One week is all you need for 99.95 ATAR! (2 Viewers)

[flashtrick]

Ok, I lied.

It takes more than a single week to learn a syllabus. It takes well more than a week to do the past 10 years of practice papers. It takes more than a week to create, consolidate and compile 12 units worth of notes.

But you only have 1 week!​

I'm not trying to stress you guys out; in fact, I'm trying to help anyone anxious or feeling down about their preparation. My main message is simple, but I know many of you guys are so dedicated and in need of your 99+ ATAR that you often forget:

Fit one week's worth of study at most in this final week. Don't try to squeeze 2 or 3 weeks workload. ​

Doing more than you're capable of will only hinder your results. You're better off saving your energy for the exams. That means getting enough sleep (I don't care what study you show me, 3 hours of sleep a night is suicide), eating healthy, drinking water and going outside to get some exercise. Hang out with friends if you can. You're not helping yourself by entering the HSC stressed, tired, hungry and emotionally deprived.


You know, for trials I only studied the day before for my physics exam. And I ended up coming fifth (even more surprising considering it took me nearly an hour to get through the multiple choice!). How is that possible? Have you seen some people who studying 50% the amount of others and yet they all end up getting the same mark?

Well it's the 80/20 rule
"80% of your results come from 20% of your effort."

To boost your marks, don't spend hours on the tiny details. You should only focus on the little things once you're confident with the big ones. It's better to not know specific dates than to not have a developed understanding of the main concept/idea. I get lazy. Everyone does. But when you're behind, choose to be efficient. It makes catching up so much easier.

Some tips:

• Address you weaknesses before over-strengthening your strengths. If you're a boss at calculus but can't even do simple geometry, stop doing harder calculus! Get your geometry up to scratch. Would you rather turn an 80% to 90% for the first question, or turn a 50% into an 80% for another?
• Learn how to tweak your knowledge to answer specific questions. Why memorize 80 answers when you can learn how to adapt a single answer to a variety of questions?
• Find patterns in your subjects. Look through past HSC papers or the syllabus dot points. Often, there will be questions or specific areas that are always asked every year without fail.
• Exam technique is very important! In the beginning, skip difficult questions to answer easier ones, the ones that you know you can answer. Try to answer every question by the end, though! It doesn't matter if you're pulling ideas out of your ass, markers can only give you 0 if there's nothing in the lines.
• Use all your resources. Yes, that means the 10/15 essay you got for module B. Over the years, you may have produced tiny nuggets of genius. It could be a really good topic sentence or a useful equation. There's no shame in reusing ideas if they're good ones. Also, look online for tutorials or tips.

Well that's all I can write. I know some of you guys out there are very serious about the HSC. Hopefully I helped some of you out there, and prevented you from breaking the world record of staying awake the longest.

 

[iBibah]

But the mod B essay is out of 20

 

[HAX0R]

^

Thanks for the tips though.

 

[AnimeX]

Thanks for the tips . I'm worried i wont finish my english or maths study

 

[iBibah]

Thanks for the tips . I'm worried i wont finish my english or maths study

Basically what was said about spending time on details applies here.

 

[flashtrick]

But the mod B essay is out of 20

All of our HSC assessments for English were out of 15. Must be different for other schoosl.

 

[Spiritual Being]

Everyone needs to seriously relax. If your aims are absolutely consuming you to the bone, requiring you study all day, everyday, making you reluctant to go out or take a break, they are insurmountable and unrealistic goals.

The ATAR is only the first admission ticket into university, not the defining one. Everyone here procrastinating or expressing how stressed they are is almost inconceivable. It's okay to be anxious. It's okay to be slightly worried. It's not okay to sacrifice sleep and food and indulge yourself into caffeinated products to ensure maximum 'productivity'.

At the end of the day, the HSC is a set of exams that you complete. The markers know you're 17/18, and they're not expecting a masterful analysis of a text that's been refined over 50 generations, nor are they expecting your answer to be absolutely perfect to receive the higher bands. It's just about fulfilling the criteria. It takes four to five hours to write a good essay, a day to edit it. Don't extend it to three weeks.

 

[Squar3root]

But the mod B essay is out of 20

the point stands

 

[terzho]

Nup screw you, ima 4am to 11pm every night!

Edit: or day... I can't tell anymore...

 

[timeslowsdown]

No seriously guys just relax. I'm sure all the nervous tension will tell you otherwise, but it's really important to keep getting enough exercise, sleep and relax time - all of which will help you concentrate better and study smarter in shorter periods. In this week if you're feeling overwhelmed, make sure you look back on the whole year and see how far you've come. The simple things like attending school, doing your homework, revising for assessments etc - they've all helped you get to where you are and it's these stepping blocks that will help you get through the exams. Don't focus on the regrets you've had in studying enough in the past weeks, because believe it or not, virtually all your HSC exam is written! You know most of it, you've developed the skills you need etc, all that's left is boosting your confidence, and reminding yourself by revising that you do know it! Also, remember how close you are till the end - I remember when I did the HSC I was just so happy that it'd be all over soon; I didn't care what mark I'd get. So everyone; although it may not seem like it, the worst is over; the assessments are all over, now you just have to do the final test. Treat yourselves nicely - a happy, well-rested you will perform better

 

[Raolan]

In this final week, I'm only just now starting my English study.

Romulus, My Father & Spirited Away (supp text) Tuesday and Wednesday.
W. B. Yeats on Thursday & Friday
Frankenstein & Bladerunner on Saturday (fairly confident with these two so only one day allowed)
Julius Caesar & supp I haven't chosen (used Kung Fu Panda in class speech) on Sunday and Monday
Creative writing to be completed at some point throughout.
The moment each topic passes its allotted time it is done and I'm never touching it again.

In the words of my family and obviously someone else who said it first, "If you don't know it by now you're never gonna know it." So why bother stressing about it? The HSC is not a measure of success and nor does it really even speed up the process. The only real value of it is to get academic scholarships. That and if you want to become one of those academics that only ever introduce themselves alongside every degree to their name. My school doesn't even base DUX or any other awards on your ATAR.

 

[Candidate]

In this final week, I'm only just now starting my English study.

Romulus, My Father & Spirited Away (supp text) Tuesday and Wednesday.
W. B. Yeats on Thursday & Friday
Frankenstein & Bladerunner on Saturday (fairly confident with these two so only one day allowed)
Julius Caesar & supp I haven't chosen (used Kung Fu Panda in class speech) on Sunday and Monday
Creative writing to be completed at some point throughout.
The moment each topic passes its allotted time it is done and I'm never touching it again.

In the words of my family and obviously someone else who said it first, "If you don't know it by now you're never gonna know it." So why bother stressing about it? The HSC is not a measure of success and nor does it really even speed up the process. The only real value of it is to get academic scholarships. That and if you want to become one of those academics that only ever introduce themselves alongside every degree to their name. My school doesn't even base DUX or any other awards on your ATAR.

Most people I know are starting English this week too, so I'd probably tell you to make sure your essays are quality even if you do go over your allotted time.

 

[reshiiram]

Being told that I need to get out of the house and socialise is a good excuse to go and pick up the new Pokémon games on Thursday.

But in all seriousness, your advice does give me confidence This week is English & EES study for me, then Maths on the weekend and I'm leaving Bio until week three, cause I have nothing then.

 

[Raolan]

Being told that I need to get out of the house and socialise is a good excuse to go and pick up the new Pokémon games on Thursday.

But in all seriousness, your advice does give me confidence This week is English & EES study for me, then Maths on the weekend and I'm leaving Bio until week three, cause I have nothing then.

The Pokemon games come out on Saturday. I too am somewhat tempted to go get Y on the weekend. Thinking I should probably leave it until after the english exams though.

I'd almost forgotten just how boring and stupid Area of Study is, the idea that you can take something so specific to each individual's life experience and generalize it as a philosophy based on a couple of pseudo-fiction books. I don't hate English, or rather literary analysis and/or linguistics as it should be, but I do hate the high school course. Hell in my trial exam I had an entire paragraph disregarded by the marker because they "don't think it means this" despite considerable and sensible evidence to the contrary.

/endrant, back to studying

 

[flashtrick]

The Pokemon games come out on Saturday. I too am somewhat tempted to go get Y on the weekend. Thinking I should probably leave it until after the english exams though.

I'd almost forgotten just how boring and stupid Area of Study is, the idea that you can take something so specific to each individual's life experience and generalize it as a philosophy based on a couple of pseudo-fiction books. I don't hate English, or rather literary analysis and/or linguistics as it should be, but I do hate the high school course. Hell in my trial exam I had an entire paragraph disregarded by the marker because they "don't think it means this" despite considerable and sensible evidence to the contrary.

/endrant, back to studying

Some of the texts they give us for Belonging are pretty stupid, imo. Though, I really like that we are taught about belonging, as it really does apply everywhere in life.

Maybe you don't really get anything out of analyzing or quoting blocks of text. But by the end of HSC English I feel that students become a bit wiser about the world.

For example:

• Happiness is found through bonding and connecting with others, not through pursuing materialistic desires nor giving into life's pleasures. (Belonging)
• An individual's beliefs are never truly their own: values are shaped and formed by the complex interaction of an individual's social and intellectual environment with their own previous values. (Belonging, Mod A)
• Literature isn't just about fancy symbolism and metaphors. It can provide insight to the lives of the past and the way society back then functioned. For more modern texts, language enables composers to critique current paradigms, often revealing that all intellectual frameworks of the world have their flaws. (Mod B)
• Never blindly accept what the media says. Is the whole Syria and America issue really about the use of WMD? Or is it another petrodollar war? Conflicting perspectives encourages students to see things from all angles. (Mod C)

Haha, maybe that's a reason why English is compulsory? You know, disregarding the fact that nearly everyone in Australia speaks it.

 

[Raolan]

Some of the texts they give us for Belonging are pretty stupid, imo. Though, I really like that we are taught about belonging, as it really does apply everywhere in life.

Maybe you don't really get anything out of analyzing or quoting blocks of text. But by the end of HSC English I feel that students become a bit wiser about the world.

For example:

• Happiness is found through bonding and connecting with others, not through pursuing materialistic desires nor giving into life's pleasures. (Belonging)
• An individual's beliefs are never truly their own: values are shaped and formed by the complex interaction of an individual's social and intellectual environment with their own previous values. (Belonging, Mod A)
• Literature isn't just about fancy symbolism and metaphors. It can provide insight to the lives of the past and the way society back then functioned. For more modern texts, language enables composers to critique current paradigms, often revealing that all intellectual frameworks of the world have their flaws. (Mod B)
• Never blindly accept what the media says. Is the whole Syria and America issue really about the use of WMD? Or is it another petrodollar war? Conflicting perspectives encourages students to see things from all angles. (Mod C)

Haha, maybe that's a reason why English is compulsory? You know, disregarding the fact that nearly everyone in Australia speaks it.

I have nothing wrong with analyzing blocks of text. I understand the purpose and the appeal, even if I only partake in the former personally, and as I said linguistics is perfectly legitimate. But that's not what HSC English is. HSC English is "let's listen to our teacher's opinion and how we should think critically and then get punished every time we try to think critically."

It's not the aim I have a problem with, it's the means. You cannot encourage critical thinking while at the same time discouraging your students from thinking outside the box. It's a problem throughout all high school courses (e.g the way that the big bang theory is taught as indisputable fact universally in high schools despite so many other theories) it's just more prevalent in English because English is an "opinion" based subject, but only some opinions are correct. English teachers have openly admitted to me that you're better off going with whatever you think the marker wants to hear, not what you think the truth is, because at the end of the day it's all about your mark not your opinion.

 

[leesh95]

In this final week, I'm only just now starting my English study.

Romulus, My Father & Spirited Away (supp text) Tuesday and Wednesday.
W. B. Yeats on Thursday & Friday
Frankenstein & Bladerunner on Saturday (fairly confident with these two so only one day allowed)
Julius Caesar & supp I haven't chosen (used Kung Fu Panda in class speech) on Sunday and Monday
Creative writing to be completed at some point throughout.
The moment each topic passes its allotted time it is done and I'm never touching it again.

In the words of my family and obviously someone else who said it first, "If you don't know it by now you're never gonna know it." So why bother stressing about it? The HSC is not a measure of success and nor does it really even speed up the process. The only real value of it is to get academic scholarships. That and if you want to become one of those academics that only ever introduce themselves alongside every degree to their name. My school doesn't even base DUX or any other awards on your ATAR.

I honestly didn't realize how much I hate English until now. Every time I start studying something happens, I wander off and start studying chemistry or doing Math past papers and then I don't have any time left. Like right now I am writing my belonging essay but also procrastinating on BOS

I wish I could be in ACT then I could just drop it.

 

[Emmy13]

Thanks that makes me feel a little better... Im ashamed to say that iv hardly studied since the trials and now Im kicking myself.

 

[Spiritual Being]

Thanks that makes me feel a little better... Im ashamed to say that iv hardly studied since the trials and now Im kicking myself.

Just do what you can.

 

[fionarykim]

woow seeing all this streess with everyone makes me feel like if i should stress?
not as in like, i should stress, but i feel like im a bit too chill D: D: D: omggg

either way, what you guys should notice is that stress is not a very constructive or useful emotion when it goes overboard
its much better using your time to get stuff done, then actually going around and stressing over what you cant do
we have like 5 days left! i know we can all do it!

thank you for your tips btw!!
and i dont see how people can sacrafice beautiful sleep for study, sleep is most important woohooo <3