Does the school you go to REALLY count? (1 Viewer)

[Rhanoct]

If your cohort, for a certain subject, all ended up with some awesome HSC exam marks, then your assessment marks (and therefore overall HSC mark) will be awesome too - because your assessment mark comes from the HSC exam marks, assigned according to internal ranking (i'm pretty sure that's how it goes?)

So yeah, logically, selective schools = more smart people, according to those selective school entry exams etc = better HSC marks in the end = better assessment marks, even if you're coming 10th or 20th etc = better overall HSC marks = school does count, in THAT way.

Then again, screwing up an assessment, in a selective school probably means a big drop in your internal rankings! Whereas, at a little unknown school, you might still be 1st internally, even with the screw up! And if you still ace your HSC exams, then you were better off at the little unknown school, than at the selective school - because otherwise, your HSC marks would have been assigned to someone else's assessment marks, rather than to your own!

So I guess school does count, but sometimes it can be an advantage being at a crappy school, as much as it might be an advantage to be at a top of the state selective school.

However, this talk of 'marks being pulled up' has occured - I do know of one case where, in my history extension class, me and some other guy were the only ones left at the end of the year. I ended up 1st internally, the other guy 2nd (obviously loll) and after the hsc, our marks for the exam were 49/50, and his 45/50. However, although my assessment mark was 49/50 (I came 1st, so I got the 1st best HSC exam result as my assessment mark), his wasn't 45/50 (as I would have expected, because he came 2nd, so he gets assigned the 2nd best HSC exam result as his assessment mark - which SHOULD have been 45/50). He ended up with an assessment mark of 48/50 instead. So I know that my mark must have pulled him up (not trying to boast or whatever, just giving a real-life example of marks actually being 'pulled up'). So yeah - if you have a smart cohort, then its possible that, during moderation, you won't just get assigned your HSC assessment marks according to rank, but they might be pulled up in the process also - as to whether they can be 'pulled down' as well, i've got no clue.

oh and btw - read one of those threads on 'HSC moderation' before you start asking me 'what the hell you on about???' - you might understand what I've written here better after you read up on moderation. In any case!

YOUR SCHOOL DOES COUNT. As to 'how' it counts, or how advantageous/disadvantageous it is... that really all depends on your circumstances.

qft

 

[tommykins]

The bottom line is, never believe that since you go to a crap (academically) means you cannot achieve a high UAI.

Maintain top 5 rankings, hell top 10 and just snap the HSC, guaranteed 90+ basically (generalistation here..)

 

[minijumbuk]

It does help, to some extent.

 

[tommykins]

Top 5 rankings?

What if you're classes consist of these numbers:
Music: 2
Maths: 5
Chem: 4
PD: 4
Eng Ad: 6
IT: Around 13 [Ranked 1st in that anyway]

Then obviously you need to be top 2-3? And if you can't, thats when your cohort comes into play to determine your internal marks (assumig you did well in the HSC yourslef)

 

[Smeegen999]

i go to a private (non-selective) school and the top 07 uai was 99.5, and the second was 99.05. Altoghether 33 students got a uai over 90 (out of 165 students) There were about 110 band 6's....

... feelin pretty good about my school atm.

 

[cazchik]

NO!! People at selective schools get scaled higher because if most people go really well it pulls everyone up. For people in non-selective public school (such as myself) we have the idiots dragging us down... Though it is possible to still do really well.

 

[xclusv2bhung]

lol try not to think about it too much - just do the best you can =)

and omg Roger - gee youre bothered to type that much ? LOL

 

[bassistx]

How do you find out your school's rank?

There was a thread (numerous, actually) with the 2007 school rankings, but if you just do a quick google search (or even just here on BOS, I cbf) you'll find it.

 

[moodchanger08]

But how would the school even know what all their students got?

Apparently their school has already run 'trial HSCs', in their first term of Year 12 and that's how they know what their students got. Isn't that scary? It just shows how far they're ahead of everyone, they accelerate basically everything. This is just what I've heard, maybe a Rusey can explain fully.

 

[me121]

Apparently their school has already run 'trial HSCs', in their first term of Year 12 and that's how they know what their students got. Isn't that scary? It just shows how far they're ahead of everyone, they accelerate basically everything. This is just what I've heard, maybe a Rusey can explain fully.

But the UAI is ONLY disclosed to the student. The school is not told. So how could the school calculate the median UAI. They could only do this if EVERY single student told the school what their UAI was.

 

[4unitfreak]

I go to a selective high school (Gosford) and we were ranked somewhere in the top 30 last year, I think, which is awesome because it pulls people up. But when you're getting 60% in an internal assessment it sucks, because they set our tests so hard.

 

[midifile]

Yea thats the same as mine. It is not a selective school (but private) and is in the top 20 schools, and in bio the internal assesment average is about 50-60%, but then 80-90% of students get band 6's. But really, your internal assesment marks dont count.

 

[lorikeet]

What if everyone in your relatively small classes (only 3 above 10, none over 20) is.....well crap basically, and you're ranked first by quite a wide margin in some cases? providing I get all high band 5's and above (hoping for all band 6's), will the gap in marks actually be advantageous to me?

I've had teachers tell me that if you're ranked first you automatically get the top hsc exam mark as your mark, with your internal mark not making any difference aside from the fact that you're ranked first. Can anyone confirm?

I really really really hope Im not being dragged down.... In last year's modern history exam I got 94%....next person was 60 something, other 3 all below 30%

 

[Azamakumar]

Apparently their school has already run 'trial HSCs', in their first term of Year 12 and that's how they know what their students got. Isn't that scary? It just shows how far they're ahead of everyone, they accelerate basically everything. This is just what I've heard, maybe a Rusey can explain fully.

They're estimated. At SBHS we got ours (estimates) after the trials. The problem with that is at that point in time it is almost too late to make a great change to your UAI, even at a selective school. I'd rather get it after the first assessment and realise what the damage is then as opposed to right before the hsc.




On topic, your school doesn't matter. It's just that with selective schools, the range of marks in a subject is smaller, and effectively the need to climb ranks is negated.

 

[Dragonmaster262]

Guys get this: IF YOU TRY HARD ENOUGH ,THERE SHOULD BE NO REASON WHY YOU SHOULDN'T GET A GOOD UAI!

My school is ranked 6XX but there are kids in my schools who have managed to achieve UAIs like 99.60,98.25 and 96.60. All you need is a lot of commitment and resolution.