what science shoudl i choose for the hsc im struggling (1 Viewer)

sbxyyx

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im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
 

mvrcuriee

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im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
Ur school doesn’t offer eco/bus/legal/SOR?
 

Masaken

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im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
year 11 chem is alright, y12 chem is a lot easier, from what i remember the most important part of y11 chem is mod 2 because it introduces a math/calculation side to chem which u need for the rest of the topic and then a bit here and there from mod 1 and 4 for some of the theory content. mod 1 is decently easy, mod 2 i found a bit tricky at the start but easy once you memorise all the formulas and practise, mod 3 and 4 are kinda forgettable but straightforward. y12 chem has a bigger focus on calculations (with still a decent chunk of theory and scientific application) but as long as you know the foundations from mod 2, you should be fine as the chem calculation questions are very straightforward and always have step-by-step approaches for them. i didn't find that chem had a huge workload

bio scales the lowest out of the big three sciences but it's far from being a poorly-scaling subject, just bear in mind if you're not a fan of history cos of memorisation and content you might want to steer clear of bio if the content in bio isn't your thing
 

Sylfiphy

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im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
bro trust i thought I hated physics now I am literally Einstein
 

aqwerty13402

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im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
dont choose subjects on scaling!!! i think bio is fine. For content heaviness its probably like a 7.5/10. But don't pick a subject u dont want to do bc u reckon it'll scale better. My friends all did this, and they all dropped the 'better scaling' subject bc they werent motivated to study, and didnt care for it
 

sbxyyx

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year 11 chem is alright, y12 chem is a lot easier, from what i remember the most important part of y11 chem is mod 2 because it introduces a math/calculation side to chem which u need for the rest of the topic and then a bit here and there from mod 1 and 4 for some of the theory content. mod 1 is decently easy, mod 2 i found a bit tricky at the start but easy once you memorise all the formulas and practise, mod 3 and 4 are kinda forgettable but straightforward. y12 chem has a bigger focus on calculations (with still a decent chunk of theory and scientific application) but as long as you know the foundations from mod 2, you should be fine as the chem calculation questions are very straightforward and always have step-by-step approaches for them. i didn't find that chem had a huge workload

bio scales the lowest out of the big three sciences but it's far from being a poorly-scaling subject, just bear in mind if you're not a fan of history cos of memorisation and content you might want to steer clear of bio if the content in bio isn't your thing
was there a big difference between y10 and y11 chem
 

zahri992

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bio is not actually THAT difficult
there is a lot of content but if you stay on top of it it is very interesting. Don't be concerned with scaling as much, just do subjects you're interested in and enjoy and you will get better marks than torturing yourself doing a high scaling subject.
also If your school offers, consider a technology subject! most schools will have food tech and design tech.
 

Masaken

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was there a big difference between y10 and y11 chem
i'm not too sure seeing as y10 chem can be different for different schools. in my school, all i did in y10 chem was learn how to balance equations and the different types of reactions (eg. acid + base), really easy stuff, while my sister's school learned the fundamentals of organic chem in y10 chem (which is very weird imo but yeah). whether y10 chem sticks with you or not it doesn't matter because y11 chem teaches from scratch and assumes you don't know any of the fundamentals in the first place. i did y10 chem during the 2021 lockdowns (read: that means i didn't pay attention to y10 chem) so i went into y11 chem knowing essentially nothing (i didn't understand how to balance equations properly til they were taught in the y11 course). it turned out fine for me as long as you just study in y11 chem and put some effort in
 

kkk579

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Why dont you pick all 3 and try? Usually theres a period after a couple weeks where youre allowed to drop and pick up subjects(check with your teachers because it might not apply to your school but mine had it)

Or u could do trial lessons at tutors for the diff subjects to get a taste of each one
 
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kkk579

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im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
Also chem is actually not that hard, it differs for everyone but imo if i were to do all 3(i do chem and phys rn) id find bio the hardest since memorising a shit load of content seems like a very painful process to me
 

kkk579

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year 11 chem is alright, y12 chem is a lot easier, from what i remember the most important part of y11 chem is mod 2 because it introduces a math/calculation side to chem which u need for the rest of the topic and then a bit here and there from mod 1 and 4 for some of the theory content. mod 1 is decently easy, mod 2 i found a bit tricky at the start but easy once you memorise all the formulas and practise, mod 3 and 4 are kinda forgettable but straightforward. y12 chem has a bigger focus on calculations (with still a decent chunk of theory and scientific application) but as long as you know the foundations from mod 2, you should be fine as the chem calculation questions are very straightforward and always have step-by-step approaches for them. i didn't find that chem had a huge workload

bio scales the lowest out of the big three sciences but it's far from being a poorly-scaling subject, just bear in mind if you're not a fan of history cos of memorisation and content you might want to steer clear of bio if the content in bio isn't your thing
is y11 chem actually easier than y12?
 

iloveeggs

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if you have to pick
im thinking of taking bio but does it scale badly?? is chem hard bc I've lowkey ruled out physics but i heard both of them scale well. like i honestly don't know what subjects to choose so i think i should take a science cos no way I'm doing history or smth. whats the workload and content like for them???
couple of things ive got to say:
1. don't take subjects bc of scaling, think abt how much you will enjoy the subject, how good your teachers or previous cohorts from your school were at the subject, whether or not you thing you can handle the workload and things like that.
2. not sure why you were so quick to rule our all of the other subjects? see if anything else interests you.
3. you can usually drop subjects within a certain period of time (2 weeks ish) if you're really unsure and the trial lessons at tutoring are also a good option just to give you an idea. if you're someone taking extra units you could drop the subject altogether at the end of yr 11 worst case scenario
3. if you absolutely want to choose from the sciences:
physics is typically what ppl say is harder, but if youre a mathy person you'll do pretty good in physics. the workload is pretty bad but not horrific. there is not too much memorisation involved its mainly a lot of mathematical stuff plus understanding and applying concepts. it scales pretty great too ig. people find that it gets harder in y12 (correct me if im wrong bc i have not done y12 physics, just speaking abt what ive heard)
chem is also pretty hard (i find it harder than physics but thats just bc i am better at the math and physics and chem doesnt make sense to me personally). workload is pretty bad (similar to physics imo). scales well. you have to really undertsand the concepts and there is also a calculations component to it. a lot of ppl say it gets slightly easier in y12.
bio is generally the easiest out of the big three sciences, but it involves a lot of memorisation and since there isn't too much of a mathematical component to it there is a bit of an emphasis on written responses so you have to know your stuff ig. workload is also bad but not that bad compared to chem imo. scales the worst out of the big three sciences but objectively speaking it still scales good in comparison to other subjects.
4. have you considered pdhpe? it seems like a dogshit subject ngl but if you're considering bio (which is equally as dogshit imo, maybe its just bc i hate it) it sounds like bio but less stress and also a bit more common sense. i could be totally capping bc im just speaking for my experience of takign elective pdhpe in yr 9 and 10. it also doesnt scale the best but if you decide on a no science thing you could do it??? sorry i pulled this last point out of my ass this is just my opinion really
 

iloveeggs

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I found y11 chem easier coz y12 feels more rote but that's just my opinion + it had simpler content
yeah fair, there seem to be ppl saying both things so i guess i'll have to figure it out on my own
 

sbxyyx

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if you have to pick

couple of things ive got to say:
1. don't take subjects bc of scaling, think abt how much you will enjoy the subject, how good your teachers or previous cohorts from your school were at the subject, whether or not you thing you can handle the workload and things like that.
2. not sure why you were so quick to rule our all of the other subjects? see if anything else interests you.
3. you can usually drop subjects within a certain period of time (2 weeks ish) if you're really unsure and the trial lessons at tutoring are also a good option just to give you an idea. if you're someone taking extra units you could drop the subject altogether at the end of yr 11 worst case scenario
3. if you absolutely want to choose from the sciences:
physics is typically what ppl say is harder, but if youre a mathy person you'll do pretty good in physics. the workload is pretty bad but not horrific. there is not too much memorisation involved its mainly a lot of mathematical stuff plus understanding and applying concepts. it scales pretty great too ig. people find that it gets harder in y12 (correct me if im wrong bc i have not done y12 physics, just speaking abt what ive heard)
chem is also pretty hard (i find it harder than physics but thats just bc i am better at the math and physics and chem doesnt make sense to me personally). workload is pretty bad (similar to physics imo). scales well. you have to really undertsand the concepts and there is also a calculations component to it. a lot of ppl say it gets slightly easier in y12.
bio is generally the easiest out of the big three sciences, but it involves a lot of memorisation and since there isn't too much of a mathematical component to it there is a bit of an emphasis on written responses so you have to know your stuff ig. workload is also bad but not that bad compared to chem imo. scales the worst out of the big three sciences but objectively speaking it still scales good in comparison to other subjects.
4. have you considered pdhpe? it seems like a dogshit subject ngl but if you're considering bio (which is equally as dogshit imo, maybe its just bc i hate it) it sounds like bio but less stress and also a bit more common sense. i could be totally capping bc im just speaking for my experience of takign elective pdhpe in yr 9 and 10. it also doesnt scale the best but if you decide on a no science thing you could do it??? sorry i pulled this last point out of my ass this is just my opinion really
my school doesn't really offer a huge variety of subjects so its honestly a struggle to choose, like for pdhpe it is compulsory until yr 10 and then after they don't offer it anymore. and for like dt subjects or languages it would be hard to take up because i didn't choose them for electives
 

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