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Should I repeat year 12? part 2 (1 Viewer)

SlickMastaChing

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Hi everyone, sorry for making 2 threads asking the same question, but i didn't really get the answer i was looking for in the previous thread. so ill start again and give you a more detailed explanation this time. thx in advance.

MY current subjects are: General Maths, Standard English, Physics, Business Studies and IPT (information process and technology)

I'm currently a year 12 student, I've almost finished trials, just got maths to go. i screwed up most of trials and i doubt ill get above 60% for any of my tests. i have maths tomorrow which is worth 40%, but tbh all year and all year 11 i've had a terrible mindset and i never really cared about anything (ill explain why in a second) and so out of the 11 topics being tested tomorrow, i know how to do 3 or 4, the other i know absolutely nothing about the others, ill probably pull an all nighter and try and cram in 7 topics.

The reason for me having a terrible mindset all of year 11 and year 12, is because in year 11 i was diagnosed with depression, my parents didn't really worry to much, and they said i'd be fine, so i never got any treatment for it, but it just ended up getting extremely worse, and when you have depression, or are depressed, you don't want to do anything, you don't wanna go out, you don't wanna walk around the house even, all you want to do is lie in bed all day, ill give you an example of depression has done to me, from year 6 - 10 i used to wake up at 6 everyday and walk to school or catch a bus, i did that for half of year 11 as well, in year 12 my dad has dropped me to school everyday except 3, and out of the whole year i've been to school on time for only 9 days, the other times i've been late by 10 - 20 mins, also another example, start of year 11 i had a 4 pack of abs, now i weigh 96kg. and due to this depression i've never studied or preped for anything, whenever i've had an assignment due or a test the next day all i've done is pull an all nighter to prepare.

ATM my marks are: Maths = 50/100, Eng = 50/100, Physics = 40/100, Business = 50/100, IPT = 70/100. these are the marks i get without trying at all, and as you can see they are not very good, trials are over, but if i do end up staying and not repeating year 12 i will do my best and work my ass off to get good marks in HSC, i will work on getting 80 - 70/100 for everything. but atm with the ways things are going id be lucky if i got an atar of 50.

Now if i could do my dream course course or the course i wanted to do at uni, it would be Combined medicine at USYD, with a major of Adv Physics and Adv Computer Science. that is what i would do in a perfect world, but as you can see my marks are nowhere near good enough to do that.

I'm here to ask you guys, should i repeat year 12? if i do i would try and move up to Eng Adv and get a tutor, i have a tutor for physics atm, tho it isn't helping, id have an advantage if i did to year 12 again, because id know the syllabus back to front and while others are learning new topics i could revise the important stuff, the only real issue id have is Eng. but tbh i don't really want to do year 12 again, i mean who would want to? i'm also afraid of the other kids making fun of me, i've never really ever had many friends in my life.

I don't know how transferring and bridging courses work, but lets just say i don't repeat year 12 and i leave school with an atar of 50 or 60, and i still wanted to do medicine at USYD, it dosen't have to be combined med, id be willing to sit the 2 adv science courses first then sit GAMSAT to get into postgraduate med. but is there anyway that i can do these uni courses with an atar of 50 - 60? if there is, can someone with knowledge of this works please try and leave me like a pathway i can take that will lead me to my desired courses at uni? i did sit UMAT this year, and i think i should pass that, that is the one test i worked hard for.

Thx again and i really appreciate all the help.
 
Last edited:

pikachu975

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Hi everyone, sorry for making 2 threads asking the same question, but i didn't really get the answer i was looking for in the previous thread. so ill start again and give you a more detailed explanation this time. thx in advance.

MY current subjects are: General Maths, Standard English, Physics, Business Studies and IPT (information process and technology)

I'm currently a year 12 student, I've almost finished trials, just got maths to go. i screwed up most of trials and i doubt ill get above 60% for any of my tests. i have maths tomorrow which is worth 40%, but tbh all year and all year 11 i've had a terrible mindset and i never really cared about anything (ill explain why in a second) and so out of the 11 topics being tested tomorrow, i know how to do 3 or 4, the other i know absolutely nothing about the others, ill probably pull an all nighter and try and cram in 7 topics.

The reason for me having a terrible mindset all of year 11 and year 12, is because in year 11 i was diagnosed with depression, my parents didn't really worry to much, and they said i'd be fine, so i never got any treatment for it, but it just ended up getting extremely worse, and when you have depression, or are depressed, you don't want to do anything, you don't wanna go out, you don't wanna walk around the house even, all you want to do is lie in bed all day, ill give you an example of depression has done to me, from year 6 - 10 i used to wake up at 6 everyday and walk to school or catch a bus, i did that for half of year 11 as well, in year 12 my dad has dropped me to school everyday except 3, and out of the whole year i've been to school on time for only 9 days, the other times i've been late by 10 - 20 mins, also another example, start of year 11 i had a 4 pack of abs, now i weigh 96kg. and due to this depression i've never studied or preped for anything, whenever i've had an assignment due or a test the next day all i've done is pull an all nighter to prepare.

ATM my marks are: Maths = 50/100, Eng = 50/100, Physics = 40/100, Business = 50/100, IPT = 70/100. these are the marks i get without trying at all, and as you can see they are not very good, trials are over, but if i do end up staying and not repeating year 12 i will do my best and work my ass off to get good marks in HSC, i will work on getting 80 - 70/100 for everything. but atm with the ways things are going id be lucky if i got an atar of 50.

Now if i could do my dream course course or the course i wanted to do at uni, it would be Combined medicine at USYD, with a major of Adv Physics and Adv Computer Science. that is what i would do in a perfect world, but as you can see my marks are nowhere near good enough to do that.

I'm here to ask you guys, should i repeat year 12? if i do i would try and move up to Eng Adv and get a tutor, i have a tutor for physics atm, tho it isn't helping, id have an advantage if i did to year 12 again, because id know the syllabus back to front and while others are learning new topics i could revise the important stuff, the only real issue id have is Eng. but tbh i don't really want to do year 12 again, i mean who would want to? i'm also afraid of the other kids making fun of me, i've never really ever had many friends in my life.

I don't know how transferring and bridging courses work, but lets just say i don't repeat year 12 and i leave school with an atar of 50 or 60, and i still wanted to do medicine at USYD, it dosen't have to be combined med, id be willing to sit the 2 adv science courses first then sit GAMSAT to get into postgraduate med. but is there anyway that i can do these uni courses with an atar of 50 - 60? if there is, can someone with knowledge of this works please try and leave me like a pathway i can take that will lead me to my desired courses at uni? i did sit UMAT this year, and i think i should pass that, that is the one test i worked hard for.

Thx again and i really appreciate all the help.
To get into postgraduate med you'd need a really high GPA probably in the courses you're transferring from and also do good in GAMSAT which is harde than UMAT because people would have more time to study for it and it's got more content + it's 6 hours. Also with UMAT it's useless without a good ATAR or around 94+ so probably try for GAMSAT instead.

Wouldn't recommend repeating because even if you get marks in the 70s-80s you'd need higher still for 94 atar which is one of the lowest requirements (WSU I think)
 

SlickMastaChing

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To get into postgraduate med you'd need a really high GPA probably in the courses you're transferring from and also do good in GAMSAT which is harde than UMAT because people would have more time to study for it and it's got more content + it's 6 hours. Also with UMAT it's useless without a good ATAR or around 94+ so probably try for GAMSAT instead.

Wouldn't recommend repeating because even if you get marks in the 70s-80s you'd need higher still for 94 atar which is one of the lowest requirements (WSU I think)
yeah i realised GAMSAT would be even harder than UMAT, apparantally i need to know math, phys, chem and bio for it aswell? also do you know of any subjects i can get into with a 50 atar and are easy to do? im generally good at IT related subjects, my fathers an accountant so if i do a commerce subject i can ask him
 

i1337

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Don't repeat HSC. Sort yourself out, figure out WHY you did bad, and make sure it won't impact you when you get into uni.

Do you have depression? Go to a Dr, ask for a psychiatrist referral and then be put on antidepressants. Generally antidepressants are extremely, life-changingly effective for people who aren't really in a bad situation (i.e. yours) but have no motivation to do anything, socialise, go-out, partake in hygiene-related activities, are suicidal....etc etc

Anyway, I know a guy a few years back who get into USyd computer science with like a 40 something atar. They generally let anyone in if there is spots. Worst-case scenario UWS then transfer (or not - if you do CS no one really gives a shit about the uni you went to if you want to work in programming)

Now, HSC makes up 50% of your ATAR. Work on that. Studying with a friend is really effective.

I got an 87 in Standard English (top 1%ish of the state externally) and had 0 prepared creatives or essays. Not trying to make this about me or something, but if you need some pointers for standard english here's a tip: use your prescribed electives for mod A as your electives for Mod C, and vice versa. That's what I did because I cbf and wrote extremely well about them and did fantastic ( I know schools tell you not to do that for trials, but BOS specifically outlines that it is OK to do so). This will save you a lot of time

For general maths just past papers that, it is not hard - search up individual topics on youtube

Physics is quite challenging to catch up on, your best card to play right now is to look at last years past paper and rule out the subjects that won't be in it so you can sort of get away with having minimal knowledge on those subjects (thats what I did for physics when I did my HSC a few years back)

IPT is mostly rote from what I gather - so basically memorise and just regurgitate in the exam.

I was expecting like a 40 - 50 atar but ended up with mid 80s as I did well in externals. Spent most of my HSC time programming and playing video games, which more or less paid off as I'm in uni now and breezing through all my programming courses having gone to no lectures, read no slides, did no problem sets, bla bla bla

Here is the thing though, you are currently in an environment where success is solely determined by ATAR. It is hard to adopt a broader perspective and that's ok, but try and think of the big picture -- much easy said than done. You'll look back in a few years and laugh. I know people changing degrees in their last year of their degree or even after they've completed their degrees becuase they didn't like it (all but one of my friends did actually) so it's very common to swap and try what you like.

If you adopt the mindset that "I will repeat year 12 next year" your performance will drop this year because you will be less motivated to catch up
 
Last edited:

SlickMastaChing

New Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2017
Messages
6
Gender
Male
HSC
2018
Don't repeat HSC. Sort yourself out, figure out WHY you did bad, and make sure it won't impact you when you get into uni.

Do you have depression? Go to a Dr, ask for a psychiatrist referral and then be put on antidepressants. Generally antidepressants are extremely, life-changingly effective for people who aren't really in a bad situation (i.e. yours) but have no motivation to do anything, socialise, go-out, partake in hygiene-related activities, are suicidal....etc etc

Anyway, I know a guy a few years back who get into USyd computer science with like a 40 something atar. They generally let anyone in if there is spots. Worst-case scenario UWS then transfer (or not - if you do CS no one really gives a shit about the uni you went to if you want to work in programming)

Now, HSC makes up 50% of your ATAR. Work on that. Studying with a friend is really effective.

I got an 87 in Standard English (top 1%ish of the state externally) and had 0 prepared creatives or essays. Not trying to make this about me or something, but if you need some pointers for standard english here's a tip: use your prescribed electives for mod A as your electives for Mod C, and vice versa. That's what I did because I cbf and wrote extremely well about them and did fantastic ( I know schools tell you not to do that for trials, but BOS specifically outlines that it is OK to do so). This will save you a lot of time

For general maths just past papers that, it is not hard - search up individual topics on youtube

Physics is quite challenging to catch up on, your best card to play right now is to look at last years past paper and rule out the subjects that won't be in it so you can sort of get away with having minimal knowledge on those subjects (thats what I did for physics when I did my HSC a few years back)

IPT is mostly rote from what I gather - so basically memorise and just regurgitate in the exam.

I was expecting like a 40 - 50 atar but ended up with mid 80s as I did well in externals. Spent most of my HSC time programming and playing video games, which more or less paid off as I'm in uni now and breezing through all my programming courses having gone to no lectures, read no slides, did no problem sets, bla bla bla

Here is the thing though, you are currently in an environment where success is solely determined by ATAR. It is hard to adopt a broader perspective and that's ok, but try and think of the big picture -- much easy said than done. You'll look back in a few years and laugh. I know people changing degrees in their last year of their degree or even after they've completed their degrees becuase they didn't like it (all but one of my friends did actually) so it's very common to swap and try what you like.

If you adopt the mindset that "I will repeat year 12 next year" your performance will drop this year because you will be less motivated to catch up
thank you so much this really helped me out a lot, more than you'll ever know. I will do my best to follow your tips. thx again m8. really appreciate it.
 

iStudent

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If you really think you can turn your life around in the space of 1 year and achieve a very high atar (I mean 99+) then you may consider repeating to increase your shots at medicine (tbh don't tunnel into just USYD's combined medicine - this is like the most competitive degree requiring 99.95, set more realistic goals first).

Otherwise, don't repeat - focus on doing well in the HSC to get into uni. Then focus on doing well in uni to TRANSFER into the course you want at the uni you want and hopefully your subjects are recognised - so essentially what happens is that you get into uni earlier, with the possibility of FINISHING uni earlier - which also means you sit the GAMSAT ONE YEAR EARLIER (and start studying medicine - in the off chance you really do get in - earlier).

I say this because while we can set super high goals etc - we need to be realistic. And realistically, it is very hard to turn (as you say) 50-60 ATAR into the 99+ required to study medicine in the space of 1 year - chances are, you'll just waste that year getting into that 96 atar course (an atar which you might not even get) when you can just start a uni degree, turn your life around in 1st year with a decent GPA to transfer into that course anyway.
 

Mathew587

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Now if i could do my dream course course or the course i wanted to do at uni, it would be Combined medicine at USYD, with a major of Adv Physics and Adv Computer Science. that is what i would do in a perfect world, but as you can see my marks are nowhere near good enough to do that.
No offense but a combined med degree at usyd with adv phys and adv cs sounds like the dumbest idea.
Firstly, I'm quite sure that the math you're doing now won't be enough.
Secondly, people have a hard time doing sci/med by itself. Chucking on two adv majors sounds terrible.
That being said do what you want. You're not going to get a 99.95 as of now. But you could try get into science at uws or unsw, do well in the umat as well as a high GPA and try transfer???

Probs shouldn't repeat tbh. The likelyhood of going from whatever atar you'll get now to an atar good enough for med is minimal.
 

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