Going to a bad school pull your ATAR down? (1 Viewer)

[sd99]

Hey guys, i was just wondering if the school you go to has an affect on the ATAR you're gonna get. Do good students from bad schools get pulled down by their cohort? and if they do, then by around how much?
Thanks guys

 

[Spiritual Being]

Not necessarily. The lower the school is ranked the higher your internal rank must be so you can be sort of 'ahead' of your cohort. It all comes down to the individual though what can happen is lower ranked schools set easy assessment tasks and tests which you may think you perform well in but in reality the HSC is much harder. IMO just don't worry about it and just maintain a high internal rank within your subjects, try your best and it should work out. BTW What's your school rank and atar aim?

 

[Examine]

I don't think rank would pull you down if you are 1st internally in all your subjects. (not sure)

 

[gleeek]

Yeah exactly what he said ^

Your ATAR is a rank of how well you do in the HSC compared to everyone else in the state. Your school has nothing to do with it. It's you as a person. School ranks are made by how well the students in the school do in their HSC. Just study, study and study, get good marks and you will get the ATAR you desire

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Come 1st in everything, score highest externally=PROFIT$$$

 

[enoilgam]

There was a similar question on this a few days ago (this is probably one of the biggest FAQ's when it comes to the HSC), so I'm going to repost my response to that thread:

"if you come first internally and externally, then your cohort wont have any impact on your marks as they will be determined solely by your performance. The same goes if you are in a group of outliers (i.e. you are coming third in a subject, and you and the guys above you are way ahead of everyone else). However, if you do well internally and stuff the externals, then the cohort could really hurt you.

Its important to note that school rank doesnt have any impact on your ATAR whatsoever, only your cohort does. There are many doomsday rumours out there (like "ohh if your school is ranked really low you cant get above 90" etc), but the truth is that the most important determinate of a students ATAR is the student themseleves. There are heaps of stories of people who go to low ranked schools and get good ATARs. Here is a good example from last year http://community.boredofstudies.org/...d.php?t=264823, and there are probably a few people who have gone to worse schools and done even better as well."

 

[Examine]

There was a similar question on this a few days ago (this is probably one of the biggest FAQ's when it comes to the HSC), so I'm going to repost my response to that thread:

"if you come first internally and externally, then your cohort wont have any impact on your marks as they will be determined solely by your performance. The same goes if you are in a group of outliers (i.e. you are coming third in a subject, and you and the guys above you are way ahead of everyone else). However, if you do well internally and stuff the externals, then the cohort could really hurt you.

Its important to note that school rank doesnt have any impact on your ATAR whatsoever, only your cohort does. There are many doomsday rumours out there (like "ohh if your school is ranked really low you cant get above 90" etc), but the truth is that the most important determinate of a students ATAR is the student themseleves. There are heaps of stories of people who go to low ranked schools and get good ATARs. Here is a good example from last year http://community.boredofstudies.org/...d.php?t=264823, and there are probably a few people who have gone to worse schools and done even better as well."

Link is broken

http://community.boredofstudies.org//showthread.php?t=264823

 

[enoilgam]

Link is broken

http://community.boredofstudies.org//showthread.php?t=264823

Really, it still works for me.

 

[Examine]

Really, it still works for me.

Says page not found when I clicked it.

 

[Timske]

yeah broken "Page not found"

 

[Aysce]

Come 1st in everything, score highest externally=PROFIT$$$

I approve of this mathematical equation.

 

[enoilgam]

To sum up that thread, a girl from a low ranking school (500's) asked for an estimate. She was coming first and second in nearly all her subjects - the consensus of those who responded to the thread (including me) was "depends on externals, but probably low-mid 80s". She came back at the end of the year and said she got 94.35.

 

[Dylanamali]

^ what rank is your school and what are the size of the cohorts?

for my school - ranked 280ish in 2010, 150ish in 2011.
I need top 3 in all subjects to get my atar..
i kept my own chem + bio + eng marks but actually got pulled up in mx1 and mx2.

 

[Gangstar1]

Hey guys, i was just wondering if the school you go to has an affect on the ATAR you're gonna get. Do good students from bad schools get pulled down by their cohort? and if they do, then by around how much?
Thanks guys

Not really school but class i got fucked over because dumbcunts cheated on their test and go RANKED higher than me, they were complete dumbshits that fucked up my atar but yer not too much, but if you got a good class you dont have to worry i guess

 

[DavDav]

I can vouch for this 100% and say YES in regards to the OP.

The Board of Studies love to reward aka ' scale up' schools that are deemed as 'hard working' through a flawed system where they standardise internal marks against the external (actual HSC) marks.

It's a system completely favourable and skewed towards selective schools. These schools generally have a collective effort mindset in that most students are focused on academia barring a few.

Just work your ass off and you should be fine. Try and stay away from the average/mean and if possible be in the top 3 of all your subjects.

 

[sd99]

I wish to get an ATAR over 98, and my school is ranked 190ish. i'm really scared, cause my school hasn't gotten over 99 for the past 2 years and not many people have gotten over 96... :S oh and thank you soo much for your replies guys

 

[enoilgam]

I wish to get an ATAR over 98, and my school is ranked 190ish. i'm really scared, cause my school hasn't gotten over 99 for the past 2 years and not many people have gotten over 96... :S oh and thank you soo much for your replies guys

Your school rank is actually not too bad, especially considering there are around 600 schools in the state.

 

[leesh95]

Not necessarily but I think that the general environment in lower ranked schools is not very academic. I might be wrong but thats what I experienced. My school was ranked in the 200's and I think only 25 people out of 140 wanted to go to Uni and only 3 or so wanted to go into courses that required an ATAR above 90. So obviously when you go to school where people really don't care about studies you become lazy, the competition is less and the teachers are slackers --> result bad ATAR

Now I changed schools to one thats ranked about 180ish and I've felt a huge difference even though the ranking is still pretty bad.
Although I must add that in the end mostly it depends on you and how much hardwork you put in.

 

[13abie]

I can vouch for this 100% and say YES in regards to the OP.

The Board of Studies love to reward aka ' scale up' schools that are deemed as 'hard working' through a flawed system where they standardise internal marks against the external (actual HSC) marks.

It's a system completely favourable and skewed towards selective schools. These schools generally have a collective effort mindset in that most students are focused on academia barring a few.

Just work your ass off and you should be fine. Try and stay away from the average/mean and if possible be in the top 3 of all your subjects.

Not entirely sure why having a collective academic mindset is a bad thing? The kids who study do better? That's not unfair.

There is absolutely no advantage of going to a selective school other than there is more pressure to achieve high marks. If you are disciplined you can apply pressure to yourself.

 

[enoilgam]

If you are disciplined you can apply pressure to yourself.

This exactly. Being self-motivated is very important, especially in university.