Please Share Advice for 2015ers (1 Viewer)

[futuremidwife]

u probs fked up HSC english papers

See don't fuck up like me. Study!


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[astroman]

See don't fuck up like me. Study!


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english is a natural strong point for me tbh, i am focusing more on math which idk why, i always fk up the tests.

 

[BLIT2014]

Wtf! I got 88 raw in the trials - questions were from the Catholic paper I think. I fucked up so much!


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Your school might've marked easy?

 

[astroman]

thought trials were marked most harsh...

 

[futuremidwife]

Your school might've marked easy?

Perhaps.

I'm awesome so I doubt it

nah in all seriousness, yes that may be the case. But, jumping 20 marks from 88 to 68? Idk


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[astroman]

Perhaps.

I'm awesome so I doubt it

nah in all seriousness, yes that may be the case. But, jumping 20 marks from 88 to 68? Idk


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what about other assessments like term 1, half yearly...

 

[futuremidwife]

what about other assessments like term 1, half yearly...

Band 6's. I was on 94 for internals bruh.

Sorry for derail guys!


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[astroman]

Band 6's. I was on 94 for internals bruh.

Sorry for derail guys!


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maybe some fishy business with BOS changing marks coz of people ranks changing.

 

[futuremidwife]

Sorry^ I'll stop posting.


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[astroman]

mafi mangna

 

[egress]

If you can study an English Extension 1 topic that you really enjoy, you should definitely do it (I did science fiction: it was amazingly cool and I ended up getting 49 in the subject, more than making up for 93 in Advanced).

For English, it definitely helps to have a broad general knowledge of significant world/Australian events (such as the ones that led to the ascendancy of postmodernism, and Australian history helps with speeches in Module B), important authors (Orwell, etc), literary theories, ideas about Discovery, etc. Knowing more generally helps answer tricky essay questions, put in obscure references in creative pieces that no-one except an English teacher would appreciate, and helps when you get retarded reading task questions.

 

[sweetalmond]

All of my subjects were humanities. I can't really say much about the sciences!

Do some extra reading. If you want that extra edge, I recommend you read widely so that you grasp the writing style of academics (historians, critics). For English, read some novels over your summer break. You don't have to read like day-in day-out e.g I'd read in the toilet/15 mins before bed... I mean like, unless you're totally engrossed by what you're reading. Good places to start are academia.edu (usually free PDF articles) and jstor.org. JSTOR lets you read 3 journal articles for free (not all are free), but they only expire after about a fortnight. I had multiple accounts so I could save articles for Romanticism, History Extension, Frankenstein, and Hamlet. I can't stress enough how helpful (and interesting) these entries are.

Quotes and techniques first (until mid years), generic essays second (trials and HSC). Get the hang of flexible thinking with ideas and snippets of evidence before you walk in with a prepared essay that you can't even mould to the question. Your integration of the question will look seamless after a few practice runs. This personally worked for me.

Do 2-3 hours of study a weekday, including homework. 5 hours for Saturday and Sunday. Yes, you will still have time to socialise. Some people like to separate homework and study, but they're pretty much the same thing. Leave Friday as your break.

Don't spite a subject because you flopped in one assessment task. You just need to pick yourself back up and start again. Each assessment task usually had a 15%-25% weighting. You still have other opportunities to pick up your rank.

Finally, as someone mentioned above, competition is healthy in moderation/ You can't forgo friendships, no matter how nihilistic your perception of 'fleeting highschool friendships' is, because you need a healthy and coherent learning environment in order to succeed. Don't make enemies, because you're all in this together. /cue HSM

Hi, a majority of my subjects are humanities, I do 5 units of history, 3 units of english etc.
For Creative writing, Romanticism, how did you get to write in the style of the romanticist? How long did it take?
Also, for Modern, ancient history: what types of books did you read when you say you read widely.

You seem to have gotten a pretty high atar. Congrats!

 

[tacorrito]

Hi, a majority of my subjects are humanities, I do 5 units of history, 3 units of english etc.
For Creative writing, Romanticism, how did you get to write in the style of the romanticist? How long did it take?
Also, for Modern, ancient history: what types of books did you read when you say you read widely.

You seem to have gotten a pretty high atar. Congrats!

A new poster here, but I also read quite widely for Ancient History which might've helped me get my final Ancient mark of 95. Wider reading depends on your units of course, but for my elective Sparta, I consulted Paul Cartledge a lot which gave me tons of very useful quotes. Consider getting past students' summaries as well- not to use as your own summary, but to see what quotes they used for each syllabus dot point to bolster your own quotes as a form of 'wider reading' haha.

 

[obliviousninja]

Set high aims.

 

[youngsky]

If you've stuffed up your first assessments, now is not the time to cry about it. Hunger for more. Don't just accept an 80 in let's say maths let's and leave it at that - "oh I'm just a band 5 student". You'll confine yourself that band 5 (or whatever mark it is) you've set up for yourself and let that play out for the next 10 months. Be proactive and clearly aim to beat whatever you got last time. When you beat that mark, beat it again and again, and you'll be reaping the rewards of your determination. It's not just about consistency. Aim for consistent improvement.

 

[aDimitri]

Perhaps.

I'm awesome so I doubt it

nah in all seriousness, yes that may be the case. But, jumping 20 marks from 88 to 68? Idk


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My internal mark was 65-66 (ranked 126/150 for adv)
I got 83 external and 79 internal

 

[Kaido]

I'll destroy bronze five. Is that a good aim?
Or should I go for 50% in my next maths exam

 

[carmela300]

People have basically said it all, but just repeating just in case....

- Keep a consistent pace. The worst thing you could do is lag behind in making notes or even in the subject in general, and then have to catch up on it all in a night. Constantly update your notes so you dont have to spend days doing them towards the end
- Dont completely rely on the notes of others. First, there could be some inaccuracies. Second, you memorise and learn them better if you write them. Use them for a foundation or to fill in gaps
- Work with others. It's better for two people to have complete notes than two people with gaps in their notes that could be easily filled
- Look for differences. If you do subjects like history or legal where you need specific evidence/cases, look for examples that stand out against the one's that everyone will use from the textbook
- Always update sources (again for subjects like history and legal) and find ones that you can adapt to many different questions
- Specifically for math, work on it consistently, even if it is 1 hour a night. Math is about repeating and repeating until you can solve all questions. It is about exposure. so expose yourself to as many examples as possible. And use past papers from now because that is the ultimate aim. the exam
- Dont dismiss the importance of teacher feedback. It is crucial, as ultimately, teachers are your markers
- As much as people say it, it can be hard to balance, escpecially when aiming so high. Burning out is easy, escpecially during the actual HSC exam weeks. SO prepare from now.

Best of luck

 

[Librah]

Advice for those in a poorly ranked school (400+): Acknowledge there are schools other than yours....
Many kids unjustifiably tried scabbing marks trying to satisfy their own ego of getting a "high mark" on their paper to show their peers/brag. Not only is it unethical, but you will not learn from mistakes, and unfortunately you carry the mindset that the same marker in your school will mark your HSC paper (dead wrong). And yer, set high aims.

 

[hi im trash]

This advice is more for students suffering some form of adversity during the HSC: don't give up. Fight for your marks. I was diagnosed with a very severe psychiatric illness during the HSC - I spent the time period between trials and the actual HSC in hospital, doing barely any study. I was experiencing hallucinations and delusions during my HSC exams. I was told by several doctors that I was not fit to complete the HSC. I was so shocked to get All-Rounders and an ATAR of 98.10 with no bonus points and no tutoring, considering how most teens with my diagnosis don't even finish school. I am very proud of my results, even if they aren't in the 99+ range. The moral of the story kids is that life can surprise you in positive ways, and you are far more capable than you can imagine, even when bad things come your way.

The more study-oriented advice I would give is: focus on the areas you DON'T know. Do past papers under timed conditions. Do timed essays, and do them again and again. Don't stop consistently building your knowledge until you KNOW your shit. For English, use your critical thinking skills to actually consider your texts, and come up with an original response to the question. Despite what people may say, markers do favour original thought. Come up with the most outrageous arguments if you will, and if it's backed up with solid evidence, you'll get that goddamn Band 6. Take initiative for your own learning, because at the end of the day, only YOU are sitting that exam. Make it count.

This. Massive respect to what you were able to achieve.

I would like to emphasise on "focusing on areas you don't know". One of my biggest mistakes of my HSC was abandoning two of my subjects in favour of my stronger one. Marks are like an exponential curve, the amount of effort it takes to jump from a 94 - 95 is much higher than lets say 70-71. It's much better to do well in all your subjects at the expense of 1-2 marks at your stronger subjects.