I currently do
- Math Methods
-General English
-Physics
-Chemistry
-Biology
-Modern History
What scores would i need to get to get a high ATAR.
What would marks would i need to get to get a 95+ ATAR
It's quite difficult to say as it changes every year slightly. But my best prediction would be you need to get a minimum of 85 for each subject to get above 95+. For ATAR 99+, you would need to definitely keep it minimum 95+ for each subject because modern history and biology both scale down slightly (but nothing too drastic).
Hope that helps!
- PP
PhytoPlankton should i keep biology? I really like it but i am scared of scaling down.
Good question! To be honest, if you really like biology, you should probably keep it because that means you can do well in it. However, I won't sugarcoat it and I'll say that my ATAR ended up being tanked by biology despite doing well (because I didn't do well enough in English to compensate). The other question you should ask yourself is if I didn't do biology, what would be the subject I would do? Would it be something I enjoy? Does it scale more? Is it useful for me? And most importantly, is it okay to take that subject even though I missed year 11.
So it would be difficult for me to give you an answer because it all depends on your circumstances like what career are you looking for, what ATAR, how comfortable are you with the maths, sciences, English, humanities etc. but hopefully, the above gave a bit of insight.
As always, let me know if you have any other questions!
- PP
PhytoPlankton i am currently in grade 11, i cannot think of any other subject to do, as i am not interested in anything else 
. I need a 97 for optometry.
That's okay! Honestly, then you should probably stay with biology then! If anything, I would recommend replacing modern history out so I think biology should stay since you like bio quite a lot and you aren't sure of another subject that would pique your interest. I did almost the same set of subjects but instead of modern history, I did specialist maths which scaled well which I guess compensated the biology (then again physics and chemistry helped quite a bit too). So I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should keep biology but if anything, I would be more worried about modern history rather than bio. So let me know what you think!
Hope that helps.
- PP
- Edited
PhytoPlankton update.. im switching into spec.
i mean if modern isnt my top 5 ill be good
- Edited
Oh wow that's great you made that switch if you're happy with taking out bio overall! Definitely specialist maths has a much higher scaling and hopefully, that will put it in the top 5.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
- PP
PhytoPlankton sorry to bother, but do u have any tips for balancing subjects. I feel like i am no good at that, bc i tend to only focus on one hard subject like spec, leaving everything else and getting an A in spec and everything is like a B.
Hey @Dr. Jess 
,
Not a bother at all - please ask as many questions as you like. So, as cliche as it sounds, it really comes down to how you do it personally but rest assured, I am not going to be annoying and I will give some advice on how I do it and how I tell my students to do it.
The best way (and I feel like only way) to balance multiple subjects is to create a timetable or study schedule. So, I use the greatest tool in existence, Excel, for my timetable because it’s super flexible, so many options and easy to update (not sponsored by Excel). You can also colour-code it by subject or topic (if that's your thing), add in study blocks for each day, and include rest time to make sure you don’t burn out. I usually recommend setting up your timetable weekly so not daily because its not far enough into the future for you to plan and not monthly because its too far into the future that if anything happens, it'll have a snowball effect and ruin it. So you can adjust it based on how you're feeling or how much progress you've made with each subject.
So, start by blocking out your non-negotiables first - things like school classes, work shifts, and any other commitments you have. Then, write a priority list of your subjects/topics/assessments and assign specific times for each subject based on this priority list, making sure to rotate your subjects daily to keep it varied. It’s also important to include some buffer time for review or catching up on anything that falls behind. This is very important because please please please do not schedule back to back events because in practicality that will be almost impossible - you could be distracted, lunch could go longer than expected, your mum could tell you to do something, you could randomly have something pop up which will ruin the rest of the timetable (similar to the snowball effect above) so buffer time is very important and if nothing happens, you can use the buffer for reviewing a previous subject.
The other main thing is to reduce distractions and pointless events in your schedule. Now obviously, you need to have a balance and social life but that does mean you need to go out partying or a concert every Friday night if that makes sense, at least for year 12. And in terms of distractions, all the social media apps are truly a waste of time unless you're communicating with friends (which is definitely not all the time). So my recommendation is to either download an app to block those (like Forest or Opal, I use Opal) or give your phone to your parents or leave it in another room so you can't hear any notifications or buzzing. This is crucial if your phone is a distraction.
Anyways, hope that helps and let me know if you have any questions you want to clarify.
- PP