Dr. Jess 😉

Dr. Jess

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

Dr. Jess

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

Dr. Jess

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

Dr. Jess

I'd say probs high 30's or low 40's

I do Bio and Legal, and tbh don't know why I chose Bio in the first place. I could see why you'd want to swap these two out. For the work pressure, bio scales way too low
.

Keep going, and don’t hesitate to reach out for help when you need it.

Yes, I agree scaling is very stressful - I do Bio as well, and if it's stressing you out, I would recommend not doing it because the content only becomes more stressful as you go on

Dr. Jess

Hey @Dr. Jess ,

Firstly, thank you for sharing this — honestly, it takes courage to be real about how you're feeling, and I promise you that this is the right place to talk about it. Don't worry at all - so many of us are going through or have gone through the same thing so you’re definitely not alone.

And I do agree that year 11 specifically can absolutely feel overwhelming because the jump from Year 10 is real and its really when the pressure starts building, and it feels like ATAR is already here in year 11. But here’s the truth: you don’t need to have everything perfect right now in year 11 - its supposed to be your trial year in a way to figure out what works best for you. What matters is how you grow, how you bounce back, and how you learn from the tough moments like this. So the biggest advice I can give you is this:

• Stress is a good thing! It means you care about your academics and it means you don't like to give up or do badly but lingering on your stress (you don't want to be a chronic stressor) becomes bad so break your stress down!! Instead of seeing “ATAR 99” as this huge goal, break it into subject-by-subject wins. Focus on nailing one Physics paragraph, one maths topic, one Chem prac. Big goals come from lots of little wins. And regarding your physics feedback, its just a draft, not your final so take the opportunity to really implement the feedback!
• I know some teachers are not very receptive of student questions but ask as many questions as you can when doing assignments (but also learning content)! They are marking your assignments at the end of the day so if you get exactly what they want, what more can you do?
• In terms of stress in general, I can not stress enough (see what I did there?) the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. I did this every day in my external exam period and it helped me 10 fold and I only wish I did it earlier in my year. And now that I am a med student, we were shown the scientific evidence behind meditation and we are guided in meditation now and then in class too. There was a systematic review and meta-analysis done on this which you can read here if you like.
• Finally, not sure if you know about this but there is a Discord server called QSH (Queensland Study Hub) which you can just search up on Google and join and they are pretty good with helping you with any questions you have. I'm also in the server too and have been even since I graduated so hopefully that can give you some help!

So anyways, hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions

• PP

also how do u start being a tutor
sorry i cannot answer your original question Dr. Jess

Dr. Jess Ah, we're not serious so much as most people have just calmed down disruptive behaviour and actually try to pass I geuss? I'm a public school student and we aren't great score wise but theres a few of us who do our best and the school does what they can to support.
Cohorts can be helpful sometimes but VCE is ultimately about you and what you want to get out of it. No matter what ATAR you get there are multiple paths to get somewhere you can be happy so going into VCE, the advice I wish I started applying sooner was let yourself have fun. I started this year and it was the best choice I ever made, because the memories and friends I've made make it all worth it.
Life is all about finding that balance and if you need someone to reach out to for help at any point in the next couple years there are lots of people here on AN who are happy to do what we can

Dr. Jess
That doesn't sound like a supportive cohort. Just ignore it all, and work at your own pace. Don't worry about how other people do, or try to make it a competition among friends, otherwise you'll stress yourself out further

Leeshi There was definitely still some who didn't care but lucky for me most of the ones who really really didnt care went VM or learned to be quiet in their choice to not do work/learn (still some distractions and stuff but definitely better than junior school)

Rey_of_sunshine
ugh lucky, I picked the subjects i wanted and there are still a bunch of ass who don't give a damn about the class and they just basically ruin the whole experience.

Dr. Jess

LMAO OMG SAME, I THINK I BURNT OUT ON THE LAST LEG HAHAHHA, 3A AND 3B'S

nah year 11 is ass maybe its cos i put way too much pressure on myself but i feel u!!! hopefully year 12 is better lmao!

ReyanSuccessfulSelectiveAplicant
Yeah, lol. But still, for those who take their studies very seriously, it's a good year for self-assessment. Figure out what works well, and what doesn't. In Year 11, I found that Maths wasn't my strong suit, so I didn't continue with it in Year 12, and decided to focus on other areas that I enjoyed.
Straight Bs and an A are still strong grades (doesn't mean much from me, considering Unit 4 English was an E+), so you must be doing something right in Year 11. Study over the summer holidays to get ahead, and hold onto materials for revision into next year too