Hiheyhello
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2019
- Messages
- 409
- Gender
- Female
- HSC
- 2021
hey everyone,
i was thinking of creating a thread where we can all share a bunch of study tips and inspiring things to motivate us to smash trials and rank first in everything (no i'm not joking)
let me remind ya'll that your internal ranking has a massive impact on your ATAR. trials will be the make or break.
here are some tips that have helped me
(from a high achiever in internals so far)
- loopholes: yes, there will be loopholes that you can access for certain subjects. I think that these are especially important when you find yourself overwhelmed by a massive list of tasks that you in order to cover every aspect of the syllabus.
e.g. in modern history, there are 2 topics which involve essays, such as China. The China syllabus involves 3-4 areas of study that you could be potentially asked to write an essay on however, you will always be given the option of choosing between two questions. Trends in past HSC papers have shown that the survey is the areas that is least likely to be asked. Therefore, you can save so much time and energy by studying all areas of the except for 1 area such as the survey. Even if you are asked to write an essay on it, you still have the option of choosing another question. THEREFORE you do not have to study the entire syllabus.
- the purpose of other people's notes: this one is really obvious but i will reinforce it anyway. you should be writing your notes from scratch because that will allow you to remember them. however, online notes or notes from your friends can be really helpful as an extra resource for adding extra detail to your own.
- the correct way to memorise for English: there have been many debates around the notorious, 'to memorise a or not to memorise'.
After a lot of trial and error, I would recommend that the best way to prepare for any question (if you are a memoriser), is to have a range of paragraphs (at least 8) for each module, memorised rather than a single essay. This allows you to engage with any question within the structure of your essay, because ultimately (esp. in Mod B), the meta structure itself should be a linear progression of ideas. This provides the flexibility of arranging your paragraphs in a way that supports your thesis. Furthermore, if the question specifies a theme or insight, you'll be chill.
some other tips for memorising
- practice adapting a lot - this is the single best thing you can do because there are often patterns in the way that you manipulate your argument
- ensure the paragraphs that you memorise are perfect in terms of phraseology, analysis and techniques. you don't want to be memorising a first draft.
- don't memorise an intro - engage directly with the question, practice writing intros, have a couple of thesis' in mind and have a structure that you are comfortable with in your notes.
- be prepared to be flexible: if there are words in the question synonymous to the words that you have in your memorised paragraph/thesis/insight, then substitute. However you don't always have to keep repeating the word of the question, engage with it at the start and then you can use synonyms throughout to provide some flavour.
If you don't memorise for English, then mad respect, i personally wish i didn't, but it's become a habit and now get anxious at the prospect of not doing so.
wellbeing: whilst you may have been able to get away with neglecting your health throughout the year in terms of exercise and sleep, it's not gonna cut it for hsc and trials, because you have exam after exam after exam and it's literally the entire year rolled into one paper. so i suggest that everyone utilises these holidays to establish a wellbeing routine. this includes an adequate sleep schedule - you want to aim to wake up early so that you don't waste your day. exercise is proven to increase performance, so do that as well. Health is rlly important because you want to maintain a healthy immune system so that you don't get sick.
schedule breaks: this tip is from personal experience, but don't overestimate yourself. i have found that when i don't schedule breaks, i end up procrastinating and then feel shit about it. allocate time for study, and allocate time for fun/relaxation/other commitments.
finish your notes NOW: let me remind you that these holidays aren't holidays. finish your notes now. as in by the end of this week. That way, you can immediately start revising your notes on monday, and answering practice questions, rather than wasting your time writing/fixing your notes.
organise: deep clean your room, de-clutter your laptop and phone, write a study plan for trials and term 3, create a to-do list for all of your subjects, file and organise all of your worksheets that have accumulated into a massive mess, organise your google drive and your emails, because all of this will make you want to study.
IT REALLY SUCKS THAT COVID IS BACK AGAIN - we're basically gonna be stuck inside, so make your room a place that you actually want to be in
create a pretty study space, i personally keep flowers on my desk, diffuse essential oils and dim the lights, create a study playlist (low-fi is vibey at night), display your fave stationary, keep it minimal.
have fun: um yeah, so i personally had a bunch of 18ths that i was looking forward to, but thanks to covid they're getting cancelled. therefore prioritise socialising with friends, socialise with family, dress up, spend time engaging in hobbies, sports, driving etc.
stop wasting time on social media: like you don't have time for that these holidays, limit yourself to 15 minutes in the morning and evening. or delete it if you aren't disciplined.
for writing subjects, utilise your friends : curb it at 1-3 close friends that are smart and you can trust. THIS HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH. feedback from too many people can be conflicting. obviously return the favour.
i hope i've covered all of the general stuff.
good luck!
i was thinking of creating a thread where we can all share a bunch of study tips and inspiring things to motivate us to smash trials and rank first in everything (no i'm not joking)
let me remind ya'll that your internal ranking has a massive impact on your ATAR. trials will be the make or break.
here are some tips that have helped me
(from a high achiever in internals so far)- loopholes: yes, there will be loopholes that you can access for certain subjects. I think that these are especially important when you find yourself overwhelmed by a massive list of tasks that you in order to cover every aspect of the syllabus.
e.g. in modern history, there are 2 topics which involve essays, such as China. The China syllabus involves 3-4 areas of study that you could be potentially asked to write an essay on however, you will always be given the option of choosing between two questions. Trends in past HSC papers have shown that the survey is the areas that is least likely to be asked. Therefore, you can save so much time and energy by studying all areas of the except for 1 area such as the survey. Even if you are asked to write an essay on it, you still have the option of choosing another question. THEREFORE you do not have to study the entire syllabus.
- the purpose of other people's notes: this one is really obvious but i will reinforce it anyway. you should be writing your notes from scratch because that will allow you to remember them. however, online notes or notes from your friends can be really helpful as an extra resource for adding extra detail to your own.
- the correct way to memorise for English: there have been many debates around the notorious, 'to memorise a or not to memorise'.
After a lot of trial and error, I would recommend that the best way to prepare for any question (if you are a memoriser), is to have a range of paragraphs (at least 8) for each module, memorised rather than a single essay. This allows you to engage with any question within the structure of your essay, because ultimately (esp. in Mod B), the meta structure itself should be a linear progression of ideas. This provides the flexibility of arranging your paragraphs in a way that supports your thesis. Furthermore, if the question specifies a theme or insight, you'll be chill.
some other tips for memorising
- practice adapting a lot - this is the single best thing you can do because there are often patterns in the way that you manipulate your argument
- ensure the paragraphs that you memorise are perfect in terms of phraseology, analysis and techniques. you don't want to be memorising a first draft.
- don't memorise an intro - engage directly with the question, practice writing intros, have a couple of thesis' in mind and have a structure that you are comfortable with in your notes.
- be prepared to be flexible: if there are words in the question synonymous to the words that you have in your memorised paragraph/thesis/insight, then substitute. However you don't always have to keep repeating the word of the question, engage with it at the start and then you can use synonyms throughout to provide some flavour.
If you don't memorise for English, then mad respect, i personally wish i didn't, but it's become a habit and now get anxious at the prospect of not doing so.
wellbeing: whilst you may have been able to get away with neglecting your health throughout the year in terms of exercise and sleep, it's not gonna cut it for hsc and trials, because you have exam after exam after exam and it's literally the entire year rolled into one paper. so i suggest that everyone utilises these holidays to establish a wellbeing routine. this includes an adequate sleep schedule - you want to aim to wake up early so that you don't waste your day. exercise is proven to increase performance, so do that as well. Health is rlly important because you want to maintain a healthy immune system so that you don't get sick.
schedule breaks: this tip is from personal experience, but don't overestimate yourself. i have found that when i don't schedule breaks, i end up procrastinating and then feel shit about it. allocate time for study, and allocate time for fun/relaxation/other commitments.
finish your notes NOW: let me remind you that these holidays aren't holidays. finish your notes now. as in by the end of this week. That way, you can immediately start revising your notes on monday, and answering practice questions, rather than wasting your time writing/fixing your notes.
organise: deep clean your room, de-clutter your laptop and phone, write a study plan for trials and term 3, create a to-do list for all of your subjects, file and organise all of your worksheets that have accumulated into a massive mess, organise your google drive and your emails, because all of this will make you want to study.
IT REALLY SUCKS THAT COVID IS BACK AGAIN - we're basically gonna be stuck inside, so make your room a place that you actually want to be in
create a pretty study space, i personally keep flowers on my desk, diffuse essential oils and dim the lights, create a study playlist (low-fi is vibey at night), display your fave stationary, keep it minimal.
have fun: um yeah, so i personally had a bunch of 18ths that i was looking forward to, but thanks to covid they're getting cancelled. therefore prioritise socialising with friends, socialise with family, dress up, spend time engaging in hobbies, sports, driving etc.
stop wasting time on social media: like you don't have time for that these holidays, limit yourself to 15 minutes in the morning and evening. or delete it if you aren't disciplined.
for writing subjects, utilise your friends : curb it at 1-3 close friends that are smart and you can trust. THIS HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH. feedback from too many people can be conflicting. obviously return the favour.
i hope i've covered all of the general stuff.
good luck!
inspiration and motivation