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A Collection of HSC Advice (1 Viewer)

EarthSci34

Good grief.
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Oct 19, 2014
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One important tip from someone who missed 1 mark from all rounders...

Believe in yourself :) I gave-up on maths during the HSC thinking I wouldn't do well... I lost a lot of confidence comparing myself to my classmates and I lowered my expectations...

To my surprise, I ended up smashing my trial marks!! If I worked just a little bit harder, I would've gotten the band-six maths I never thought I could get. But that's life. For the future HSC takers... never give-up until the final number, word and period you write for your HSC exams! You can always turn it around!! Trust me on this... work hard, stay humble and slay those external exams! :D
 

swagmeister

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Hey guys, to anyone reading this with all the tips and stuff I have collated and having done pretty decently ;) myself, I've started an Instagram account (@gamingthehsc) where I'm going to be posting a HSC tip daily in response to people's questions - so feel free to follow, hope it helps!
 

HSCReady

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Just my 2 cents, but for English, I think knowing your texts really well is key to success, more so than writing essays or rote learning. If you know your texts really well, then you have nothing to "remember" in the exam - you just have to put the information from your brain into essay format.

I think with maths and science based subjects, however, past papers are crucial to success. But of course everyone learns different :)
 

BlueGas

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Just my 2 cents, but for English, I think knowing your texts really well is key to success, more so than writing essays or rote learning. If you know your texts really well, then you have nothing to "remember" in the exam - you just have to put the information from your brain into essay format.

I think with maths and science based subjects, however, past papers are crucial to success. But of course everyone learns different :)
You have to explain what you mean by "know your texts really well", because one might think that if he knows what happens in the story then he will do good which is not the case if he doesn't have a proper analysis of the text.
 

Guy_332

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Mar 13, 2016
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So basically I have been bludging and not doing jack s**t in my HSC for chemistry (ranked 22/22), physics (ranked 16/22) and EXT 1 maths (ranked 10/15). I am really low ranked in all those subjects but doing OK in standard english (40 / 115) and business studies (20 / 48) and fortunately doing really well in mathematics (ranked 3 out of 45).
Im about to sit my HSC half yearlies for which I will most probably keep the low rank for chem, drop ranks in physics to maybe 20, drop the english rank to about 60, hopefully raise my rank for Business to top 5, keep my top 3 rank in mathematics and definitely drop my extension rank to last. All these predictions are based on my preparation for these exams and are a personal evaluation.
Based on all that information what can i still hope for ATAR wise? I have had a complete mind shift in prepping for these half yearlies and am totally willing to put 1000% effort into my work and studies but would love some sort of indication so I know what to aim for.
Thanks you heaps for reading my story and hope for some replies. =D
Schol rank is like 130's
 
Last edited:

Katsumi

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Hi 2017ers

I've restuck this thread as it has some real golden nuggets of knowledge that you can all benefit from. Have a read through :)
 

Jakulore

Active Member
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Oct 10, 2015
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Hey everyone, just so that I can add more advice to this I thought I would give one of my experiences a go. Never give up on a subject, even if you feel it is impossible to achieve well in it... Fight till the last minute.

Due to a technicality in our assessments, I ended up losing my tied 1st ranking in Legal Studies and going in 2nd rank, which was not good considering my Legal Studies class. A lot of people did not care, as we all assumed we would get bad marks as we hadn't been taught properly all year. As such, I went into the exam with a defeated attitude, knowing I just had to get through this exam, then through Food Technology the hour later and I would be done. In the end, the rank didn't matter... I beat 1st in my exam mark and still achieved a Band 6... I regret not going in with full preparation and a better attitude, who knows what the result could have been?

My point is, you can't have this attitude, because the HSC is full of surprises! Go in with confidence! If you are Rank 1, go in with the attitude that you've got this and that you can maintain that rank and smash the exam. If you are not, go in with the attitude that you could go into the exam and smash the upper ranks due to your preparation, because you never know what may happen! :)

Good Luck future Bosers!!!
Always and Forever,
Jakulore <3
 

eyeseeyou

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Everyone tells you that achieving your maximum potential means to do more than your best; to push your boundaries at every opportunity.
Whilst, I understand this approach I think there is a far better one to adopt for your HSC year.
Your maximum potential is essentially aligned with your personal best. With every task you complete, you should be able to move closer and closer toward this maximum potential; a potential that is constantly moving and is asymptotic in nature.
This being said, the most important part of your hsc year, is to do your best to make sure that whatever you do is of a quality you are proud of given the circumstances.
During your HSC year, nothing will go according to plan … trust me. You need to understand now that situations will shift, circumstances will shift … what will remain constant is that you are in year 12 and you are on the trek to complete your higher school certificate.
That is what it is.
The HSC is a trek, where you push a rock up a hill and in true Sisyphean spirit push against the constraints of the education system, which whilst flawed allows you to tap into your true consciousness. Who are you, when you are tested against the seemingly useless rules of a flawed bureaucracy?
Whilst, this post may seem sombre in tone it’s merely a wakeup call … how are you going to spend your last year at high school? Are you going to waste it or are you going to do your best, even when you may encounter hurdles that’ll most likely push you down?
Nothing is worse than looking back on Year 12 and only remembering a blur … there’s nothing interesting about a blur.




Tips:
1. Keep up with your study notes
a. Personally, since I was a humanities student I had a summary book- 64 pages A4 book – one for each unit for each subject, where I collated all my information and broke it down according to the syllabus requirements
i. These were my best friends for the HSC
ii. Whilst they may not work for you, you need to find a study note method that will allow you to keep on track with your notes, so you have more time for proper revisions and study, or so that you have more time to do the activities you want to do but that time inhibits.
2. Organisation!
a. I was never a fan of a study timetable, even in the weeks leading up to the exams, I didn’t have one. I always used to a to do list and planned in advance specific tasks I wanted to do. Sometimes I was ambitious, and sometimes I was the opposite. The important thing is to understand your capabilities and how much approximately you an achieve in your day given your specific lifestyle.
3. Marks and ranks are toxic … trust me
a. Whilst marks and most importantly ranks hold significance in your hsc, you mustn’t let them consume you. It’s easy to become so focused on the marks you get and the marks you need to get, but every now and then you need to unwind, take a day to just forget about your marks and your ranks … after all in a few years’ time (probably earlier) their significance will be minuscule.
4. Keep your ego in check
a. It’s easy to become so confident that you overestimate yourself … this will only bring suffering if you don’t get the marks you so eagerly desired. So keep your ego in check, and most of all have some perspective. Getting 77% isn’t the end of the world if you were usually achieving percentages in the 90s.
5. Why so serious?
a. Relax … I mean it! Yes, it’s the hsc but it shouldn’t mean that you throw the rest of your life out of balance. People would tell off those who worked even one shift a week, saying that it was distracting them from studying. The truth is that
i. A) Activities not involving school are therapeutic. They offer an escape from an institution that’s consumed with marks and ranks and scrawls on a paper
ii. B) If you work even only 3 hours a week … are you telling me that those three hours were always going to be dedicated completely to study without any form of procrastination. If not, then when you think about it those shifts are actually productive rather than being counterproductive.
iii. C) Outside school activities are great for resumes  they show your ability to juggle which is something employers admire.


I hope these tips were helpful, and I hope you choose to adopt a sensible mindset for your hsc and do your best to maintain it.

Good luck!

Copied and pasted from here: http://community.boredofstudies.org/1178/general-discussion-2017-hsc/356766/2017-hsc-cohort.html since no one bothered to sticky this and thought this was very helpful
 

swagmeister

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Thanks to everyone for the support - great to see that this post has been viewed nearly 7,000 times... And that doesn't include the original post in 2015!!
 

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