Rose Bay Secondary College vs Fort Street High School (1 Viewer)

[Jacack23]

Hey there, I am completely new to the 'bored of studies' community so please take it easy on me.

I recently applied for entrance into Fort Street High School and I was super optimistic that I would get in. I ranked
within top 3 for almost all my subjects, I thought I did alright (Not super well but still good) on the HAST exam, and
I participated in a bunch of extracurriculars which I could slap onto my application to boost my chances. Despite this,
Interviews for round 1 and round 2 of the selection process have ended and I'm basically waiting to get the rejection
letter in the mail, and have accepted that I will be graduating from my current school Rose Bay Secondary College.
My question is: What exactly are the differences between a fully selective school such as Fort Street and RBSC?
To what extent are the teachers better at Fort Street, to what extent are the kids there smarter, etc. and finally, can
I still do as well in the HSC while going to a pretty mediocre if not below average high school compared to if I had
gone to Fort Street? Of course I'll have to work harder at Rose Bay, but is it possible to achieve the similar results
in the HSC.

Thanks

Note: Any responses from people attending Fort Street, or who have graduated from Rose Bay Secondary College
would be especially appreciated.

 

[Jolteon]

Hi!

I actually attended RBSC during my junior years of high school before switching to a full but lower tier selective school for my senior years.

What I can say for sure is that the environment in a full selective high school is a lot more competitive and studious in general. This is more dependent on the students rather teaching material and teachers. Students are less likely to be browsing online or playing on their phones during class and a lot more grounded / less rowdy during class. They're also more likely to buckle down during exam season and go out a little less than usual during exam period. Studying in the library between classes and after school becomes the norm and overall, there is more motivation to do well.

There are obviously pros and cons to this environment - you either break from the pressure and competition or you use it as a healthy motivation to do well. In my case, I preferred this a lot more - I liked how people took their future a lot more seriously. Most students aimed to enter into a top university (a small handful still chose different paths tho) so there was a common goal for everyone and there was a lot of cooperation and collaboration towards the end of the year to raise our grades.

Don't get me wrong, my friends from Rose bay still attend uni with me and do the same course so ultimately, it doesn't matter too much but don't forget that the ability of your cohort affects your HSC marks too. Basically, to to do well at RBSC, you probably need to strive for top 3 to ensure that nobody else's marks pull yours down and that you essentially carry yourself. At a top tier selective hs such as fort street, you can probably get away with coming top 30 and still do well since marks don't vary as much and (usually), majority of your cohort performs well.

TLDR: You can still achieve the same HSC results - but more effort is probably required if you stay at Rose bay.

You can PM me for more info regarding this

 

[Jacack23]

Hi!

I actually attended RBSC during my junior years of high school before switching to a full but lower tier selective school for my senior years.

What I can say for sure is that the environment in a full selective high school is a lot more competitive and studious in general. This is more dependent on the students rather teaching material and teachers. Students are less likely to be browsing online or playing on their phones during class and a lot more grounded / less rowdy during class. They're also more likely to buckle down during exam season and go out a little less than usual during exam period. Studying in the library between classes and after school becomes the norm and overall, there is more motivation to do well.

There are obviously pros and cons to this environment - you either break from the pressure and competition or you use it as a healthy motivation to do well. In my case, I preferred this a lot more - I liked how people took their future a lot more seriously. Most students aimed to enter into a top university (a small handful still chose different paths tho) so there was a common goal for everyone and there was a lot of cooperation and collaboration towards the end of the year to raise our grades.

Don't get me wrong, my friends from Rose bay still attend uni with me and do the same course so ultimately, it doesn't matter too much but don't forget that the ability of your cohort affects your HSC marks too. Basically, to to do well at RBSC, you probably need to strive for top 3 to ensure that nobody else's marks pull yours down and that you essentially carry yourself. At a top tier selective hs such as fort street, you can probably get away with coming top 30 and still do well since marks don't vary as much and (usually), majority of your cohort performs well.

TLDR: You can still achieve the same HSC results - but more effort is probably required if you stay at Rose bay.

You can PM me for more info regarding this

Cool, thanks so much for responding. That basically answers my question

 

[Jolteon]

I'm not too sure what year you're in but you mentioned you're top 3 for all your subjects. If you continue to maintain top 3 in Y12, I'm almost certain you're doing better than an average top tier selective school student and you'll probably get a very good ATAR.

In any case, once you enter senior year, your cohort (no matter what high school) will settle down and study harder so don't worry too much and enjoy goodluck !