How to excel in senior year studies (yr 11/12)-99+ ATAR graduate (1 Viewer)

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Thank you to everyone for the feedback so far-it is truly encouraging to see that my advice is helping people:) Thank you to enoilgam especially for further elaborating on my study guide to clarify some things up for every one. I have been truly humbled by all your compliments, and if anyone has any questions on any aspect of senior study, please feel free to ask:) Best wishes for the new school term ahead-hope everyone will find the new year a challenging and fruitful one:)
 

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

MATHS is a subject that needs to be practiced on a daily basis, you cannot get away with studying it the day before the actual exam. You need to understand the approach to achieve a solution to the problems, not just knowing how to answer a problem, but knowing the different types of problems you can encounter in any topic and the variation in the solution method to achieve them. Essentially, practice, practice, practice is the key to succeed in Maths.

I hope your laziness is only in not bothering to draw margins, and not in not doing lots of maths problems:)) Anyways, glad that the information helped, if you have any more questions, feel free to reply to this thread:) All my best wishes for you to ace your senior year studies:) (You've got a pretty heavy workload by the sounds of your subjects:))
This is something that I echo to my students all the freaking time, yet many of them don't do it.

Props to you :)
 

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

All of you guys are far too kind:) I fully welcome critiques and questions to improve upon this guide as well as contributions for senior study tips for other subjects as well:) One more tip I could give to everyone: Don't be shy and you will shine:)
 

Constantine

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Thank you so much for this post!
I will be revisiting this thread from time to time.
 

justem

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Bump :)


HSC 2015

Prelim: English Extension | Maths Extension | Chemistry | Biology | Society & Culture

Aiming for Medicine at UNSW
 

dangerouss

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All of you guys are far too kind:) I fully welcome critiques and questions to improve upon this guide as well as contributions for senior study tips for other subjects as well:) One more tip I could give to everyone: Don't be shy and you will shine:)
You are seriously one of the sweetest people on BOS! xx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk:

Preliminary HSC '14- Subjects: 2U Maths, Adv. English, Business Studies, Legal Studies,
Economics, Agriculture.

HSC '15- ATAR Goal: 90+
 

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

You are seriously one of the sweetest people on BOS! xx
Thank you so much for this post!
I will be revisiting this thread from time to time.
All of you guys (or should I say girls:))are SERIOUSLY too kind:) Please feel free to ask questions on this thread if you have any concerns, queries and anything else. I wish you girls all the best for acing your senior years and achieving your ATAR aims and dreams-I have no doubt you all will:)
 

keithkung

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Mei, thanks for your info!
I was wondering if you can elaborate more on how to write notes for the sciences. Like when, how much time u put in it, the format etc? I seriously need some help with notes, since it would be super time consuming when u do it for every subject nd u wd end up with no time studying it. One more thing lol, typed or written? Thanks a lotttttttttt!:spin:
 

iJimmy

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

is there any thread that describes note making for the social sciences?
 

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Mei, thanks for your info!
I was wondering if you can elaborate more on how to write notes for the sciences. Like when, how much time u put in it, the format etc? I seriously need some help with notes, since it would be super time consuming when u do it for every subject nd u wd end up with no time studying it. One more thing lol, typed or written? Thanks a lotttttttttt!:spin:
For the science subjects, you basically write notes with the syllabus dot points as your headings-a very important thing to remember is you don't neglect putting relevant labelled diagrams and first hand(experiments) and second hand(individual research) investigations into your science notes as well. Basically, you can either do it in dot points to summarise the dot point, making sure you are putting in all relevant chemical equations or examples, a HSC Chemistry guide can be downloaded from the link in this thread: http://community.boredofstudies.org/17/chemistry/students-guide-hsc-chemistry-256504.html

Download the above guide, you will have a pretty good idea of what a good set of chemistry notes should look like and how long your notes should roughly be.

I can't give you a definitive amount of time you should put into writing your notes, but essentially, you must leave enough time to revise over your notes and apply the knowledge you learnt from your notes by doing more questions. So start doing your notes as early as you start learning a topic, don't leave it till the very end when you will fill overwhelmed by the amount of work you will have to do.

For me, I prefer writing my notes-simply because it assist my memory, and I remembered my notes through the process of summarising rather than memorising what the specifics of what the notes are deliberately. However, if you need to look back over your notes at the end of the year, i.e. for your trials, I do suggest you type your notes up-it makes changes to editing and formatting as easy as a click of a button.

Find a way that works for you, remember if you plan your time well and you start working on your notes on a weekly basis-it will be a manageable workload, and if you are truly determined to make notes, you will find a way to make them:) You will learn through physically making notes what's the best note making method for you, trial and error, and refine:). Hope this helps-if you have any more questions, feel free to ask here or PM me-and welcome to bored of studies:)-may you ace your senior year studies:)

is there any thread that describes note making for the social sciences?
I guess you can check out the social science forum and the various sub-forums and see whether among any of the stickied threads there is a thread that includes information on note making, or alternately you can start a new thread and ask HSC students who have done well in social science subjects to give you some guidance on how to make notes-I am sure if you are keen, you will be able to track a few down:) Best wishes
 
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Examine

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

is there any thread that describes note making for the social sciences?
I can provide information for Legal, Business and Economics on this. (Mei I hope you don't mind hahah)

Business Studies and Economics:
Business Studies and Economics follow a common method in making notes. The bare basic steps to making notes for these subjects is to:
- Introduce the concept and elaborate upon it (provide enough information to cover an 3-4 mark question). During this time try to synthesise this information in your own words since it'll help in understanding the dotpoint rather than just rote learning it.
- Define all relevant terms (to cover the define questions as well as give you some base knowledge for extended responses)
- Cover relevant formula.
^ By just covering these you should already have enough knowledge to deal with Multiple Choice questions and low/mid tier short answer questions. Now after doing this it's time to exercise Social Science common sense. By seeing the dotpoints you should be able to have a general recognition on the limitations each dotpoint has. For example, there are some dotpoints where you can tell after going through the textbook and using your own reasoning that BoS can simply not ask a question beyond a mid tier short answer question for said dotpoints. These will be the dotpoints that you can generally leave at the form stated above. However, there are other dotpoints which can be potential high tier short answer questions and a significant part of extended responses. For these dotpoints, cover enough information so that you will be able to comfortably answer a high tier (5+ marks) short answer question). Also with these sections make sure to integrate case studies for Business Studies (It's actually a good idea to do this for mid tier short answer questions as well since nowadays they can ask for contemporary examples in short answer questions) and data and trends for Economics.

As I touched a bit on in the last sentence, the main difference between making Economics notes and Business Studies notes is your coverage of data and case studies. For Business Studies, in section IV it is essential that you integrate case studies into your response, so therefore it is essential that you also integrate case studies in your notes or make separate notes for case studies. More information on how to collect case study information can be found in this thread. http://community.boredofstudies.org...ss-studies-case-study-information-228940.html For Economics, in your extended responses there may be a need to integrate data and trends into your answers, so be sure to add them in your notes as well. This also includes specific policies that have been implemented by the Australian government over the years in order to achieve their economic objectives (a policies question has been asked nearly every year for the HSC for Eco). The other main difference is for Economics you will need to provide more of the "high tier" short answer question information since nearly every dotpoint can be a potential extended response while for Business you can generally be a bit more lax. (which is why Economics has consistently high scaling)

Legal Studies:
For prelims level it's safer to take a similar route as making notes for Business Studies/Eco, since there can be a large variation on how schools set their exams. For HSC level due to the structure of the exam there can be a specific way you make notes in order to save time. I think it's easier if I quickly outline the structure of the HSC exam.
Multiple Choice - 20 marks, consists of HR and Crime
Short answers - 15 marks, consists of HR
15 mark extended response - Crime
2 25 mark extended responses - options

Ok, so in order to maximise efficiency there can be certain ways you can structure your notes. The structuring of your Crime notes will be similar in the structuring of your Business Studies notes, however since there are no short answers you can general be more lax on dotpoints which will never be asked in extended responses (such as the first subtopic as an example). For the dotpoints where you believe there is a high possibility that you would use in an extended response here is the structure you should follow (on top of the information you already have to cover multiple choice level questions):
- The definition of the concept and how it impacts the criminal justice system.
- The legislation surrounding the concept and general knowledge on what this legislation does, as well as reforms.
- 2+ pieces of LCMR which act as evidence to creates a solid analysis on the effectiveness of the dotpoint.

For your Human Rights notes, since it only consists of multiple choice questions and short answers there can be less emphasis on providing LCMR (this doesn't mean you should omit it altogether). Generally follow the steps as you would for the Business Studies/Economics note making route and you should be fine. There are certain dotpoint questions which scream out "high tier short answer" *ahem* Charter of Rights and contemporary issues *ahem* and in them make sure you provide enough information to cover an 8 mark question (even 10 for contemps since i've seen one with that much of a mark in trials)

For options, since there are no multiple choice/short answers there isn't too much need to cover it like in Business Studies/Economics, instead, information like this would be suffice.
- The definition of the concept and how it impacts said option.
- The legislation surrounding the concept and general knowledge on what this legislation does, as well as reforms (for options I can assure you that there a tonne of reforms you will need to cover).
- 3-4+ pieces of LCMR which act as evidence to creates a solid analysis on the effectiveness of the dotpoint. (since the marks are out of 25 you need at least this amount of LCMR to holistically analyse the dotpoints and answer the question to achieve A range marks)

Some would argue that you don't need to add the first subtopics of the options if you don't want to. (all questions asked in every HSC and trial paper for options hasn't directly covered this part of the syllabus, plus since there are two options on the odd chance if you are asked one which covers that subtopic, you can always choose the other one) If you don't feel lucky just cover it as well. By creating notes like this you will have creates and refined them to better answer extended responses questions while avoiding unnecessary information (therefore more efficient if you end up cramming)

(Note that this form of note taking is if you want to save as much time as possible. For the options, you can still make notes like you would for crime if you want a better general knowledge)

_________________________

I hope the above helps. Here are some links that may help people for Eco/Legal/Business in the senior years.

http://community.boredofstudies.org/22/economics/hsc-economics-study-exam-tips-317774.html

http://community.boredofstudies.org...succeed-syllabus-tips-help-advice-317782.html (Made by iJimmy :p )

http://community.boredofstudies.org...islation-cases-media-reports-lcmr-317818.html

http://community.boredofstudies.org...ss-studies-case-study-information-228940.html

Good luck :)
 
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dangerouss

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I can provide information for Legal, Business and Economics on this. (Mei I hope you don't mind hahah)

Business Studies and Economics:
Business Studies and Economics follow a common method in making notes. The bare basic steps to making notes for these subjects is to:
- Introduce the concept and elaborate upon it (provide enough information to cover an 3-4 mark question). During this time try to synthesis this information in your own words since it'll help in understanding the dotpoint rather than just rote learning it.
- Define all relevant terms (to cover the define questions as well as give you some base knowledge for extended responses)
- Cover relevant formula.
^ By just covering these you should already have enough knowledge to deal with Multiple Choice questions and low/mid tier short answer questions. Now after doing this it's time to exercise Social Science common sense. By seeing the dotpoints you should be able to have a general recognition on the limitations each dotpoint has. For example, there are some dotpoints where you can tell after going through the textbook and using your own reasoning that BoS can simply not ask a question beyond a mid tier short answer question for said dotpoints. These will be the dotpoints that you can generally leave at the form stated above. However, there are other dotpoints which can be potential high tier short answer questions and a significant part of extended responses. For these dotpoints, cover enough information so that you will be able to comfortably answer a high tier (5+ marks) short answer question). Also with these sections make sure to integrate case studies for Business Studies (It's actually a good idea to do this for mid tier short answer questions as well since nowadays they can ask for contemporary examples in short answer questions) and data and trends for Economics.

As I touched a bit on in the last sentence, the main difference between making Economics notes and Business Studies notes is your coverage of data and case studies. For Business Studies, in section IV it is essential that you integrate case studies into your response, so therefore it is essential that you also integrate case studies in your notes or make separate notes for case studies. More information on how to collect case study information can be found in this thread. http://community.boredofstudies.org...ss-studies-case-study-information-228940.html For Economics, in your extended responses there may be a need to integrate data and trends into your answers, so be sure to add them in your notes as well. This also includes specific policies that have been implemented by the Australian government over the years in order to achieve their economic objectives (a policies question has been asked nearly every year for the HSC for Eco). The other main difference is for Economics you will need to provide more of the "high tier" short answer question information since nearly every dotpoint can be a potential extended response while for Business you can generally be a bit more lax. (which is why Economics has consistently high scaling)

Legal Studies:
For prelims level it's safer to take a similar route as making notes for Business Studies/Eco, since there can be a large variation on how schools set their exams. For HSC level due to the structure of the exam there can be a specific way you make notes in order to save time. I think it's easier if I quickly outline the structure of the HSC exam.
Multiple Choice - 20 marks, consists of HR and Crime
Short answers - 15 marks, consists of HR
15 mark extended response - Crime
2 25 mark extended responses - options

Ok, so in order to maximise efficiency there can be certain ways you can structure your notes. The structuring of your Crime notes will be similar in the structuring of your Business Studies notes, however since there are no short answers you can general be more lax on dotpoints which will never be asked in extended responses (such as the first subtopic as an example). For the dotpoints where you believe there is a high possibility that you would use in an extended response here is the structure you should follow (on top of the information you already have to cover multiple choice level questions):
- The definition of the concept and how it impacts the criminal justice system.
- The legislation surrounding the concept and general knowledge on what this legislation does, as well as reforms.
- 2+ pieces of LCMR which act as evidence to creates a solid analysis on the effectiveness of the dotpoint.

For your Human Rights notes, since it only consists of multiple choice questions and short answers there can be less emphasis on providing LCMR (this doesn't mean you should omit it altogether). Generally follow the steps as you would for the Business Studies/Economics note making route and you should be fine. There are certain dotpoint questions which scream out "high tier short answer" *ahem* Charter of Rights and contemporary issues *ahem* and in them make sure you provide enough information to cover an 8 mark question (even 10 for contemps since i've seen one with that much of a mark in trials)

For options, since there are no multiple choice/short answers there isn't too much need to cover it like in Business Studies/Economics, instead, information like this would be suffice.
- The definition of the concept and how it impacts said option.
- The legislation surrounding the concept and general knowledge on what this legislation does, as well as reforms (for options I can assure you that there a tonne of reforms you will need to cover).
- 3-4+ pieces of LCMR which act as evidence to creates a solid analysis on the effectiveness of the dotpoint. (since the marks are out of 25 you need at least this amount of LCMR to holistically analyse the dotpoints and answer the question to achieve A range marks)

Some would argue that you don't need to add the first subtopics of the options if you don't want to. (all questions asked in every HSC and trial paper for options hasn't directly covered this part of the syllabus, plus since there are two options on the odd chance if you are asked one which covers that subtopic, you can always choose the other one) If you don't feel lucky just cover it as well. By creating notes like this you will have creates and refined them to better answer extended responses questions while avoiding unnecessary information (therefore more efficient if you end up cramming)

(Note that this form of note taking is if you want to save as much time as possible. For the options, you can still make notes like you would for crime if you want a better general knowledge)

_________________________

I hope the above helps. Here are some links that may help people for Eco/Legal/Business in the senior years.

http://community.boredofstudies.org/22/economics/hsc-economics-study-exam-tips-317774.html

http://community.boredofstudies.org...succeed-syllabus-tips-help-advice-317782.html (Made by iJimmy :p )

http://community.boredofstudies.org...islation-cases-media-reports-lcmr-317818.html

http://community.boredofstudies.org...ss-studies-case-study-information-228940.html

Good luck :)
So so helpful. Thanks examine


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk:

Preliminary HSC '14- Subjects: 2U Maths, Adv. English, Business Studies, Legal Studies,
Economics, Agriculture.

HSC '15- ATAR Goal: 90+
 

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Thank you so much Examine for contributing to my guide!-this is a shout out to other HSC graduates-if there is any study tips you could like to share or you have any tips on subjects not already covered in this guide-please feel free to contribute:)-it is through your contributions that can we make this guide the best that it can ever be!:)
 

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

Hi Mei, just want to say this guide is absolutely amazing! You're doing a huge service by using your time to help others. We need more people like you! All the best in your future endeavours :)
 

nerdasdasd

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Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr...

Everyone is so helpful here ^^, bah, so much has been said (I think my tips have already been covered).

Good work Mei for starting the initiative, and to everyone for posting!
 

strawberrye

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr...

Hi Mei, just want to say this guide is absolutely amazing! You're doing a huge service by using your time to help others. We need more people like you! All the best in your future endeavours :)
You are absolutely amazing yourself:)-all the best in your future endeavours as well-I am just a part of the countless individuals on BOS who have devoted their spare time to assisting others, I would not say my service as 'huge' but rather as 'a small part' to contributing to the usefulness and relevance of BOS forum posts to contemporary HSC/senior study concerns:) Please feel free to contribute if you felt I have missed anything-I am sure there are plenty of things that can be added to enhance this guide:)

Everyone is so helpful here ^^, bah, so much has been said (I think my tips have already been covered).

Good work Mei for starting the initiative, and to everyone for posting!
I am sure you will find some more tips to contribute:)-study methods are unique to everyone, and it is impossible to cover them all:) Thanks for the compliment, however, I need to give a shout out to Hawkrider who actually encouraged me to start a guide like this-so thank you Hawkrider!:)
 

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Re: Advice from a graduated HSC student on how to excel in senior year studies(yr 11/

this thread has all the questions of a prelim student answered in thorough detail and i can't believe Mei and everyone else contributing put in there time and dedication to help others, really appreciative and thankful. Also printed out all the posts by Strawberrye and Examine and stuck them on the wall. haha, thanks so much
 

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