Networking Group - JCs General

[sharonkhoo]

jtoh:

Juz Mum:

Wouldn't it be better chance for the student to obtain a better result if he takes the 4th H2 subject in H1? Hence getting a better uas ?


What' s the advantage and purpose in taking 4H2 if the student is not strong in the 4th H2 subject?

Any advise please?

Yes. If a student is weak in one subject, then just take it at H1 level and hope to score better at it than at H2 level and convert that to H1. One adv of taking 4H2s is for scholarships and perhaps some more competitive uni courses, although I'm not sure if the latter is true.

Another reason for taking 4 H2s is \"insurance\" if the student is equally strong in all 4 subjects. That way, whichever turns out weakest can be used as the H1 equivalent, whereas if he takes 3 H2s and 1 H1, he has no choice. But if the student is clearly weaker in 1 subject, taking it as H1 would seem to be wiser. It will free up more time to study for the H2s as well.

[Juz Mum]

[/quote]


Yes. If a student is weak in one subject, then just take it at H1 level and hope to score better at it than at H2 level and convert that to H1. One adv of taking 4H2s is for scholarships and perhaps some more competitive uni courses, although I'm not sure if the latter is true.[/quote]
Another reason for taking 4 H2s is \"insurance\" if the student is equally strong in all 4 subjects. That way, whichever turns out weakest can be used as the H1 equivalent, whereas if he takes 3 H2s and 1 H1, he has no choice. But if the student is clearly weaker in 1 subject, taking it as H1 would seem to be wiser. It will free up more time to study for the H2s as well.[/quote]


Thanks so much slmkhoo and jtoh for taking time to share and advise!!

[Boys2Men]

Juz Mum:

Yes. If a student is weak in one subject, then just take it at H1 level and hope to score better at it than at H2 level and convert that to H1. One adv of taking 4H2s is for scholarships and perhaps some more competitive uni courses, although I'm not sure if the latter is true.[/quote]
Another reason for taking 4 H2s is \"insurance\" if the student is equally strong in all 4 subjects. That way, whichever turns out weakest can be used as the H1 equivalent, whereas if he takes 3 H2s and 1 H1, he has no choice. But if the student is clearly weaker in 1 subject, taking it as H1 would seem to be wiser. It will free up more time to study for the H2s as well.[/quote]


Thanks so much slmkhoo and jtoh for taking time to share and advise!! [/quote]


Thanks to JuzMum, simkhoo and jtoh. I am learning something useful from here as well

My child told me that he plans to take 2 Science (Bio and Chem). While he is very sure of his choice for the Sciences, he is unsure of which Humanities subject to take. Currently he is taking English Literature as well as History and seems to be doing quite OK for both (scores an average of A2 for both). Some of his friends are suggesting that they should take Economics. As my son is geared towards the Sciences, he seems quite neutral when it comes to making a choice for the Humanities subject. Hence I am trying to see if I can help him in his decision-making. Are they any national statistics on how studentsfare in the Humanities subject in the A levels? Among Eng Lit, History and Econs, which is the better performing subject? Which subject is easier to study/score?

[sharonkhoo]

Boys2Men:

My child told me that he plans to take 2 Science (Bio and Chem). While he is very sure of his choice for the Sciences, he is unsure of which Humanities subject to take. Currently he is taking English Literature as well as History and seems to be doing quite OK for both (scores an average of A2 for both). Some of his friends are suggesting that they should take Economics. As my son is geared towards the Sciences, he seems quite neutral when it comes to making a choice for the Humanities subject. Hence I am trying to see if I can help him in his decision-making. Are they any national statistics on how studentsfare in the Humanities subject in the A levels? Among Eng Lit, History and Econs, which is the better performing subject? Which subject is easier to study/score?

Perhaps you might want to consider which subject will be of greater value in the future? That question is usually answered by \"Economics\" as it is seen to be useful.* It is also mid-way between Arts and Science, and is something most students have not had a chance to take earlier. My daughter (in JC1 now) is taking 2 sciences too, and she decided to take Econs as her contrasting subject partly because we told her it would be useful and because we believed she would like it (that turned out to be true, thankfully), and partly because she had already taken Lit, Hist and Geog in sec school and thought she'd like to do something new. Her other idea was to take something like Linguistics, but we thought Econs was more her thing.
*[I don't mean to say that other Arts subjects are not useful, but I know that they are perceived that way by many, especially those who are stronger in sciences. I myself was Arts stream in JC!]

\"Easy to study and score\" depends a lot on the individual, so I'm not sure looking at national statistics will help. I'm sure the statistics exist somewhere, though they may not be made public?

[Boys2Men]

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

[jtoh]

Boys2Men:

My child told me that he plans to take 2 Science (Bio and Chem). While he is very sure of his choice for the Sciences, he is unsure of which Humanities subject to take. Currently he is taking English Literature as well as History and seems to be doing quite OK for both (scores an average of A2 for both). Some of his friends are suggesting that they should take Economics. As my son is geared towards the Sciences, he seems quite neutral when it comes to making a choice for the Humanities subject. Hence I am trying to see if I can help him in his decision-making. Are they any national statistics on how studentsfare in the Humanities subject in the A levels? Among Eng Lit, History and Econs, which is the better performing subject? Which subject is easier to study/score?

There are national stats around but they're not easily available. Sometimes schools will mention at briefings what the national average is and how the school performed against it but I haven't seen a chart stating the national stats. For students taking PCM and BCM, Econs tends to be the most popular contrasting subject. Possibly because it's seen as the most useful, and also because it's considered the most 'science-y' of the humanities subjects. Combinations like BCML and BCMH are what some call combis taken up by those who can't decide if they want to take medicine or law. I would say go for the subject the student enjoys most, be it Lit, History, Geog, ELL or Econs. The syllabus in JC is quite intensive so studying something you enjoy will make it less of a struggle when the going gets tough.

[sharonkhoo]

Boys2Men:

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I can't answer that! There are people who find Econs hard and uninteresting too, so a lot depends on individual interest and aptitude.

[zbear]

Boys2Men:

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

[sharonkhoo]

zbear:

Boys2Men:

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

Econs at A level is still treated as a Humanities subject (more wordy, less mathematical), so I guess that's why Arts students may do better. But once they get to university level, it can get very mathematical.

[Song22]

slmkhoo:

zbear:

[quote=\"Boys2Men\"]Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

Econs at A level is still treated as a Humanities subject (more wordy, less mathematical), so I guess that's why Arts students may do better. But once they get to university level, it can get very mathematical.[/quote]That's what I heard a lot, I have a friend's daughter quit after one year in SMU studying Econs (she did IB), she is more of humanities person and she switched to Liberal Arts . I am curious just how much emphasis is on Maths.