Seeking advice to prepare for Edutest and NSB 2024 Year 9 transfer tests (1 Viewer)

Yes99

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For a current year 8 student from another selective school to prepare a transfer to;
  • Ruse (Edutest – 29 July)
  • NSB (their own test Edutest – 29 Jul)
  • Baulko (it seems like it might the first time that Baulko is using Edutest - 29 Jul)
Would anyone be able to share advice (based on your experience, or know someone who has) in sitting for year 9 entry exam?

Bought 3 practice exams from Edutest website, but it looked generic, and thought surely they are much harder for Ruse and Baulko.

Any sights on NSB transfer exam would be very helpful as well.
 
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kkk579

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For a current year 8 student from another selective school to prepare a transfer to;
  • Ruse (Edutest – 29 July)
  • NSB (their own test – Jul/Aug)
  • Baulko (it seems like it might the first time that Baulko is using Edutest - Jul/Aug)
Would anyone be able to share advice (based on your experience, or know someone who has) in sitting for year 9 entry exam?

Bought 3 practice exams from Edutest website, but it looked generic, and thought surely they are much harder for Ruse and Baulko.

Any sights on NSB transfer exam would be very helpful as well.
wtf when did baulko start using edutest i thought it was the hast
 

Yes99

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wtf when did baulko start using edutest i thought it was the hast
only found out when I check today (mentions below). pretty sure it wasn't the case last year.
Applications will open for placement in Years 8 to 11 for 2024 on 20 June and close on 21 July 2023.
Students will need to sit an exam with edutest - more details to come soon.
 

skzzks

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For a current year 8 student from another selective school to prepare a transfer to;
  • Ruse (Edutest – 29 July)
  • NSB (their own test – Jul/Aug)
  • Baulko (it seems like it might the first time that Baulko is using Edutest - Jul/Aug)
Would anyone be able to share advice (based on your experience, or know someone who has) in sitting for year 9 entry exam?

Bought 3 practice exams from Edutest website, but it looked generic, and thought surely they are much harder for Ruse and Baulko.

Any sights on NSB transfer exam would be very helpful as well.
ok i posted smth earlier this yr abt edutest - it’s genuinely not that hard, it’s about how fast you are not abt how smart u are
i’ll js recap the important things

i got into nsg (which also uses edutest) and the main things i did to prepare were the victorian selective past papers (since the test style is quite similar) i did buy the edutest practice tests in y9 (when i tried out for ruse) however i think that they are simply too easy and not worth spending money on

ultimately what i found is that edutest is not a difficult test, you just need to be able to do questions quickly

for maths i would suggest brushing up on mental maths (from memory it is not calculator) as u need to be able to do questions very quickly (it’s like 60 in 30 mins)

there’s also a mathematical reasoning component which involves sequences number patterns fibonacci sequences stuff like that so i’d highly suggest doing some icas/amc style questions

reading is honestly not difficult naplan level at most

for verbal reasoning i think reading (to expand vocabulary) more as well as just doing some like thinking skills/ga practice questions would be beneficial

writing will likely be creative but i think it’s marked super easily or smth (dk how i did good on that tbh)


i also got into baulko (when there was no test) so lmk if u want any extracurricular advice (now is the perfect time to build things, particularly if u don’t get in for y9 entry, it’ll look even better for y11 entry)

best of luck!!
 

Yes99

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best of luck!!
Thanks for skzzks for taking time to provide your insights. A lot of points you mentioned resonated especially around edutest, and will certainly check out VIC selective school test materials.
Keen to get advice on extracurricular activities; currently only two, school band/concert band, and school swimming team (age champion and area rep). plan to start Duke of Ed next year.
 
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mmmmmmmmaaaaaaa

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ok i posted smth earlier this yr abt edutest - it’s genuinely not that hard, it’s about how fast you are not abt how smart u are
i’ll js recap the important things

i got into nsg (which also uses edutest) and the main things i did to prepare were the victorian selective past papers (since the test style is quite similar) i did buy the edutest practice tests in y9 (when i tried out for ruse) however i think that they are simply too easy and not worth spending money on

ultimately what i found is that edutest is not a difficult test, you just need to be able to do questions quickly

for maths i would suggest brushing up on mental maths (from memory it is not calculator) as u need to be able to do questions very quickly (it’s like 60 in 30 mins)

there’s also a mathematical reasoning component which involves sequences number patterns fibonacci sequences stuff like that so i’d highly suggest doing some icas/amc style questions

reading is honestly not difficult naplan level at most

for verbal reasoning i think reading (to expand vocabulary) more as well as just doing some like thinking skills/ga practice questions would be beneficial

writing will likely be creative but i think it’s marked super easily or smth (dk how i did good on that tbh)


i also got into baulko (when there was no test) so lmk if u want any extracurricular advice (now is the perfect time to build things, particularly if u don’t get in for y9 entry, it’ll look even better for y11 entry)

best of luck!!
How many extracurriculars is a good number for those schools?

Or better, is there anything that they look for over the other.
 

skzzks

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How many extracurriculars is a good number for those schools?

Or better, is there anything that they look for over the other.
personally, sport wasn’t really my thing but i picked up netball in y9 and ended up really liking it so continuing that into y10

i focused on leadership, being src in y8 and y10 (didn’t bother in y9 coz i was bored of it in y8), debating since y7, peer support in y9-10, i didnt do duke of ed simply because i don’t like the outdoors lol and yeah that’s pre much all that came to mind also don’t forget about competitions such as icas, sci comp or geo comp - i literally only got credits but added them to my portfolio anyways

also had a fat stack of certificates from school, teacher commendation letters (my school sent them out so i didn’t really have to ask) lmk if u want exact like stats (report grades etc)

also some things that i did which ended up helping me in my interview (esp when they asked what do u do in ur spare time) included working, hobbies, gym etc LOL
 

skzzks

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Thanks for skzzks for taking time to provide your insights. A lot of points you mentioned resonated especially around edutest, and will certainly check out VIC selective school test materials.
Keen to get advice on extracurricular activities; currently only two, school band/concert band, and school swimming team (age champion and area rep). plan to start Duke of Ed next year.
so far your extracurriculars are pretty all rounded and impressive, duke of ed will defs help with that but if i were in ur position i would try to get involved in leadership :)
 

hscgirl

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also don’t forget about competitions such as icas, sci comp or geo comp - i literally only got credits but added them to my portfolio anyways
when last year i applied to the school i'm at rn, i didn't add any credits (even tho i obvs had some credits from comps) and only distinctions and high distinctions to my portfolio because apparently the average for top selective schools in icas and other comps is distinction or more (so if i added credits to my portfolio i would have appeared to be 'below average'). i got into the school straight away without being on the reserve list, so i recommend those who apply for top 10 selective schools to only put distinctions or higher into ur portfolio otherwise you may risk appearing to be below average. similarly, don't add any participation certificates because you might as well pretend you didn't compete in that particular comp since such ordinary-level certificates lowers the quality of your portfolio - you want to stand out from the crowd with exceptional / above-average certificates.
 

Jos:)

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For a current year 8 student from another selective school to prepare a transfer to;
  • Ruse (Edutest – 29 July)
  • NSB (their own test – Jul/Aug)
  • Baulko (it seems like it might the first time that Baulko is using Edutest - Jul/Aug)
Would anyone be able to share advice (based on your experience, or know someone who has) in sitting for year 9 entry exam?

Bought 3 practice exams from Edutest website, but it looked generic, and thought surely they are much harder for Ruse and Baulko.

Any sights on NSB transfer exam would be very helpful as well.
few questions:

1. Why do you want to transfer to another selective school?
2. What extracurriculars do you do?
3. How have your grades been?
 

skzzks

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so i recommend those who apply for top 10 selective schools to only put distinctions or higher into ur portfolio otherwise you may risk appearing to be below average.
you have a good point but if that was the case and they really cared so much about a credit being below average then i wouldn’t have gotten in LMAO i would’ve thought it’s better to show that you’ve been consistently pushing yourself and idk abt the school u applied for but for the schools i did they already know you’re going to be below average, baulkos principal told me that most transfers usually end up being in the bottom half of the cohort which is normal so yeah there’s not rlly any harm in showing reality imo but it’s up to the person ig in my case taking the risk worked in my favour 👍👍
 

Yes99

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1. Why do you want to transfer to another selective school?
2. What extracurriculars do you do?
3. How have your grades been?
1. current school was the last choice. For the selective entry exam, writing test mark was bad, others were all good.
2. Competitive swim and another social sport, and school concert band
3. All Outstanding on the yearly report. Two school awards. NAPLAN wasn't at the top except for Maths. Few distinctions from other external exams.
 

hscgirl

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you have a good point but if that was the case and they really cared so much about a credit being below average then i wouldn’t have gotten in LMAO i would’ve thought it’s better to show that you’ve been consistently pushing yourself and idk abt the school u applied for but for the schools i did they already know you’re going to be below average, baulkos principal told me that most transfers usually end up being in the bottom half of the cohort which is normal so yeah there’s not rlly any harm in showing reality imo but it’s up to the person ig in my case taking the risk worked in my favour 👍👍
u got into nsg tho as well lol, and i heard nsg only rlly cares abt the entrance test much more than ur portfolio. u got into the baulko reserve list initially right??
 

skzzks

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u got into nsg tho as well lol, and i heard nsg only rlly cares abt the entrance test much more than ur portfolio. u got into the baulko reserve list initially right??
yes but ig now that baulko has a test the selection process will be more similar to nsg/ruse
 

availmatty

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yes but ig now that baulko has a test the selection process will be more similar to nsg/ruse
hi @skzzks would you be having an idea, how many seats are normally available in year 10 for baulko since they don't start new class unlike Girraween/Penrith.
 

skzzks

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hi @skzzks would you be having an idea, how many seats are normally available in year 10 for baulko since they don't start new class unlike Girraween/Penrith.
i’m not sure about baulko for y10 as i didn’t actually apply for y10 entry, but for y11 entry if i remember correctly it was something like 5-6 spots but a lot of people ik declined their offers
 

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