What Are The Subject Combinations For Junior College (JC)?

Have you received your O Levels results?

Choosing a JC in the first place, is the start to your dilemma. Good thing is that we have a post to help you: JC Cut Off Points: Which is the best junior college in Singapore?. 

We know that you must be excited to start junior college, but it is something that you should not take lightly. Life in Junior College will not be easy at all. You will have to work harder than you did in your secondary school.

In addition to this, you will have to pick up subjects for your Junior College wisely as well. The subjects that you pick will determine your A-Levels result and your tertiary education as well.

Therefore, you must choose your Junior College subjects wisely.

Factors To Consider Before Choosing Subjects For Junior College

There is no denying the fact that choosing the subjects for Junior College is a daunting task. The choices that you make now will decide your future later.

Therefore, you must consider all the necessary factors before choosing your Junior College subjects. Want to know what those factors are?

Keep reading then.

1. Personal Preference And Skills

Your Junior College will be a period of extreme hard work of two years. This is why you must choose the subjects that you enjoy studying. When you choose the subject of your preference and skills, you will naturally gravitate towards the subject more.

As a result, you will good grades in Junior College that will help you in getting admission to one of the best universities in the country. This is why you must pick subjects that are according to your preference and skills.

2. University Entry Requirements

Have you decided what profession you would like to pursue after school?

Then you must pick your subject combinations based on the profession that you would like to pursue in the future. It is important because many degree courses have the requirement that the students must have studied A Levels in some specific subjects.

Only then they will be able to get admission in the profession that they would like to study in the future. So, if you have already decided which profession you want to study, you should check out the university’s website and find out which subject combination you need to study in your Junior College.

3. Facilitating Subjects

Apart from the degree that you want to pursue, there are many facilitating subjects that you need to consider as well. Some universities favor these facilitating subjects over others in addition to degree subject requirements.

So, if you want to get admission to a particular university, you must find out the facilitating subjects that the university favors. When you have found out the additional subjects preferred by the university, you should pick some of these subjects in your Junior College. If you wish to pursue a law degree, you will need to do well in General Paper and Humanities subjects. For budding doctors, an MBBS means you need to get straight As for Chemistry, Biology and other science or math subjects.

This will help you in getting admission to the university that you want.

4. Complementary Subjects

It is always a good idea to pick subjects that work together. So, once you have shortlisted which subjects you want to select in Junior College, you should check out how these subjects will work together.

For example, Maths and Physics go hand in hand. What you learn in Maths will support you a lot while studying Physics. But, this does not mean that you are obliged to pick the subjects that go in hand in hand. You can even go for some eclectic combinations as well. It all depends upon your preference. So, feel free to choose whatever you want.

5. Transferrable Skills

Apart from studying particular subjects at Junior College, you will get the chance to develop your higher level of studying skills in Junior College as well.

Therefore, you must focus on your transferrable skills as well while selecting subjects for Junior College.

Transferrable skills are just as important as any degree or course.

These transferrable skills will also help you get admission to your preferred university as most of the universities look for these skills while selecting students to give admission to. Some strong subjects of transferrable skills include Latin, French, and German. So, make sure that you select these subjects in addition to the ones that you want to study in the future.

Some Common Subject Combinations In Junior College

Arts and Science are the two common subjects that the students pick while selecting subjects for them in Junior College. While the contrasting subjects in the Arts stream are Maths, the contrasting subject for Science is Econs.

• Science Stream

Do you want to pursue a career in the Science stream? The majority of the students pursuing a career in Science usually pick BCME or PCME (Biology or Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Economics).

These subject choices are considered the ‘safe choice’ because this combination is eligible for almost all of the universities.

So, if you want to do something in the science field in the future, then we would advise that you go for this combination as it is the safest option for you.

But, this does not mean that you are obliged to select these subjects only. You can go for other subject combinations as well. It totally depends on what you want.

• Arts Stream

If you are not interested in studying science, then you can go for the Arts stream as well. The majority of the students studying Arts usually go for HELM (History, Econs, Literature, Math) or GELM (Geography, Econs, Literature, Math).

In addition to this, some of the students also take ELL (English Language and Literature), Arts, and a third language.

If you are going with Arts Stream, we would recommend that you not take History and Geography together. It is because there is too much content in both the subjects and you will not be able to do justice to them.

History itself is divided into International and SEA history. The content of SEA history is even more than Economics taught in Junior College. Therefore, we would recommend that you not take History and Geography together.

• Hybrid Combinations

Hybrid combinations are the mixture of both Arts and Science subjects. If you are not sure which profession you want to pursue in the future, you can even go for hybrid combinations in Junior College as well. The hybrid combination consists of 2 Arts and 2 Science subjects.

Some common subjects include Chemistry, Economics, Math, and Literature. On the other hand, some students go for some uncommon subjects as well. An example of this is Knowledge & Inquiry. This subject can be used as a contrasting subject for both streams.

There are some Junior Colleges that discourage hybrid combinations. But, you must go with the subjects that you have an interest in even if it means going with the hybrid combination.

Some Don’ts While Picking Your Junior College Subjects

A survey was done to ask Junior College students how they picked subjects for their college and the answers were quite surprising.

41% of the students did not even know that some universities do not accept some specific A-Levels subjects. 40% of the students wanted to go over the selection phase all over again.

So, you must pick your subjects wisely and avoid some common don’ts while picking your subjects. Want to know what those don’ts are? Stay tuned then.

1. Don’t Copy Your Friends

A lot of students select the subjects that their friends are choosing because they want to stay together. This is extremely wrong and you should not do it. Your entire future depends upon the subject selection that you make in Junior College.

Therefore, it is important that you make this decision wisely and not just because your friends are doing it.

2. Don’t Only Think About The Present

You must keep your future I mind and not only think about the present while selecting your Junior College subjects. You might go for easier subjects at present that have no scope later.

What good would that be?

You will be risking your entire future. This is why you should not only think about your present but your future as well.

3. Don’t Be Scared To Spread Your Wings

If you want to have a bright future, you need to step out of your comfort zone. You should check out the subject combinations that other Junior Colleges are offering which your school is not. If that combination suits your requirement, you should go for that.

While it may look like a bit of a difficult task at present, just imagine the benefits it is going to give you in the future. Therefore, you should not be scared to spread your wings and have a look at other subject combinations as well.

4. Don’t Just Take It For The Teacher

We all have a teacher that we love no matter whether we are good at what they teach or not. So, if you also have any such teacher, you should not pick your Junior College subject just because you want to be taught by them. it can cost you your entire future.

Selecting subjects for Junior College is one of the most important decisions of your life as your entire future depends upon it. Therefore, you must pick your subjects wisely. If you need more advice, seek the help of professional JC tutors or teachers now.

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