What is the best way to prepare for the externals? (1 Viewer)

fizzbylightning

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Do past papers under timed conditions. Mark them and don't lie to yourself and say, oh I would have gotten that.
 

jamesischool

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have all your notes ready by the end of school. in the break before the hsc do as many past papers as possible, when you're not doing past papers read notes, when youre not reading notes, think about your notes, when you're not doing that then sleep
 

madharris

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Sleeping with your textbook under your pillow always works!

Do past papers under timed conditions. Mark them and don't lie to yourself and say, oh I would have gotten that.
have all your notes ready by the end of school. in the break before the hsc do as many past papers as possible, when you're not doing past papers read notes, when youre not reading notes, think about your notes, when you're not doing that then sleep
alternatively these things ^^^
Just do as many past papers as possible (hsc and trials) so you get a feel for the type of question they're asking and mark them! By looking at the marking criteria, you will be able to see what you need to include when they ask you 'explain', 'evaluate', etc
 

enoilgam

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What is the best way to prepare for the externals to maximise my chance of getting raw marks of 90%+?
The best way to prepare for any exam is to implement the study strategy that works best for you - what works for one person may not work for another. Also, it depends on the specific subject as well. In saying that, going through past papers is one method that is pretty much universal when it comes to preparing for your externals.
 

someth1ng

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Getting 90+% raw in externals isn't just about studying. You can know all your concepts back to front and still not get 90+% raw because you don't have the ideal exam writing technique - this is most prevalent in subjects that involve writing (not Maths) including the sciences.

For me, I got around 80% raw in Chemistry and maybe 85% raw in Physics even though I knew my concepts and understood them in depth.

So my point is, you need to find a way to improve your writing technique so you can score well in all written parts of the exam.

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Homo Sapien

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Getting 90+% raw in externals isn't just about studying. You can know all your concepts back to front and still not get 90+% raw because you don't have the ideal exam writing technique - this is most prevalent in subjects that involve writing (not Maths) including the sciences.

For me, I got around 80% raw in Chemistry and maybe 85% raw in Physics even though I knew my concepts and understood them in depth.

So my point is, you need to find a way to improve your writing technique so you can score well in all written parts of the exam.

Sent from my LG-P880 using Tapatalk 2
Really appreciate you advice guys!
I agree with you 100%, someth1ng. Some people even told me that getting a state rank involves some luck, it isn't only about how much you know of the content or how many past papers you have done. I did the 2012 past papers for both chem and phys yesterday and one needs to not only understand the concepts very well but also be able to write a full mark response to 6+ mark questions which isn't easy. For example, question 33 in chem and question 26 in physics.
What do you think is the best way to learn to develop the ability to predict the marking criteria for qestions with accuracy by just reading the question? I will keep doing past papers and try to develop my own strategy, although your experience can make this easier.
 

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