Worried about 2013 HSC, need advice? (2 Viewers)

[Ares]

I've just started year 12 work, so I'm in the 2013 graduating cohort (I'll be doing HSC exams next year). I'm good at everything except math, here are my subjects:

Advanced English
General Mathematics
Ancient History
History Extension
Legal Studies
Studies of Religion 1U
PD/Health/PE

I'm good at writing, which helps me go well in pretty much all my subjects except maths. Studies of Religion is compulsory at my school - I dislike it, but I've got to do it and its easy anyway. I'm currently on 12 units, and only the best 10 count towards the ATAR. In theory I could drop maths, but my school doesn't let us go below 11 units (don't ask). Since I'm stuck with math I'm going to focus on my other subjects and rely on the fact that math will not affect my ATAR when I get 60% in it.

But in all my classes there are smarter people than me. All our teachers tell us that for the ATAR ranking is crucial, and if you're rank #1 for internal grades your HSC mark will be brought up etc etc. Even though I should just be "doing the best I can do", I'm ALWAYS comparing myself to others. My best subject is history (hence doing extension to compensate for math), but even in history I'm 2nd best in lots of the assignments. In legal there are heaps of smart people so I can't get #1. I'll be lucky to even be in the top 10 for english. I could get a decent rank for PE, but PE scales crap anyway. Religion scales crap too and the whole grade does it, so getting high rank is again difficult. I'm a perfectionist and you could say that I'm competitive because I'm always comparing myself to others - but I just want to go well. I want to get into a law degree, so a 90+ atar would be perfect - but after my year 11 marks there's a slim chance of me getting 90+. Not only do I need to get way better marks and study way harder, I need to compete with everyone else at the same time. The first assessment for english is a speech and I suck at public speaking, almost every other person in the class are college leaders and have plenty of practice + have been beating me all year 11. How can I compete with that? In exams I can write really well and go good, but I can't write fast enough and my hand-writing is crap so I always run out of time and go bad. I don't know how to improve my handwriting speed/neatness? I'm usually good at handling stress, but this is getting to me. -.-

Some people keep telling me that getting a high ATAR isn't the only way into a degree. My older brother says I can just apply for a different degree, and transfer into law and that heaps of his friends did it that way. But that just seems like a sleazy way of doing it. My brother says, "your ATAR doesn't even matter, just do your best and if its not good enough transfer or find another way in" - but it just annoys me. My ATAR matters to me, I want to go good and get into the degree I want the proper way. But I'm worried that my atar won't be 90 (cut-off for Wollongong Law), so I've got to plan the worst case scenario..

Lets say I screw up and get 84 ATAR. I apply to an Arts degree anywhere, major in history and get very good marks, would I be able to transfer into a double Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Laws degree? Is that common, easy to do, and reliable?

Am I worrying too much about other people in my classes? I still don't even understand how the ATAR is calculated. From what I've gathered, our internal ranks are determined by assessments, half-yearlies and trial HSC exams. Then in the external HSC exams, if you are a high internal rank your mark is brought up, if you're low its brought down. Example: you're #1 in ancient history internally, and you go bad in exam due to stress and get 70%. The rank #2 person gets 87% - you get their mark, because it shifts to the #1 ranked student. Our teachers have told us this. Is it right? Can anyone properly explain how the ATAR is calculated and give me advice for year 12 and getting a good ATAR? Sorry for the huge post, I just need to get all of this out of the way.

 

[McLovinFanboy]

Relax, have fun, and don't worry to much and you will do fine

 

[CaffeineMotor]

Take a deep breath mate, a lot of us are concerned and want the best ATAR. I'm against a heck of a lot of competition at my school too, so you're not the only one.

If you've got a good cohort and you get marks that aren't far away from the top then everyone gets scaled up as they are seen as a good cohort. I'm like you I fare much better with writing, and decided General Maths was the way to go as I am crap with numbers Let the top do their thing, plenty of average- middle students can do extremely well in the HSC when they apply themselves as hard as possible. Apparently its more exam technique and study technique over natural ability.

Aha if you're slow with writing you can always weight your pen down with batteries and use it over the course of the year then when exams come along, take the weights off (I am yet to try that though) Also start practising under exam conditions as much as possible, I'm sure that will help settle your nerves in an exam as at least you'll start to get used to time constraints and the pressure to finish. My plan is to do this but then for some past papers I'm going to set shorter time limits to really force myself to work hard and be fast paced. So when exam time comes, I should be able to become more efficient.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here but you can transfer once your inside Uni and ATAR doesn't really become a matter anymore. (Again don't quote me on that)

Yes you're worrying too much (To be honest I'm a little worried about my upcoming 2 Eng exams as I want to do well, who doesn't) Just fight and study hard and in the end at least you can't beat yourself up if you know you tried the best you possibly could. There are always other ways to get in! Newcastle Uni offers a program called NewStep. It's a course you do for half - 1 year (I think) and it basically gives you a new ATAR which is acceptable at any Uni.

 

[Nws m8]

lol .......................

 

[CaffeineMotor]

lol .......................

You could at least be helpful and provide a paper bag to hyperventilate into for the poor person XD

 

[Nws m8]

You could at least be helpful and provide a paper bag to hyperventilate into for the poor person XD

 

[McLovinFanboy]

tbh the HSC is overrated.

It is hard, but is only hard if you make it hard.

 

[Nws m8]

tbh the HSC is overrated.

It is hard, but is only hard if you make it hard.

liesssssss

 

[deswa1]

Ok that was a long post and I'll just be blunt and to the point:

1. You will never be the best- as harsh and as politically incorrect as this sounds. There is always someone out there who will be better than you so if you constantly compare yourself to others, you will feel crap- don't make yourself feel crap.
2. I know it sounds cliche to say don't care about others performances, but it is true. Whether you stress like hell or not about others, you ultimately cannot change how others will go in their tests. It is outside your circle of influence (if you've read "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people"). What you CAN influence though is your performance- swim your own race and at least at the end of the day, you'll know you've done your best.
3. Transferring within unis generally isn't impossible. Its not a 'slack' or 'cheat' way- don't look at it like that. You will need to work at uni to get decent marks but don't think that the HSC is the end of the world (still try your best though- don't rely on this)

And probably my biggest tip for HSC- DON'T let it destroy friendships and things because of competitiveness. I would not be where I am now if me and some of my mates hadn;t shared all our resources and everything. Some people will abuse that- but find a mate or two that is similar to you and help each other, read each others essays etc. and you'll both benefit

 

[McLovinFanboy]

liesssssss

Not sure if your being serious.

 

[CaffeineMotor]

Ok that was a long post and I'll just be blunt and to the point:

1. You will never be the best- as harsh and as politically incorrect as this sounds. There is always someone out there who will be better than you so if you constantly compare yourself to others, you will feel crap- don't make yourself feel crap.
2. I know it sounds cliche to say don't care about others performances, but it is true. Whether you stress like hell or not about others, you ultimately cannot change how others will go in their tests. It is outside your circle of influence (if you've read "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people"). What you CAN influence though is your performance- swim your own race and at least at the end of the day, you'll know you've done your best.
3. Transferring within unis generally isn't impossible. Its not a 'slack' or 'cheat' way- don't look at it like that. You will need to work at uni to get decent marks but don't think that the HSC is the end of the world (still try your best though- don't rely on this)

And probably my biggest tip for HSC- DON'T let it destroy friendships and things because of competitiveness. I would not be where I am now if me and some of my mates hadn;t shared all our resources and everything. Some people will abuse that- but find a mate or two that is similar to you and help each other, read each others essays etc. and you'll both benefit

I dunno, if I wish hard enough some people make some surprise mistakes

Agreed on last part, was at first hesitant about sharing, but now we are all sharing so that everyone can benefit.

 

[enoilgam]

Ok that was a long post and I'll just be blunt and to the point:

1. You will never be the best- as harsh and as politically incorrect as this sounds. There is always someone out there who will be better than you so if you constantly compare yourself to others, you will feel crap- don't make yourself feel crap.
2. I know it sounds cliche to say don't care about others performances, but it is true. Whether you stress like hell or not about others, you ultimately cannot change how others will go in their tests. It is outside your circle of influence (if you've read "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people"). What you CAN influence though is your performance- swim your own race and at least at the end of the day, you'll know you've done your best.
3. Transferring within unis generally isn't impossible. Its not a 'slack' or 'cheat' way- don't look at it like that. You will need to work at uni to get decent marks but don't think that the HSC is the end of the world (still try your best though- don't rely on this)

And probably my biggest tip for HSC- DON'T let it destroy friendships and things because of competitiveness. I would not be where I am now if me and some of my mates hadn;t shared all our resources and everything. Some people will abuse that- but find a mate or two that is similar to you and help each other, read each others essays etc. and you'll both benefit

Couldn't agree more with this - especially point 2.

 

[probjer]

haha you say you're good at maths and yet you are only doing general...

 

[McLovinFanboy]

haha you say you're good at maths and yet a you are only doing general...

And you feel like you need to announce that publicly ?

 

[probjer]

And you feel like you need to announce that publicly ?

yes

 

[NinaChapps]

I was in the same boat as you. History is also my best subject and I consistently came 2nd, and always by a few marks only. Oh , the frustration! Anyways, my point is, for my overall internal rank, thanks to my collective assignments/trials and the 1st ranked person screwing up the trial exam slightly, I gained the 1st rank in Ancient History. Just be consistent, and the result may surprise you.

 

[someth1ng]

deswa1's last tip is definitely the most important.

Sabotaging your cohort is not only selfish but it just shows how desperate you are to "doing well". I put that in quotation marks because if you must sabotage your cohort to beat them, you're not doing well, if anything, you're doing bad - it proves that you are a mediocre person and that you're an asshole.

 

[Spiritual Being]

Ok that was a long post and I'll just be blunt and to the point:

1. You will never be the best- as harsh and as politically incorrect as this sounds. There is always someone out there who will be better than you so if you constantly compare yourself to others, you will feel crap- don't make yourself feel crap.
2. I know it sounds cliche to say don't care about others performances, but it is true. Whether you stress like hell or not about others, you ultimately cannot change how others will go in their tests. It is outside your circle of influence (if you've read "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people"). What you CAN influence though is your performance- swim your own race and at least at the end of the day, you'll know you've done your best.
3. Transferring within unis generally isn't impossible. Its not a 'slack' or 'cheat' way- don't look at it like that. You will need to work at uni to get decent marks but don't think that the HSC is the end of the world (still try your best though- don't rely on this)

And probably my biggest tip for HSC- DON'T let it destroy friendships and things because of competitiveness. I would not be where I am now if me and some of my mates hadn;t shared all our resources and everything. Some people will abuse that- but find a mate or two that is similar to you and help each other, read each others essays etc. and you'll both benefit

If only this existed in my school...

 

[jamesischool]

your final hsc mark is composed of 50% assessment mark and 50% external hsc test mark.
the 50% external hsc test mark is the test which you do for your subjects during the hsc exams.
the assessment mark is determined pretty much based on your rank, if you're ranked first you'll get the highest assessment mark for your cohort in that subject, 2nd rank gets the 2nd highest etc. that's really all the detail you need.
at the end of the day just try your hardest, put in consistent effort (don't burn yourself out) and you'll do fine. the hsc isn't the most important thing in life, just try to enjoy your last year of school as it really flies by (i know that you've more than likely heard it all before).

Also, don't let your year 11 performance have any effect on you. i was in the bottom 50% for all my subjects in year 11, now im ranked 7-10 in all of them besides english. year 12 is a new chapter in your school career and you can make significant improvements if you put your mind to it. Good luck in the coming year, I really love this quote and its a great way to live by for your hsc year. ~ 'Follow your dreams, work hard, practice and persevere. Make sure you eat a variety of foods, get plenty of exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle.' Sasha Cohen

 

[deswa1]

If only this existed in my school...

Oh lol no it doesn't exist in our school- we wouldn't share with everyone. Just me and a few mates would share all our stuff haha. I would help people and stuff but I wouldn't just hand out essays etc. because some people would just copy them etc.