hsc distinction courses (1 Viewer)

[:: ck ::]

hey any1 done the hsc distinction courses

if anyone has completed either cosm or phil. plz tell me if it is worthwhile and interesting?

i only found out about the course a few weeks ago and was wondering if either cosmology or philosophy is a good course to do (if i am applicable hehe)

even though i wouldnt be able to apply until end of year

still wouldnt mind gettin a bit of feedback from past hsc ppl who have completed it

 

[MiuMiu]

are you excelerated?

 

[Lazarus]

I did philosophy, and I know there are a few others floating around on this forum who did cosmology.

It was extremely worthwhile, and extremely interesting. :gridnod:

Check out www.distinction.nsw.edu.au

 

[anti]

It requires you accelerating at least one (can you accelerate more?) course in year 11.

James, that smiley is scary. :gridnod:

 

[Twintip]

I'm doing Philo now (hi Laz ). Looks interesting so far and has the smallest workload of the 3 courses by far (or so it seems at this stage).

Yeah, you can accerate as many units as you like. There is a guy doing philo who's already accelerated 13 (4u English in year 10 and 4u maths, 3u music and chem last year, already eligible for a UAI). I only did 2 units, Geography, so I feel like one of the dumbest people there.

 

[:: ck ::]

cool cool
thx~

 

[MiKeY]

Originally posted by :: ryan.cck ::
hey any1 done the hsc distinction courses

if anyone has completed either cosm or phil. plz tell me if it is worthwhile and interesting?

i only found out about the course a few weeks ago and was wondering if either cosmology or philosophy is a good course to do (if i am applicable hehe)

even though i wouldnt be able to apply until end of year

still wouldnt mind gettin a bit of feedback from past hsc ppl who have completed it

Heya!
I'm doing Cosmology this year.

So far it's been pretty good. There is *alot* of work in this course. Alot of reading, and 6 assignments, 2 exams, and one *very* major assignment at the end. But it is worth it - you learn lots and the stuff is very interesting.

You also get to go on a 5 day residential.. (speaking of which, I should start packing soon.. it's tomorrow)

If you're in a position of deciding now whether to accelerate - accelerate. They are awesome courses and great fun.. as well as the scaling being *great*..

So yeh - my best friend is doing Philosophy and she's loving it. I'm doing Cosmology and loving it..
So go for it..

Good luck..

 

[t-i-m-m-y]

how do the distinction courses work? how are they assessed? i'm curious

 

[MiKeY]

Originally posted by t-i-m-m-y
how do the distinction courses work? how are they assessed? i'm curious

Well.. after having done a HSC course before you're actually in Year 12 (accelerated) then you apply for entry into the course.

You need good results in the HSC course and overall good marks, and a recommendation from your principal.

If you're accepted - you get sent the course in the mail. And from then on you start the work.
The website lets you talk to fellow class mates - so you're never alone and there's always help when you need it.

I can only answer how we're assessed in Cosmology...

We have to do 6 assignments in the year - 3 are assessible, the other 3 aren't and act as a 'test assignment' to see how you're going and to get feedback etc.
The first assignment is HSC style questions - but the others are all essay/extended response questions ranging from 1000-2000 words.

There are 2 HSC exams aswell. You sit them at your school.

And .. on top of this is a ~10000 word assignment on a particular topic/feature/phenomena that you pick. You have 3 (or 2, don't remember) months to work on it.. so you have time etc. It's worth 30% of your total mark.

You get graded like university students.. with P(ass), C(redit), D(istinction) and HD (high distinction).

So there you have it... anything else just ask.

 

[Twintip]

As with all Distinction courses, Philosophy is a lot simpler when it comes to scaling because all assessments are marked by the same people for everyone in the state doing it (50 or so of us).

Here is my Philosophy Assessment Schedule. You will notice that the 'exam' is actually earlier on in the year than the HSC exams and my last assessment (an essay) is due in a couple of weeks before the other HSC exams start, so in that way it's awesome!

Assignment 1: Academic Essay - 750 words. Due: 22/02/2003 (5%)
Assignment 2: Academic Essay - 750 words. Due: 29/03/2003 (5%)
Assignment 3: Academic Essay - 750 words. Due: 17/05/2003 (5%)
Exam: Written Examination - 2 hours. Due: 20/06/2003 (40%)
Assignment 5: Academic Essay - Unspecified length. Due: 27/07/2003 (5%)
Assignment 6: Academic Essay - 1500-2000 words. Due: 16/08/2003 (20%)
Assignment 7: Academic Essay - 1500-2000 words. Due: 11/10/2003 (20%)

So as you can see, it's pretty different to 'normal' HSC courses. Those are the only assessed things we have to do for the whole year. Another benefit is that we had no coursework to do in the Christmas holidays (Cosmo and Comp. Lit. had HEAPS). We actually don't start work until the first residential which is this weekend (only 2 days, at UNSW).

As far as the scaling of each subject goes, we were given a brief run-down on the comparative scaling of each subject on the info day. Philosophy had an average scaled up to just over 42/50, Cosmology had an average scaled up to just under 42/50 (so the scaling was very similar). Comparative Literature had it's averaged scaled up to just under 37/50. As you can see, this is nuts, but of course you only benefit if you do well. As a comparison, Physics and Chemistry scaled to about 32/50 and Extension 2 Mathematics scaled to about 43/50. Can't remember any others, sorry (Adv. English was in the low 30's too).

This year there are 50 people doing Philo, just under 40 doing Cosmo and only 8 doing Comp. Lit. You have to do well to get in, but not awesome. I got 88 in Geog and got in. They actually do take a lot of notice of your school report though. Mine was good. I had a friend who got 94 in IPT but didn't get into Philo because he purposely failed Chemistry last year because he was going to drop it. So yeah, make sure your school report is good!

 

[Weisy]

cosmology class of '02. Do it, it's great.