SCSA has just made an announcement that the last chance to change a subject is Wednesday, 5 April 2017. This applies to ATAR and General students. After this date students can only withdraw from the subject and cannot pick up another subject.
Before changing a subject, consider the following:
Why are you changing to another subject? (Reduced workload, bored in a subject?)
Could you catch up on 10 weeks worth of work in one school holiday period?
Will you be prepared in time for the semester 1 exams (Which are usually half way through term 2)?
Have you considered your alternatives, such as a study period to increase further performance of your other ATAR subjects?
Be practical when changing to another ATAR subject. They are likely to follow on from concepts taught from Units 1 and 2 in Year 11.
Always discuss your options with a school co-ordinator about the best approach for you
What are the practical benefits of changing to another subject? Will it assist in your future aspirations?
There are a variety of reasons why students wish to change to another a subject. The majority of changes are often those from an ATAR subject to a non-ATAR subject due to increase in workload demands in Year 12. Its best to think about this seriously, if you are performing poorly, then changing to a less demanding subject can be ideal in terms of increasing your odds at a higher grade for your other subjects. If you're performing poorly in a subject, changing to another subject may seem appealing, but you should ask yourself whether you have the capacity to improve!
Dropping to 4 or 5 ATAR Subjects
Dropping to 5 ATAR subjects mean you have a backup plan incase you slump one of your ATARs. Dropping to 4 on the other hand means you have to be careful not to screw up one of your subjects. The ATAR is calculated on your top 4 ATAR subjects. So if you're only doing 4, you have no alternative but to succeed in those subjects.
Dropping to Less than 4 ATAR Subjects
Dropping to less than 4 ATARs means you have to consider alternative pathways, but usually this means you can't get into UWA first round. (Although you can always just transfer there from another university). Universities such as Curtin and ECU have a variety of entry points, some of which require additional study. When considering completing an be alternative pathway, you might be offseting additional work for yourself in the future. So why not get it right the first time and save yourself some time in the future?
Make sure you contact the universities directly about information regarding alternative pathways as these vary depending on each uni.
So to conclude, dropping a subject is a serious decision which you should discuss with your parents and your school. It is not something to decide in a minute because you hate a subject.
