impeding sense of doom (1 Viewer)

[!meeee!]

now is probably not the time to start to panic stressed02

 

[BlackJack]

You've done what you've done. Don't worry so much. I did 13u all in this year, but I knew which 3 aren't going to make it: both the Japanese subjects. So really I did them for fun and enjoyment of a new language.

 

[Bambul]

I did 15 units in year 12. That includes 3 unit Spanish which I did on Saturdays, plus I did 2u Agriculture in year 11.

I got 67 in ag (my worst mark) and was doing Spanish mainly to improve my Spanish and since it required very little of my time. It was a backup subject but when I put my marks through LazSeeker it turns out it got scaled down from 90 to low 70's so I counted Physics in which I got 79.

Actually, the reason I did all these subjects was because I enjoyed them all. The only subject I would have dropped was English, but apparently I couldn't do that.

It did give me peace of mind that I had plenty of backup in case I did not so well in one subject.

 

[Ultimate]

I did 14 units in total for the HSC. Completed 2 unit business studies in year 10 and got into the top band, and completed 3 unit maths in yr 11 and got into the top band. The only subject I screwed this year was IPT. It was a shocker, probably go close to failing it lol

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by Ultimate
I did 14 units in total for the HSC. Completed 2 unit business studies in year 10 and got into the top band, and completed 3 unit maths in yr 11 and got into the top band. The only subject I screwed this year was IPT. It was a shocker, probably go close to failing it lol

as long as it doesnt count, all is well ...

 

[Ultimate]

Yeah IPT foor me certainly won't count. Its all good

 

[Mr Wiggle]

Originally posted by Bambul
I did 15 units in year 12. That includes 3 unit Spanish which I did on Saturdays, plus I did 2u Agriculture in year 11.

I got 67 in ag (my worst mark) and was doing Spanish mainly to improve my Spanish and since it required very little of my time. It was a backup subject but when I put my marks through LazSeeker it turns out it got scaled down from 90 to low 70's so I counted Physics in which I got 79.

Actually, the reason I did all these subjects was because I enjoyed them all. The only subject I would have dropped was English, but apparently I couldn't do that.

It did give me peace of mind that I had plenty of backup in case I did not so well in one subject.

yo bambul i heard in a thread somewhere u got a UAI of 99.95 and came first in drama or something but if u hate english wouldn't u have 2 at least get band 6 in english 2 get that UAI or first in da state ??

 

[Bambul]

Originally posted by da_best
yo bambul i heard in a thread somewhere u got a UAI of 99.95 and came first in drama or something but if u hate english wouldn't u have 2 at least get band 6 in english 2 get that UAI or first in da state ??

I didn't get 99.95 (I got 97.45) and I didn't do drama. The guy who came 1st in drama in the state is a friend of mine called Steven Dzjedziks (it took me ages to get the pronounciation right, but I have no idea how to spell his surname, it's Polish I think). He got 99.95 without any maths or science subjects. He did 4u English and 5u worth of history.

I didn't top any subjects though, not in the state or in my school. My best was equal 4th in Economics in my trial and somewhere in the top 20 (guessing from the graph I got) in the state for 2 unit Spanish, but there were only 207 people doing it.

 

[Ultimate]

if you want to get close to UAI of 100 you have to score highly in the top band for each subject

 

[Mr Wiggle]

Originally posted by Bambul


I didn't get 99.95 (I got 97.45) and I didn't do drama. The guy who came 1st in drama in the state is a friend of mine called Steven Dzjedziks (it took me ages to get the pronounciation right, but I have no idea how to spell his surname, it's Polish I think). He got 99.95 without any maths or science subjects. He did 4u English and 5u worth of history.

I didn't top any subjects though, not in the state or in my school. My best was equal 4th in Economics in my trial and somewhere in the top 20 (guessing from the graph I got) in the state for 2 unit Spanish, but there were only 207 people doing it.

thanks for clearing that up i thought u were that steven that came first in drama.

that UAI u got is very low compared 2 da other people in james ruse (that is u went 2 james ruse) cause i visited da james ruse website a few weeks back (i was bored had nothing 2 do) and they said that da average UAI of every student was above 99.

 

[Bambul]

Yeah, academically I was a below average James Ruse student. I was good at maths (I did 4u) and economics, but 6 units isn't enough to get 99+. The median UAI was above 99, I think it was 99.3 but I'm not sure. It keeps going up every year, when I was in year 7 the median TER was 97.

I barely made it into Ruse in year 6 (I got accepted a few days after we sent the letter to BoS saying I was accepting Baulko as my high school, since if I didn't my place would be given to someone else). If I had to sit the selective schools test in todays environment there'd be no way that I would have made it in.

It's a really cut-throat thing. Parents know that if they can get their kids into Ruse then they'll be with the top students in the state and many of the best teachers in the state, so they'll do just about anything to get them in. If I had kids, I'd probably do the same.

 

[Mr Wiggle]

i heard that 2 get accepted in 2 james ruse u have 2 get tutoring in yr 5 and 6 for the selective test.

i had a economics teacher who said that he uesd 2 teach at james ruse and i ask him how they all got 99 or 100 in each subject and he just said they did all their homework and nothing else.
so how hard does a normal james ruse student study each day ??

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by da_best
i heard that 2 get accepted in 2 james ruse u have 2 get tutoring in yr 5 and 6 for the selective test.

well it makes life alot easier considering i would be damn hard to get into jr in the first place ... im just guessin

 

[-=«MÄLÅÇhïtÊ»=-]

ino lots of ppl who start gettign tutored in yr 3 and still cant get into a selective skool.
the real solution is to send ur child to a developing country, or some other nation in Asia, bring them back in yr5, teach them 2 yrs of english and u've got 1 smart mofo.
But by the time he gets to the HSC, some guy who arrive here in yr9 is gonna whoop his ass.

 

[Bambul]

But, to get into James Ruse, you have to sit two tests. The first test my sister sat, and she got into a local selective school. But, if she wanted to go to James Ruse, she would have had to sit another test. I think my sister would be in at Ruse, because she places in the top 20 of her school. And she had no tutoring at all. She only sat an IQ test that my parents wanted to her to sit, to see if she really was smart enough to go to a selective school.

I'm not sure if the selective schools test has changed since I did it (I don't think it has), but I'll tell you everything I know.

When I sat the test you had to do a maths, English and general skills test. They were all multiple choice and few people got around to finishing. You put up to 4 preferences for selective schools numbered 1-4. Once the results came in, each school would look at all the students who put them down as their first preference and offer a place to the ones with the higest scores. Once all the first preferences were handed out, the schools and students would move onto second preferences and do the same, then 3rd and 4th. Some students would be put on reserve lists (like me, I was reserve for James Ruse), but could also make it onto their next preference simultaneously (like me again, I made it into Baulko and was later accepted into Ruse).

The system is the same for all selective schools for their year 7 entrants. There be a few exceptions that I'm not aware of (possibly boarding school students or disabled students - I know Baulko has "special education" students).

i heard that 2 get accepted in 2 james ruse u have 2 get tutoring in yr 5 and 6 for the selective test.

Pretty much. You can't get into James Ruse if you're not smart. Everyone I knew at Ruse was either really smart, hard working or had a big potential that they didn't fully utilise. You can't tutor a "dumb kid" to get into Ruse, it is almost impossible. But even if you're smart, that's not enough most of the time. You have to get tutored, to understand the style of questions, to get practice at similar exams, to get your timing right, etc. And you have to do this because 95% of the successful kids who make it will be doing it and you're at a disadvantage if you don't

Anacedote time (skip if you want): There were 8 or 9 people (forget the exact number) from my primary school who made it into James Ruse (it was an OC). The guy who got dux wasn't one of them. His name was James and he was really, really smart. He was so brilliant that his parents were just going to put down James Ruse as preference number one and nothing else, because they were so sure that he would make it in so easily. My teacher pleaded with them to put down a second preference "just in case" (she suggested Baulkham Hills, which they did). He didn't make it into James Ruse and ended up at Baulkham Hills for high school. He did 4 unit maths accelerated in year 11 and got a UAI of 99.95. *But* he never got tutored for the selective schools test, whereas I did. I got into James Ruse and he didn't.

I remember walking out of the examand thinking "wow, I missed a lot of questions, that really going to cost me". I saw James and asked him how he went, how many questions he missed. He replied about 18. I had missed about 10.

He is now off at USyd doing an Advanced Science degree, happily no doubt. Sometimes I think to myself, I made it into James RUse, whilst people who really deserved to make it in, like James, missed out.

i had a economics teacher who said that he uesd 2 teach at james ruse and i ask him how they all got 99 or 100 in each subject and he just said they did all their homework and nothing else.

There's no one single reason. There a a number of reasons why the results are so high:

1. All the students have the capacity to achieve very high marks. You just can't get into Ruse if you don't.

2. The school has good teachers. Most teachers would want to teach at a school like James Ruse, the students don't give you much trouble, they are there to learn and do well, etc.

3. The learning environment really facilitates better learning. Primarily due to the previous 2 reasons, ie. good students and good teachers.

4. The students do a lot of work. This means doing all of their homework (most of them, I wasn't one of them, I did most of my homework - ie. everything except for English ) aswell as getting tutored. Some students don't get tutored, some in just one area (like me, I got tutored in maths), and some do it for just about everything (English, maths, chemistry, physics, etc). I had some really smart friends who didn't get tutored and did really well (one got 100 in 3u and 4u maths for his HSC).

5. And I put this one last for a reason - scaling. The main effect here is giving you the benefit of the doubt. If you stuff something up and you are in a school where everyone else does well, their marks will act to cushion the effect. In theory this shouldn't happen, but it does have an (arguably minor) effect.

But primarily, most of the students put in a lot of work and have the capacity to do well. If you throw a mediocre stundent into James Ruse in year 7, they may do better due to the better learning environment, or they may do worse because they can't keep up with the pace.

I think that is an adequate responce.

 

[-=«MÄLÅÇhïtÊ»=-]

nah Bon, u only need to sit for 1 entry exam to get into any selective high.

But for james ruse (and baulko), to get into yr11, they usually offer 30 spaces where u apply by showing them ur reports and past HDs etc. Dun need need to sit for entry exam. But thats only for yr11 entry.