast in my opinion. And you also lose marks for not stating the obvious.

Hope that gives you some insight into LS.

[slothpomba]

I also hear legal studies is very good in that regard, easy to pick up.

English language 1/2 is pretty meh compared to 3/4 where its about political language/propoganda/advertising/aboriginal languages/ect much better than 1 and 2 in my opinion but maybe its because for my 3/4 i had the better teacher....So, maybe have a look at the 3/4 text book if you guys use one (we didn't) and see if it still doesn't interest you.

[taiga]

Do you have an English ??

As to whether or not you could do those subjects without 1/2s, I do find that you might need 1/2s a bit more for humanities than for other subjects where there is a definite right answer. My main concern is for things such as answering questions in the *correct* way, or looking at things in a certain way. If you can manage to get a hold of those things during the summer holidays, I think you should be fine I think it's very brave of you to do this, as there definitely is a risk, but it sounds like you're quite determined so I think you can do well regardless of what you choose.

[Interficere]

Do you have an English ??

As to whether or not you could do those subjects without 1/2s, I do find that you might need 1/2s a bit more for humanities than for other subjects where there is a definite right answer. My main concern is for things such as answering questions in the *correct* way, or looking at things in a certain way. If you can manage to get a hold of those things during the summer holidays, I think you should be fine I think it's very brave of you to do this, as there definitely is a risk, but it sounds like you're quite determined so I think you can do well regardless of what you choose.

I'm doing Literature, and I actually enjoy it, so that's not a problem. (: It's crazy; I guess I'm just so bad at sciences/maths that I can't even do EngLang because it's too much like a science.

I'm hoping that the teachers I have next year will focus on how to approach a question, and how to apply the knowledge. I'll do as much preparation as I can during the holidays, but the main concern is that I can't back out of it again - once I choose my subjects for Year 12, it's unlikely I'll be able to change my mind. So I don't want to swap into something that ends up being just as bad.

[EvangelionZeta]

Legal and Economics are semi-common year 11 3/4 subjects (Legal moreso, but Economics I would say is only second to stuff like Method/Bio/Accounting/Psych/Busman/Revs).  Go for it.

[appianway]

I don't know what VCE economics is like, but I've done a semester of microeconomics and it's very mathsy. It's a scientific way at looking at how society makes decisions. If you find psychology is too scientific, you probably wouldn't like demand curves, looking at the equilibrium price, and all of that.

[EvangelionZeta]

I don't know what VCE economics is like, but I've done a semester of microeconomics and it's very mathsy. It's a scientific way at looking at how society makes decisions. If you find psychology is too scientific, you probably wouldn't like demand curves, looking at the equilibrium price, and all of that.

Most of the people I know who did well in Eco did absolutely no sciences.  From what I gather, VCE Eco tries to get rid of as much of the mathsy stuff as possible - go figure.

[taiga]

What maths did you do in Intro Micro Appianway?

The furthest we went was basic percentages/fractions/linear equations

[Slumdawg]

Go talk to the year 12 teachers who teach the subject at your school about it and that you're concerned you might not like the subjects considering you haven't done the 1/2s.

They should be very helpful and will give you a good idea over what you'll cover.

I did this and it helped me a lot to choose subjects. Glad I talked to the teachers about it. Because they're the ones who you'll have to deal with next year!

[Hutchoo]

I don't know what VCE economics is like, but I've done a semester of microeconomics and it's very mathsy. It's a scientific way at looking at how society makes decisions. If you find psychology is too scientific, you probably wouldn't like demand curves, looking at the equilibrium price, and all of that.

Most of the people I know who did well in Eco did absolutely no sciences.  From what I gather, VCE Eco tries to get rid of as much of the mathsy stuff as possible - go figure.

Year 12 Economics is only number plugging... but you have to read A LOT of graphs. Almost every definition I've done so far can be shown via graphs.

I wouldn't be worried about missing the 1/2 for Economics either. I didn't do the 1/2 but I'm doing the 3/4 now and I don't have any major problems. GOGOGOGO, DO ECO! Become one of us :3 You won't regret it xD.

[Interficere]

I don't know what VCE economics is like, but I've done a semester of microeconomics and it's very mathsy. It's a scientific way at looking at how society makes decisions. If you find psychology is too scientific, you probably wouldn't like demand curves, looking at the equilibrium price, and all of that.

Most of the people I know who did well in Eco did absolutely no sciences.  From what I gather, VCE Eco tries to get rid of as much of the mathsy stuff as possible - go figure.

Year 12 Economics is only number plugging... but you have to read A LOT of graphs. Almost every definition I've done so far can be shown via graphs.

I wouldn't be worried about missing the 1/2 for Economics either. I didn't do the 1/2 but I'm doing the 3/4 now and I don't have any major problems. GOGOGOGO, DO ECO! Become one of us :3 You won't regret it xD.

Heh, good to hear that from someone who's doing the 3/4 now without doing the 1/2. Everyone I've asked who's doing the 1/2 just looks at me blankly and goes, "I don't actually know what we're learning at the moment." I am interested in exploring Economics, but I'm not sure that VCE is a good time to be 'exploring' subjects, no matter what teachers might say. Year 12 is serious business, apparently.

Just to be clear, it's not that much like maths/science, right? Because I really, really cannot do subjects like that. Case in point - not doing that well in EngLang. And that's not even a science. I think I can do graphs though. There are graphs in Psych, after all.

[werdna]

Definitely do Legal Studies if you're into the humanities subjects - the only year 11 knowledge that will be even remotely useful will all be (very) briefly outlined at the beginning of some of the chapters. So really, the year 12 textbook will cover all the areas needed for the year 12 course of course, and also the very small, relevant sections of the year 11 course that may be of benefit. But even then it's not entirely necessary/helpful - the only benefit I can see from doing the year 11 course is learning how to phrase your answers and learning how to study the subject, which I'm sure you're more than capable of grasping well enough with a bit of effort.

One misconception with the subject though, in my opinion, is that it is NOT a primarily rote-learnt subject - there are some aspects of the course that definitely need rote-learning, but most other areas need active learning and really good analytical skills in using legal terminology and applying both recent and case examples. I've attached a copy of one of these sheets I did as extra work, it's got a listing of recent examples and case studies to be used for one of the areas of study, so I guess this can give you an idea of what to expect if you pick up the subject - lots of cases and examples to know! All the best

[Hutchoo]

The only math based things you do is calculating CPI/Aggregate Demand and other simple things. The reason I say it's simple is because all of the values etc. are given to you and no hard work is required to get an answer. All you do is substitute values.

[appianway]

What maths did you do in Intro Micro Appianway?

The furthest we went was basic percentages/fractions/linear equations

A bit of differentiation, as well as linear equations/fractions/percentages (obviously) and a few non linear equations.