Drifting95
Should i change my DP?
Hey guys,
I've had people emailing me for tips for economics specifically. I'm just going to post some stuff i have said in these emails and eventually add more to it.
If you have any questions about economics post them in this thread before you make a new thread.
If you're wondering about me, i ended up scoring 93. Nothing spectacular compared to some of the beasts on here but i wasn't even recommended by my school to study the subject. For this reason, i believe that anyone with a strong work ethic and interest can achieve success in economics.
Study Plan
Making an effective study routine is VERY important.
What i would do for eco:
1. After school i would do notes for the specific content i learnt in class so i'd absorb the knowledge i actually learnt that day
2. I would accelerate slightly ahead when i had less demands (e.g no assignments). You can do this on your own or seek a tutor (ideally me
) if you struggle to grasp the concepts initially
3. Do lots of past papers THROUGHOUT the year, not 2 weeks before the exam. I wouldn't bother doing them if you don't get feedback because you're not learning from your mistakes. I would get my teacher or tutor to mark them for me.
4. I would also watch youtube videos of certain concepts even if i understood them. By listening to other people explain the concept it would allow me to understand it from a different perspective, along with ensuring you cover the whole concept if a teacher hasn't covered it properly.
I recommend these channels:
--https://www.youtube.com/user/pajholden
-https://www.youtube.com/user/MrStudyTV/videos
I would recommend that, especially if you have subjects with lots of content such as business + eco where you can't waste all your time memorising notes when doing papers is more important.
Exam Tips
These are some specific exam tips i was given by my tutor ( 96 for eco and 99.90 ATAR)
This is a basic guide on exam technique for each section of the exam, as well as some general pointers on how to structure your knowledge and/or study for Economics trials and HSC exams.
IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ALL-ENCOMPASSING. People’s style’s vary – this is based on what worked for me, and what I think to be highly effective.
READING TIME
1. Flip straight to the extended responses. Briefly look at the questions, and if you can, decide which essay you will choose between each option.
For me, this was quite easy, since I had favourite topics, but others may find this more difficult
-This does NOT mean that you should spend 5 minutes of reading deciding your extended response; if you can’t decide, keep it in the back of your mind as you do the exam so that you have a decision by the time you get to the essays
2. Flip to the short answer questions. Take note of what topics are being tested, and remember that. Keep them in the back of your mind.
-Particularly, READ THE QUESTION for each of the 5 markers. Don’t bother with the rest – you’ll get to them in due time.
3. Begin multiple choice.
-Finish as much as you can in reading time.
-Mark the answers using your fingernails (don’t let the supervisor catch you!)
-If, on the off chance that you FINISH MC, go back to short answer and read over the questions you didn’t read
MULTIPLE CHOICE
- READ THE QUESTION PROPERLY. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
- Many a time a great student will forgo some of the easiest marks by virtue of simply misreading the question. Don’t let that person be you!
- Even though MC is quick, it has the easiest and quickest marks (with the best time-mark ratio) and you should be getting close to 20/20 each time
- Stick with your first instinct if you’re not sure.
- Spend no more than 15 mins on this, including reading time
SHORT ANSWER
- You should at least know enough to be able to answer a 5 marker on any topic
- LEARN YOUR DEFINITIONS: they are crucial in getting a good mark
- In 5 markers, start with key definitions, and then proceed to answer the question.
- In shorter questions, get straight to the point. Do not repeat the question. Ever.
- Definitions may be necessary, depending on the type of question
- Many a HSC has asked candidates for a “What..” or “Define..” question.
- Key terms are important.
- Consider the question being asked, and think of all the syllabus-relevant terms you can think of. If you can weave them into your answer, you’re doing well.
- For example, remember to associate public goods with non-excludable, non-rival, and free riders.
- Spam as much as you like in short answer, but you shouldn’t take any longer than 1hr to 1 hr 10 to complete it. The shorter the better.
- Start each line before the dotted line space to give yourself more space to write, and same on the other side
EXTENDED RESPONSE
Introduction
- Don’t have wishy washy intros like in English. None of this fancy thesis crap.
- In your intro, you should define the key terms within the question
eg. If it was a topic 1 question about the impact of globalisation on an economy, you should give a brief definition of globalisation, and briefly introduce your country.
- You may also make some other brief comments, but keep these to a minimum in the intro
Body
- In most extendeds, start out with the mechanisms of the question involving diagrams
o It shows the marker that you know your shit, and you have the theory aspect down.
- From hereon in what you do depends on the orientation of the question. There are two types of questions: STATS BASED QUESTIONS and THEORY BASED QUESTIONS
- Keep this in mind:
- STATS ESSAYS – easier to bs but harder to well in
- THEORY ESSAYS – much much harder to bs but if you know your shit you’ll do well
STATS ESSAYS
- In stats essays (these generally involve analysing trends and whatnot) you should try your best to stay chronological
- You need to interweave any impressive theory you have into things that have actually happened
- Depending on the timeframe, you can do this generally or in detail
- LOGICAL and COHESIVE responses are important in getting top marks
- Like I’ve mentioned, chronological is really nice if you can do it
- I recommend doing these essays if you like keeping up with current affairs and have a good economic general knowledge
THEORY ESSAYS
- IN THEORY ESSAYS you need to impress the marker with as much knowledge as you can, while sprinkling stats here and there
- You don’t need as many stats to do well in these essays – simply throw them in here and there to support your points and you’ll be fine
- In these essays throw in as many diagrams as you can, AS LONG AS THEY’RE RELEVANT
- If you’re the type of person who rote learns eco, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do these essays – you’ll do much much better than the stats based ones
Conclusions
- In your conclusions is where you can make those fancy rambly statements that you wanted in your intro. I like to say something about future challenges etc. because it always almost fits and shows that you have an understanding of the nature of the issue.
I've had people emailing me for tips for economics specifically. I'm just going to post some stuff i have said in these emails and eventually add more to it.
If you have any questions about economics post them in this thread before you make a new thread.
If you're wondering about me, i ended up scoring 93. Nothing spectacular compared to some of the beasts on here but i wasn't even recommended by my school to study the subject. For this reason, i believe that anyone with a strong work ethic and interest can achieve success in economics.
Study Plan
Making an effective study routine is VERY important.
What i would do for eco:
1. After school i would do notes for the specific content i learnt in class so i'd absorb the knowledge i actually learnt that day
2. I would accelerate slightly ahead when i had less demands (e.g no assignments). You can do this on your own or seek a tutor (ideally me
) if you struggle to grasp the concepts initially 3. Do lots of past papers THROUGHOUT the year, not 2 weeks before the exam. I wouldn't bother doing them if you don't get feedback because you're not learning from your mistakes. I would get my teacher or tutor to mark them for me.
4. I would also watch youtube videos of certain concepts even if i understood them. By listening to other people explain the concept it would allow me to understand it from a different perspective, along with ensuring you cover the whole concept if a teacher hasn't covered it properly.
I recommend these channels:
--https://www.youtube.com/user/pajholden
-https://www.youtube.com/user/MrStudyTV/videos
To answer your specific question, no i wouldn't write them out. Writing notes out is very ineffective. I personally would read a dot point and then try and explain it in my own words. This method is called "teach the dog".You're trying to explain the concept/content in a more simplistic way. Pretend you're talking to a person that has NO economic knowledge at all. By dumbing it down and logically reasoning the concept out your brain can recall it more effectively in the exam, trust me it works.
I would recommend that, especially if you have subjects with lots of content such as business + eco where you can't waste all your time memorising notes when doing papers is more important.
Exam Tips
These are some specific exam tips i was given by my tutor ( 96 for eco and 99.90 ATAR)
This is a basic guide on exam technique for each section of the exam, as well as some general pointers on how to structure your knowledge and/or study for Economics trials and HSC exams.
IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ALL-ENCOMPASSING. People’s style’s vary – this is based on what worked for me, and what I think to be highly effective.
READING TIME
1. Flip straight to the extended responses. Briefly look at the questions, and if you can, decide which essay you will choose between each option.
For me, this was quite easy, since I had favourite topics, but others may find this more difficult
-This does NOT mean that you should spend 5 minutes of reading deciding your extended response; if you can’t decide, keep it in the back of your mind as you do the exam so that you have a decision by the time you get to the essays
2. Flip to the short answer questions. Take note of what topics are being tested, and remember that. Keep them in the back of your mind.
-Particularly, READ THE QUESTION for each of the 5 markers. Don’t bother with the rest – you’ll get to them in due time.
3. Begin multiple choice.
-Finish as much as you can in reading time.
-Mark the answers using your fingernails (don’t let the supervisor catch you!)
-If, on the off chance that you FINISH MC, go back to short answer and read over the questions you didn’t read
MULTIPLE CHOICE
- READ THE QUESTION PROPERLY. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
- Many a time a great student will forgo some of the easiest marks by virtue of simply misreading the question. Don’t let that person be you!
- Even though MC is quick, it has the easiest and quickest marks (with the best time-mark ratio) and you should be getting close to 20/20 each time
- Stick with your first instinct if you’re not sure.
- Spend no more than 15 mins on this, including reading time
SHORT ANSWER
- You should at least know enough to be able to answer a 5 marker on any topic
- LEARN YOUR DEFINITIONS: they are crucial in getting a good mark
- In 5 markers, start with key definitions, and then proceed to answer the question.
- In shorter questions, get straight to the point. Do not repeat the question. Ever.
- Definitions may be necessary, depending on the type of question
- Many a HSC has asked candidates for a “What..” or “Define..” question.
- Key terms are important.
- Consider the question being asked, and think of all the syllabus-relevant terms you can think of. If you can weave them into your answer, you’re doing well.
- For example, remember to associate public goods with non-excludable, non-rival, and free riders.
- Spam as much as you like in short answer, but you shouldn’t take any longer than 1hr to 1 hr 10 to complete it. The shorter the better.
- Start each line before the dotted line space to give yourself more space to write, and same on the other side
EXTENDED RESPONSE
Introduction
- Don’t have wishy washy intros like in English. None of this fancy thesis crap.
- In your intro, you should define the key terms within the question
eg. If it was a topic 1 question about the impact of globalisation on an economy, you should give a brief definition of globalisation, and briefly introduce your country.
- You may also make some other brief comments, but keep these to a minimum in the intro
Body
- In most extendeds, start out with the mechanisms of the question involving diagrams
o It shows the marker that you know your shit, and you have the theory aspect down.
- From hereon in what you do depends on the orientation of the question. There are two types of questions: STATS BASED QUESTIONS and THEORY BASED QUESTIONS
- Keep this in mind:
- STATS ESSAYS – easier to bs but harder to well in
- THEORY ESSAYS – much much harder to bs but if you know your shit you’ll do well
STATS ESSAYS
- In stats essays (these generally involve analysing trends and whatnot) you should try your best to stay chronological
- You need to interweave any impressive theory you have into things that have actually happened
- Depending on the timeframe, you can do this generally or in detail
- LOGICAL and COHESIVE responses are important in getting top marks
- Like I’ve mentioned, chronological is really nice if you can do it
- I recommend doing these essays if you like keeping up with current affairs and have a good economic general knowledge
THEORY ESSAYS
- IN THEORY ESSAYS you need to impress the marker with as much knowledge as you can, while sprinkling stats here and there
- You don’t need as many stats to do well in these essays – simply throw them in here and there to support your points and you’ll be fine
- In these essays throw in as many diagrams as you can, AS LONG AS THEY’RE RELEVANT
- If you’re the type of person who rote learns eco, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do these essays – you’ll do much much better than the stats based ones
Conclusions
- In your conclusions is where you can make those fancy rambly statements that you wanted in your intro. I like to say something about future challenges etc. because it always almost fits and shows that you have an understanding of the nature of the issue.
Last edited:
