Is a selective school possible..? (1 Viewer)

[kokame]

Hi ^^;;
im in yr 9 this year, yr 10 2013 and i was wondering if it wouldn't be too late to move to a selective like sydney girls, north sydney girls etc and would i be able to get in?
i go to private, but it's kinda expensive.. and in yr 11 and 12 the price goes up by quite a lot. also i don't really like the environment there.. i originally went there for the IB, but now i wanna do the HSC.

but my grades aren't straight a's
3 a's, 6 b's and 1 c in pe which was my half yearly
and then my end report was 1 a, 6 b's and 2 c's... but naplan was band 9's and 1 10!

but i also do extra curriculars like a band, duke of ed, mock trial and sport
year 10 i managed to get 4 a's 5 b's and 1 c.. in geo T.T for my half yearlies..
so.. could i get into a selective?
thanks

 

[RivalryofTroll]

Yes, Year 10 2013 is basically your last chance to apply.

Would you be able to get in? Well if you have the game, then you can!

Naplan is meh, it's not TOO ridiculously important. The main report is your Year 10 Half Yearly report and possibly Year 9 Yearly as well. Those 2 need to be good ESPECIALLY the Year 10 HY.

Your extra-cirriculars seems great and will give you some competitive advantage against other applicants with the same academic calibre like you.

The report is VERY VERY important for schools that don't hold entrance exams since they base your application mainly on your reports and academic proof.

You'd have more hope making it into a school with an available entrance test with a mediocre report.

Your end year report is decent but if you can improve heaps for your Year 10 Half Yearly report, you have good chances!

 

[kokame]

aah... thank you very much!!
this is probably gonna be a stupid question.. but are the entrance exams hard? i've never really taken an exam to get into a school before.. ><

 

[RivalryofTroll]

aah... thank you very much!!
this is probably gonna be a stupid question.. but are the entrance exams hard? i've never really taken an exam to get into a school before.. ><

Depends on which school you try out for.

 

[Thief]

Your report marks don't necessarily matter if you are smart enough to pass the entrance exams - I definitely didn't have straight A's but I got into a selective since my result in the exam was good.

Can't really comment on the level of difficulty I guess, but it tends to be general aptitude sorta tests so not something you really study for.

Like Rivalry said, get a good report next year, keep up the extra-curriculars, and note down if you get any distinction/high distinctions in those ICAS exams because you probably could include that in your application as well.

Apply for all the selectives you are interested in when the opportunity arises to maximise your chance of getting in. Good luck.

 

[kazemagic]

Your report marks don't necessarily matter if you are smart enough to pass the entrance exams - I definitely didn't have straight A's but I got into a selective since my result in the exam was good.

Can't really comment on the level of difficulty I guess, but it tends to be general aptitude sorta tests so not something you really study for.

Like Rivalry said, get a good report next year, keep up the extra-curriculars, and note down if you get any distinction/high distinctions in those ICAS exams because you probably could include that in your application as well.

Apply for all the selectives you are interested in when the opportunity arises to maximise your chance of getting in. Good luck.

yea this, as long as u have a decent report and pass the test is fine
girra is pretty easy to get in yr 11 since they make a new class that takes in 20 people or so I've heard, and you dont really need any certificates/extra curricular activities for girra lol

 

[kokame]

north syd girls or hornsby girls and sydney girls but it doesn't have a test.. so i will have to try really hard in the first half of next year ><;;
my icas results were horrible T.T

 

[RivalryofTroll]

north syd girls or hornsby girls and sydney girls but it doesn't have a test.. so i will have to try really hard in the first half of next year ><;;
my icas results were horrible T.T

There's always hope.

I also transferred into a fully selective school after Year 10 as well and I hope the following will inspire you:

My Year 9 report wasn't beast or anything. 3As 5Bs. It was quite solid I guess.

But then Year 10 Half Yearly Report, knowing this was my last chance, I tried harder for assignments and whatnot.

Ended up with 6As 2Bs.

But good luck!

 

[kokame]

wowowowowowowowowow amazing!! thanks for the inspiration!! >< alrighty.. i will try my best!!!

 

[fiorefullbloom]

I'm transferring to Syd Girls for year 11 next year but also got offered a spot at St George, and speaking from experience, your year 10 half yearly report matters a lot. My NAPLAN was not exactly brilliant, so i wouldn't say that it matters that much, but I would say that my report having all As only 2 Bs in PDHPE and religion really had an impact on my application being successful. So I'd definitely suggest like everyone has said above (with schools that don't have an entrance exam) putting a lot of effort into ensuring you get an amazing half yearly report. Exrta curriculars will definitely help, as will any awards you've received and ICAS results (even if they're credits, it will still help). They want to see that you're an all round achiever, not just good at academics, so things like band, sport, mock trial, doe, and charity work definitely make your application stand out. The best advice I can give is basically just to go all out and get a great report, which should be totally possible if you're motivated.

I never took an entrance exam, so I can't give any advice on that, but there are other threads that mention what is involved.

Good luck

 

[Verify]

I think entrance tests are just as important, if not more important than reports when applying for a selective (given they have an entrance test). Since it is external, it tests the applicants on the same playing field as some reports can be marked more harshly than others. From personal experience I found that the entrance test helped a lot in gaining a position at a selective school (I knew I did pretty well when I walked out of the hall where the test was held ), even though my report wasn't exactly dazzling in comparison to the others (probably).

Also, interviews are pretty important if you get that far - there are a few guides here on BOS that take you through the preparation process of interviews etc. Best of luck!

 

[Jessicaz2910]

Hi ^^;;
cause i wanna go to a school in the US,

wouldn't IB be more convenient in applying to the US?
anyway, i was able to be offered to 2 of the schools you mentioned to enter in yr 10. They are top of the state, so you need to be able to perform well in their interviews, really sell yourself as to why that school would be good for you. It is certainly possible, good luck and pm me if you have any questions!