Questions to 99.95 ATAR Recipients (1 Viewer)

[_Anonymous]

(Note these questions aren’t ONLY being asked to 99.95 ATAR recipients, if you also have some advice to share - feel free to do so, thanks).

Had some questions for the top students, would like some advice:

1) Were you guys always top in your cohort (this doesn’t really apply to Top 25 SS students I guess, since rank 5-10’s also get 99.95)? By always, I mean Year 10,11 and 12?

2) How many hours a day would you study for (excluding procrastination)?

3) How do I combat silly mistakes? They’re literally the bane of my existence and is always the difference between me getting 95%+ to getting a 85-90%. And obviously in the HSC, the difference between 95% and 85-90% is huge for all subjects. Please say something other than “practice a lot”.

4) Were you the type to always receive High Distinctions for the AMC/ICAS (throughout your school years), a lot of achievement awards from school,etc? Or were you just achieving good grades but didn’t perform well in those competitions? Do you guys think those competitions give a good overview of someone aiming to get a high ATAR (i.e. HD’s and D’s are going to get 95+ ATAR) or do you think performing well in school exams instead of the competitions give a better overview?

5) How much coaching did you guys require? Which subjects did you guys do it on? Also, where did you guys do coaching; more generic ones like Matrix, Talent 100 or the more niche ones like Dr Du?

6) How do you study efficiently for all 5-6 subjects if you have homework for let’s say 3 subjects per day (Math included)?

7) Did you guys focus on past/practice papers or focus more on mastering concepts ?

That’s all I got for now, thanks in advance.

 

[pikachu975]

(Note these questions aren’t ONLY being asked to 99.95 ATAR recipients, if you also have some advice to share - feel free to do so, thanks).

Had some questions for the top students, would like some advice:

1) Were you guys always top in your cohort (this doesn’t really apply to Top 25 SS students I guess, since rank 5-10’s also get 99.95)? By always, I mean Year 10,11 and 12?

No only started tryharding in year 12 when it mattered

2) How many hours a day would you study for (excluding procrastination)?

A few hours a day but mainly homework throughout the year. Leading up to HSC it was heaps of hours a day like 6-8 doing past papers

3) How do I combat silly mistakes? They’re literally the bane of my existence and is always the difference between me getting 95%+ to getting a 85-90%. And obviously in the HSC, the difference between 95% and 85-90% is huge for all subjects. Please say something other than “practice a lot”.

Just try focus more in the exam like develop new strategies, e.g. check your working out quickly or test answers after every question. Usually try finish decently fast and come back and redo questions you think you might've got wrong. A way to do this is cross out questions you think you got 100% right and put a star with questions you wanna check later, and circle if you don't know (come back later).

4) Were you the type to always receive High Distinctions for the AMC/ICAS (throughout your school years), a lot of achievement awards from school,etc? Or were you just achieving good grades but didn’t perform well in those competitions? Do you guys think those competitions give a good overview of someone aiming to get a high ATAR (i.e. HD’s and D’s are going to get 95+ ATAR) or do you think performing well in school exams instead of the competitions give a better overview?

Nah got like credit in science and maths in year 9 or 10. For awards basically got 1st in maths a lot of times and sometimes 1st in science but that's basically it.

5) How much coaching did you guys require? Which subjects did you guys do it on? Also, where did you guys do coaching; more generic ones like Matrix, Talent 100 or the more niche ones like Dr Du?

Got english tutoring for like 1 term of year 12, maths tutoring for a term before year 12, and physics tutoring for all of year 12 at sigma science.
But yeah decided to quit english tutoring (money) and maths tutoring because just decided to study more myself + money.

6) How do you study efficiently for all 5-6 subjects if you have homework for let’s say 3 subjects per day (Math included)?

Yeah got stacked with homework + bludging all year so had to cram for subjects. A way to cram and study in general is print the syllabus and highlight stuff you 100% know then revise dot points not highlighted. You could try making to-do lists and study planners. Also you could try going to the library to do stuff since it's more efficient I found from studying in the library nearly everyday the holidays before HSC. Try think about what subjects you're worst at and focus on them to get more marks increase rather than 1-2 mark increase in subjects you're good at.

7) Did you guys focus on past/practice papers or focus more on mastering concepts ?

For assessments and trials pretty much only content + a bit of papers for maths due to loads of homework + bad time management, but for HSC learned content for a week then spammed papers. A day or two before each content exam like bio I just revised the content again and my past papers.

That’s all I got for now, thanks in advance.

Not a 99.95 candidate but answers in bold

 

[aoc]

i got mid 99s and was never top of my cohort, usually got credits in the unsw science comps or whatnot. I mainly studied by doing past papers and learning what model answers for questions were. I think this is a good tactic since i went into my eco and chem test studying 1 day before and did alright in them regardless. I did a lot of tutoring but it was really useless for me since im a slow learner and cant adjust to the speed of the class. Studying was probablly 3hrs a day when i was motivated to 0 mins a day when i wasn't as motivated. (but i always crammed for school tests at least).

Some advice for a subject i did decently in (adv eng 96 hsc mark) would be to find the important quotes in your book and write the analysis for them. Understand the core themes, put a few notes about it and write an essay. Memorise an essay for each module and try adapting it to different questions using your memorized essay but learn to sub out certain qutoes and put other ones you have remembered. Also dont underestimate how important unique analysis can be. If you find a nice quote and put your interpretation of what it means (assuming its plausible) it sometimes sounds better than using a famous quote everyone else will be using. I think thats that seperates people in english..whether or not they have enough knowledge of the text to adapt their memorized essay to a variety of questions. This is assuming that you prefer memorizing essays than writing one on the spot though.

 

[30june2016]

4) Were you the type to always receive High Distinctions for the AMC/ICAS (throughout your school years), a lot of achievement awards from school,etc? Or were you just achieving good grades but didn’t perform well in those competitions? Do you guys think those competitions give a good overview of someone aiming to get a high ATAR (i.e. HD’s and D’s are going to get 95+ ATAR) or do you think performing well in school exams instead of the competitions give a better overview?

hahaHaHAHahahaHA definitely not even a 99+ atar candidate, but I really do not think those competitions are good indicators of successfully gaining a 99.95 atar. From year 7-12, I had been getting only distinction/high distinction for ICAS/AMC/AMT/AIMO/RACI, but I was never the type to do exceptionally well at school exams - which is possible because school exams = study routines, time and rote learning, things I am not good at (e.g. literally ranked 100+ at my school for 3U maths), and external competitions = #YOLO, testing understanding and problem solving, something I am pretty decent at (ranked 1st for a few years in school for AMC). Seeing as in those competitions, I outperformed my peers who are definitely getting a 99+ ATAR (versus me, someone who would view a 95 ATAR as a miracle), there seems to be no real correlation between AMC/ICAS etc and the HSC. Sadly :c

 

[iStudent]

HSC was so long ago for me, but I'll try to answer some - since I don't imagine there to be many 99.95ers around who can answer your question. (I got 99.90)

1) Were you guys always top in your cohort (this doesn’t really apply to Top 25 SS students I guess, since rank 5-10’s also get 99.95)? By always, I mean Year 10,11 and 12?

I graduated from a school ranked in the 300s. I was topping in Yr11-12 (for all subs!). Hovered top 5 in Yr10.

2) How many hours a day would you study for (excluding procrastination)?

There were weekends where I would study for 8-10h+

3) How do I combat silly mistakes? They’re literally the bane of my existence and is always the difference between me getting 95%+ to getting a 85-90%. And obviously in the HSC, the difference between 95% and 85-90% is huge for all subjects. Please say something other than “practice a lot”.

You mean for math or calculation questions right?
It helps if you write down your mistakes in an exercise book. eg. *-always remember to include +C for integration*
Then the day of the exam, reread your exercise book filled with silly mistakes so you remember not to make them again
You'll still make silly mistakes (inevitably...), but it helped a lot for me

4) Were you the type to always receive High Distinctions for the AMC/ICAS (throughout your school years), a lot of achievement awards from school,etc? Or were you just achieving good grades but didn’t perform well in those competitions? Do you guys think those competitions give a good overview of someone aiming to get a high ATAR (i.e. HD’s and D’s are going to get 95+ ATAR) or do you think performing well in school exams instead of the competitions give a better overview?

Interesting question. I won't say I ALWAYS got HD, but I did get a decent amount across AMC, ICAS, Chem olympiad (just the first exam) and various other competitions (UNSW eco comp, this random chem one etc etc)

I'd imagine there to be a positive correlation between doing well in competitions and 99.95 ATAR**. But obviously, not a perfect correlation! I feel like to get 99.95, you need a mix of hardwork and aptitude (which these competitions more or less test).

5) How much coaching did you guys require? Which subjects did you guys do it on? Also, where did you guys do coaching; more generic ones like Matrix, Talent 100 or the more niche ones like Dr Du?

Generic ones - Dux College, lol
I did a lot of tutoring - for all my subjects

6) How do you study efficiently for all 5-6 subjects if you have homework for let’s say 3 subjects per day (Math included)?

Studying ahead is a must I reckon (at least within 99.95, I'd imagine most of these people study ahead of the school). I was always a few terms ahead of the school. If you haven't started Yr11 yet - I would advise you to go through it yourself (or with a tutor), just so you can free up time during the term to focus on said homework/assignments etc.

7) Did you guys focus on past/practice papers or focus more on mastering concepts ?

Both!

 

[harryharper]

99.95 and state ranking student here - these are my 2 cents:

1) Were you guys always top in your cohort (this doesn’t really apply to Top 25 SS students I guess, since rank 5-10’s also get 99.95)? By always, I mean Year 10,11 and 12?

Usually first or second in the cohort, top 5 in most subjects.


2) How many hours a day would you study for (excluding procrastination)?

Don't study for hours, study for goals. Plan to understand a certain concept or go through a certain number of practice questions. When you have more time, go through more. If you have less time, then do less. If you find yourself falling too far behind the pace of the course, make more time. I never aimed to study a fixed number of hours every night.

3) How do I combat silly mistakes? They’re literally the bane of my existence and is always the difference between me getting 95%+ to getting a 85-90%. And obviously in the HSC, the difference between 95% and 85-90% is huge for all subjects. Please say something other than “practice a lot”.

In years 7-10 I was often 5-10% off the pace of the top of maths due to silly mistakes. I found that I had to develop some sort of routine to clear my head of distractions and get 'in the zone' where I wouldn't make silly mistakes. In yr11 I didn't drop any marks in maths exams, and in year 12 I finished with state ranks in 3 and 4U. This is what I changed.

I basically decided that I needed to stop my mind from running ahead of me. I decided to start treating myself as if I were about 20% less good at maths than I was. I started with simple, silly-sounding things: I bought some blue pens that didn't glide so well on the page. I chose blue because in my mind I associated it with a "maths is fun" attitude, whereas black reminds me of messy doctors' scrawl. I put a lot more effort into writing neatly, and not omitting any working. I think doing this helped me pay more attention to what I was writing as I was writing, and so big obvious mistakes started to jump out at me, just by spending that fraction of a second longer on each question. Find whatever works for you - the important part is having a routine that helps you get in the right frame of mind.

Then, of course, practice a lot. I did all the questions in the book, even the ones I thought 'I get this now hurry up let's move on'. I think it's about adopting that calmer "there will be time" attitude, both in your study and in the exam itself. Spending time doing those practice questions helps you practise being in that psychological state that is needed to avoid silly mistakes.

(The attachment is an example of some simple yet infuriating questions that it can be helpful to go through to practice avoiding silly mistakes)



4) Were you the type to always receive High Distinctions for the AMC/ICAS (throughout your school years), a lot of achievement awards from school,etc? Or were you just achieving good grades but didn’t perform well in those competitions? Do you guys think those competitions give a good overview of someone aiming to get a high ATAR (i.e. HD’s and D’s are going to get 95+ ATAR) or do you think performing well in school exams instead of the competitions give a better overview?

Probably school exams are a better overview, since they're more similar to the real thing. If you're doing well in those comps, good for you, and use that as a confidence boost. But if not, it's not such a big deal. HSC is more about the effort you put into your subjects.


5) How much coaching did you guys require? Which subjects did you guys do it on? Also, where did you guys do coaching; more generic ones like Matrix, Talent 100 or the more niche ones like Dr Du?

I didn't go to any coaching colleges. I got a bit of private help with English in mid high school when I was still learning what an essay involves (structure, technical analysis) but by Yr 11/12 I was all independent, and that's when my marks shot up higher. I think it can be helpful to wrestle with the subject yourself first, rather than expect some tutoring college to be able to give you the answers and guarantee you success. If of course you still have trouble, then it makes sense to consult someone for advice.


6) How do you study efficiently for all 5-6 subjects if you have homework for let’s say 3 subjects per day (Math included)?

Yeah you can get swamped with homework, but there's no way around it really. Just do the homework, and the study will come later / when you can. Most of the homework is there for a reason and it's mostly to force you to study the topics that it's on.

Unlike some of the previous commenters here I don't think I really studied ahead much / at all. In fact I'd go as far as to say the secret to success is not so much about racing ahead to newer and newer things, but more about lingering on some of the older things to make sure you really understand them and have processed them into your longer term memory.

7) Did you guys focus on past/practice papers or focus more on mastering concepts ?

I'd say mainly mastering concepts. (The caveat here is that if it's maths, then mastering concept means a lot of doing practice questions...) Then in the last few days before the exam I might make a mad charge through as many past papers as possible so that everything was sort of bouncing around in my mind and ready.

Don't leave all the practice paper work until the last minute though, maybe do a few early on to see how the format is, but then mainly focus on the concepts. That way you can make sure you go through the course and understand everything, rather than take the scattergun approach of doing a whole bunch of practice questions that you hope cover most of the material.

 

[_Anonymous]

Thank you guys for your answers, just got a few more questions to add on to the existing ones:

1) When you get bombarded with homework (let's say 3-4 subjects' worth everyday), would you complete that and then go to sleep/relax? Or would you still 'study' and if so, what would that studying be (i.e. isn't homework enough or is revision of the term's content necessary to go through everyday)?

2) Since I'll be starting Year 11 in a month and a half, what should I be doing right now? I know a lot of people who are already going through 3U Math textbooks and trying to 'get ahead', but I think that learning the more complex topics myself wouldn't be too easy nor beneficial (i.e. learning Calculus and the harder stuff they teach in 3U). So should I try and go over the Year 10 content and try and practice those questions instead of the 2U/3U content? Or should I try and start the 2U content (term 1's topic is apparently not too hard since it's mainly algebra) after going through Year 10 content again?

In terms of other subjects (Phys, Chem, Bio, Eco, Adv. Eng), is there anything I can do to get ready for those?

3) Is there a need to go through practice papers in Year 11 or is it more beneficial to do them in Year 12? If it's not necessary, should my studying consist of homework and revision (for Year 11 that is)?

Thanks again.

 

[HortonHears]

99.95 in 2015 here, at a top 10 school. Should also preface this by saying I did not do the 'Asian Five' subjects.

1) In Year 10 I was never top ranked in any subject. Starting year 11 was quite the motivator in terms of effort and interest, and I started to increase in ranks throughout the year, and fortunately they increased through Year 12 as well. Don't stress if your year 11 ranks aren't exceptional, as that year (at least for me) served as a great way of figuring out what worked in terms of study habits.

2) I don't think I ever thought about study in terms of hours, but rather in terms of tasks to be achieved for each subject.

3) Unfortunately, the answer really is just to practice a lot. But I'll qualify that by saying this works best through consistent practice over a long periods of time, using a wide variety of questions and structured revision of different types of questions. Fortunately you still have two years to master this!

4) Anecdotally, the 99.95ers I know were indeed the type to get HDs in those competitions. But on the flipside, I know people who did get ICAS HDs who ended up getting 80 ATARs. The ATAR is an aggregate after all, and so exceptional success in HSC Maths (often by ppl who previously did well in AMC/ICAS) is no guarantee of overall ATAR exceptional success.

5) I was tutored at a 'generic' tutoring centre. Other 99.95ers I know went to niche centres, some had private tutors and some had zero tutoring at all. There's no sure-fire path to success, but nevertheless, some tutoring places are definitely better than others so always do ample research.

6) Planning, and figuring out a scheduling system which you are able to stick to best. Again, use Year 11 to figure this out for yourself. Homework also becomes less 'important' during Year 11 and 12 in the sense that much of your own success will need to be self-motivated.

7) Mastering concepts through practice papers No but seriously, the adage that you learn from your mistakes is actually so true during HSC.

 

[iStudent]

My 2 cents

1) When you get bombarded with homework (let's say 3-4 subjects' worth everyday), would you complete that and then go to sleep/relax? Or would you still 'study' and if so, what would that studying be (i.e. isn't homework enough or is revision of the term's content necessary to go through everyday)?

I think I ignored all the homework that I felt wasn't relevant to doing well in an exam situation, lol. This includes the repetitively easy questions (esp math in focus. Also, instead of doing those textbook chem questions I'd focus on doing my own set of past paper style questions - that sort of thing. But I feel like I had time to do them all anyway - because I freed up a decent amount of time by working ahead.

2) Since I'll be starting Year 11 in a month and a half, what should I be doing right now? I know a lot of people who are already going through 3U Math textbooks and trying to 'get ahead', but I think that learning the more complex topics myself wouldn't be too easy nor beneficial (i.e. learning Calculus and the harder stuff they teach in 3U). So should I try and go over the Year 10 content and try and practice those questions instead of the 2U/3U content? Or should I try and start the 2U content (term 1's topic is apparently not too hard since it's mainly algebra) after going through Year 10 content again?

Nah, Yr10 math is nothing like prelim/HSC math. It wouldn't hurt looking over the new concepts so you're familiarised with them. I found that if you learn the same thing multiple times, you understand the concepts better and likewise remember the content better too. Some people might get it or it clicks the first time, but I'd imagine for most people including myself learning it the first time is much different to say, the 2nd or 3rd time! (ie once by yourself, once at school, once at tutoring).

In terms of other subjects (Phys, Chem, Bio, Eco, Adv. Eng), is there anything I can do to get ready for those?

You did the exact same subjects as I did. Except I dropped bio and picked up 4U in Yr12
Doesn't hurt to read ahead for chem phys bio eco (especially eco, there's actually not that much content - you can probably get through the whole textbook in like a fortnight lol - which is what they do in 1st year uni anyway!). You can even write notes if you have the time or energy. Find out what works for you tbh - for some, working ahead is not essential to their success but it definitely was for me - it freed up a lot more time which I could use to do assignments or whatever + reduced the need for cramming and hence Yr12 was a lot less stressful than it would otherwise have been.

3) Is there a need to go through practice papers in Year 11 or is it more beneficial to do them in Year 12? If it's not necessary, should my studying consist of homework and revision (for Year 11 that is)?

Doing them for math is kinda essential because Yr11 math is used in Yr12. Although there is the apparent syllabus change - I'm not sure if it affects you guys or not!

Also, practice papers/past papers is considered homework/revision too!

 

[_Anonymous]

Nah, Yr10 math is nothing like prelim/HSC math. It wouldn't hurt looking over the new concepts so you're familiarised with them. I found that if you learn the same thing multiple times, you understand the concepts better and likewise remember the content better too. Some people might get it or it clicks the first time, but I'd imagine for most people including myself learning it the first time is much different to say, the 2nd or 3rd time! (ie once by yourself, once at school, once at tutoring).

Do you recommend I start going over the 2U and 3U textbook when the holidays start or should I spend the first half of the holidays on 'mastering' the Year 10 content (basically have a solid foundation) and then start with the 2/3U content during the second half? Also apparently 3U classes don't even start till Term 2 or something, how does that work? Do we just do 2U content for the first term and then start doing 3U content? If that's the case, should I only focus on studying the 2U textbook and not worry much about the 3U content?

You did the exact same subjects as I did. Except I dropped bio and picked up 4U in Yr12
Doesn't hurt to read ahead for chem phys bio eco (especially eco, there's actually not that much content - you can probably get through the whole textbook in like a fortnight lol - which is what they do in 1st year uni anyway!). You can even write notes if you have the time or energy. Find out what works for you tbh - for some, working ahead is not essential to their success but it definitely was for me - it freed up a lot more time which I could use to do assignments or whatever + reduced the need for cramming and hence Yr12 was a lot less stressful than it would otherwise have been.

Since you did the exact same subjects I will be doing, what was your experience on doing all three sciences + Eco + MX1? People say it's super intense and I had made a previous thread discussing this matter, but since you've done these subjects; guess your experience may help. How should I manage my time since the workload will be heavy? Were you expected to hand in three assignments or do three tests within the same week (or day) for the Science subjects? Did you do IRP's and other pracs for all three Science subjects in one term or were they more split out (I know that it depends on schools, but I want to know just in case that happens to me).

Doing them for math is kinda essential because Yr11 math is used in Yr12. Although there is the apparent syllabus change - I'm not sure if it affects you guys or not!

Also, practice papers/past papers is considered homework/revision too!

The syllabus for Math won't change for us thankfully, but since you said past papers can be considered homework; I'm guessing you do those in the weekends more often than weekdays (since weekdays you're bombarded with school homework)?

 

[iStudent]

Do you recommend I start going over the 2U and 3U textbook when the holidays start or should I spend the first half of the holidays on 'mastering' the Year 10 content (basically have a solid foundation) and then start with the 2/3U content during the second half? Also apparently 3U classes don't even start till Term 2 or something, how does that work? Do we just do 2U content for the first term and then start doing 3U content? If that's the case, should I only focus on studying the 2U textbook and not worry much about the 3U content?

- Ya I would do that. Summer holidays are heaps long definitely make the most of it. I would master the Yr10 content if you haven't. Though, Yr10 and Yr11 math is a completely different ball game - but do note some of the topics are completely irrelevant so skip those (eg the stats side of things - I think it is Yr10?) but I guess if your Yr10 foundations are not solid, you can't really expect to move on to 2U...
- 3U content builds on 2U. I dont think you can really do 3U properly without having done 2U (at least for many of the topics). So I wouldn't be too surprised if they did it that way . Starting on 2U is a good idea - you'll need it for Yr12 4U math even!

Since you did the exact same subjects I will be doing, what was your experience on doing all three sciences + Eco + MX1? People say it's super intense and I had made a previous thread discussing this matter, but since you've done these subjects; guess your experience may help. How should I manage my time since the workload will be heavy? Were you expected to hand in three assignments or do three tests within the same week (or day) for the Science subjects? Did you do IRP's and other pracs for all three Science subjects in one term or were they more split out (I know that it depends on schools, but I want to know just in case that happens to me).

-Yr11 really was too long ago for me so I don't remember the specifics re IRP, pracs etc. There isn't thaaaat much content in Yr11. If you think the amount of content they throw at you in Yr11 is a lot, try Yr12 with 4U - and if you think that is a lot, try studying in uni! haha (oh it's much worse........) I think I was on top of everything . I would say there is definitely a step up from Yr10 where you basically bludge the whole year until 1 week before the exams, cram and still do excellent but it isn't unmanageable at least in my experience - just make sure you spend your time studying and you'll be right. Also, should note - pracs are actually the easier exams to study for - because you don't really cram anywhere as much as compared to a theory test.

The syllabus for Math won't change for us thankfully, but since you said past papers can be considered homework; I'm guessing you do those in the weekends more often than weekdays (since weekdays you're bombarded with school homework)?

-Actually, I don't think there is that many Yr11 math papers out there - not many good ones at least (as at 2013, which was when I did my prelims). If there were any you finish them in a couple of weeks tops lol.

 

[Neil_]

Not a 99.95 candidate but answers in bold

vouch for his methods, it has helped me immensely throughout the year.

 

[andrew12678]

1. Rank 20s English, Top 10 at best everything else
2. Private Study at Home: Probs 4pm-6pm, dinner, 7pm-11pm. So 6 hrs total. Did some study at school during my maths classes where I sat at the back and did questions.
3. Well I make silly mistakes too, you don't need to be perfect to get 99.95-to get something like 97/100 external for HSC Chemistry, I got a raw mark of 94/100 which meant I could have made 6 silly mistakes. To minimise silly mistakes perhaps the best way is to be exposured to all the tricks/traps of the harder questions aimed at unsettling/catching careless people. You can only attain this by doing as any many different questions as possible.
4. Nope, competitions are not a good indicator at all. I for one took them at most 60% seriously. 99.95 just requires you to be a 'jack of all trades' rather than someone who is one-dimensional/one good at one or two subjects. That being said, you can ofc be good at competitions and achieve 99.95.
5. I used coaching as primarily a supplement, either to accelerate so that I could get more time to practice on my own or to refine my exam technique close to an exam. I definitely didn't use it as my only source of learning (which is not ideal at all). I went to Niche tutors that specialised in their field: Delta, Ngo and Sons and Sigma Science (MaddFizzycist)
6. Didn't study for maths at home (I did that during my maths class at school), only focused on English (50%), Phys (25%) and Chem(25%) at home.
7. Any questions that I have never seen before to add to my compilations

 

[Drongoski]

I achieved ATAR of > 9.995 so I qualify to offer you advice.

On silly mistakes? You mean in maths? But you have to show examples of your so-called silly mistakes so some meaningful advice can be given.