High achievers - Did you do it with a language?

[dehaitest]

I have a question for high achievers (99+) out there.
I was wondering, did you do it with the help of a language? For example, Chinese, Latin or French?
I've been doing Latin for quite some time but this year's difficulty and me falling behind haven't been helping my grades. I don't enjoy Latin right now (I did..) and I'm holding onto it simply because of the potentially huge scaling.

I do (or plan to do) the high scaling science/maths subjects because I honestly enjoy them.

So, high achievers, did you do a language? What does the community suggest about me keeping Latin? (If I do drop Latin I will pick up biology 3/4).

[cara.mel]

My language ended up being 7th/last subject after scaling and didn't count (despite giving it equal effort compared to other subjects)

[humph]

Yes, I did. I was hoping for about 40 in French, which would scale up to 49. Clearly I overestimated how good I was though...

It ended up being my 4th best subject, just in front of physics. That being said, the three other students who got 99.7+ at my school didn't study a language.

[ninwa]

By "high-scaling maths/science subjects" I'm guessing you mean chemistry and physics? ...
*warning: massive generalisation*
... but I've found that generally people who like physics don't like biology. Then again everyone is different. Have you done biology before?

I'd suggest you keep latin because of it's ridiculous scaling, unless you knew you were gonna get below 20, in which case it might be better to do well at biology and get 40+.

(how much does Latin scale up anyway?)

[hard]

i do physics, and i hate biology, psychology and anything to with the human system or living organisms. It really shits me. but then again physics sucks to so i hate both. But yer, no one in my physics class does biology except one, and there's 15 of us. So you can see that it's not very popular among hopeful physicists.

[bubble sunglasses]

   "(how much does Latin scale up anyway?)"

    typically: 30 - 46
                 34 - 48    not sure for  <30
                 36 - 50
                 40 - 52
                 45 - 53
                 50 - 55


    dehaitest: i read that statistically, maths + LOTE [+ private school] is the optimal combination, however, that, or the no. of high achievers here who did a LOTE needn't be of any importance when you choose your subjects.
 Just compare Latin with whatever subject you'd take in it's place, in terms of the factors which matter to you

[Golfa]

this is probably the wrong topic to post this in but anyway....

what's the difference between ranking in a private vs public school? i go to a private school and i'm constantly told 'a medium ranking in our cohort is the same as a high ranking in a public school'. is this true and why?

[Jeffree]

because private school kids pay heaps for their education, obligating their entire cohort to try harder.
Thus their average exam marks are higher
=> influencing their sac marks
=> their cohorts do better.

statistically

[xox.happy1.xox]

I do Italian this year, and because it's my native language, I think I may do well in it... But the scaling is an extra bonus. If you're good at Latin, keep it up and the scaling will ensure a high study score!

[Ahmad]

I didn't do any LOTEs. I don't think it's necessary to do well.

[Eriny]

what's the difference between ranking in a private vs public school? i go to a private school and i'm constantly told 'a medium ranking in our cohort is the same as a high ranking in a public school'. is this true and why?

Not really, although it depends. In public schools there are usually less people who are ranked high (relative to the rest of the state) than in private schools, in which case a middle ranking kid in a private school may do a bit better than a middle ranking kid in a public school when their performance is compared to the rest of the state. But most public schools have at least a couple kids that get 97+ every year, and to say that a middle ranking private school kid can definitely expect that kind of score is optimistic. The public school middle-band is probably around 60, whereas the private school one might be around 75-80. So, that statement is only kind of true, according to probabilities.

[cara.mel]

I think they are saying that just because you are in the middle of your cohort, does not mean you will go on to get 30.