Year 8-11 Selective Result Discussion (1 Viewer)

[?!?!]

Just did the HAST test

could you share the links and all of practice test and stuff u used to study im taking it this year for entry into year 11 hopefully?

 

[?!?!]

Fort for Year 11. Test was easier than last year, but i'd recommend anyone who does it to study for at least 2 month. I may be able to provide some HAST materials for future students. IMO reading was hardest and abstract was easiest. Math was very time consuming and the writing topic was good, but after some reflection, I would strongly advise people doing the test in the future to develop a poem based on famous sayings. The year 11 writing topic in 2023 was "We are never satisfied with what we have".

Could you provide the hast material u used to study please?

 

[?!?!]

The official edutest tests were extremely useless. Cause they are really easy in comparison to what is given in the test. Its also extremely misleading. You can lose like 2 marks in the edutests practice tests, and this is not a good indicator by any means to what will happen in the real test. This is generally a very honest opinion as someone who sat the tests last year and made all the top 3 schools: baulko, nsb, ruse (which all do edutest). SAVE YOUR MONEY.

So what I would recommend for anyone sitting edutest:
The test is heavily a game of speed and not knowledge and skill. The "skill" is being able to identify the pattern, formula, or whatever related to the question and quickly answering it. Nothing should make you sit there and just ponder for 1 min, the questions aren't designed for that. If you find yourself pondering, just skip and come back.

An important thing I learnt, although it sounds inherently trivial, is that EVERY QUESTION IS WORTH THE SAME. No matter how hard they are they are worth the EXACT same. One Mark. So if you skip a question sure you may drop that "one mark" but in return you gain 5 marks of easier questions later on because you skipped it and sacrificed that mark. I hope that's clear enough. So don't feel bad or worried cause you skipped a question.

If you want a general marker of what to expect. The numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning last year was pretty cooked. in the sense that speed was not in your favour. but I vividly recall being totally unsure about the last 10 questions because of time. I was like many others and didn't realise how important speed was. the questions weren't inherently "hard" I just pondered too long on different questions and didn't understand that "one mark" concept. And then albeit those 10, we can safely assume I may have dropped AT LEAST 5 in the rest of the paper just from general mistakes.

while this was a year ago, that's legit a 45/60 (maybe on the lower end and a bit lenient), that still got me a superior (highest band). The tests are pretty cooked regardless of how good you may be. I think if I approached it different I would've scored much better, but that's in the past and it's calm. BUT DONT BE LIKE ME

Anyways, yuh the notesedu has some pretty good resources, victorian selective school tests, there is a TSS vocabulary sheet for anyone looking to improve vocab and that stuff. Generally just search in google "Selective school Victoria Questions" or "Edutest Practice". Legit do HAST practice or ACER test practice it doesn't matter. The questions may vary but the concepts are the same.

And then for those worrying about the test. don't.

It's really not that big of a decision factor. The test is more of a "barrier of entry". It just "separates" the applicants to make applications easier to review. I mean a school reviewing 500 applications is tedious. But the test can basically categorise the top "some number" and then "prioritise" those applications. This number is still pretty big. BUT DON'T BE DECEIVED. You still have to perform well. But don't think there are "10 spots", I must come top 10 or something. No, it's legit just a precursor to your application. It allows the school to dwindle down the number of applications they have to look at. So just perform relatively good and let your application speak for itself.

Obviously on the other end of the spectrum, you can look to perform EXCEPTIONAL in the test and stand as an outlier to the school. but if you can do that, props to you, I have nothing to say. have fun at ruse cuh.

aight that's enough yapping. good luck guys

do u have any specific resources you used to study?

 

[?!?!]

ok i still have it (This is my main acc), send me ur gmail email so i can add u to the folder on google drive

could you please add my email to the google drive as well? Thank you

 

[Someoneinsyd]

The official edutest tests were extremely useless. Cause they are really easy in comparison to what is given in the test. Its also extremely misleading. You can lose like 2 marks in the edutests practice tests, and this is not a good indicator by any means to what will happen in the real test. This is generally a very honest opinion as someone who sat the tests last year and made all the top 3 schools: baulko, nsb, ruse (which all do edutest). SAVE YOUR MONEY.

So what I would recommend for anyone sitting edutest:
The test is heavily a game of speed and not knowledge and skill. The "skill" is being able to identify the pattern, formula, or whatever related to the question and quickly answering it. Nothing should make you sit there and just ponder for 1 min, the questions aren't designed for that. If you find yourself pondering, just skip and come back.

An important thing I learnt, although it sounds inherently trivial, is that EVERY QUESTION IS WORTH THE SAME. No matter how hard they are they are worth the EXACT same. One Mark. So if you skip a question sure you may drop that "one mark" but in return you gain 5 marks of easier questions later on because you skipped it and sacrificed that mark. I hope that's clear enough. So don't feel bad or worried cause you skipped a question.

If you want a general marker of what to expect. The numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning last year was pretty cooked. in the sense that speed was not in your favour. but I vividly recall being totally unsure about the last 10 questions because of time. I was like many others and didn't realise how important speed was. the questions weren't inherently "hard" I just pondered too long on different questions and didn't understand that "one mark" concept. And then albeit those 10, we can safely assume I may have dropped AT LEAST 5 in the rest of the paper just from general mistakes.

while this was a year ago, that's legit a 45/60 (maybe on the lower end and a bit lenient), that still got me a superior (highest band). The tests are pretty cooked regardless of how good you may be. I think if I approached it different I would've scored much better, but that's in the past and it's calm. BUT DONT BE LIKE ME

Anyways, yuh the notesedu has some pretty good resources, victorian selective school tests, there is a TSS vocabulary sheet for anyone looking to improve vocab and that stuff. Generally just search in google "Selective school Victoria Questions" or "Edutest Practice". Legit do HAST practice or ACER test practice it doesn't matter. The questions may vary but the concepts are the same.

And then for those worrying about the test. don't.

It's really not that big of a decision factor. The test is more of a "barrier of entry". It just "separates" the applicants to make applications easier to review. I mean a school reviewing 500 applications is tedious. But the test can basically categorise the top "some number" and then "prioritise" those applications. This number is still pretty big. BUT DON'T BE DECEIVED. You still have to perform well. But don't think there are "10 spots", I must come top 10 or something. No, it's legit just a precursor to your application. It allows the school to dwindle down the number of applications they have to look at. So just perform relatively good and let your application speak for itself.

Obviously on the other end of the spectrum, you can look to perform EXCEPTIONAL in the test and stand as an outlier to the school. but if you can do that, props to you, I have nothing to say. have fun at ruse cuh.

aight that's enough yapping. good luck guys

do you have any resources u can share?? that would help a lot also how much practice did u do? how many hours per day? how many months prior to the test did u practice also how important are extra circulars............
APOLOGIES FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS AHAHAH

 

[Sethio]

do you have any resources u can share?? that would help a lot
APOLOGIES FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS AHAHAH

I didn't save any resources to be frank with you. I kinda winged it, I can't lie and I wouldn't recommend that.

I mean if you break down the topics:
Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Maths, Reading, Writing

It shouldn't be too hard to delve into each topic and find practice questions online.

I don't want to make this a full tutoring lesson but for writing, I generally "would" practice by finding random stimuli online for creatives and just banging out a few creatives with different era's and topics. Writing is generally something that you can maximise marks if you just do a bit of practice. I generally write for these scenarios with a "pre-determined" character whether it be: pre-determining the (backstory, conflict, skills, ambitions, attitudes). Basically, I just chuck my character into the scenario they give and mold my creative around it. For persuasives, I think it's quite self-explanatory, but choose a side and just write. lmao. But realistically it's just about pulling out strong arguments that aren't baby-like and substantiating your points with evidence or whatever. I generally think having a counter-argument that you can bring down adds gravitas to your persuasive but also it's not that deep and that's just excessive. Discursive I doubt you will have to write. Just don't be cliche.

With Maths, just know your respective syllabus for THAT year. No need to learn accelerant topics or whatever, they will legit test the BASE level of what you may know for that year in maths. Maths is respectfully the only subject that tests reasonable things. Which was quite relieving because there is an actual disparity in the marks and it's maybe the ONLY one that requires some knowledge. Albeit, the knowledge isn't very complicated it still tests some depth of what you have learnt. So if you're going into Year 10. Expect topics from Year 9, 8 and 7. You will be sitting the test in Term 3 anyways so they aren't going to go overboard.

For reading. Just read. I can't really advise you with much. Reading you want to maximise speed but also maximise accuracy without mis-reading and making silly inferences that aren't even given. Just read the questions before you skim a text. Find the answers by skimming through each text. Try not to read the whole text word for word unless you genuinely are stumped on a question.

Verbal and Numerical reasoning. Speed is key. This is something I would get questions online for. Go to some websites and do verbal and numerical reasoning practice. Maximise your vocab for some free marks in the verbal section and just be able to think outside the box, identify patterns and quickly answer questions. These two are the first 2 tests you sit which is not great because you are usually the slowest in the beginning, so get acclimatised quick and then start grinding out the tests.

how much practice did u do? how many hours per day? how many months prior to the test did u practice

With your questions. my study didn't consist of hours lmao. I wouldn't even say study. I did max like 30 mins in random bursts whenever I felt like it. But that's because I felt confident in MY abilities at the time. And regarding months prior. I think I started a solid 2 weeks or 1 week prior. So don't be like me. But too much practice will never hurt you. Just make sure you don't prioritise it over EVERYTHING else in your life. The test is not that deep so live your life and live with no regrets. If you feel unsure do the extra practise, but it's going to be different for everyone.

also how important are extra circulars............

Extracurriculars matter a lot. I know so many people who got accepted cause they had good extracurriculars. I mean transfers aren't typically the TOP of the year group they go in every year lmao. which might surprise some people. they are usually like mid to bottom. not necessarily, because they struggle but because they aren't the best in transfers in the first place. there are obviously determined transfers who move to aim to be at the top (which I implore you to be like one of them), but these transfers usually just get in cause of their extracurriculars. I mean in reality everyone to the school seems academically competent (which they aren't always), but most of these schools are very self-centred in the way that they think transfers will not be better than their students. I remember sitting down for my interview. And all the principal said was "how are you going to cope with these smart kids", "will you be able to cope with the environment". but i legit knew everyone in that grade and it was safe to say that some of them were a bit special.

so where I am going with this is. The way TO stand out from the rest is by good extracurriculars. I know a bunch of state athletes, national dancers or whatever that transfer. They aren't necessarily the smartest out of the transfers but they just have this wow factor which the school can utilise for their own benefit. This helps their application a whole lot.

aight i'm done. my bad for the rushed response. kinda just typed this out brainlessly with whatever came to mind. hopefully it helped.

 

[hi_998]

I didn't save any resources to be frank with you. I kinda winged it, I can't lie and I wouldn't recommend that.

I mean if you break down the topics:
Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Maths, Reading, Writing

It shouldn't be too hard to delve into each topic and find practice questions online.

I don't want to make this a full tutoring lesson but for writing, I generally "would" practice by finding random stimuli online for creatives and just banging out a few creatives with different era's and topics. Writing is generally something that you can maximise marks if you just do a bit of practice. I generally write for these scenarios with a "pre-determined" character whether it be: pre-determining the (backstory, conflict, skills, ambitions, attitudes). Basically, I just chuck my character into the scenario they give and mold my creative around it. For persuasives, I think it's quite self-explanatory, but choose a side and just write. lmao. But realistically it's just about pulling out strong arguments that aren't baby-like and substantiating your points with evidence or whatever. I generally think having a counter-argument that you can bring down adds gravitas to your persuasive but also it's not that deep and that's just excessive. Discursive I doubt you will have to write. Just don't be cliche.

With Maths, just know your respective syllabus for THAT year. No need to learn accelerant topics or whatever, they will legit test the BASE level of what you may know for that year in maths. Maths is respectfully the only subject that tests reasonable things. Which was quite relieving because there is an actual disparity in the marks and it's maybe the ONLY one that requires some knowledge. Albeit, the knowledge isn't very complicated it still tests some depth of what you have learnt. So if you're going into Year 10. Expect topics from Year 9, 8 and 7. You will be sitting the test in Term 3 anyways so they aren't going to go overboard.

For reading. Just read. I can't really advise you with much. Reading you want to maximise speed but also maximise accuracy without mis-reading and making silly inferences that aren't even given. Just read the questions before you skim a text. Find the answers by skimming through each text. Try not to read the whole text word for word unless you genuinely are stumped on a question.

Verbal and Numerical reasoning. Speed is key. This is something I would get questions online for. Go to some websites and do verbal and numerical reasoning practice. Maximise your vocab for some free marks in the verbal section and just be able to think outside the box, identify patterns and quickly answer questions. These two are the first 2 tests you sit which is not great because you are usually the slowest in the beginning, so get acclimatised quick and then start grinding out the tests.



With your questions. my study didn't consist of hours lmao. I wouldn't even say study. I did max like 30 mins in random bursts whenever I felt like it. But that's because I felt confident in MY abilities at the time. And regarding months prior. I think I started a solid 2 weeks or 1 week prior. So don't be like me. But too much practice will never hurt you. Just make sure you don't prioritise it over EVERYTHING else in your life. The test is not that deep so live your life and live with no regrets. If you feel unsure do the extra practise, but it's going to be different for everyone.



Extracurriculars matter a lot. I know so many people who got accepted cause they had good extracurriculars. I mean transfers aren't typically the TOP of the year group they go in every year lmao. which might surprise some people. they are usually like mid to bottom. not necessarily, because they struggle but because they aren't the best in transfers in the first place. there are obviously determined transfers who move to aim to be at the top (which I implore you to be like one of them), but these transfers usually just get in cause of their extracurriculars. I mean in reality everyone to the school seems academically competent (which they aren't always), but most of these schools are very self-centred in the way that they think transfers will not be better than their students. I remember sitting down for my interview. And all the principal said was "how are you going to cope with these smart kids", "will you be able to cope with the environment". but i legit knew everyone in that grade and it was safe to say that some of them were a bit special.

so where I am going with this is. The way TO stand out from the rest is by good extracurriculars. I know a bunch of state athletes, national dancers or whatever that transfer. They aren't necessarily the smartest out of the transfers but they just have this wow factor which the school can utilise for their own benefit. This helps their application a whole lot.

aight i'm done. my bad for the rushed response. kinda just typed this out brainlessly with whatever came to mind. hopefully it helped.

do u think a low report can affect my chances badly? like i have a chance of getting a good report this year, and am aiming to score well in the edutest, but my 2023 yrly reports r really second guessing me

 

[hi_998]

omg wait same!!! i wanan try for sghs but idk if that too much of chnage given that yr 11 is an important year

hey! how r u studying for it?

 

[Sethio]

do u think a low report can affect my chances badly? like i have a chance of getting a good report this year, and am aiming to score well in the edutest, but my 2023 yrly reports r really second guessing me

Your report will matter so like just make sure its relatively good. Its really one of your only forms of "academic proof" if you think about it. for the school in that sense. your test sorta helps, but the test is so volatile anyone can score anything, they will merge it with your reports to get an overall look at your academics.

Reports also matter based on the school you are transferring from. For example, if I attended ruse looking to transfer to nsb and my scores were low to mid at ruse. Its most likely taken very leniently because ruse is intrinsically a harder school to attend. This usually applies in reverse. If your looking to transfer out of any school in general. You'd look to aim for higher results or realistically mid to high results at that school to prove you are viable. Because they need to make sure you can keep up with the level.

But with regards to your reports. I know its very annoying that you have to submit 3 reports. I wish I could've just submitted my best report as well. but oh well. everyone has the same issues. I think what helps for you and what also helped for me (even though my reports weren't bad) is that -> my 2023 half-yearly report was better than my 2022 half and yearly reports.

So in your case. If you make a huge jump in your 2024 half yearly compared to your 2023 yearly. The school is not going to undervalue your results from your 2024 report. Don't worry. In fact it might make your 2023 report negligible. You just need to make sure that the jump is from 2023 to 2024 and not the other way. Or else they may view it as you are "dropping off" in academics or "losing interest".

But all together both reports ideally take equal weighting in their final decision. But in your case I wouldn't worry.

btw anyone else reading this. don't worry if your reports are the other way. its just a general marker that makes sense for reports. but just make sure if there was a drop it wasn't SIGNIFICANT. like I'm taking all A's and B's (one year) to no A's and B's and C's (the next year). that would be considered quite a big drop down from the capabilities that you showed.

 

[hi_998]

Your report will matter so like just make sure its relatively good. Its really one of your only forms of "academic proof" if you think about it. for the school in that sense. your test sorta helps, but the test is so volatile anyone can score anything, they will merge it with your reports to get an overall look at your academics.

Reports also matter based on the school you are transferring from. For example, if I attended ruse looking to transfer to nsb and my scores were low to mid at ruse. Its most likely taken very leniently because ruse is intrinsically a harder school to attend. This usually applies in reverse. If your looking to transfer out of any school in general. You'd look to aim for higher results or realistically mid to high results at that school to prove you are viable. Because they need to make sure you can keep up with the level.

But with regards to your reports. I know its very annoying that you have to submit 3 reports. I wish I could've just submitted my best report as well. but oh well. everyone has the same issues. I think what helps for you and what also helped for me (even though my reports weren't bad) is that -> my 2023 half-yearly report was better than my 2022 half and yearly reports.

So in your case. If you make a huge jump in your 2024 half yearly compared to your 2023 yearly. The school is not going to undervalue your results from your 2024 report. Don't worry. In fact it might make your 2023 report negligible. You just need to make sure that the jump is from 2023 to 2024 and not the other way. Or else they may view it as you are "dropping off" in academics or "losing interest".

But all together both reports ideally take equal weighting in their final decision. But in your case I wouldn't worry.

btw anyone else reading this. don't worry if your reports are the other way. its just a general marker that makes sense for reports. but just make sure if there was a drop it wasn't SIGNIFICANT. like I'm taking all A's and B's (one year) to no A's and B's and C's (the next year). that would be considered quite a big drop down from the capabilities that you showed.

thanks so much! im from penrith trying to go to sydney girls. the reason due to my bad reports was that i was involed in alot of issues between peers at school, so do u think it is best to write a letter explaing the bad reports? or to leave it as it is? im 50/50 about this as it could also mean that the examiners would take it into consideration to not choose me

 

[Sethio]

thanks so much! im from penrith trying to go to sydney girls. the reason due to my bad reports was that i was involed in alot of issues between peers at school, so do u think it is best to write a letter explaing the bad reports? or to leave it as it is? im 50/50 about this as it could also mean that the examiners would take it into consideration to not choose me

I don't see a need to follow up on your reports. I'm not sure whether its worth as you said explaining yourself for something you couldn't control. If you do well in your 2024 reports it should be fine. But you know your marks and report better than anyone else. so if you feel inclined to bring it up to the school. then that's fine.

 

[Someoneinsyd]

hey! how r u studying for it?

idk i havent given it much thought. I'm trying out just for the sake of seeing if i have a chance of getting in

 

[?!?!]

I didn't save any resources to be frank with you. I kinda winged it, I can't lie and I wouldn't recommend that.

I mean if you break down the topics:
Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Maths, Reading, Writing

It shouldn't be too hard to delve into each topic and find practice questions online.

I don't want to make this a full tutoring lesson but for writing, I generally "would" practice by finding random stimuli online for creatives and just banging out a few creatives with different era's and topics. Writing is generally something that you can maximise marks if you just do a bit of practice. I generally write for these scenarios with a "pre-determined" character whether it be: pre-determining the (backstory, conflict, skills, ambitions, attitudes). Basically, I just chuck my character into the scenario they give and mold my creative around it. For persuasives, I think it's quite self-explanatory, but choose a side and just write. lmao. But realistically it's just about pulling out strong arguments that aren't baby-like and substantiating your points with evidence or whatever. I generally think having a counter-argument that you can bring down adds gravitas to your persuasive but also it's not that deep and that's just excessive. Discursive I doubt you will have to write. Just don't be cliche.

With Maths, just know your respective syllabus for THAT year. No need to learn accelerant topics or whatever, they will legit test the BASE level of what you may know for that year in maths. Maths is respectfully the only subject that tests reasonable things. Which was quite relieving because there is an actual disparity in the marks and it's maybe the ONLY one that requires some knowledge. Albeit, the knowledge isn't very complicated it still tests some depth of what you have learnt. So if you're going into Year 10. Expect topics from Year 9, 8 and 7. You will be sitting the test in Term 3 anyways so they aren't going to go overboard.

For reading. Just read. I can't really advise you with much. Reading you want to maximise speed but also maximise accuracy without mis-reading and making silly inferences that aren't even given. Just read the questions before you skim a text. Find the answers by skimming through each text. Try not to read the whole text word for word unless you genuinely are stumped on a question.

Verbal and Numerical reasoning. Speed is key. This is something I would get questions online for. Go to some websites and do verbal and numerical reasoning practice. Maximise your vocab for some free marks in the verbal section and just be able to think outside the box, identify patterns and quickly answer questions. These two are the first 2 tests you sit which is not great because you are usually the slowest in the beginning, so get acclimatised quick and then start grinding out the tests.



With your questions. my study didn't consist of hours lmao. I wouldn't even say study. I did max like 30 mins in random bursts whenever I felt like it. But that's because I felt confident in MY abilities at the time. And regarding months prior. I think I started a solid 2 weeks or 1 week prior. So don't be like me. But too much practice will never hurt you. Just make sure you don't prioritise it over EVERYTHING else in your life. The test is not that deep so live your life and live with no regrets. If you feel unsure do the extra practise, but it's going to be different for everyone.



Extracurriculars matter a lot. I know so many people who got accepted cause they had good extracurriculars. I mean transfers aren't typically the TOP of the year group they go in every year lmao. which might surprise some people. they are usually like mid to bottom. not necessarily, because they struggle but because they aren't the best in transfers in the first place. there are obviously determined transfers who move to aim to be at the top (which I implore you to be like one of them), but these transfers usually just get in cause of their extracurriculars. I mean in reality everyone to the school seems academically competent (which they aren't always), but most of these schools are very self-centred in the way that they think transfers will not be better than their students. I remember sitting down for my interview. And all the principal said was "how are you going to cope with these smart kids", "will you be able to cope with the environment". but i legit knew everyone in that grade and it was safe to say that some of them were a bit special.

so where I am going with this is. The way TO stand out from the rest is by good extracurriculars. I know a bunch of state athletes, national dancers or whatever that transfer. They aren't necessarily the smartest out of the transfers but they just have this wow factor which the school can utilise for their own benefit. This helps their application a whole lot.

aight i'm done. my bad for the rushed response. kinda just typed this out brainlessly with whatever came to mind. hopefully it helped.

do you think that this test style is similar to the HAST test as quite a lot of school require you to sit in that test. Do you have any resources you used to give that test (the hast) and if u could share them that would help a ton?

 

[Sir Jigger II]

Could you provide the hast material u used to study please?

Finding difficulty in sending, will try soon again. For now, practice with written response and UCAT abstract reasoning. Learn basic scientific principles for math such as circuits etc. Practice reading based question in yr 6 selective book

 

[?!?!]

okay, yeah if u send them when you get chances that would great! alright ill look into the ones u said rn. ty

 

[HyphoonShah]

could you please add my email to the google drive as well? Thank you

ok send me ur gmail