• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

A collection of HSC Advice: What *not* to do (1 Viewer)

sy37

Active Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
323
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
I saw there's a collection of HSC Advice, here's a collection of mainlywhat NOT to do

1. Don't get bummed over one assessment task and be like gg fuck hsc and quit everything (went from a high band 5 --> band 3 or low band 4)

2. Don't get cocky, if you are ahead of your class MAINTAIN that advantage (went from 1st --> 3rd last)

3. Teachers will inevitably, especially in English, be bias. Challenge this, but if nothing comes out of it just move on (spent 13 pages, 2 terms arguing against English marking...no regrets though)

4. Ask your teachers for help, don't be like I'll search this later at home I don't understand anything

5. Don't do past papers if you don't even know the syllabus content yet, especially in sciences

6. Ultimately, the hsc is a game of memorisation. Largely, your success will depend on your ability to rote learn - especially in Chemistry. Play the cards right and walk away with the marks

7. The pinnacle of success in maths is practice. You can't expect to walk away with good marks if you only rote learnt the formulas/concepts the night before. Its all about building your skills of answering question through practice, practice and more practice. Practice with easy questions, then move on to really difficult ones and then move on to past papers. The key is to learn how to approach any question and know exactly what to do, and again the only way this is achieved is through practice. ~~ DatAtarLyfe

8. Don't be a lazy tard and drop subjects like fun coupons. it could save your atar in long run, trust bro. ~~ turnerloos

9. After Trials it is especially important to share resources, a strong performing cohort in externals can boost your internals up whereas a poorly performing cohort in externals can bring down your internally moderated marks heaps. Pretty much, after Trials it is your cohort against the state! ~~ BLIT2014

10. dont do hwk (apart from maths)...its that simple.Do your own study instead of hwk, unless the hwk is directly relevant and is going to help you. Like maths hwk is usually the only subject where you get relevant hwk.
Like all the bullshit english hwk i got didn't help me at all. ~~ Mr_Kap

11. rote learning does not work in Mathematics, maybe except general. It works well for Chemistry, yes, but not as well for Physics. ~~ Dan964

12. seems like common sense, but if you have a major work DON'T LEAVE IT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE. It's so easy to fall into the trap of "oh, I still have ages" and to prioritise other tasks (like upcoming exams or assessments). But please, work consistently on them and get feedback/as much help from your teachers as you can. ~~ mkristie

13. Prioritise your health over everything. Even though HSC year does 'pass by quickly', if you're tired or stressed. TAKE A BREAK. Trying to force yourself to study while stressed is actually counter-productive and unless you're studying a few day before the test YOU HAVE TIME. on that note, also take time to enjoy it with your cohort. SERIOUSLY. Its the last time you see them and memories> HSC (unless 99 atar then obviously HSC > memories... just kidding) ~~ lilcutetricker

14. Don't simply blame your teacher if you think they aren't good because in the end it comes don't to you and the effort you put in to succeed ~~ spatula232

15. Consistency is key. Always aim to be fully understanding what you've learnt in class, do extra work at home so that you won't be trying to cram actual content couple days before exams. A mistake most of us are undergoing right now. This is especially important for high content based subjects such as economic where they can ask you a trillion different things and if you weren't consistent with knowing your content, it's gonna suck. ~~ atargainz

16. Trust me when I say this: when your teachers tell you that you must spend as much study on all 12 units, it's not necessary. Do NOT listen to such bogus; you obviously have areas of strength and weaknesses to which you must consistently improve upon. Invariably, it will depend for each individual, so don't focalise your study on how much time, focalise on tasks that you can manage. Whilst you may be good at maths and science, you might be average at English. Case in point, you don't have to invest heaps of effort into the subject, you just got to study smart. Teachers tell you to practice 40-min response every week? Practice intros + topic sentences every now and then as this is more efficient and less time consuming. Teachers tell you to just know quotes/techniques and 'understand' your texts? Memorise super generic essays tailored to the rubric and adapt accordingly - BOSTES cannot ask anything outside the rubric, so long as you understand the requirements for each module, you can't go wrong in moulding to the question. In reality, the HSC is a game of how well you can memorise seemingly useless bullshit and be able to translate what you know onto paper in coherent form. Meaning, if you're not as naturally talented, your work ethic and ability to play smart will be the ultimate decider. Exploit the system, and you will reap the rewards. Good luck kiddos.~~ hawkrider

17. in response to #16 To emphasise this point, if you know you can't understand concepts or you do but it takes time (the thing you dont have in exams) ROTE LEARN IT. Seriously; sciences, maths, english - you can rote learn to an extent. E.g. Not good at discovery essays? Write 5 generic essays and practice adapting them to questions. You will have people who can just enter the exam hall with quotes, understand of formulas, etc. and just demolish the exam. If you aren't that person, DO YOUR BEST TO MEMORISE EVERYTHING TO THE MOST MINUTE DETAIL. ~~ lilcutetricker

18. Have a goal set (could be a uni course, dream atar etc.) and set your mind to achieve it. It'll motivate you to study during times of laziness, procrastination and whatnot.~~ turnerloos


19. If you are doing extra units e.g. 13, DO NOT WAIT AND DROP the subject you don't want to do very late into year 12. There is no purpose of doing an extra unit if you hate the subject (me with legal studies) as it simply wastes too much time = no motivation = poor marks. Choose the Subjects you want to do wisely and do not do something just because your friends are doing it. It is your HSC. ~~ aanthnnyyy


*feel free to contribute and I'll add + credit you

GL, from the class of 2k15ers and all before..
 
Last edited:

DatAtarLyfe

Booty Connoisseur
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
1,805
Gender
Female
HSC
2016
The pinnacle of success in maths is practice. You can't expect to walk away with good marks if you only rote learnt the formulas/concepts the night before. Its all about building your skills of answering question through practice, practice and more practice. Practice with easy questions, then move on to really difficult ones and then move on to past papers. The key is to learn how to approach any question and know exactly what to do, and again the only way this is achieved is through practice.
 

calamebe

Active Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2015
Messages
462
Gender
Male
HSC
2017
The pinnacle of success in maths is practice. You can't expect to walk away with good marks if you only rote learnt the formulas/concepts the night before. Its all about building your skills of answering question through practice, practice and more practice. Practice with easy questions, then move on to really difficult ones and then move on to past papers. The key is to learn how to approach any question and know exactly what to do, and again the only way this is achieved is through practice.
Nah rote learning always works 100%
 

InteGrand

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
6,109
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
In maths (especially 4U), since it scales so well, you don't need a great raw mark to get an E4, and these raw marks actually are attainable by mostly rote learning, which for maths basically means doing tons of past papers so that you've pretty much 'memorised' how to do certain Q's, since a lot of Q's are repetitive (e.g. financial Q's in 2U, or certain conics stuff in 4U). You probably won't get an outstanding mark in 4U by rote learning alone, but you can get at least a raw mark of 65-70 since most Q's in the exam are quite standard now, and this aligns to E4. (Obviously a raw mark like this in most other subjects, like the sciences or English, would not result in E4.)
 

InteGrand

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
6,109
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
You cannot rote learn geometry.
Even if you can't, harder geometry Q's rarely make up a significant portion of the exam, so those who rote learned it aren't affected much (4U HSC paper this year had no circle geometry).
 

Flop21

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 12, 2013
Messages
2,807
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Anyway OP wasn't saying that the HSC is ONLY rote learning, it's just a very big part. And guess what that means? The hard working people are the ones who will excel. Intelligence may get you a little bit, but the hard work will get you far.
 

buckskinbrumby

social misanthrope
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
64
Location
New South Wales
Gender
Female
HSC
2016
The pinnacle of success in maths is practice. You can't expect to walk away with good marks if you only rote learnt the formulas/concepts the night before. Its all about building your skills of answering question through practice, practice and more practice. Practice with easy questions, then move on to really difficult ones and then move on to past papers. The key is to learn how to approach any question and know exactly what to do, and again the only way this is achieved is through practice.
So I'm doing 2 Unit and I'm getting the answers right in class and am keeping up and that, but as soon as I get an assessment I suck really bad and hardly ever pass. What am I doing wrong? I am one of those people who don't do as well in exams but I need to pick up maths marks. I'm getting tutoring this year to help too, but is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks =)
 

TQuadded

Breaking the limits.
Joined
Sep 11, 2014
Messages
342
Location
In a parallel universe.
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
So I'm doing 2 Unit and I'm getting the answers right in class and am keeping up and that, but as soon as I get an assessment I suck really bad and hardly ever pass. What am I doing wrong? I am one of those people who don't do as well in exams but I need to pick up maths marks. I'm getting tutoring this year to help too, but is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks =)
It looks like you have a similar case to mine. I usually get over-confident and don't study for assessments because in class I'm able to answer pretty much everything. The key is to continually practice these skills by answering as much questions you can find. (At least for Math.) Don't study only the night before - I realised that I wasn't smarter than Einstein just a couple of weeks ago.
 

buckskinbrumby

social misanthrope
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
64
Location
New South Wales
Gender
Female
HSC
2016
It looks like you have a similar case to mine. I usually get over-confident and don't study for assessments because in class I'm able to answer pretty much everything. The key is to continually practice these skills by answering as much questions you can find. (At least for Math.) Don't study only the night before - I realised that I wasn't smarter than Einstein just a couple of weeks ago.
Haha ok thanks. How do you juggle study and homework and assessments though? I'm doing the 3 sciences and adv. eng. and have long days as I live out of town, as well as some health problems atm =l. We've thought about doing Pathways but would prefer to just get the HSC over and done with haha
 

BLIT2014

The pessimistic optimist.
Moderator
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
11,591
Location
l'appel du vide
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2014
Uni Grad
2018
After Trials it is especially important to share resources, a strong performing cohort in externals can boost your internals up whereas a poorly performing cohort in externals can bring down your internally moderated marks heaps.

Pretty much, after Trials it is your cohort against the state!
 

Mr_Kap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2015
Messages
1,127
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
Haha ok thanks. How do you juggle study and homework and assessments though? I'm doing the 3 sciences and adv. eng. and have long days as I live out of town, as well as some health problems atm =l. We've thought about doing Pathways but would prefer to just get the HSC over and done with haha
dont do hwk (apart from maths)...its that simple.

Do your own study instead of hwk, unless the hwk is directly relevant and is going to help you. Like maths hwk is usually the only subject where you get relevant hwk.
Like all the bullshit english hwk i got didn't help me at all.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top