Should I drop Economics for History extension? Need advice ASAP (Year 12 2026) (1 Viewer)

sh_betasquad

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Hey everyone, I’d really appreciate some advice.

I’m in Year 11
currently in school holidays, and need to decide whether to drop Economics and pick up History Extension, otherwise I’ll only have 9 units going into Year 12 next term if i drop Eco. At my school, SOR is compulsory and i do SOR 1 unit, so I can’t drop that. Right now I’m sitting on 11 units after dropping my non-ATAR subject, so my only real options are:

Stick with Economics (making 11 units), (which was my original plan at beginning of year 11) or
Drop Economics and replace it with History Extension (making 10 units).


here are my other subjects if it helps: Math Advanced, English Advanced, SOR 1, society and culture, Modern history (and economics)
Possible degree: international relations

Here’s my situation:

  • Economics:
    • I was a B student most of the year, but in my Prelims I bombed and ended up with a D, while i'm pretty sure everyone else in the class received B or above in their prelim.

    • the first two Year 12 topics on the global economy sound interesting to me, but I think i'll struggle in the rest of the year 12 course due to my year 11 foundations being shaky i'm assuming.

    • A big weakness is my essays I tried pre-memorised answers instead of actually responding to the question, which tanked my marks. i got a 6/20 and 8/20 in both the essays i had in my prelims (I've received 44% in exam overall)

    • My class is small (7 people), and I’ve had the same teacher for 2 years (economics and year 10 commerce), but after my bad result it feels like she doesn’t really want me in the class anymore.

    • I’m worried that even if I get a different better tutor (i had a tutor in economics but clearly they were not good) , classmates who don’t have tutors might still outperform me because Economics rewards fast thinkers who can churn out long, detailed essays under time pressure (clearly i guess everyone in my class is smart). My teacher also wasn't very happy with how i got stuff from "outside sources", wanting everything to be purely just from her notes and everything we do in class. Which is why she was even more pissed at my marks and exam performance (this is another story on how she was like/treating me when giving me back my prelim paper with its feedbacks, literally personally one-on-one we wont get into that :)...


    • When she gave me back my prelim, she phoned my mum afterwards (i actually cried after that feedback session during school because it felt very personal, i couldn't hold it in anymore.) After asking her afterwards, she basically said "it's up to you" whether i stay, and didn't try to encourage me (like how she usually does for other students, i found this a bit odd)
      • Modern History:
        • I’ve done better: I had an A once, then Bs, and a B in my Prelims.

        • I find History essays more manageable since we get more time than in Economics (i had 1 hour for 1 essay in modern prelims whilst eco was 35 mins per each essay). I know in HSC it stays the same for Eco but history changes to 45 minutes.


        • My modern teacher still phoned my mum right after the eco teacher's call, to re-assure me that i can still do extension (I am assuming she knows about what happened to me in economics) so she yet still, felt more supportive than my eco teacher


        • That said, my modern teacher (who would also be my Extension teacher) told my mother on the phone that my vocab is weak and I look confused when she talks about conceptual stuff during class, so I’m unsure if I’d actually thrive in Extension, especially i guess if i'm "bad at reading or writing".
    • I generally enjoyed Economics more than modern history at beginning of year so that is why i didn't consider history extension at all when i was offered it (you need to have a minimum of B in modern or ancient to join the class)
      • History Extension:

      • It’s intimidating since it’s a brand new subject and has the major work, but I’ve already lined up good tutors to give me a head start.

      • With tutoring, I feel like I’d have a real advantage over my classmates (who probably won’t have tutors), which might even help me rank near the top. Unlike economics, tutoring doesn't really give the same edge because it's so exam-based.

      • The downside is that it’s very independent, and I don’t fully know what I’m in for yet.




      • Overall dilemma:

      • Do I suck it up and continue Economics, and aim for an academic comeback even though it’s been draining and my teacher doesn’t feel supportive? (by supportive i meant how she treated me, but generally she always expects us to ask questions, give her questions to mark and i didn't do that so she was really targeting me, because to her that's what being a "supportive" teacher is, on a phone call to my mum after i was crying after i got my exam feedbacks)

      • Or do I start fresh with Extension, since I’ve been stronger in History overall and might perform better with tutoring support?
    • My ATAR goal is in the 80–90+ range, and I want to choose the subject that gives me the best chance at that
    • so mainly i guess i'm considering dropping only because it was my lowest prelim grade so far and how my teacher treated me and everything she expects of me (once again will not get into too much detail on what happened as i really thought she was a nice teacher but tables have turned after my grade)


      So yeah… I feel stuck. What do you all think? Has anyone done both subjects and can compare them? Which subject do you think would give me a better chance to succeed? Sorry for the yapping long post, but hope anyone can still give me their opinions or advice please.


      Thanks in advance!











 
Last edited:

f7eeting

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It's important to first ask why you did not perform so well in your prelims for economics in comparison to your previous exams. Did you not have enough time to study properly? Do you feel as if your mark reflected your efforts?
If you enjoy economics, it is likely that you will also be more willing to put in the effort to study and get better marks, despite your marks this year. Whilst your teacher may have been cruel, it does show that she cares about your performance and, in turn, will likely help you perform better given that you put in the effort.
On the other hand, for history extension, despite not enjoying it as much, you are still performing well.

I think that it is definitely possible to achieve a band 6 in both subjects given your grades now, which should help with achieving your desired ATAR.
They scale generally the same, so not much I can say there...

Overall, for both, I think that you just need to reflect on the effort and time you put into these subjects this year, and if your marks reflected that. Then, consider which subject you'd be willing to put more effort into.
If you can identify why you got the marks you did in economics, are 100% sure that you will put in the effort to do better next year, and would much prefer doing economics work than history extension- then do economics.
However, if you feel as if you are draining yourself for economics and applying yourself completely but are still not getting your desired marks, then perhaps consider doing history extension instead.
Good luck!
(Also, it is pretty late as I write this so if there's some grammatical slip up or spelling error pls ignore it :sleep:)
 

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