How you can Choose the Best Subjects for VCE

Subject selection felt quite daunting to me. I remember taking so much consideration into it, enough to make me sit down and write down the pros and cons of the subjects which I was weighing up. In hindsight, it’s not something you need to stress about. If you end up not liking a subject in unit one, you may have the opportunity to switch over into another subject for the second unit. Unit one and two are needed to complete unit three and four in a minority of subjects, while all unit four subjects have a prerequisite of unit three. Thus, your initial subject choices don't need to be set in stone.

The only things I believe need to be considered when deciding what subjects to do are:

• What you like
• What you are good at
• What you need

Enjoying a subject is an important for you to stay motivated throughout the unit. Simply, no one wants to do things they don’t want to do. If you choose a subject which you like, you will be more eager to learn about it. Therefore, making it easier to maintain the motivation to keep up with the set coursework and study. Something that does not fall under this category is choosing a subject merely because your friends are doing it. Having friends in your class may make you enjoy the being in the class, but you aren't choosing it because you like it anymore.

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The second thing to consider is to play your strengths and choose subjects which you know you are good at. Of course, everyone wants to get good marks regardless of what year level you are in. However, it would be safe to assume most will prioritise getting good marks more in the VCE years, especially in year 12. Selecting subjects which you know you are good at will give you a head-start. For example, if you know a lot about History, that subject or a similar humanities subject like Philosophy may be a good choice for you. Obviously, just being good at a subject isn’t going to automatically going to give you good results. Maintaining your results through copious amounts of study will be needed to receive good results for most.

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If you already have an idea of what you want to do once school concludes, you may have noticed that some courses need prerequisites. It’s important to check if a course you’re interested in needs them. A lot of courses only require English or EAL, while some science courses for instance require you to do one of the science subjects. Prerequisites are typically not strict at all, I’ve never come across a business or law degree where you need to undertake the corresponding classes in VCE.

Something I suggest to avoid is selecting subjects merely because they scale up. If you do well in a subject, the scaling won’t affect you. A 50 in a subject which scales down, such as Business Management is the same as a 50 in Japanese, a subject which scales up. Scaling only significantly affects your study score if you receive a score somewhere around the median. Therefore, rather than worrying about the scaling, you should be worrying about getting good results in a subject which meets three of the above criteria.

So, what do I do if I don’t get into a subject which I wanted to?

It really sucks, I know. I ended up having two clashes with my initial subject choices. I was a bit devastated as I had already planned out what subjects which I wanted to do for a while. Once I had calmed down, I sat down and analysed my choices while looking at VCAA’s Study Designs. For example, in one of the blocks I had to pick out of either Health and Human Development, Physics or Visual Communication Design. I sat down and thought about my past experiences including what I’m good at and what I like. As I absolutely detest maths and science, I knew I shouldn’t even consider physics. Meanwhile, I don’t hate drawing so Visual Communication may not have been too bad of a choice for myself. However, I recognised Health was one of those 'content' subjects, like Legal Studies. Realising that I like learning theory rather than acquiring practical skills, I chose Health. In hindsight, I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

However, if you find that you don’t have the opportunity to complete a subject which you are desperate to do, there is the option of Distance Education. There is an extra cost with doing this, but if you really want to do a subject which your school doesn’t offer, why not! If you’re interested in doing this, you will need to be self-motivated and have good time management.

DECV Explainer from Virtual School Victoria on Vimeo.

Lasting, you may want to consider completing a VET (Vocational Education and Training) subject along with your VCE. These subjects will go towards your final ATAR score, while also receiving a Certificate for that course. VET courses are either run at TAFEs or schools. VET provides students with more occupational and vocational education rather than academic. As a result, this will make you more ‘job-ready’ once you leave school. Similarly to Distance Education, there is also an additional cost with completing a VET subject.

VET subjects which can be a part of your VCE program

Something which is appealing about moving into the final years of school is that you don’t have to do any subjects you don’t want to. Therefore, don’t stress about it! Simply contemplating what subjects you are currently good at, enjoy and what subjects you need for the future will lead you to making the suitable decision for yourself. Good luck!