Comeback stories (1 Viewer)

fishingoretachi

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A prelim student arrives on this thread in peace amongst your stresses.

Went real mediocre in my first batch of assessments.

I'd like to see some concrete stories to see if I can bounce back like Big Sean.
 

fan96

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Came bottom 5 in my class for prelim math HYs, rank 102/176. Pulled my shit together and came top 5 in my class in yearlies, overall 41/176.
 

supR

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Got between 45% and 71% for all my maths exams from Yr 9 sem2 to Yr 10 sem2 (And I was trying hard in Yr 10)
Kept going and improving my study strategy and focus in class.
Got 90%+ in all my 2u and 3u exams in Yr 11, came second in 3u overall.

Now I am yet to get 90% in 3u or 4u in Yr 12 D:
 

gallen88

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In Year 10 I was at the bottom of my 5.3 class and my teacher said I wasn't good enough for Maths Ext 1. I was averaging 70% - 80%.

By the end of Prelim I achieved 90% overall in Maths Ext 1, came 1st in the cohort and got an automatic spot in the Math Ext 2 class.

Currently in the HSC, I'm the only female in the class that's in the top 5 for Year 12 Ext 1 (I don't know my final rank at the moment) and I'm currently 2nd in my Ext 2 class (my final mark so far is 82/100, first is 84/100). : )

You can do it! : )
 
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lelelolol

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In Year 10 I was at the bottom of my 5.3 class and my teacher said I wasn't good enough for Maths Ext 1. I was averaging 70% - 80%.

By the end of Prelim I achieved 90% overall in Maths Ext 1, came 1st in the cohort and got an automatic spot in the Math Ext 2 class.

Currently in the HSC, I'm the only female in the class that's in the top 5 for Year 12 Ext 1 (I don't know my final rank at the moment) and I'm currently 2nd in my Ext 2 class (my final mark so far is 82/100, first is 84/100). : )

You can do it! : )
hey, what did you do that allowed you to improve so much?
 

tklawl

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Started literally 30/31 in my year 10 maths class (everything else except english was average), was around 40th (/135+) in 2u and 16th (/70+) in 3u with marks around 65% (20th/60 in business studies, 12th in english, good for everything else).

Hit year 12, started somehow topping everything (hard work and preparation can take you places. + loads and loads of past papers + revision once every 2 weeks throughout the year and once everyday 2 weeks before exams:) )

//

The prelim year is great for establishing the foundations you need to succeed in year 12. It's great that you're improving your study methods/seeking advice/motivating yourself to do better.

Keep on it, and you'll do great. :)
 

Jolteon

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Currently 1st in English advanced from half yearlies after a horrible mark from AT1 that would've placed me in the 70s.
A lot of people are climbing in Maths but it is also possible to climb the English ladder with effort!
 

pikachu975

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Nearly came last in english speech with 11/20 worth 15% so each mark was 0.75%, and highest was 19 then 16 but ended 5th :D
 

Squar3root

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for adv english I was 2nd last (77/78) in year 11 and they recommened I move down to standard. After the first assignment in year 12 I went up to rank 36/70ish and maintained that rank throughout year 12. ended up getting a higher assessment mark for my HSC which helped my atar

you can use year 12 to turn around very dramatically, and this is where you build up good habits for uni and beyond imo
 

altSwift

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MX2 Assessment 1 - 6/6
Physics Assessment 1 - ~10/16

MX2 HY - 1/5
Physics HY - 1/14

In prelim, I was sitting somewhere around 14th for MX1 until the yearlies, where I was able to jump to 3rd by getting the highest mark.
 
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fluffchuck

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Went from rank 15/40 in prelim physics to rank 4/35 in hsc physics. Also went from rank 35/80 in prelim standard english to rank 3/80 in hsc standard english.
 

pikachu975

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I usually don't like to share much about my academics here but..

~ Bottom 10-20 in all my courses in year 11. Didn't give much shits since ik it wouldn't count. Scolded all the time for watching kdrama. Year 12, still watching kdrama, top 10 in all my subjects.

Did 4u math, 3u eng, eco, bus

It's all about gaming the system. Study smart, take breaks, have a goal. Without a goal tbh, the only drive is fear and that'll fk u up in uni esp with the addition if u don't know what to do at uni
Gotta agree about the goal thing
 

captainhelium

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I was initially last in the class for my first Yr.12 assessment for English but then I just did my best and ended up coming 2nd in trials and 4th overall.

I don't know if I should say this too but I somehow ended up getting one of the highest exam marks in my class for the HSC English exam with a mark of 94.

So yeah, bottom line is just keep working and don't give up :)
 
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Lumenoria

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Hey there!!

First off, I feel you. Let me give you my rankings/marks for all my subjects in my year 11 yearly report -

English Advanced - 30/67 - 73%
English Extension 1 - 5/10 - 82%
Mathematics - 49/93 - 51%
Legal Studies - 3/54 - 88%
Economics - 13/30 - 83%
Biology - 49/60 - 40%
Multimedia - 1/30 - 88%

I was SO upset at how inconsistent my marks were at the end of year 11. I was mainly disappointed that I didn't exceed 90 in anything, despite trying SO hard and compromising SO much time for school. Keep in mind, I did try really hard in year 11 - probably just as hard as I do now - but my study techniques just weren't ideal. I go to a school ranked in the early 100s.

My English improvement is the best comeback story in my experience though. In English Advanced for prelim, I felt as though I put in way more effort into the subject than my friends and STILL was ranking exponentially below them. What was even more embarrassing, was that while they were hating on how horrendous the subject was, I actually liked it. Yet, I managed to JUST make the cutoff for Advanced in year 12 - our school forces the bottom half of the prelim cohort into Standard. I remember after half-yearlies in my prelim year, I posted on an HSC forum panicking for advice after getting only 65% and 80% in my assessments at that point. Looking back, I should NOT have put myself in so much misery for that. But I know, it seriously sucks expending so much effort into something and your results not be reflective of it, I get it.

The important thing though, is to focus on your weaknesses. For me, exam technique is always what compromises my marks (specifically time management in exam conditions) - but for you, it might be formulating a cohesive and sophisticated argument itself. I worked my ass off in year 11 despite my shortcomings, and now, I'm ranked 2nd out of 40 students for Advanced with consistent marks of 90 in all assessments thus far. For my half yearly assessment, I went out the night before for my birthday and still managed to achieve a 90+ mark. I cannot stress to you enough how important it is to hand in drafts BEFORE the assessment date. I'm quite fortunate in this regard as my school's English faculty is blessed with extremely competent teachers and my one happens to be the head and the best, but even if this is not the case for you, their feedback is absolutely invaluable!! There is no way I would've even imagined achieving marks this high back in year 11 - when I thought it was a lost cause - were it not for the support, expertise and mentorship of my English teacher. It is all literally hard work, and insurmountable levels of drafts, emails, questions etc. I got 60% for creative writing - my absolute weakness - in prelim, but I attained a mark of 93% in my AOS creative for discovery in year 12. That was, after a debilitating back and forth drafting process with my teacher, which involved probably 5-8 emails hahaha. I don't even exactly remember, but it was definitely a LOT more than usual.

After dropping subjects that placed me in abject misery (bio lol), focusing on my weaknesses and expending so much time into refining exam technique, my results are stronger than they have ever been after half-yearlies (I'm in my HSC year rn).

After 2 assessment periods, my current final marks/ranks are as follows -

English Advanced - 2/36 - 90%
English Extension 1 - 2/8 - 96%
Mathematics - 1/84 - 90%
Legal Studies - 3/35 - 95%
Economics - 2/23 - 87%
Multimedia - 1/20 - 88%

As you can see, after shifting study habits to ones that are more effective in the long run (not cramming), my results overall improved EXPONENTIALLY. I went from bottom 10 in my cohort for some subjects in prelim, to top 3 in every single subject. Whereas I was getting marks as LOW as 20% in year 11, my lowest result in year 12 thus far has been 85% (which actually topped the class, believe it or not). I have never hired a tutor either. At parent teacher interviews, my teachers ALL said that they were expecting a Band 6 from me. This would have seemed impossible to me in year 11. Funny thing is, I don't think the time I've spent studying have even changed, just my ways of studying have. I've found that doing millions of past HSC papers and mountains of practice essays before the exam helps me immensely.

By no means do you have to sacrifice your social life for the HSC - I did not have a job in year 11 and did shit, but I've been working 25 hours per week for all of year 12 and my results have infact gone up! It's all about time management, really. I spend about 20-30 hours studying per week, if you want a rough idea - and up to 40 during assessment periods. I still indulge in TV shows (Suits!!) and stuff, of course. You can't completely deprive yourself of entertainment - you'll go insane!

I hope this helps you, even if it's a little bit!! In the case of English, it was easier for me to improve because I'm one of the rare people that actually enjoy it (absolutely hate maths though HAHA), but if you even have a glimmer of passion of subject - pursue it! It will motivate you to actually work hard on it. Seek out your errors and work on them, it pays off.


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spaghettii

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not much of a comeback story but

i used to suck at english real bad, average was a lot lower than my other subjects. got 14/25 in an assessment in yr9 and was honestly ready to give up, but then i thought "how bout no", so instead i tried to get better.
slowly tried to improve my marks over yrs 10 and 11, and tried to get 100% on any english assessment. didn't get there, so I set myself the goal instead of averaging 90%+ in eng in yr12. well through hard work, determination, mental breakdowns and literally spending an hour of my birthday sobbing in the corner of my room in the fetal position rocking back and forth (don't leave your assignments to the last minute kids) i ended up getting 100% on an english assessment AND maintaining a 90%+ average (so far).

hard work makes the dream work
 

Katsumi

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brbstudying

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I was getting 60-70% in every English Extension 1 assignment and exam in Year 11 - was so out-of-it every lesson, hardly paid attention, treated the assignments like they didn't mean a thing.

Now it's Year 12, and I'm actually more focused and willing to improve; my weighted mark is now 92%.
 

integral95

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Like it's great that you guys here can achieve these comebacks and all, but I get the feeling that this doesn't apply to everyone.
 

Lumenoria

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Like it's great that you guys here can achieve these comebacks and all, but I get the feeling that this doesn't apply to everyone.
Obviously, results don't come without the hard work. And when I say hard work, I don't mean regurgitating an essay verbatim hoping that luck will pull in my favour - I mean spending fucking hours writing out mountains of organic responses to diversify familiarity with a multiplicity of exam circumstances. The point is, nothing ever remains elusively out of reach provided that you seek out your errors and work on them in a way that is EFFECTIVE, instead of dwelling on your failures. Truly, in year 11 I would have never imagined to have done as well I have thus far, were it not for the support, encouragement and mentorship of my teachers. I've been to hell and back trying to survive my shit life in the entirety of this process, and have been living independently since the beginning of half yearlies, yet have maintained a 90+ average (top 3) in all my subjects. So, I would say that it is quite applicable to the average person who is willing to expend the efforts required. Excuses or not, HSC is really what you make of it - that's just reality. The year is supposed to be a prolonged period of high stress, after all.


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andrew12678

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I was never really that good at English from yr7-11, I always seemed stuck around the B-range not matter how hard I tried. But I hit an all time low when I got served a 12/20 for my Yr11 Othello essay (final essay before start of Yr12) for not answering the question after spending probably 100+hrs writing and perfecting my prepared essay. At that point I temporarily gave up on English (and pretty much life) for the next 4-5 days and resigned to the fact that I was probably not talented enough to do HSC English. However, I eventually pulled myself together after seeking advice from my tutor Rebecca (from Delta) and worked out a way to keep doing what I was good at (writing high quality prepared essays) whilst addressing what I was lacking (how to be more flexible and actually answer the question) and never got below an A-range mark for the entirety of Yr 12.
 

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