People who got >90 in subjects: how did you study? (2 Viewers)

[spice girl]

hell no,

i mean i know a lot of ppl that didn't need to work as hard...

work varies with people, and i know a chronic bludger who i reckon was smart enough to get 99+ if he bothered but he didn't, but other than that extreme I also know a lot of people who i reckon didn't need to work as hard to get above 99+

 

[InfiniteQ]

Originally posted by spice girl
hell no,

i mean i know a lot of ppl that didn't...

Well that's really what I mean... I'm not thinking about individual standards of "hard work" but there is a point where *something* is considered hard work isn't there?
drolle says that it is possible for anything to be relatively easy. I disagree... work has to be put in to get out.

 

[spice girl]

i knew this guy, who's a good friend of mine, who seriously believed that work was the only thing that he needed to do to get good marks. So he did (like to the extreme of 6+ hours), but there were subjects that he still screwed up, because he wasn't studying properly (he didn't do a single past paper).

I guess work is needed to get yourself to perform at your full potential, but there are other things you can do to increase that potential.

 

[InfiniteQ]

Originally posted by spice girl
i knew this guy, who's a good friend of mine, who seriously believed that work was the only thing that he needed to do to get good marks. So he did (like to the extreme of 6+ hours), but there were subjects that he still screwed up, because he wasn't studying properly (he didn't do a single past paper).

I guess work is needed to get yourself to perform at your full potential, but there are other things you can do to increase that potential.

Hmmm like what things? I want to know so I can be *smart* about doing the HSC. At the moment I feel really guilty because I was supposed to do 2 hrs of maths a day to study for my 4u assessment and I've probably only done 1 in the past week.

Cheh the bit I quoted was the only bit I saw of your post until just then... wonder whats up with the boards. Twice it's done this to me.

 

[drolle]

Originally posted by InfiniteQ

drolle says that it is possible for anything to be relatively easy. I disagree... work has to be put in to get out.

I guess the problem here is that we have different ideas of what we mean by "work" and "easy". For me, I used to do maths problems all the time, and still do, because I find them fun and stimulating, and that was basically my only study for maths. For some people, doing the stuff I did would have been "work", for me it was what I wanted to do anyway, and it was "easy".

So I'm not saying you can do nothing all year and expect to get high marks by any means, I'm just saying there's no reason you have to "push" or "force" yourself -- just find what you enjoy doing and nurture that enjoyment until it motivates you sufficiently! This only failed for me

Also, someone said you can't get in the top 1% without doing work. I worked for my HSC, and didn't get into the top 1%; but conversely I've achieved in the top 1% in compititions quite a few times (including 1st in NSW in the Aust. Science Comp this year), without doing any preparation work. You can't make blanket statements about these kinds of things.

I know what your saying about feeling guilty about not studying -- that was a constant thing for me because everyone is constantly saying STUDY STUDY STUDY and I didn't think I was doing enough. Well having a balanced lifestyle is more important than the amount of study you do, esp. for 4u, because it keeps your brain fresh and you can think of things on the spot. In 4u, you either have to have done A LOT of practice so you're familiar with all the questions they could ask, or be able to adapt really well to new stuff (I prefer the latter, because it serves you well later in life as well).

So instead of studying by practicing the same type of questions over and over, I find new problems, often not really related to the syllabus, that will stretch my mind. I really only did this because it was more interesting to me, but in hindsight I see that it was extremly helpful (this ability to adapt I found especially useful for the UNSW maths comp, which I forgot to enter this year, grrrrr I'm so absent minded sometimes!)

 

[spice girl]

What things? Depends which subject you mean.

For the sciences, understanding and remembering may not be enough. You'll prolly want to write model answers to common questions, which involves going thru past trial papers and doing them.

For 4umaths, once you've solved a hard problem, go look for another way to solve it. have fun!

Especially for 4umaths, don't waste your time doing easy problems (unless you can't do them at all). Look for hard problems all the time. The only skill really is to recognise which problems are hard and which ones are not, which comes from experience.

Seriously, the more ways you can find to do a problem, the more prepared you are.

Cheers,

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by drolle


I definitely disagree with this, my motto in life is that it's possible for everything to be easy, and so far I've found nothing to dispute it.

You can only say what works for you or people you've talked to, and you can't even ever really know exactly what it was that gave you those extra marks. But I do know that what you've said is not true for me -- you DON'T have to work your ass off, so there are probably other people who it's not true for either.

It's statements like yours that caused me to doubt my own way of learning and studying, which made it harder for me, when in reality the only thing I was doing wrong was not trusting myself enough!

if you can get 99+ for your uai without putting in alot of effort and just taking it easy ... then you have nothing to worry about ... if you'll settle for 90+ as good then taking it easy is fine ...

btw ... my post above (just like many other people's posts) are their own personal opinion ... this is not holy rite ... of course some people will disagree ... which is why people can reply in a forum such as this ...

i would really like to see someone get 99+ for there uai who just took it easy ... people right at the top put effort and ran the hard yards ...

 

[flyin']

by working hard, i mean you consistently work throughout the year (even if its just for two (maybe three) hours a night) ... i do not mean working for 4 hours or more per night ...

if you can get 99+ without hard work, then you are a bloody genius ... but what im refering to in general is to average person who will have to work if he/she wants good marks ...

 

[drolle]

Originally posted by flyin'

btw ... my post above (just like many other people's posts) are their own personal opinion ... this is not holy rite ... of course some people will disagree ... which is why people can reply in a forum such as this ...

Yes you're right, I didn't mean to sound as harsh as I did. The people who read the posts are responsible for what they make of it, it's up to everyone to use their own judgement.

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by drolle


Yes you're right, I didn't mean to sound as harsh as I did. The people who read the posts are responsible for what they make of it, it's up to everyone to use their own judgement.

yeah ... then everyone's happy ...

 

[InfiniteQ]

Originally posted by drolle


Yes you're right, I didn't mean to sound as harsh as I did. The people who read the posts are responsible for what they make of it, it's up to everyone to use their own judgement.

I suppose it came out wrong because of the use of the word "easy".

 

[BlackJack]

Originally posted by drolle

Also, someone said you can't get in the top 1% without doing work. I worked for my HSC, and didn't get into the top 1%; but conversely I've achieved in the top 1% in compititions quite a few times (including 1st in NSW in the Aust. Science Comp this year), without doing any preparation work. You can't make blanket statements about these kinds of things.

This year's science comp was crazy, you only needed 42/45 to top the state. We had two, and my friend was absolutely stoked to see himself topping the state. Me, not so.

The tips have probably all been said here already, so just follow them...

 

[drolle]

Originally posted by BlackJack


This year's science comp was crazy, you only needed 42/45 to top the state. We had two, and my friend was absolutely stoked to see himself topping the state. Me, not so.

yeah I got a 42 as well (2 qns wrong from being an idiot, 1 from running out of time), but I've been trying unsuccessfully for the last few months to find out how many people I tied with! Does anybody know?

sorry for clogging up the thread with more topics, but I'm really curious!

 

[Mambomeg]

I got merit Listed for IPT which is just a joke, because that is the subject I did the least work in. Meanwhile, Physics, Chem, Maths and English were the subjects I worked hardest in and I didnt do as well. So what does that tell you?

 

[flyin']

Originally posted by Mambomeg
I got merit Listed for IPT which is just a joke, because that is the subject I did the least work in. Meanwhile, Physics, Chem, Maths and English were the subjects I worked hardest in and I didnt do as well. So what does that tell you?

that the board of studies/*experienced teachers*/markers who decided the band cut off are a joke ...

 

[BlackJack]

Originally posted by drolle


yeah I got a 42 as well (2 qns wrong from being an idiot, 1 from running out of time), but I've been trying unsuccessfully for the last few months to find out how many people I tied with! Does anybody know?

sorry for clogging up the thread with more topics, but I'm really curious!

You might try emailing info@etc.unsw.edu.au if you haven't already done so... they don't have it on the etc site.

I'm an idiot on all three counts. Guilty as charged.
---
Means smart people don't bother with IPT (or can't because elite schools don't necessarily encourage them to do these), but are all clustered in the main subjects. Our school didn't offer it.

 

[drolle]

ok thanks I haven't tried emailing them.

Back on topic, I finally worked out how come I seem to do well in maths without studying: It's because I actually do quite a lot of study, I just don't think of it that way.

Instead of reading textbooks or doing past exams, I tend to spend my spare time working on problems such as the one I posted in the maths extension 2 forum, or trying to predict the stockmarket (yes it does work, or at least it would if the program I wrote wasn't so buggy). While these things aren't exactly part of the syllabus, they helped me exercise my maths ability a lot, and especially helped me with solving problems I hadn't seen before (which happens a lot given my lack of formal study). And the best part is, I do it because it's fun!

So my conclusion is that if you want good marks you have to work for them, but that work can take many forms and doesn't necessarily have to be some thing you have to force yourself to do.

 

[InfiniteQ]

Originally posted by drolle
ok thanks I haven't tried emailing them.

Back on topic, I finally worked out how come I seem to do well in maths without studying: It's because I actually do quite a lot of study, I just don't think of it that way.

Instead of reading textbooks or doing past exams, I tend to spend my spare time working on problems such as the one I posted in the maths extension 2 forum, or trying to predict the stockmarket (yes it does work, or at least it would if the program I wrote wasn't so buggy). While these things aren't exactly part of the syllabus, they helped me exercise my maths ability a lot, and especially helped me with solving problems I hadn't seen before (which happens a lot given my lack of formal study). And the best part is, I do it because it's fun!

So my conclusion is that if you want good marks you have to work for them, but that work can take many forms and doesn't necessarily have to be some thing you have to force yourself to do.

I dunno... people are saying different things. I remember spice girl saying something about a friend of hers who studied 6+ hours everyday but didn't really get anywhere because he didn't do the past papers etc... effective study that's what we were talking about.

 

[drolle]

Originally posted by InfiniteQ


I dunno... people are saying different things. I remember spice girl saying something about a friend of hers who studied 6+ hours everyday but didn't really get anywhere because he didn't do the past papers etc... effective study that's what we were talking about.

I can't speak for anyone else but I can verify that it was extremely effective for me.

And even if it's not as effective a study technique when your aim is just to get good marks, I'm more concerned about giving myself skills that will help me later on.

 

[Ultimate]

Originally posted by drolle


I can't speak for anyone else but I can verify that it was extremely effective for me.

And even if it's not as effective a study technique when your aim is just to get good marks, I'm more concerned about giving myself skills that will help me later on.

I agree with you drolle, what I was most concerned with (apart from the HSC) was making sure I could work independently and attain skills that will ultimately help me at Uni.