How much does it matter if you get second in your course? (1 Viewer)

ReneeApple

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I got a ranking of second in 2 of my courses and I was wondering how much that would affect me.

In bio I know I missed the top spot by 0.25%. My bio cohort is very weak. Me and the girl who got first are about 6% ahead of the person in 3rd.

The other course I do through Open High School so I have no idea how far I am behind the person in first, or who the person in first even is!

Basically I'm asking if my marks, being in second, will be heavily influenced by those of the rest of the cohort?
 
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Shadowdude

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Yes, your school assessment mark will probably be very badly affected unfortunately. Best you can do is do the best you can in the HSC to minimise the damage.
 

ReneeApple

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Yes, your school assessment mark will probably be very badly affected unfortunately. Best you can do is do the best you can in the HSC to minimise the damage.
Even if there's such a big gap between second and third? D:
 

Shadowdude

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Even if there's such a big gap between second and third? D:
Yep. Because the lowest exam mark achieved will be the bottom mark and everything else is mapped between. Due to that mapping, it'll bring you down a couple of marks in the school assessment.
 

ReneeApple

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Yep. Because the lowest exam mark achieved will be the bottom mark and everything else is mapped between. Due to that mapping, it'll bring you down a couple of marks in the school assessment.
But the mapping takes into account the distance between different marks, doesn't it?
 

Bobbo1

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But for the person coming first gets the highest external assessment mark and for you it will, not the best at explaining stuff this is an exception. For any other rank other than first and last "mapping" takes into account the distance between different marks
 
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khorne

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If you are close to first, your mark will be close to first as well, the relative gaps are preserved, so calm down.
 
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cem

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If you are close to first, your mark will be close to first as well, the relative gaps are preserved, so calm down.

Exactly - the relative gaps between the ranks are just as important. As the OP was 0.25% behind based on their school calculations if they have gone in 2nd then they will be one mark behind and that should be maintained.
 
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Shadowdude

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If you are close to first, your mark will be close to first as well, the relative gaps are preserved, so calm down.
Yes, but if the lowest mark is very low... then that 'relative gap' stretches to one or two marks, as in my case.
 
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ReneeApple

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Yes, but if the lowest mark is very low... then that 'relative gap' stretches to one or two marks, as in my case.
The lowest guy genuinely got a mark of around 2% in the trials. And thought it was hilarious. And walked out of the actual HSC exam super early. welp!?
 

ReneeApple

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Exactly - the relative gaps between the ranks are just as important. As the OP was 0.25% behind based on their school calculations if they have gone in 2nd then they will be one mark behind and that should be maintained.
I really hope so. Our cohort is extremely weak.
 

OmmU

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The lowest guy genuinely got a mark of around 2% in the trials. And thought it was hilarious. And walked out of the actual HSC exam super early. welp!?
Pray for a miracle? I am in relatively the same boat though.. I think almost everyone is except students at selective schools. There are always some douches who don't try.
 

ReneeApple

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I really hope they only do it one mark less than the top mark. In our mid-years, our teacher marked one of the multiple choice answers wrong, and said he would give everyone an extra mark. If he had actually done that, then I would be tied equal first. 'Tis quite frustrating!
 

m.jakaran

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It's not actually your rank which is used to figure out internal marks. What happens is they get your internal mark and they transform that into a z-values (basically the number of standard deviations above or below the mean). Now once they have these values they figure out what the examination marks were for your cohort and they give you the examination mark that matches up with your z-score as your school mark. Basically this means that the distances between ranks are taken into account which is good. However, it's also unfortunate when you have students scraping the bottom, because as outliers they'll increase the standard deviation and make an outstanding score look like a good one.
 

cem

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It's not actually your rank which is used to figure out internal marks. What happens is they get your internal mark and they transform that into a z-values (basically the number of standard deviations above or below the mean). Now once they have these values they figure out what the examination marks were for your cohort and they give you the examination mark that matches up with your z-score as your school mark. Basically this means that the distances between ranks are taken into account which is good. However, it's also unfortunate when you have students scraping the bottom, because as outliers they'll increase the standard deviation and make an outstanding score look like a good one.

Outliers are taken out of the equation.
 

m.jakaran

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Yeah that makes sense. Seems unfair to have a few people drag a cohort down.
 
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khorne

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The system is not ideal, but its fair enough for the needs. Stop worrying about it and just give it a little trust
 

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