To all those thinking of changing schools next year! (1 Viewer)

[drynxz]

It was just 2 years ago, when I was in year 10 making a decision to change to a selective school in year 11 and 12. I made a post 2 years ago which you can see here:

It is two years later and I am making this thread to benefit all those who have the decision to change schools, but cannot make up their minds. Hopefully my thread will help you get an insight into moving.

I moved from Patrician Brothers College fairfield (rank 126) to Hurlstone Agricultural High school (rank 29)

Pros:
-Meeting new people and making new friends
-Competivite environment, student are dedicated to their study.
-Adapting to change (prepares you for uni, althought i dont know that yet)

Cons:
-Further traveling (30 minutes to get to school, compared to 5 mins previously)
-Waking up earlier (strain on parents who have to drive me to station)
-New environment, which takes time to adapt
-Standards on yourself rise = more stress (uai aim went from 95 to 99)


I got quite mediocre in my SC, 1 band 4, 3 band 5s and 1 band 6. But i guess I put in the hard yards and ended up with a UAI im happy with. At times moving to a new school also causes emotional stress because of the feeling of the lack of support, but it was worth it in the end.

In conclusion: Change schools if you are willing to put in the hard yards. Moving to selectiv school only benefits you 2 ways. 1) more competitve environment and 2)Better in school scaling (moderation). If you decide to change schools and be lazy while others do the work, its better to stay where you are. In the end i would say it was worth it and i made the right choice

 

[AZIDA]

Yea. I'm moving from Carlingford High to North Sydney Boys next year.
Hope that decision won't do me bad.

I came to Australia at the beginning of this year and changing schools has almost become a hobby for me.

Anyway yea I'm changing schools.

 

[Aplus]

Yea. I'm moving from Carlingford High to North Sydney Boys next year.
Hope that decision won't do me bad.

I came to Australia at the beginning of this year and changing schools has almost become a hobby for me.

Anyway yea I'm changing schools.

Nice .

 

[AZIDA]

yea probbli. lol

 

[cd285]

Is it really hard to adjust to a new school in yr 11 as socially wise? Considering mine is a selective school. Moving from all girls catholic school to a coed selective school..really freakin out

 

[Aerath]

I'm guessing it would be difficult. Perhaps you should ask AZIDA, he seems to have it all worked out. I swapped schools three times in primary, once in Year 1, Year 2 and at the end of Year 4 for OC. I didn't find it that hard to adjust, but then again, primary and secondary schooling is so much different.

Although, I'm impressed that you (AZIDA) are moving to a high quality school such as NSBHS, considering you only came to Australia last year.

 

[haphazard.]

Is it really hard to adjust to a new school in yr 11 as socially wise? Considering mine is a selective school. Moving from all girls catholic school to a coed selective school..really freakin out

I'm moving from an all girls catholic school to a selective as well. I have no idea what it's like in an all girls selective school though. Hopefully it's not as bitchy.

 

[AZIDA]

I'm guessing it would be difficult. Perhaps you should ask AZIDA, he seems to have it all worked out. I swapped schools three times in primary, once in Year 1, Year 2 and at the end of Year 4 for OC. I didn't find it that hard to adjust, but then again, primary and secondary schooling is so much different.

Although, I'm impressed that you (AZIDA) are moving to a high quality school such as NSBHS, considering you only came to Australia last year.

ummm. yea. but i'm not that impressed.lol. U seem 2 hav done a lotta swappin urself.
I dunno. Its not th@ hard. It might b a bit weird durin the 1st week or so. But i guess it all works out.
My advice - Just think about yourself. Bout wat ur gonna achieve. n jus enjoy meetin new ppl. Itz not that often that u get to kno new ppl, n skoool is da bst place 4 dat. btw dnt try 2 b extra friendly. Jus b urself n in a couple o weeks it all works out.
Remmbr its all bout u. I dnt kno if dat makes sense. But yea.

 

[hansarang]

I honestly...Can't decide. I already go to Baulkham Hills High... And this is my last opportunity to switch to Ruse. There are so many advantages I guess, if I ended up going to Ruse. But I'm worried that my maths marks are not high enough, that the fact everyone is going to know each other already, coupled with the fact they've all been going to that school for a while and know all the little things about each teacher, is going to affect my performance.

I'm starting to think about it, and if I do end up wanting to transfer, that means I'm going to have to work harder as well.

 

[smushieex]

^Maybe you should just stay at Baulko? It'll probably add more stress to you if you change to Ruse.

 

[hansarang]

^ I could... But I don't know which is better for me. Ruse will push me to limits and it might be good to get to know new people. But I'm used to Baulko too in a way, I'm not sure I'd be able to leave it.

 

[bobos2]

I want to change schools...Can u still do accel. maths if you change schools? Ppl have told me u cant, and thats the main thing stopping me..n the distance...

*sigh* =(

 

[agirlinatutu]

^ You would be best to talk to the school about their policies. But i suggest you get in soon

 

[nerdsforever]

I go to Sefton High and I want to change to Sydney Girls or Fort Street next year.... hey, do you need to do a test to get into Fort Street?

I really want to change. SEfton only allows you to pick 10 units. Thats not enough for me

Anyway, if you are thinking of changing schools, I advise you to do so. I changed to Sefton from Macquarie Fields. Changing schools pushes you greater as you receive more challenges. You are also surrounded by smart people and that creates the fear around you if you dont do well. Just remember that changing schools will be able to change your academic success greatly. The easiest selective school to get into is probably sefton. seriously. No test. Just report.

good luck everyone

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SChool Certificate aim: all band 6's (worried if I will get that for English)

HSC subjects (considering): Advanced English, 3 unit Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Business Studies, Ancient History.

 

[Continuum]

I honestly...Can't decide. I already go to Baulkham Hills High... And this is my last opportunity to switch to Ruse. There are so many advantages I guess, if I ended up going to Ruse. But I'm worried that my maths marks are not high enough, that the fact everyone is going to know each other already, coupled with the fact they've all been going to that school for a while and know all the little things about each teacher, is going to affect my performance.

I'm starting to think about it, and if I do end up wanting to transfer, that means I'm going to have to work harder as well.

Baulko is already a good school though, it's easily on par with all the other top selective schools. What kind of advantages do you think you'll get though? If you think you'll be taught better because there are better teachers or something, then you shouldn't change - the teachers will most likely be the same in that you'll get some good and some not so good.

I reckon you should look at your own personality as well. If you're the very social type, you'll probably fit in fairly easily. If you're the quiet and reserved type, you'll probably have a harder time fitting in. Either way, if you choose to go or not, make sure you don't regret your decision - that'll just screw you up. It certainly pushed me around a little bit (I changed schools this year).

I go to Sefton High and I want to change to Sydney Girls or Fort Street next year.... hey, do you need to do a test to get into Fort Street?

Yeah, you do have to do a test to get into Fort Street.

 

[nerdsforever]

I want to change schools...Can u still do accel. maths if you change schools? Ppl have told me u cant, and thats the main thing stopping me..n the distance...

*sigh* =(

Apparantely, you can't do accelerated maths if you change schools because the new schools dont know your ability yet compared to the other students. Even in year 11, they may not let you choose 3 unit math because they dont know whether you will raank high enough in THEIR OWN school to allow you to do it. English is alright because some of the higher selective schools make it compulsory to do ADvanced or Extension english so thats okay.

I reccommend you change. Even if you cant do accel. maths, the school will assure you of higher uai and you can always decline if you get in but find that you cant do accel math or 3 unit or 4 unit, whatever you desire.

 

[autumn-angel]

My school doesnt offer accelerated maths for HSC. But I wonder what do only year 11 & 12 schools do. So for people wishing to enter after year 10, they can't compare one's ability to another as they are all from different schools...

 

[Aerath]

They have a test straight away to determine who's 'strong' and who's 'weak' at a particular subject. But sometimes it can fuck up for some of the strong people who are just having a bad day and screw up the test. And vice versa too.

 

[lyounamu]

To those that are thinking of changing schools:

1. Do you agree or disagree that a person in a not so good ranking school can still achieve a UAI of 100?

2. To what extend to you think changing school can impact on your results for the HSC?

I absolutely agree with the first post and for the second post, it depends on individuals.

Having said that, I would like to express my view from my own experience. I was placed in a school that had relatively high percentage of Asian people (immigrants, I should say) once I came to Australia. I was unable to learn English properly at that school because I was not exposed to English-speaking Australians. However, once I changed school to where I am at right now, (SPX) I could absorb English more easily. I think it is not necessarily school that impact on your results. I think it is the environment that you are in once you change school. If I stayed at that pathetic school, I would be doing ESL by now. I am just glad and feel lucky to be at my school where I basically learnt from scratch.

 

[Continuum]

To those that are thinking of changing schools:

1. Do you agree or disagree that a person in a not so good ranking school can still achieve a UAI of 100?

2. To what extend to you think changing school can impact on your results for the HSC?

For part 1, yes - depending on several factors. A 'not so good ranking school' is somewhat of an indicator in regards to the type of environment the students are exposed to - a school ranked in the 200s would focus less on academia than say, a school ranked 20 and above. Concerning schools that are ranked abit lower, although the general environment is not really academia-orientated, I find that the top students generally band together and thus rather than relying on the entire cohort to motivate them, there's motivation within that single group. While they help each other out and subsequently learn from each other, this motivation helps push them very far. There are definately some people in public non-selective schools (though only a relatively small number) that would easily excel in selective schools. Hence, if you're at a school which is ranked lower but has a group of people that places a large emphasis on their studies and consistently gets high marks, then sure as hell you can get a UAI of 100 - provided you're part of that group. That's just my opinion and outlook of it anyhow, based on my own experiences (I've been a student of a school ranked in the 90s, as well as a school consistently ranked in the top 10) - some would disagree, while others would agree. I guess in essence, I repeated a fair bit of what lyounamu said in his previous post.

As for part 2, it kind of links back to my reply for part 1. Changing schools will have an immense impact on someone - I'm talking generally. They'll have to get used to a whole new environment and it probably takes atleast a year to get used to it all. Focusing on what effect it'll have on your HSC results however, again it'll depend. In the same way that the situation of each person is different, so will the 'solution' - nothing is static because of all the dynamic factors, everything from something as intangiable as personality (whether you're reserved or easily socialise) to the more concrete aspects like the rank of the school. If you're someone that fits into new environments easily and there is a fairly significant difference in the academic environment, you probably should go for it. If however, you're someone that's more conservative and who takes a while to get used to your bearings, you'll probably want to consider things more carefully.

Anyhow, that's just my 2 cents.