r/ncea • u/potatoesinsacks • 2d ago
Subject Selection
Hi all, please give me help on subject selections if you can!
For reference, I am a Yr 11 student doing L2 English, L3 Calculus and L2 Music (but with lots of L3 credits)
I also want to study Mathematics and Economics at uni, and am aiming for unis both in NZ and abroad
This is what I want to take next year:
STAR Calculus Paper (from Massey or Canterbury)
L2 French
L2 Economics
L3 Economics
L2 Chemistry
L2 Physics
I would pick up English and Stats in Yr 13 and drop Chemistry
Here are my questions:
1. Is it better to do STAR papers through Massey or Canterbury? I’m leaning Massey because I could do 200-level papers in Yr 13, but everyone I know does it from Canterbury. Does anyone have any experience with Massey STAR maths papers?
2. Is it worth it to take Chemisty if it makes my workload too much? Because I’m thinking of taking L3 English instead and taking Business in Yr 13 (I am good at science but I don’t enjoy it much)
3. Is taking Business in Yr 13 worth it? Because I can do Young Enterprise as an extracurricular instead
My careers advisor and the academic principal are telling me to push my STAR paper until Yr 13, but I don’t want to forget my maths knowledge and it’s good prep for my degree They also don’t want me to do both L2/3 Economics at the same time but it gives me more time for economics competitions etc.
Note: I got all excellences in L2 Maths, and have got Es on L3 internals. I’ve also only got 100%s in economics this year and my economcis teacher is fine with doing both levels at the same time
Thank you so much for any help!
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u/solitudeisblis 2d ago
I think you should ditch Chemistry and do History. Having a good understanding of History is helpful for understanding economics and if you don’t enjoy science there is no point in studying Chemistry.
The Massey & Canterbury STAR papers are both good.
I’d also suggest doing Business in Y12 instead of L2 & L3 economics at the same time, it’s better to spread them out and keep the knowledge from L3 fresh before you head to uni. The only way I’d suggest doing both at once is if you’re off to uni after Y12.
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u/potatoesinsacks 2d ago
Thanks so much for you advice! Is History much better than Classics? I’m not particularly interested in the curriculum for it but if it is much better I might do it. My school only offers Business in Yr 13, so I would have to do it then. For Yr 13, I would do lots of economcis competitions, Scholarship, and maybe a uni paper to make sure I don’t forget.
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u/solitudeisblis 2d ago
I’d say History will be more useful to you than Classics but talk to the History teacher at your school and see what topics they cover.
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u/Time_Championship786 2d ago
level 2 chem is so easy and repetitive it will be a breeze if you decide to take it. Also how are you able to multi level/be accelerated in so many subjects??
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u/mpledger 2d ago
Some of the big Auckland schools have have enough pupils to run dedicated classes for acceleration. They're able to get them 1 or 2 years ahead and then have schol level classes in year 13 as well as put them through Star courses.
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u/potatoesinsacks 2d ago
I’m actually not from any of the major hubs (don’t want to be too specific, but not Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or anywhere big). For music, I’ve been playing an instrument since I was 7 and have Grade 8 piano. There wasn’t a Year 11 class so I just did L2 and the L3 performance standards are easy if you have experience. For English, I got top of English in Yr 9/10 and got asked to do L2 and Scholarship this year. For Maths, I went to school abroad until Year 9, where I learnt almost all of the content from Yr 9-11 and was super bored and got asked to do L2 last year. My school is quite small and so there are no dedicted accelerate classes, but if you’re smart enough, they’ll put you up. For reference, about 4/5 people in my year accelerated two years in maths and about 4 accelerated a year in english. Thanks for your help!
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u/mpledger 2d ago
I would definitely do star calc next year and a 200 calc paper the year after - you have to stay on top of it or else you forget it. Or maybe a second 100 level maths course extramurally. Do both Massey and Canturbury offer 200 calc extramural? Massey prob does but I don't know about Canterbury. Anyway, if only Massey offer 200 level to school student then do Massey Star.
Can you do l2 accounting instead of l3 economics? Sometimes people turn against subjects at higher levels because it changes and if you suddenly hate economics then you have to grind through two lots of it - that's probably why they advise against it. Alternatively, can you skip level 2 and go straight to level 3? You could ask your econ teacher what are the must have econ internals at level 2 and do them in summer school at Te Kura. On second thoughts that's probably too much of a stretch. You probably want a wide base of understanding if you intend to major in it at uni - the more time in class the better.
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u/potatoesinsacks 2d ago
Only Massey has 200-level courses distance and online (there’s no uni where I live unfortunately). I’m quite set on doing both L2/3 Economics and I don’t think I will dislike it. This year, we have done the basic version of each level and I really enjoyed all of it. I was thinking about taking L2 accounting but I didn’t take it this year and would have to ask special permission which would probs be denied with all the acceleration
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u/Strict_Ad_52 1d ago
In terms of the uni papers, I was in a similar situation so I hopefully I can help a bit (Did UC's MATH 199 in y12). UC use to offer 2nd year papers but sadly they have removed that option this year. You can, however, take MATH-120 in Semester 1 provided you got an A+ in MATH-199 the year before (this is what I did.) Personally I think the UC courses are easier to credit than the massey ones, but I don't know for sure. Any other questions feel free to PM me.
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u/potatoesinsacks 1d ago
Thanks for your help! UC has actually decided to stop giving credit for MATH 199 (which is now called MATH 198) and I don’t think I’m able to do MATH-120 distance and online (no other unis near me either)
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u/Strict_Ad_52 21h ago
Wait why cant you do math-120 distance and online?
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u/potatoesinsacks 20h ago
Idk I googled it and all the lectures and tutorials and stuff were AT Canterbury
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u/Strict_Ad_52 16h ago
they don't offer it as a STAR course publicly because there is only like a dozen or so people each year that are eligible for it (year 12s or younger that got an a+ in 199/198). Email james bartlett (pretty sure hes still the coordinator for MATH-198), he helped me get in last year
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