Hi im in year 11 and I wanted to study undergrad med in a uni course, which requires a high ATAR. But I'm not good in English which will significantly drop my ATAR. Should I switch my career preference ? Please be completely honest since I don't want false hope
If it's just English you are not good at, it will be fine because they calculate 5 of your atar subjects. I think.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEN I'M SCREWED TOO!!!
But my teacher told me it's top 5- ._.
I think Ash and IceCrem are from VIC. In VCE, they use top 4 subjects + 10% of the next two subjects’ SSs to calculate your ATAR, but your English subject will be included in your Top 4 no matter how well you do (but if you do more than one English, then you will get the better score added).
In QLD, you use Top 5 subjects (English will only count if it actually is one of your top 5 subjects, unlike VCE).
Ash444 If it is only English you struggle with, I’d advise working on it and improving your grades by seeking help particularly on your essays and writing.
I wouldn’t change my career preference, but have a back up or two in case things fall through, but in the meantime, control what you can. Year 11 allows you to refine your writing skills so try to practise more and get feedback from your teacher while you have the opportunity. Good luck!
AngelWings . At the moment I don't think I can get any higher than a 30 in English, so I don't know how much I can improve in the limited time frame, it almost the end of year 11. In terms of having a back up career preference, it is really demotivating to have a back up, and when you are not certain what you want to do. It would be better if I just know exactly what I will do, and not a plan B. So It would be better if I just get the answer, so I don't even bother spending time on preparing for the UCAT .
That's good, I'm weak in English but I am good at maths and science sooo I think I'll be breezy. Maybe.
Ash444 I know how demotivating that can be, but it’ll be very difficult to tell your chances of getting into med based on your English studies alone, because there could be a lot of other factors that would impact the estimate. This includes: your own estimation of your English skills, your other subjects, special consideration involved and so forth.
I’ve heard of cases where med hopeful students focusing heavily on English and improving dramatically between Year 11 and 12, and ended up getting into med; I think one of them wrote a number of English resources on the original AN forum, so can still be found.
The back ups are purely that - back ups; they’re there just in case you don’t get in. They don’t need too much thought as you’ll have 8 preferences when you choose uni courses.
If you are not sure about undergrad med, you can always do postgrad med and do a different, broader degree that would satisfy postgrad med prereqs in your Bachelors (which is what you’d be doing after high school usually). There are multiple entry points.
In your case, I’d probably work on English most, put some focus on UCAT, but not as much on English (but still give UCAT a good crack) and give it all your best shot. If you do that, your worst case scenario is that you’ve improved in English AND have a better chance to get into med. If you choose not to do UCAT, that’s ok too; you can try after high school or take the postgrad route.
It’s always been my opinion that if you give anything your all, you have a chance, but if you give up, then you have zero chance. (And that goes for anything in general.)
AngelWings but that chance is still very low right ?
Just to reiterate, any estimate made will not be very accurate, but if assuming you’re average at everything else, that your school’s SACs are average and only English is not great, then yes. However, the chances will favour you if you work on English, and it’s not too late to improve if you put in the effort now. Have a chat with your teacher first and see how your writing can improve, and read up on the old AN forum archives to find more resources to help improve your English grades. (I’ll see if I can find the resources I mentioned later.)
Edit: Here’s the English resources and here’s the English & EAL Questions thread from the archives. I can’t remember who the ANer was that improved dramatically in English between Year 11 and 12, but DJALogical wrote some English resources and went on to study med.
AngelWings my teacher doesn't give much feedback and it seems he doesn't like to talk much, he just gives some general feedback, and does not tell what I need to improve on. When I ask him too many questions he gets annoyed and doesn't;t like students asking much
Do you have other English teachers, a classmate/ friend or tutor you could ask? Otherwise, we have plenty of resources, essay marking threads (though less used now) and people that might be able to help. 
AngelWings there are other English teachers although they are just like him. I have friends that I can get advice from, ill try to get advice from them although I don't know if that's the best.
Ash444 Never say never, a 30 is always within reach.
I got completely sidetracked in my English exam and ended up working out the square root of 2 instead. Somehow I still ended up getting a raw 25, which was the minimum required for anything I was looking at.
Your original question was "Should I switch my career preference?"
My answer is No.
You have your preference; that is your goal, you will do what you need to achieve your goal. English will be in your top 4; thanks primarily to VCE rules, but also due to how you will arrive at your goal.
You have two paths to it;
Put most of your effort into 4 (or 5) other subjects that can count in the 4 + 10% game, whilst doing what is required to meet the base English results for your goal.
Or;
Evenly distribute your energy across the 4 subjects (English + 3) that are most likely to count towards your final ATAR, to maximise the raw score before any scaling is applied.
The choice is yours, but either path leads to success.
S200 I'm good in my other subjects but not in English. I just can't be good in English , I don't know what's wrong, and the teacher doesn't even tell me that. I can't improve much though since its already September. I will just change my career preference because its too unrealistic. Its good to say that nothing is impossible but in reality we all know its too late. But I will certainly try to improve since English is important in everything
