School Assessment vs Actual HSC (1 Viewer)

[hyparzero]

I have just received my tragic results of my half yearlies and I must say, I am disappointed at my marks. My flu during the exam week was partly to blame for the tradegy.

The story:
I'm currently ranked in the top twenties in most of my subjects (like 14th, 14th, 17th and a 21th for Ext2 Maths)

With the exception of English, which during the exam I was practically half dead - somehow I managed to scribble some bull and was ranked a tragic 82 of 134.

My question is this, even if I'm ranked pretty low in my school assessments, and then I totally ace the actual final HSC exams, like high ninties in all subjects, then ace the UMAT and the interview - would it be remotely possible to get into Medicine even if my school ranking just stinks.

I am currently doing the following subjects:

English Advanced (Ranked 82nd)
Chemistry (13th)
Physics (15th)
Engineering Studies (11th)
Mathematics Ext. 1 (20th)
Mathematics Ext. 2 (21st)

I know this has been asked hundreds of times before - but I think I just need some reassurance on the matter. Any help would be highly appreciated!

Thanks.

(Advice to all: Get vaccinated against the flu weeks before your exams! I learnt the hard way!)

 

[pLuvia]

Your school may have set hard exams and the students in the class are really competitive that's why your ranks maybe so low

 

[Riviet]

I would say you still have a fair chance, the trials plus the final exams can be worth up to 80% of your UAI, depending on how heavily your trials are weighted. So there's still alot of marks up for grabs.

 

[Number7]

All you can do is try your best.

Remember, rank is unimportant if you examine the quality of the class you're in, meaning if you get the 21st ranked mark in the HSC exam it could be a 90 even if you are ranked 21st. But that's IF you have a smart subject group.

But that doesn't mean don't try and pickup your rank anyways, don't rely on someone else.

Remember, alll you can do is - TRY YOUR BEST.

 

[kiewa]

Remember, alll you can do is - TRY YOUR BEST.

i agree all you can do is try, and give it your best
my half yearly marks were pretty crappy, and my ranking was crap 2
but i figure its a learning guidline now you know where you need to improve and what you need to study more so you can improve your marks and your ranking

 

[tigerian]

As at teacher(English) I can assure you that there are many reasons and the respondents below have listed many of them and I especially agree with pluvia about hard exams. When it comes to big time(trials etc) flu can can be considered something for claiming a misadventure form but you would need a good case).
Was English Ok? If you want some advise send it to me and I'll check it out. I have created a site called ask the teacher on the General HSC so feel free to contact me if you wish. I would not be too concerned. Also if there s a problem now to is the time to find out(it's a bit hard but a necessary step in HSC success)

My only advice at present is dont aim too high. Are you capable of achieving your expectations. If so, go for it!
Regards

Ian

 

[hopeles5ly]

wow 134 people doing advanced, my year doesn't even have that much people.
Just curious, what school do you go to?

And yep just like what the others have said, theres still time to push up your rank as there are various assessments left including the trials.

 

[Emph]

My question is that are the marks I am getting now going to be the same or similiar marks on my HSC.

Like you hear of heaps of people getting UAI 99.50 or whatever... but did they seriously get that in all their assessments? Or did scaling play a big role.

For example, my marks are sitting in the low 80s to low 90s... is it unrealistic to hope for a UAI of 90 something?

 

[tigerian]

My question is that are the marks I am getting now going to be the same or similiar marks on my HSC.

Like you hear of heaps of people getting UAI 99.50 or whatever... but did they seriously get that in all their assessments? Or did scaling play a big role.

For example, my marks are sitting in the low 80s to low 90s... is it unrealistic to hope for a UAI of 90 something?

If its not unrealistic for you it's not unrealistic to hope for the desired UAI. You sound like you know what you want to achieve. Who's to tell you you cant do it?

Trust yourself, aim hard and seek help from people who can give you the advice you need. There are plenty of threads on this site for one and plenty of help elsewhere.

Good luck

Ian

 

[lala2]

But that doesn't mean don't try and pickup your rank anyways, don't rely on someone else.

Remember, alll you can do is - TRY YOUR BEST.

Exactly. It was tragic for my Chemistry cohort because everyone expected everyone else to pull them up, so no-one did do the pulling up, and so everyone except for the girls who had been prizewinners from Years 7-12 did badly considering their potential. Some of the aligned marks you get are really crappy. I got ranked 26th, and my assessment mark was 81, which meant some idiot who got the 26th external mark got 81...wtf?! And my beautiful exam mark of 92...grr. Anyway, the moral is, just try your best and don't rely on the cohort to pull you up--do your own pulling up in the exam! I guess that explains the 11 mark gap between my assessment and my exam mark--I realised that since no-one was gonna do the pulling up, I was gonna have to do my own pulling

 

[Irradiated]

I dunno if what ive been told is true or not, but it seems to work... your final hsc mark is a combination of school based assessment marks and the final exam, each bearing a weight of 50%. before you freak out, whatever u get in ur final exam, will remain constant, but that mark can affect your assessment mark, because notall schools do the same assessment, and not all teachers mark the same, for example, 80% at my school is worth about 20% anywhere else. so if your exam mark is like 100%, but ur assessment mark is 20% (hypothetically), then the assessment mark is scaled up.
your ranking in the class only matters if there is a huge gap between people, and if there is, no matter the scaling, the gap is always the same... thats a shady confusing bit in my mind, although my deputy did try to make me understand it

hope that helps u stop panicking...
oh ps, the uai is your rank against the rest of the state,not ur mark

 

[rockets]

I know someone that goes to barker and they have like 260 kids doing adv. english and 80-90 doing standard. Thats a hell of a lot students!!! Try working out what mark you would get there. One mark could move your ranking up or down 20 spots and if its down that could be disasterous I reckon!!!???