95+ ATAR with Arts/Social Science subjects? (1 Viewer)

[yy2384]

Hi guys!

I've been a bit concerned about my ATAR since I've had several people who have sat the HSC before me tell me that it's incredibly hard to get a 95+ ATAR with the subjects I'm doing:

- Advanced English (6/69)
- Extension English 1 (4/13)
- Modern History (1/18)
- Extension History (1/5)
- Visual Arts (1/18)
- Society and Culture (1/14)
* My marks average between 85-89 to high 90s
* My school ranking is between 140-160

Obviously my rankings aren't too bad but I'm a bit concerned that having externally marked major works (Art and SAC) and subjects notorious for scaling badly (again, Art and SAC) will hinder my chance of getting a 95+ ATAR. I'm actually not even sure of the extent to which rankings affect anything. Will I be able to get that 95+ regardless of my subjects or is that too unlikely?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Generally speaking, you can achieve a 95+ ATAR with any combination of subjects.

More specifically, and with respect to your case, you are currently in a favourable position - you're ranked 1st in 4 of your subjects and are ranked among the top range in your other 2 subjects. Your marks also indicate your ability to perform extremely well externally (both HSC exams and major works).

To answer your question more directly, you are able to achieve your 95+ ATAR goal, provided you maintain your current performance and ranks by performing well in your trial exams (assuming you haven't done them yet), leading to high final ranks, which constitute a great contribution to 50% of your final mark for all your subjects. The next and final step is to perform well at the HSC exam as well as in your major works. Performing well externally makes the necessary contribution for the other 50% of your final mark, allowing you to achieve great marks and ultimately reach your desired ATAR. Your performance is already of high standards, you just have to ensure you maintain this going forward because the effect scaling has on your ATAR will likely be minimal considering your marks across your subjects are quite high, and this applies to all subjects, even the low scaling ones.

I hope this helps!

 

[rajeshtheting]

Hi guys!

I've been a bit concerned about my ATAR since I've had several people who have sat the HSC before me tell me that it's incredibly hard to get a 95+ ATAR with the subjects I'm doing:

- Advanced English (6/69)
- Extension English 1 (4/13)
- Modern History (1/18)
- Extension History (1/5)
- Visual Arts (1/18)
- Society and Culture (1/14)
* My marks average between 85-89 to high 90s
* My school ranking is between 140-160

Obviously my rankings aren't too bad but I'm a bit concerned that having externally marked major works (Art and SAC) and subjects notorious for scaling badly (again, Art and SAC) will hinder my chance of getting a 95+ ATAR. I'm actually not even sure of the extent to which rankings affect anything. Will I be able to get that 95+ regardless of my subjects or is that too unlikely?

agree with what jimmy said ... if u put in the hard work u can get any atar u want with any combination of subjects; yes it can help doing high scaling subjects but high scaling only applies if u get a certain mark. our principal last year told us this analogy and ill never forget it: youd rather get 90 which may scale down to an 85 then get 40 which gets scaled up to a 50 (random example).