How to excel in senior year studies (yr 11/12)-99+ ATAR graduate (1 Viewer)

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

i am just about to start yr12 after a motivated yr11 and am a bit unsure. When people state that they do a certain amount of study per day (say 3hrs), what are they doing in this period involving study. What other than notes are they doing on a daily basis. What types of study are used on a daily basis as all i have been doing is when i finish a topic in a subject is just to write notes for that topic over the space of 2 nights.??. What study activites or tasks can be utilised other than notes and where do internal assesment tasks fit into this?
That always depends on the person what they are doing, it can be anything ranging from procrastination, making notes, revising notes, doing practice textbook questions, practice HSC questions, explaining concepts to a mirror, watching videos, studying for related assessment tasks upcoming. So essentially I have captured the study activities other than note making. The best way to know what people are doing is to ask them lol :) I can't speak on behalf of people that I don't know. For me at least, I prioritised finishing my assessment tasks (which may involve studying for a topic-because say they are theory exams) or may involve revising practical skills and experiments (i..e if it is a practical in science). Also this question is really broad-because it also depends on what subjects you are talking about, e.g. in maths notes are not as important as in other subjects, and English notes has varying efficacy depending on the individual's learning style.
What I have included in this guide are possibilities of what you may do in your study for the main subjects and this can serve as a guide by which you design what you actually do in that study period-just make sure you are not procrastinating most of the time haha:)
 

Elias Yacoub

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Hi there!

You commented on my thread not too long ago addressing me to your thread. I have had a good read through your thread ages ago and it is amazing!
I need all the help i can get. With study notes and the syllabus, did you aim to finish a dot point in 30mins, then break for 5, then in your next 20min study block read over them? What was your routine and what did you aim for in your study notes?
 

strawberrye

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Hi there!

You commented on my thread not too long ago addressing me to your thread. I have had a good read through your thread ages ago and it is amazing!
I need all the help i can get. With study notes and the syllabus, did you aim to finish a dot point in 30mins, then break for 5, then in your next 20min study block read over them? What was your routine and what did you aim for in your study notes?
I think I didn't aim to finish a dot point for 30 minutes, a lot of what I had on this study guide was insights on how I could have better used my inefficient study time-so at the time I was in my senior high school, I was not as disciplined as I may have appeared to me from my writing haha. I didn't really have a fixed routine, and in some sense, all my recollections of how I studies has been articulated in this guide. But in terms of making study notes, I usually learn through summarising the textbook or writing formula sheets (with areas to watch out for in maths) and also questions and answers (which I found difficult and did wrong). For science subjects (I can't speak on behalf of humanities subject because I never did any-nor social sciences), I usually summarise from textbook (not merely syllabus dot points to get a broader understanding of how dot point link together), I learn through the process of summarising the information in mind maps and writing it in different colours in my own words rather than in reading over the notes (hence I don't have my own set of science notes from HSC till this date-because since I learn through summarising process, I chuck away the notes shortly after since my handwriting was rather notorious).

Hope this helped a bit and all the best for your HSC :)
 

Simorgh

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Good tips on how I can have complete mastery and domination over Phys and Chem?
 

strawberrye

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Good tips on how I can have complete mastery and domination over Phys and Chem?
If you read through the first few pages of these guides, my tips for physics and chemistry is all in there
 

strawberrye

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Best thread that I've read in regards to mastering Prelim and beyond, thanks once again Mei. More people need to see this! Excellent tips
Thank you:) Please feel free to share this with people who you feel will benefit from it :)
 

strawberrye

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TIPS TO MAINTAINING A STABLE RELATIONSHIP AND BALANCING THAT WITH YOUR SENIOR STUDIES
Disclaimer: It has been quite a long time since I have last substantially updated this thread. This has been for a variety of reasons and I think a part of it has to do with me trying to figure out my own aspirations and path through life and my passion for education. Throughout the last few years of tutoring senior high school students, what struck me increasingly is that pure academic advice (i.e. how to excel in certain subjects) will never be adequate to encapsulate the complexity and uniqueness of every student's experience.

Purely take what I say with a grain of salt because every relationship is different. The following five tips have been based from my own experience (albeit not at the HSC, but at uni level) and also my observations of relationships of people around me (whether during high school or in uni and beyond), so feel free to add to this because it is not intended to be conclusive of all experiences. I believe that it is possible, albeit extremely challenging to maintain a stable relationship during the stresses of senior study if you follow the following tips:

1. NEVER GUESS, LISTEN AND COMMUNICATE WITH AN OPEN MIND-I will be the first to admit that I am not a perfect communicator but you get better with practice. Often misunderstandings in a relationship arises from inadequate communication or even worse, assuming that the other person knows what is on your mind. No one is a mind reader, always tell your boyfriend/girlfriend what is on your mind and tell it in a nonjudgmental, non defensive, honest manner. Give the other person the benefit of doubt and listen to their explanation before you rage at them. Listen carefully to what your other half says, you don't need to agree with them, but at least acknowledge their viewpoint and make them feel respected. For example, if your other half is late to a date, don't assume it is because they don't care about you, there might be other reasons such as there was traffic, they wanted to get you food along the way, they had last minute errands to run so they can spend more time with you.

2.DON'T RELY ON YOUR OTHER HALF FOR YOUR HAPPINESS: LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF FIRST-This seems cliche and simple, but it actually holds a far deeper truth. Often we believe erroneously that our happiness is dependent on the happening of a thing: whether it be getting good test results, getting to spend time with our boyfriend/girlfriend, getting that part time job we have been applying for, getting a scholarship, that captain position etc the listen just goes on and on. However, you will soon realise that although achieving those things or having a special someone in your life may make you happier (i.e. because someone can cheer you up when you are down and give you hugs), if you rely purely on that person for your happiness you will be grimly disappointed. The reality is no one is perfect and it is simply unrealistic to expect our happiness to be from one person (it puts a lot of unrealistic pressure on them) and you are likely to frequently find fault and becoming increasingly dissatisfied from your relationship the moment they are not what you want them to be. Your relationship will be so much more fulfilling if you learn to have confidence in yourself and love yourself for who you are. Often relationship insecurities and jealousies arises from a lack of self-confidence (I am a big culprit of that and i am still on my own learning curve), don't compare yourself with others because you truly are unique (whether you choose to believe in it at this moment or not), you were chosen because you had good qualities and you should never undervalue yourself.

3. EMBRACE CHANGE, CHALLENGES TOGETHER, DON'T WORK THROUGH THINGS ALONE-Particularly at the start of a relationship, we often consciously want our other half to see the best of ourselves, and often reluctant to share our fears, insecurities, challenges in our lives. One of the most important thing to maintaining a stable relationship is to see yourself as a team and work through things TOGETHER. Even if there may be challenges that you guys may not be able to solve together (i.e. one person has volatile family relationships), sharing what's on your mind will ease the challenges and often you might even learn to figure a solution or at least change a more positive outlook on things. Also changes in relationships are inevitable, it is unrealistic to expect a stable relationship to always be in the honey moon phase, or that you will always see each other on Saturday evenings or something, there are unexpected commitments in our lives from time to time, changes in our own outlook, interests, this is why embracing changes to your schedule (maybe you have assessment tasks upcoming, so have less time to see each other-you may want to consider still setting aside time to meet up after the assessments). You shouldn't see a relationship as a hindrance to getting good HSC results, sure it does take a lot of physical and emotional toil at first, but if you guys work together (i.e. study together perhaps), resolve challenges together, you may even see a blossoming of your HSC results.

4. DISCUSS FUNDAMENTAL VALUES AT THE START OF THE RELATIONSHIP-This was an important lesson I personally learnt during my relationship. Another source of misunderstanding is not miscommunication, but rather not understanding each other's fundamental values which makes arguments very frequent. You guys can compromise different interests and schedules, but it is very hard, if not impossible, to compromise your fundamental values. Have a difficult/easy conversation (depending on the personality of your other half) about your fundamental values at the start of the relationship to avoid much misunderstandings in the future, i.e. what are your values in relation to spending money? ethical/moral values about where the line between good/bad is drawn? What kind of person are you? (What religious/social/political values you may have?). It is all well and good to spend time together with your other half and enjoy doing activities together, but sooner or later when significant challenges arises, and you guys haven't discussed your fundamental values, you may well risk a break up from realising your values doesn't fundamentally match together. Have the conversation early so you know what you are getting into.

5. TRUST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT WILL BIND YOUR RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER-
NEVER PLAY GAMES WITH YOUR OTHER HALF IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP AND GO ALONG WITH THE FLOW
-Too often whether it is from social media or bad friend advice, we want to play games with our other half, whether it be to test out whether they are loyal to us (there was earlier a viral video on Facebook of a 13 year old girl who hired another girl to test out the loyalty of her boyfriend), or the advice to leave the boy hanging-don't reply immediately etc, at the end of the day, if you are mature about your relationship, you will realise playing games is a waste of both people's time. If you truly trust your other half, you wouldn't need to consider emotional manipulation. Inevitably, trust is something that takes time to build-but you have got to take a brave leap of faith and build trust-without mutual trust (TRUST A PERSON UNTIL THEY GIVE YOU A REASON NOT TO TRUST THEM) no relationship will be sustainable. If you other half say they are studying, believe that they are and not start overthinking they are cheating on you or with another person until you have evidence proving otherwise. A relationship makes you vulnerable, but it also has the potential to give you emotional connections that will strengthen your character and happiness. You have to take a leap of faith to gain connection, if you are always too scared of getting hurt/getting dumped, your relationship will soon be in a stalemate and won't go far.

As a concluding word, let the relationship flows and only get into a relationship if you seriously believe you can handle the emotional roller coasters starting a relationship often brings with the intense stresses of senior studies. NO RELATIONSHIP WILL BE PERFECT. I have heard of stories of people who dump each other right before an exam which leads to poor results for both, do both of yourself a favour and don't do that. There are many future opportunities for you to start a relationship after the HSC (whether with the person you like) or whether you haven't met the person you like yet, know what you want, what is important to you (whether it be studies/relationship or both) and pursue it. Love is truly a choice, rather than just a mere feeling, you have to make the choice whether you will consciously love the other person despite their flaws, challenges and mistakes and continue reflecting on your shortcomings and learn to be a BETTER PERSON for each other's sake. Don't underestimate the challenges of keeping a relationship with your studies commitment.

I wish every couple who is in their senior studies period all the happiness and love they deserve and I hope you guys can truly work through things together, talk honestly and mature through the challenges ahead, whether personal, academic or not. Best wishes to you all for your relationship to blossom through school and beyond <3
 
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strawberrye

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Also I feel I need to clarify this: I am not by any means a relationship guru so don't email/PM your relationship problems thinking I am a guru and can solve all your problems. Often the best way to solve problems is to talk to each other or talk to people in your life that you trust. The above are just some tips (NOT ALL POSSIBLE TIPS) that can help to strengthen your relationship (if you are in one or are considering to be in one) during your high school years and how that can be possible whilst balancing your various commitments. Building and sustaining a relationship requires a lot of time, so if you have a lot of commitments in your life, perhaps have a serious think whether you can physically commit to setting aside time regularly to spend with your other half before you enter into a relationship.

Also I am not going to turn this thread into a relationship thread-but as an often unstated aspect in even published study guide books-I believe that having some guidance on how to maintain a relationship are useful for people to balance their commitments and aspirations. The focus on this thread will remain mainly academic, but having relationships are one of the many aspects of our lives that can have a direct influence on our academic results and motivations and I believe initiating a discussion of this rather than ignoring the reality would provide those in a relationship with further assistance and helping them to make more informed choices.
 
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Gooodby

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Hi,
I am really struggling to memorise terminology & dates etc.! Would you have any tips for this while also being time efficent?
Thank you :)
 

strawberrye

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Hi,
I am really struggling to memorise terminology & dates etc.! Would you have any tips for this while also being time efficent?
Thank you :)
Sorry for the belated reply. The best way to remember these technical details is to construe a story-i.e. is there any similarity with the dates with birthdays of people you know in real life, or with important dates within your life, ultimately the more connected you make everything, the more easily you will be able to remember all the different things.
 

phunkyy

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During yr11/12 what time did you go to bed and wake up? I find that I'm really productive at night, so I usually stay up later because I can get more work done but then I wake up feeling really tired

Thanks :)
 

donkily

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Is sleep usually important when you're in year 11 and 12?
guys please ignore this question. he's clearly being a troll

this has already been answered in the thread on the first and sixth page (just do "control f" and type in "sleep")
 
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How do I summarise information effectively...like when I write notes I just keep writing endless pages of notes because I feel every single bit of information is relevant but at the same time I need summarised notes so it's easier to study at times
 

Mathew587

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How do I summarise information effectively...like when I write notes I just keep writing endless pages of notes because I feel every single bit of information is relevant but at the same time I need summarised notes so it's easier to study at times
With the science subjects, I look at the verb and try make my notes around that i.e. describe I would talk about the characteristics quite well and for analyse I'd look into the implications of whatever it is.
With the humanities however, I try to thoroughly understand the textbook and make connections between the topics. For business, I just get notes from elsewhere and memorise while for eco, the textbook and qs are probs the best.

In conclusion, look at the verb or get notes from elsewhere :)
 

boredsatan

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How can you better understand and retain what you read? Is there any specific strategies to help?
 

donkily

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Why did you call me a troll before and then now you're answering my question?
sometimes if i feel you're not trolling i will answer you but most of the time i feel you are a troll hence i do not answer you

even you asking some questions such as "how do i retain information" may help others who read this but stupid questions like "Is sleep usually important when you're in year 11 and 12?" can already be answered by others and do not need to be asked (since literally everyone knows the answer to the question)
 
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With the science subjects, I look at the verb and try make my notes around that i.e. describe I would talk about the characteristics quite well and for analyse I'd look into the implications of whatever it is.
With the humanities however, I try to thoroughly understand the textbook and make connections between the topics. For business, I just get notes from elsewhere and memorise while for eco, the textbook and qs are probs the best.

In conclusion, look at the verb or get notes from elsewhere :)
Not a bad response but thanks :)
 

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