Getting into Cambridge from the humble HSC (2 Viewers)

[Kittikhun]

Don't say this rosy glasses shit to me mate. You sound bitter and that is just my observation. I have a choice between new York and London for investment banking because Australia is an economic dead end especially with this fucking government. Really who are you to judge my parents decision to move to the uk and why do you say all this. I live my life and do what I want to do, you haven't attempted to answer my question and just listed a bunch of reasons why it is a bad idea. I will say again that money is not a problem and that I WANT to live in England. As politely as possible I'm asking you why you would even make that lengthy post that you did?

Sorry, if I have caused you any offence. I didn't mean to. The reasons why I made that lengthy post are mainly because I care about you as you remind me of myself a few years back, and that I worry that you're making such a plan concrete without knowing some essential facts first. If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have bothered replying to you. I just can't fathom why your parents would want to move to the UK and settle there permanently. I mean, why did your mother move here from England in the first place? Do your parents have jobs reserved for them in the UK amidst the high unemployment rate right now in the UK that is starting to be reminiscent of the Thatcher years? There are a lot of English and Scottish expatriates living in my town and each and everyone of them whom I have met have told me that Australia is way better than the the UK and that they are much happier living here. Also, I had a classmate a couple of years back whose family had firmly decided to move and settle permanently in the UK and live in Birmingham, that town in the Midlands with a high proportion of South Asian Britons living there (she is of Punjabi descent and was born in Kenya, but moved to Australia when she was a toddler), because they had family there and were tired of Australia and its limited opportunities here, especially in regards to academia. They lived in the UK for two or so months in late 2009, and then quickly left and now live in Perth, WA. In my correspondence with her afterward, she told me that her experience was horrible and recommended to me to stay away from the UK at all costs unless I was 100% sure that I was going to live there for the rest of my life (I had plans to join the British Army after year 12 if I didn't get a good enough ATAR to earn a spot at uni). In fact, she made a similar tirade that I made in my previous lengthy post to you. This is why I replied to you. Also, just to make this clear, I wouldn't have replied to you if you were born in the UK or have actually been to Cambridgeshire, England, on a holiday, but in seeing that you haven't I had to make sure that you were cognisant of all the economic and racial problems in the UK at the moment, just in case.

And why would I be bitter? I have nothing against you and I don't even know you personally. Why would I want you to fail to realise your dreams and be unhappy? The last thing in the world that I would want is to make someone unhappy when they have done nothing wrong. I want everyone who is hard-working; determined; has a passion for what they are striving to do in life; and is of good moral character to realise their dreams and aspirations and to be happy. I made that reply because I care about you as I know that you are a good person from the tone and prose of your posts and because you remind me of myself a few years back. I used to be like you thinking that hard work and doing good things will reward you in life in turn and that people are generally good and that success is only to be found in academia. When I started the HSC, everything just suddenly hit me as I saw the bitching, the snobbery, the narcissism, the backstabbing, and immoral behaviour of some of my fellow peers start to manifest themselves in order for them to follow those dreams that they had been programmed to have by advertising and the media. I realised that the world was shit. It always was and always will be because of the vanity of some people who will do anything including treading on others who are innocent and honest in order to be that one step ahead following their empty and meaningless goal of having their name preserved for a short time before the extinction of the human race, and being ignorant of the fact that they are just decaying organic matter that has been recycled again and again for billions of years--ephemera that is in a fragile form that is nothing compared to the infinite magnitude of the ever expanding and awesome universe. I started to realise that success wasn't how much money, fame or prestige that you have but how happy you are and how happy others are around you. That is the currency of life, happiness, not some paper note or some useless gold bullion. I don't want you to be scarred by being backstabbed by someone whom you thought you could trust your life with in the future and believe me there will be some if you're middle or upper class, which I assume you already are. Ask your parents if they have been backstabbed or slandered if you don't believe me. Also, I made the reply because I worry that you are making such a drastic life-defining decision without knowing some crucial facts first. It seems to me that the only reason you want to live in England is merely because of Cambridge (sorry), however there may be other reasons for your decision that you have not made known in this thread, but just in case there are none, that reason isn't strong enough to justify your whole family to move and settle there permanently. There needs to much better reasons. These are the reasons for my lengthy post to you. If you're cognisant of the problems in the UK and still wish to go to Cambridge, I am not going to stop you. I just had to make sure you knew some facts before you are to go. That's it.

Also, watch the following video for a perspective on investment banking-

And this one-

Sorry for the long post. I'm verbose.

 

[dionb2014]

Sorry, if I have caused you any offence. I didn't mean to. The reasons why I made that lengthy post are mainly because I care about you as you remind me of myself a few years back, and that I worry that you're making such a plan concrete without knowing some essential facts first. If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have bothered replying to you. I just can't fathom why your parents would want to move to the UK and settle there permanently. I mean, why did your mother move here from England in the first place? Do your parents have jobs reserved for them in the UK amidst the high unemployment rate right now in the UK that is starting to be reminiscent of the Thatcher years? There are a lot of English and Scottish expatriates living in my town and each and everyone of them whom I have met have told me that Australia is way better than the the UK and that they are much happier living here. Also, I had a classmate a couple of years back whose family had firmly decided to move and settle permanently in the UK and live in Birmingham, that town in the Midlands with a high proportion of South Asian Britons living there (she is of Punjabi descent and was born in Kenya, but moved to Australia when she was a toddler), because they had family there and were tired of Australia and its limited opportunities here, especially in regards to academia. They lived in the UK for two or so months in late 2009, and then quickly left and now live in Perth, WA. In my correspondence with her afterward, she told me that her experience was horrible and recommended to me to stay away from the UK at all costs unless I was 100% sure that I was going to live there for the rest of my life (I had plans to join the British Army after year 12 if I didn't get a good enough ATAR to earn a spot at uni). In fact, she made a similar tirade that I made in my previous lengthy post to you. This is why I replied to you. Also, just to make this clear, I wouldn't have replied to you if you were born in the UK or have actually been to Cambridgeshire, England, on a holiday, but in seeing that you haven't I had to make sure that you were cognisant of all the economic and racial problems in the UK at the moment, just in case.

And why would I be bitter? I have nothing against you and I don't even know you personally. Why would I want you to fail to realise your dreams and be unhappy? The last thing in the world that I would want is to make someone unhappy when they have done nothing wrong. I want everyone who is hard-working; determined; has a passion for what they are striving to do in life; and is of good moral character to realise their dreams and aspirations and to be happy. I made that reply because I care about you as I know that you are a good person from the tone and prose of your posts and because you remind me of myself a few years back. I used to be like you thinking that hard work and doing good things will reward you in life in turn and that people are generally good and that success is only to be found in academia. When I started the HSC, everything just suddenly hit me as I saw the bitching, the snobbery, the narcissism, the backstabbing, and immoral behaviour of some of my fellow peers start to manifest themselves in order for them to follow those dreams that they had been programmed to have by advertising and the media. I realised that the world was shit. It always was and always will be because of the vanity of some people who will do anything including treading on others who are innocent and honest in order to be that one step ahead following their empty and meaningless goal of having their name preserved for a short time before the extinction of the human race, and being ignorant of the fact that they are just decaying organic matter that has been recycled again and again for billions of years--ephemera that is in a fragile form that is nothing compared to the infinite magnitude of the ever expanding and awesome universe. I started to realise that success wasn't how much money, fame or prestige that you have but how happy you are and how happy others are around you. That is the currency of life, happiness, not some paper note or some useless gold bullion. I don't want you to be scarred by being backstabbed by someone whom you thought you could trust your life with in the future and believe me there will be some if you're middle or upper class, which I assume you already are. Ask your parents if they have been backstabbed or slandered if you don't believe me. Also, I made the reply because I worry that you are making such a drastic life-defining decision without knowing some crucial facts first. It seems to me that the only reason you want to live in England is merely because of Cambridge (sorry), however there may be other reasons for your decision that you have not made known in this thread, but just in case there are none, that reason isn't strong enough to justify your whole family to move and settle there permanently. There needs to much better reasons. These are the reasons for my lengthy post to you. If you're cognisant of the problems in the UK and still wish to go to Cambridge, I am not going to stop you. I just had to make sure you knew some facts before you are to go. That's it.

Also, watch the following video for a perspective on investment banking-

And this one-

Sorry for the long post. I'm verbose.

Posted like a man that is begrudging of others ambition, that I banking video pisses me off. I want to be an investment banker, the career not neccassarily the lifestyle. My earliest memories are of me and my father pouring through listed companies in the newspaper and discussing what would happen to them. All before my 8th birthday I have been exposed to this world and I love it. Nothing else in this whole world has drawn me more than the intricacies of financial products. If I am an average person that wants to peruse a career in finance and investment banking, then that video is an utter misrepresentation.

 

[dionb2014]

My forefathers have all be involved in this industry and it is also a misrepresentation of them. I acknoweldge and respect that fact that you show a genuine interest in me. I am not wearing any rosy glasses, though if I am they will never be removed. Yes I may not face the same struggles as the Everyman but I don't believe that I ever truly will, without sounding too elitist. My dad has spoken to me before about how he has been back stabbed in some property developing deal and I agree that it is a sad truth that lots of non-moral people are having the success. That video blatantly refutes my motives and I do not like it.

 

[Kittikhun]

That video is just one perspective, mate, and I posted it up mainly because I found it funny, not because I wanted to attack you. Everybody views things differently. Some people enjoy the job of being a teacher, while others hate it and look down on it. Some people enjoy being hairdressers, while others hate it and look down on it. It's all relative and no one is the same. The important thing is that you are happy. I'm sorry if it has caused you offence. Now, that I realise that you do have a passion for it and you weren't first enthralled by it from the money, but instead because you like the idea of doing such a job and think it will make you happy, I am for it. You do seem very determined and I respect that, and you don't seem to have been broken in pursuing your goal even with my attempts to have you reconsider it a bit and not to make it concrete, so I wish you all the best and good luck in your endeavour to become an investment banker, and remember that the most important thing is that you're happy in life. It's not about the money or fame, it's about happiness, and if investment banking is the path that you think will make you happy, then go for it. I ain't going to stop you, and no one else is. I'd rather have you be an investment banker than somebody else who is immoral and narcissistic.

Lastly, just to make one thing clear. I am not begrudging of others' ambition. In fact, I don't really care about others' ambition. If it makes them happy, and they're not hurting anybody to realise that ambition then so be it as I am pretty nihilistic, and in fact find some people's views of success rather silly and vacuous. I just detest lies about what makes people happy, people taking advantage of ignorant others for their own gain, which is why I replied in order to probe for the real reason as to why you want to be an investment banker. I wanted to know if you were a victim of a lie. If in your mind, ambition and the realisation of the ambition (success) is having a lot of money and possessions, let me tell you this, I never wanted to be rich or famous and I am not jealous of rich people. My idea of success is quite different to yours. My idea of success is to be happy and to have others around me happy; to not worry; to be beside people who will always lend a helping hand and who trust me enough to lay down their lives for me as I would for them, who work as a team and not think or put themselves before others, and who do not bitch or gossip; to have enough food, water and shelter; and to have a good library of good books to educate myself. That is my ambition. It isn't about money, possessions (well, except for the books, but I could always borrow them from the library) or fame, contrary to many people's ambition in the Western World. In fact, I abhor having lots of money, just enough will do, and I am probably the most frugal guy you will ever meet. I don't think I have bought any new luxuries in a few years, everything is mostly second hand, and I haven't been in a restaurant or eaten at any of the fast food outlets for several years. I hate shopping and I detest show-offs and middle and upper class people who complain incessantly about trivial matters. Bloody hell, go live for a week in a third world country slum where there are no fridges, or working clean toilets, or toilet paper, or soap, or clean water before you start bloody complaining about things that don't matter and look down on poor working class people who are stronger and more stoic than you. I don't think money and possessions are important and I find people who think in this way the most amiable and fabulous people I know. I just detest how rich people look down on others in such a condescending way and judge others before knowing who they really are. I abhor rich upper class people whose ambition is solely to be rich and famous, and their affectations, and I find walking down George Street torture. In fact, I felt like beating the crap out of one of those rich wankers with those portable ear phone phones walking out one of those tall banking buildings until he was unconscious that nearly cold-shouldered me as I was walking along a couple of years back. They're just so insular and selfish and apathetic towards others and I find that abhorrent. Your idea of ambition and success is way different to mine, mate. Success to you in relation to my own is akin to putting an ardent North Korean Communist on Wall Street. I just always wanted to be happy and free of worry and this individualistic nature of the Western World, which I abhor strongly. That's it. I am not begrudging of people's ambition. I don't care, but I do find some people's, especially middle class and upper class people's, ambition quite funny, yet also depressing as some of them make me lose my faith in humanity. If I were you, I wouldn't make such comments in future to someone who hasn't even said anything malicious to you. It'd be a good idea to know someone well before expressing your thoughts about them, because if you don't and you're not behind a computer screen and saying it to someone who has a quick fuse, you're gonna get it. Keep your opinions to yourself before expressing them (look at what happened to Giordano Bruno), especially when there is no need, and do it only when necessary and in a considerate way, if possible.

Cheers.

 

[Mr L]

I meant that he should experience the differences in the cultural atmosphere of England as well as the slight differences in the population itself. By saying that the English are quite similar, I was hinting that there are minor, unpronounced cultural differences that do not serve to distinguish the English population completely from Australians.

I believe we have encountered a communication mix-up

 

[mnmaa]

you do realise how high the fees are going to be since your not a UK or EU citizen? your looking at 40-50G a year. Perosnally im aiming to attend a top notch university such as cambridge or oxford as a postgraduate where im more likely to get funding, you could consider that as an option

 

[hayabusaboston]

Yeah I probably should be relaxing and not feel guilty. After all the more I relax know the more revitalised I will feel in yer 11 and 12. haha. I just put those marks in an atar calculator and came out with 99 so I was only really going for an estimate.

Mate I had the exact same thing as you in year 9 except with Harvard Med School. I realised though I have 3 years to go, thats AGES, so many things are yet to happen in that time. So for year 9 and 10 I relaxed, but still have that goal in the back of my mind, now for year 11 and 12 its time to implement it. You really ought to wait till yr 11 before you start getting serious. Except for maths, that is, when you're accelerated. Everything up until then is a bludge really, dont bother.

You might want to do this JCTI test:
http://www.cerebrals.org/wp/tests/jcti/

It's an accurate IQ test, so you know you're capabilities. I would venture to assume you're more than above average, do this to see.

and OMFG people dont get angry I am suggesting this to him so he knows for his own reference.

 

[Omnipotence]

you do realise how high the fees are going to be since your not a UK or EU citizen? your looking at 40-50G a year. Perosnally im aiming to attend a top notch university such as cambridge or oxford as a postgraduate where im more likely to get funding, you could consider that as an option

OP has ascertained that money is not a problem.

 

[Omnipotence]

Mate I had the exact same thing as you in year 9 except with Harvard Med School. I realised though I have 3 years to go, thats AGES, so many things are yet to happen in that time. So for year 9 and 10 I relaxed, but still have that goal in the back of my mind, now for year 11 and 12 its time to implement it. You really ought to wait till yr 11 before you start getting serious. Except for maths, that is, when you're accelerated. Everything up until then is a bludge really, dont bother.

You might want to do this JCTI test:
http://www.cerebrals.org/wp/tests/jcti/

It's an accurate IQ test, so you know you're capabilities. I would venture to assume you're more than above average, do this to see.

and OMFG people dont get angry I am suggesting this to him so he knows for his own reference.

Reading through his posts, he is more than knowledgeable for a student in Yr 9.

 

[mnmaa]

OP has ascertained that money is not a problem.

Yes i understand that, but i wasn't sure if OP realised the amount of money involved here was on the order of hundreds of thousand s of dollars.

 

[hayabusaboston]

Reading through his posts, he is more than knowledgeable for a student in Yr 9.

I notice that too, I just am saying that through my own painful experience of wanting to do everything but not being able to because of my age I realised that up to the beginning of yr 11, everything is really pointless to worry about. And OP can't do anything until after HSC anyway, so there's no point getting all excited about it now like I did. No matter how knowledgeable he is, he cant do anything until he's done the HSC, thats my point.

 

[RishBonjour]

to OP
go out a bit more
make some friends

 

[mnmaa]

to OP
go out a bit more
make some friends

no need for that

 

[Omnipotence]

I notice that too, I just am saying that through my own painful experience of wanting to do everything but not being able to because of my age I realised that up to the beginning of yr 11, everything is really pointless to worry about. And OP can't do anything until after HSC anyway, so there's no point getting all excited about it now like I did. No matter how knowledgeable he is, he cant do anything until he's done the HSC, thats my point.

Yeah, I see.

 

[dionb2014]

Haha, make some friends.....
I am starting year 10 at an new all boys catholic school in a few weeks. I guess all I can do is my best this year and I will also continue to make contacts in the investment banking corporate finance area. I have done iq tests in the past and I am around 130. Not too sure really if it is good, bad or indifferent.

 

[dionb2014]

But my math teacher says an IQ is in no way an accurate representation of a persons intelligence.

 

[hayabusaboston]

But my math teacher says an IQ is in no way an accurate representation of a persons intelligence.

Oh IQ tests are. They're a measure of intellectual potential. You fall into the "very superior" category.

 

[RealiseNothing]

As soon as I read dion's last post I knew exactly what was coming next.

 

[mnmaa]

But my math teacher says an IQ is in no way an accurate representation of a persons intelligence.

True that. plus internet IQ tests are shit, i get 145-160 everytime am i a genius? hell no

 

[hayabusaboston]

True that. plus internet IQ tests are shit, i get 145-160 everytime am i a genius? hell no

Actually yea, you skipped two grades of school lol.