How to excel in senior year studies (yr 11/12)-99+ ATAR graduate (1 Viewer)

[Munti]

Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

I am a massive procrastinator and it is so difficult for me to actually start doing work if I switch off the wifi, I just go an turn it back on 10 mins later, as soon as I reach some hard questions I just stop studying etc. I rarely ever follow my study schedule and I delay everything. Any advice ??

 

[pikachu975]

During yr11/12 what time did you go to bed and wake up? I find that I'm really productive at night, so I usually stay up later because I can get more work done but then I wake up feeling really tired

Thanks

Yeah same when I get home it's too hard to do work because I've got a lot of time left in the day but in the night I feel like there's no time left so I work faster so I'm more productive at night.

Usually on school days I sleep for around 4-6 hours I guess which is enough.

 

[strawberrye]

Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

I am a massive procrastinator and it is so difficult for me to actually start doing work if I switch off the wifi, I just go an turn it back on 10 mins later, as soon as I reach some hard questions I just stop studying etc. I rarely ever follow my study schedule and I delay everything. Any advice ??

Ultimately you need to want something bad enough that you are willing to sacrifice it. Willpower is a muscle, the more you use it, the easier it gets. One of my students who is currently doing very well at school actually tried moving his entire computer out of his room when he studied so he had no distractions, and only use it to type if absolutely necessary. In your case, you might need some extra help such as parents changing password to wifi and not giving it to you until you finished your work. And also a word of advice, if you stop studying just because you encounter some hard questions, then what happens later in life when you encounter some hard problems-do you just avoid it? Practice the attitude of challenging yourself and working through those hard questions, ponder over it, try it until you get it. It will help you later on in life with the correct attitude to study, cause it can carry out to other areas of life. Anyways, hope this helps a bit and all the best-you are the only person who have the willpower to help yourself change, and when you say you can't do it, your mindset and willpower is the only thing stopping you from achieving.

 

[bujolover]

Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

I am a massive procrastinator and it is so difficult for me to actually start doing work if I switch off the wifi, I just go an turn it back on 10 mins later, as soon as I reach some hard questions I just stop studying etc. I rarely ever follow my study schedule and I delay everything. Any advice ??

OMG, I legit have the same problem lol!!

 

[Kolmias]

Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

OMG, I legit have the same problem lol!!

Same lol

 

[PikyoK]

Thanks Mei for your post

 

[nancydaniels]

Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Thanks for sharing your tip! I enjoyed reading this thread! You help us!

 

[kjones9525]

hi just wondering what would you recommend for hsc and also prelime notes making in terms of hand writing notes or typing notes. my subjects are english, religion, pe, sac and geo so would these suit more hand written or typed notes, or from your experience of the hsc can u give any suggestions. thanks sm for the info

 

[pikachu975]

hi just wondering what would you recommend for hsc and also prelime notes making in terms of hand writing notes or typing notes. my subjects are english, religion, pe, sac and geo so would these suit more hand written or typed notes, or from your experience of the hsc can u give any suggestions. thanks sm for the info

I reckon typed because it's much more aesthetic to look at (legit makes a difference idk why) and you can edit it along the way!

 

[captainneuro]

hi just wondering what would you recommend for hsc and also prelime notes making in terms of hand writing notes or typing notes. my subjects are english, religion, pe, sac and geo so would these suit more hand written or typed notes, or from your experience of the hsc can u give any suggestions. thanks sm for the info

start by typing when making notes for reasons pikachu said, but when actually studying closer to exams, start writing important concepts/things that you know are assessed as it'll help with memory

 

[strawberrye]

hi just wondering what would you recommend for hsc and also prelime notes making in terms of hand writing notes or typing notes. my subjects are english, religion, pe, sac and geo so would these suit more hand written or typed notes, or from your experience of the hsc can u give any suggestions. thanks sm for the info

Sorry for the late reply. I didn't see this until now. I think this one is a very difficult question, because I tried both and still ended up doing hand writing notes. However, the way I absorbed information was a bit funny, I liked to cram entire topics onto a mind map and I look over that before the exam, or remember the content in the process of summarising it. I tried doing notes by typing it up, but soon found a big problem that I am a perfectionist and I spent more time fiddling with fonts/margin alignments and tables then I did with the actual notes, so it was a lost cause, plus there's already so many good notes online it is a bit of waste of time to try to type up notes from scratch (but that's just my experience with science type subjects), since you do some content heavy subjects, typing up notes would probably be a very good idea (but I think at the end of the day you need to balance efficiency-how fast you will be able to write your notes with effectiveness-how effective the note making process will be to your studies-and choose/or mix up your note making methods this way-it is a bit trial and error and see what works for you)

 

[StudentRN]

Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

"I would assign at least 90 minutes of rest after school-so it is like 30 minutes for afternoon tea and 1 hour for dinner"

Hey just curious, how much sleep did you get each night, and how many hours of study did you do per day for each subject?
oh and also did you study in the mornings?

And also how much time did you allocate to making notes, memorising, and then practising questions in each study session?

 

[Rustikay]

5 years later and I would like to thank you for this thread!

 

[strawberrye]

5 years later and I would like to thank you for this thread!

Although a year later (as I don't wander around these forums very frequently anymore), very grateful to know that this thread has helped you in some way.

Seven years out of high school and reflecting back on how intensely I studied in high school and the advice I have given in this thread, and of course the extraordinary year 2020 has been, I would add that nothing is more important than taking care of your health. Don't exhaust yourself in such a way in pursuit of a high ATAR that you damage your health - whether physical or mental. When I was doing the HSC - I used to think it was the be all end all, that my entire future depended on the mark that I got. But as I have met so many people since then that have gotten to where they want to be through many different routes, some more curved than others, I don't think people should see the HSC as the end of the world. There is more to life than studying and more aspects to intelligence than just IQ. I probably had a lot of IQ but not EQ in high school (and to be honest first year of uni as well) because I would study incessantly almost like a robot and didn't really know how to socialise. Take time out to spend with your family and friends, it will improve your mental health and help you study better and enjoy the very tough senior years - this lesson is as much applicable to high school as it does to any other stage in life. Hope everyone take care and keep safe and well.

 

[Uziwitdacash]

Hi Everyone,
My name is Mei and I am a 2013 HSC graduate. This thread is a collation of all my study tips for senior years and now it is all in one place for easier access rather than in miscellaneous different threads. I am fully aware of the fundamental fact that different study techniques will work for different individuals-after all, we are all UNIQUE, so this guide just serves as a summary of what I have learnt from my senior high school and what has helped me to be an HSC All Rounder.

I would also like to say a big thank you to BOS user, HAWKRIDER. He encouraged me to start a guide like this-without his support, I would never have thought that collating all my advice in one thread would be so helpful to others and also would in turn, encourage other people to contribute. Thanks again!

Please feel free to comment on this guide-whether you have personal study tips you could like to share, whether you found this guide to be helpful, whether you could like me to clarify or elaborate on anything I have said in this guide. Your replies will make sure that this guide will remain as relevant to current Preliminary students as possible

What to do in the summer holidays before Year 11 starts
In the summer holidays, you should focus on making sure you have a prepared psychological mindset for senior year studies and you need to make sure you have consistent performance in all your subjects-consistency is very important-both in your academic performance(I am talking about at optimal levels) as well as consistency in your study routine, learning methods and sleeping patterns

Don't study 24/7 because you will wreck your body and by then your ATAR will become meaningless if you destroy your health-take care of yourself, do relax a bit in the holidays-you need enough relaxation to get you to keep working very hard for the next two years-and I think if you prepare your psychological mindset over the holidays, it will help you even more than pure attaining academic knowledge for year 11. This positive psychological preparation includes to be prepared for possible bad results-but retain a never-giving up attitude under this circumstance, when you get good results, don't be arrogant and just be optimistic no matter how adverse circumstances may be.

I will be regularly updating this guide with more tips-so please check this on regular intervals or subscribe to this thread to make sure you don't miss out on my updates

Hey! Not sure if you will see this reply, but I am in some trouble. I accelerated IPT and I think I have fallen behind. I have a prelim exam coming up in 6 weeks and I am panicking. Do you have any advice for me please?

 

[strawberrye]

Hey! Not sure if you will see this reply, but I am in some trouble. I accelerated IPT and I think I have fallen behind. I have a prelim exam coming up in 6 weeks and I am panicking. Do you have any advice for me please?

You are in luck since I rarely frequent these forums.

I haven't done IPT so don't have subject specific advice for you, but couple of things:

1.Don't panick - it makes you more stressed and doesn't help you absorb content faster (unless you work better under stress)

2.Think about what resources you have, i.e. what people you can talk to for advice, what notes you can ask for or make, and how you can plan your time to catch up on the content, or any other options.

3.Practice the nudge theory, think about and do one small step that can help you get closer to the goal, i.e. do one page of notes, or review one lesson of content, sometimes the hardest thing to do is start, and it can be very overwhelming if you feel you can't start without having done everything at once (which is impossible).

4.Maintain some perspective, I know it is hard, but how you do in prelim will not define how you do in your HSC. As long as you try your best, there will be ups and downs along the way (there were even some subject exams in my HSC that I did really bad in, i.e. got quite a low mark, i.e. less than 70, but still got a 99+ ATAR, so it is about the long run, thinking about what you can learn from each experience, and refer to the first point, please don't panick. It is not the end of the world even if it may feel like it.

All the best of luck for your prelim exams

 

[oli12]

Very solid advice as usual Mei

 

[Socialism]

bump! this thread is so good!