Annual Exams HELP (2 Viewers)

[xXxXxXx]

Hi,

I entered a new school this year, top 10 in the state. I took an entrance exam in 2013 and this year, I started year 10

Work was going well, constant, solid and what I expected, but after the first set of exams I did, the Half-Yearlies, I got a huge shock.

I was ranked in the bottom 1/8th out of a 180 kid cohort and I was in disbelief. I tried so hard for those exams, more effort was spent in the few weeks leading up to the exams than probably the rest of high school combined.

After I walked out of every exam room, I was pleased with all the work I had done. There were no disasters and after some exams, I left feeling quietly confident that I had done nicely. Obviously, once all the exams were given back I realized there was areas in which I could've done better and I'm sure that given they were the first set of exams I did in my life, I didn't do horribly. It was just so weird going from a top 50 school in the state, being in the top 3 students there and suddenly I'm considered "a retard" at my new school

So, is there anyone out there that can offer advice for the yearly exams in 70 days? Anything at all that helps you get the marks you deserve? Anything that can help me improve my rank so I'm near the top 50 at least??? I'm not a lazy student, I'm motivated to be around the top 50 and preferably better. HELP PLEASE

 

[seventhroot]

try your best

 

[faisalabdul16]

try your best

Solid advice

 

[seventhroot]

Solid advice

usually does the trick. Do you disagree with such advice?

 

[Queenroot]

That's what happens when you go to a top 10 school

 

[faisalabdul16]

usually does the trick. Do you disagree with such advice?

OP probably wanted more

 

[seventhroot]

OP probably wanted more

if OP wanted a motivational speech, s/he can look up Nelson Mandela's "I have a dream speech" on YouTube. Other than that, trying your best will get you far

 

[BLIT2014]

Breaking down where your relative weaknesses lie is the first thing you should be doing.

 

[xXxXxXx]

I found I did well in Maths and Science, out of 7 exams, 4 were essay based and I think that's my downfall.

Australian History
Elective History
Elective Geography
Music
English
Maths
Science

Those are the 7 exams I wrote and after some analysis, I guess the 4 exams that require essay writing, (Eng, 2 x History and Geo) were the ones i did the worst in.

The marks at my school are closer together, so this is also psychological thing (i.e, it's not like I'm bad at english or expressing myself, there are people who just try harder)

I calculated that if i got roughly 4 marks better in each exam, I would jump up many, many places in the cohort

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Subjects next year are:

Adv Eng
Ext Maths
Physics
Chemistry
Economics
PDHPE

(planning to drop one and pick up MX2)

I'm excited for next year and year 12 because I'll finally be doing subjects I want to be doing. To me, year 9, and 10 is about proving to yourself you can get down and study, the issue is I did, and I did crap. This is all confidence to me, I want to know that I can achieve good marks.

I guess it's just a learning curve

 

[astroman]

u can u are top 10 school u already have gotten 99.95 chill

 

[xXxXxXx]

u can u are top 10 school u already have gotten 99.95 chill

Traditionally, in my school, only 7 students in a year of 180 get 99.95

with 45 scoring above 99.00

if i am in the bottom 1/8th out of 180, I am projected to be on the border of 89/90 and I'd be pretty dissapointed with that

Being at any school doesnt guarantee anything, you have to try bloody hard to be in the top 0.05%

 

[astroman]

Traditionally, in my school, only 7 students in a year of 180 get 99.95

with 45 scoring above 99.00

if i am in the bottom 1/8th out of 180, I am projected to be on the border of 89/90 and I'd be pretty dissapointed with that

Being at any school doesnt guarantee anything, you have to try bloody hard to be in the top 0.05%

what is ur atar aim?

 

[xXxXxXx]

what is ur atar aim?

I'd kill myself below 90

Want above 99

but see no reason why I cant get 99.95 if i put in the work

 

[astroman]

I'd kill myself below 90

Want above 99

but see no reason why I cant get 99.95 if i put in the work

U seem pretty determined, set up a strong foundation for your senior years and accelerate some subjects like maths if you can, it will be helpful, work hard u can achieve any atar

 

[seventhroot]

Yes because ATAR == determines your future.

Just relax bro

 

[faisalabdul16]

if OP wanted a motivational speech, s/he can look up Nelson Mandela's "I have a dream speech" on YouTube. Other than that, trying your best will get you far

So blunt and bitter

I'd kill myself below 90

Want above 99

but see no reason why I cant get 99.95 if i put in the work

You go to a top 10 school dont worry. As soon as you begin year 12, you will see all your peers studying, trying to achieve high marks. This should motivate you to do the same thing. Just study and try to be ranked towards the top.

Yes because ATAR == determines your future.

Just relax bro

OP wants to do well. ATAR will probably determine his future and whether or not he can study his desired course

 

[Queenroot]

I'd kill myself below 90

Want above 99

but see no reason why I cant get 99.95 if i put in the work

You need counselling

 

[nerdasdasd]

I'd kill myself below 90

Want above 99

but see no reason why I cant get 99.95 if i put in the work

Not everyone can get 90

I seriously hope you aren't serious about the first statement

 

[seventhroot]

I hope s/he is Asian and over exaggerating.

Harsh words but OP, calm the fak down. You seem like someone who is very academicly capable so do alright by studying and all, you can get like 90-something easy and go to uni

 

[xXxXxXx]

Sounds like me last year (in year 11). I also moved to a top 10 school and was surprised to find myself at the bottom of the cohort too, especially because I was so used to doing well at my previous school. Pretty sure some people thought I was like super dumb (this guy in some of my classes still gives me looks of disbelief if I ever do well in an assessment) LOL.

I think the thing to remember is that its really going to take some time to get used to the academic rigour of the school. A lot of students at high-performing schools, although they may appear to do very minimal work at school, often go home and study extensively as well as doing heavy tutoring (I was shocked to discover that a friend did 18 hours of tutoring a week in year 11..). I think firstly, you're going to have to put your cohort aside for at the very least until mid way to year 11 and focus on comparing yourself with yourself rather than others.

As to how to increase your 'ranks' etc, the only way to do that is to prepare for exams. I know the exams themselves don't appear that difficult (I really got a shock when I received my year 11 half yearly results too), but the teachers mark harshly because given the academic nature of the school, they've learnt to expect high standard work. not saying that you don't have that or whatever, but you have to remember that majority of your classmates will have had exposure to extreme competition since year 7, whereas we have cruised through until when we moved. I'm almost done with school lol and I'm still in awe of how competitive everyone really is.

What worked for me was really boosting my confidence academically. I'd say find the one or two subjects that you know you're good at, and work on them in year 11 (it doesn't count to your atar anyway). For me, these subjects were English and PDHPE. Because I started achieving high marks in these, surpassing students that already attended the school, my confidence rose exponentially and I personally became more motivated to really focus on my weaknesses, by devoting more time to those i.e. studying harder for physics and chemistry in particular.

For your upcoming yearlies, really focus on knowing all the information that you're going to be tested on. Look at the syllabus, memorise your notes, and if you have some time you can try some papers too But remember, its only year 10, so definitely take it easy while it lasts!



damn lol I just wrote an essay ^ HAHA

Wow, that was good advice. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Always comforting to hear from someone who was in your position and it sounds like you were experiencing the exact same things I am now.

Scary to think how hard the kids you eat lunch with actually try





To everyone talking about my statement in which I mention killing myself below 90.00, I'm joking. It's just how these schools are, we are bright and intelligent enough to know ATAR doesn't mean all that much - however, we are motivated by marks and want to do well, otherwise we wouldn't bother coming to these types of schools. I don't have a specific career path I want to take, but I don't see why you shouldn't aim for the highest marks just because your course requires less.