How hard is it/ how much effort do I need to put in HSC to get top marks (1 Viewer)

[BBD217]

Hey, just wondering how hard it is to get 95+ hsc marks in the following subjects: I am doing math 3u, english adv, chem, phys and eco right now.

I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.

,also if anyone has any helpful resources for any of these subjects it would be greatly appreciated if I could get them .

I also need some advice on dropping subjects,;,
I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel like math is kinda important, Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

if anyone reads this whole thing thats amazing, thanks for spending some time on a random persons problems

 

[Flatuitous]

Hey, just wondering how hard it is to get 95+ hsc marks in the following subjects: I am doing math 3u, english adv, chem, phys and eco right now.

I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.

I think my overall goal is to get an ATAR of 95+ but to be honest I dont really care about atar, I just wanna keep my uni options open and try my best for the hscs.

,also if anyone has any helpful resources for any of these subjects it would be greatly appreciated if I could get them .

I also need some advice on dropping subjects,;,
I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel math may be important in uni (i have no idea what I would want to study) and also math gives the bonus selection rank thing for usyd and unsw. Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

if anyone reads this whole thing thats amazing, thanks for spending some time on a random persons problems

math is a pretty important subject and i'm pretty sure they are the highest scaling subjects
yes it's also true that if you're going into stem courses, adv math is usually a prerequisite and sometimes ext1 math is also highly recommended

i'm a bit biased but i would probably hold off on dropping that

if ur taking german cont., i'm assumming u know german
so i definitely wouldn't drop that since the workload should be super chill for u

 

[m_avi]

Hey, just wondering how hard it is to get 95+ hsc marks in the following subjects: I am doing math 3u, english adv, chem, phys and eco right now.

I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.

I think my overall goal is to get an ATAR of 95+ but to be honest I dont really care about atar, I just wanna keep my uni options open and try my best for the hscs.

,also if anyone has any helpful resources for any of these subjects it would be greatly appreciated if I could get them .

I also need some advice on dropping subjects,;,
I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel math may be important in uni (i have no idea what I would want to study) and also math gives the bonus selection rank thing for usyd and unsw. Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

if anyone reads this whole thing thats amazing, thanks for spending some time on a random persons problems

your subjects seem to be stemy, is that like a pathway you'd wanna go into uni with?

 

[AAArated]

Hey, just wondering how hard it is to get 95+ hsc marks in the following subjects: I am doing math 3u, english adv, chem, phys and eco right now.

I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.

I think my overall goal is to get an ATAR of 95+ but to be honest I dont really care about atar, I just wanna keep my uni options open and try my best for the hscs.

,also if anyone has any helpful resources for any of these subjects it would be greatly appreciated if I could get them .

I also need some advice on dropping subjects,;,
I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel math may be important in uni (i have no idea what I would want to study) and also math gives the bonus selection rank thing for usyd and unsw. Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

if anyone reads this whole thing thats amazing, thanks for spending some time on a random persons problems

"
I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.
" you a bit slow huh. To answer you overall question though for YOU it's very hard. Getting >95 for all ur subjects results in a 99.95 ... on top of that ur starting from a shitty position AND you don't sound very smart.

 

[ermmmmwhat]

can i just say, idk if this is true for everyone but its been on my mind for a while.

unless you wanna do med or high-end law, i promise you that you can get into nearly anything you want without a 90+ atar. usyd and unsw science, compsci, engineering etc. all require a 90+ SELECTION RANK (sorry science needs 80 but u get the point). i got a decent atar, a bit higher than 96 - so not anything special but still above your criteria of 95+, and i find that i'm in a compsci cohort at unsw with peers who recieved 80 - 85 atars, AS WELL AS people who got 99+ atars. its crazy in hindsight how we all end up in the same place, makes me wonder why i even pressured myself this hard.

the bottom line is ofc try your best, set goals for yourself - all that is good. but just remember that if you get above 85, you are FINE. you will get into the course you want, where you want. i wish i knew this in year 12 - it wouldn't have stopped me from working hard of course, but it def would have alleviated a lot of unnessecary stress i placed on myself.

 

[BBD217]

"
I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.
" you a bit slow huh. To answer you overall question though for YOU it's very hard. Getting >95 for all ur subjects results in a 99.95 ... on top of that ur starting from a shitty position AND you don't sound very smart.

lol why even reply if u just gonna say some random bs

 

[flummi]

math is a pretty important subject and i'm pretty sure they are the highest scaling subjects
yes it's also true that if you're going into stem courses, adv math is usually a prerequisite and sometimes ext1 math is also highly recommended

i'm a bit biased but i would probably hold off on dropping that

if ur taking german cont., i'm assumming u know german
so i definitely wouldn't drop that since the workload should be super chill for u

unis dont carry out prereqs for most courses anymore, they rlly only care abt atar lol

but if you're leaning towards a stem course, it'd be good to keep math anyways tho for adjustment factor if ur not certain about hitting ur atar goals. though you seem competent

 

[Flatuitous]

you a bit slow huh. To answer you overall question though for YOU it's very hard. Getting >95 for all ur subjects results in a 99.95 ... on top of that ur starting from a shitty position AND you don't sound very smart.

holy elitism

 

[WeiWeiMan]

Hey, just wondering how hard it is to get 95+ hsc marks in the following subjects: I am doing math 3u, english adv, chem, phys and eco right now.

I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.

,also if anyone has any helpful resources for any of these subjects it would be greatly appreciated if I could get them .

I also need some advice on dropping subjects,;,
I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel like math is kinda important, Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

if anyone reads this whole thing thats amazing, thanks for spending some time on a random persons problems

imo:
3u maths - reasonable
2u maths - relatively easy
chem - pre hard
phys - pre hard
eco - idk
english - don't bother

anyway you don't need anywhere near 95+ in these subjects to get a 95+ atar lmao.

 

[totally_screwed]

15 units is crazy there's simply no need and isn't advantageous in any way imho
I think you can get b6 in business studies with your eyes closed most of your other subjects need a whole lot more effort in order to achieve a comparable result, things aren't gonna look good for 3u or chem if the effort is giving business studies..
like ^ said you don't need 95+ mark in all your subs to get 95+ ATAR, you'd easily be on track to get 99+ ATAR if that were the case

so you can prob slightly lower the expectation of yourself if 95+ ATAR is the goal, but yeah diff subjects need a differential effort no doubt, I spent a shit ton of time on 3u compared to like SOR

 

[ermmmmwhat]

anyway you don't need anywhere near 95+ in these subjects to get a 95+ atar lmao.

very true. the highest i got was 94 as a final hsc mark, and that was for the relatively "low-scaling" subjects, both in bio and ancient. if u manage to get a borderline b6 in english and maths, high b5 in chem, phys and eco, i reckon ur set

 

[imnotrj]

I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel like math is kinda important, Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

15 units is absolutely diabolical
i don't do 3u math so idk, but i think dropping me1 would be better
econ is also chill, keep that and u don't have to spend too much time on it, other than stats and all

 

[Jaros]

Hey, just wondering how hard it is to get 95+ hsc marks in the following subjects: I am doing math 3u, english adv, chem, phys and eco right now.

I got a 92 in hsc business accelerated and I feel like I studied almost nothing, but that attitude has lead me to do pretty bad in my first 2 yr12 assessments, I am confident I can study hard and get a decently high rank for chem phys and eco, but I have completely bombed all my math tests (considering dropping math entirely) and I really dont think I can do much better than what I have been doing for english.

,also if anyone has any helpful resources for any of these subjects it would be greatly appreciated if I could get them .

I also need some advice on dropping subjects,;,
I have 15 units total (im also doing german cont), which means i can drop 2 subjects. I really dont want to drop anything, but I feel like the reduced workload would help. I am doing the worst in math 2&3u so i want to drop, but i feel like math is kinda important, Im currently half way through yr12, should I wait for my next assessments or just drop now?

if anyone reads this whole thing thats amazing, thanks for spending some time on a random persons problems

phys chem and eco is crazy , drop one of those

 

[WeiWeiMan]

very true. the highest i got was 94 as a final hsc mark, and that was for the relatively "low-scaling" subjects, both in bio and ancient. if u manage to get a borderline b6 in english and maths, high b5 in chem, phys and eco, i reckon ur set

blud does not need a b6 in english for a 95

english the hardest shi imaginable fr

 

[ermmmmwhat]

blud does not need a b6 in english for a 95

english the hardest shi imaginable fr

nahh depends on the person. english actually isnt that hard if you know how to write well.
but you're right, u dont need b6 in english to attain ur atar goal, but it scales well so it would help lol

 

[Bendwhat?_over]

Yes, if you can devote a lot of time to maximising your English mark, you absolutely should. But if you truly believe it's a lost cause, then just do your best, but lean into your... 13 other units more.

 

[Urdadtoo]

Due to your accelerated course, I assume you are doing 13 units this year, which is a full load.
15 units total aren't useful for ATAR. Unless you really love all those subjects, doing less subjects will allow you focus on the remaining.
(You can do the dropped subject in uni once you get there )
Generally, a total of 12 units will do the job. Have an extra 2 units as insurance in case things don't go to plan.

It is hard to work out what to drop without knowing things like your ability and your cohort or if you are actually overloaded.
Keep the subjects that you enjoy and can do well in. Most of your subjects scale reasonably well so there isn't one that sticks out to drop from that point of view.
You sound like you decided no Maths is the way to go and want us to validate your plan.
If you are heading into STEM degree (looks like it from your subjects), not sure if Maths Adv should be dropped, unless you really can't improve. No point in banging your head, but I'm not sure how it will affect you later, maybe find someone who is doing the course you want to get into and look at how important having some foundation is. Maybe if you drop Ext 1 you can do something with adv.

German, I'm sure you're pretty good at that since it didn't end up in the discussion, so you might keep it, unless you aren't doing well.
Econ is very content heavy, but you went well in business.
Phys and Chem together are pretty demanding, but once again you sound like you feel you can do something there.

---
Read on for some interesting data on scaling and the subjects you have...
Basically, some numbers behind what ermmmmwhat noted above.

I've minor fudged some numbers to simplify but gives you a good idea.
Disclaimer: **For educational purposes only**

According NESA's scaling report on scaling 2025, an aggregate score (AFTER scaling) of 405 out of 500 (10 best units) will get you 95 ATAR.
ie An average of 80 scaled will get you 95 ATAR.
Looking at your subjects:
Good: Your 92 HSC mark in business studies, roughly comes out as 80 when scaled. German and Maths Advanced scales similarly.
Better: Econ 87 HSC mark scales to 80
Best: Phys/Chem 84 scales to 80 and Maths Ext 1 84 scales to 83

What people don't realise, is that the mark you get on results day can vary greatly when scaled. You never see this number, but most people can see its effect in the ATAR they get. A 92 in business studies does not equal a 92 in Maths Ext 2 for example.
FYI, A 70 in Maths Ext 2 will get you 80 scaled , while a 95 in Modern Greek Cont. will get only 70 scaled
If you are near the top of a subject, the scaling works more in your favour, while bringing average people back to the mean.

 

[RZ1234]

but it scales well

Actually, it scales awfully. Hence you need a high mark in English to account for the lower scaling, for it to not drag you down. Meanwhile a subject like 4 unit maths, you can get a 75 and that will be better than even a 92 in English.

 

[imnotrj]

Your 92 HSC mark in business studies, roughly comes out as 80 when scaled

there's no way hold on

 

[imnotrj]

doesn't business scale up after 85 or somethin??
and economics also scales well soo wym?