Hey there !
These are plenty of VCE subjects. 4 is the absolute minimum and is something that most schools do not allow and therefore is very risky. 5 - 6 subjects is what most students decide to do as at the end of the year your ATAR score is calculated by these subjects 1. English 2-4 your next highest scoring subjects and 5-6 10% of your lowest 2 scoring subjects. Some people do more than this but that is also not required and in my opinion a waste of time as it doesn't even get counted towards your end of year score
When it comes to a study plan, everyone is different and what works for me, may not work for you. I am a very social and sporty person so when it came to social life and study balance I was also confused as well. At the end of the day, VCE yes while stressful at times is also a time to have fun and enjoy your last few years at school. So go to parties and play your sports, work a job but make sure you have enough time to be studying to do well. You do not need to go to every party you get invited to, go according to what works for you. Don't stay locked in your room all day studying either, go outside, go for a run and play some sports and hang out with your friends but just remember not to compromise your studies. For me personally I decided to keep playing my sports but because of that I did not have a job as I did not think I would be able to juggle that alongside my schoolwork. Do whatever suits you.
Going abroad can definitely be beneficial, however can be risky depending on your year level. As you are in year 9 if you are moving abroad to Australia for year 10, that is a good opportunity to familiarise yourself with the way the system works as it can be quiet challenging to wrap your head around a completely new system. However if you are moving to Australia just for university that is also a great university and the best uni for Megatronic Engineering would be either University of Melbourne or RMIT (I am only giving Victorian universities as I am from there and do not want to give you wrong advice)
As someone who does English Language, EL and English Mainstream are two very different subjects. EL focuses more on the study of the language itself while English is reading books, writing about them and comparing them to movies etc. EL is a hard language I will not lie, it takes a lot of effort and studying to do good in it. Many people chose it because of the 'no reading books' component thinking it will be easier, I can tell you right now it is not. However I do recommend that if you think you are willing to put in the time and effort that this subject requires it is a great subject and if you do well in it, it can be very beneficial. Your teacher has absolutely done the right thing of recomending EL if you are a maths/science person, as it can be considered the maths of English (if that makes sense) In terms of improving English, the only way to do that is to do English, I have no other advice for that so I'm sorry haha.
So to finish off, having 5-6 VCE subjects is the best, your study schedule needs to suit you, rememeber to have a break and do not constantly be locked up in your room and take out some time to hang out with friends. Go abroad for studies if that is what suits you but do it as soon as you can so that you are not disadvantaged in the way the system works and chose whichever English you think will be best for you. Sorry I have blabbed on a little bit, but I hope this helps
maz 🙂
