year 11 HAST preparation / other selective schools ??? (1 Viewer)

[sachin_]

to those who joined a selective school in year 11 through HAST, how did you prepare for the exam? what are some free (or cheap) methods i can do to study / take a look into what HAST may be like this year?

in addition, are there any selective schools that have other methods to join in year 11 that aren't through HAST or edutest? if so, please let me know.

 

[laetaa26]

i've heard some people use ucat questions to practice for hast because they have some sections in common; abstract reasoning, verbal reasoning (reading), and quantitative reasoning (maths) iirc but i only really used it to practice for the abstract reasoning section. though be aware that the ucat has imo much harder questions compared to the hast and is extremely limiting when it comes to time. i personally used passmedicine bc it was free.

for writing some people who took the test in previous years shared what stimulus they got on here so try practicing with those or really any stimulus and get feedback from your teachers or family.

as for your other question, the only schools i can remember that don't use hast or edutest are partially selective like prairiewood and sefton which might not be what you're looking for. just make sure you have both good extracurriculars and academic achievements if you're going to try and get into a selective school without taking any tests.

also if you don't mind me asking, what schools are you aiming to get into? best of luck!! you have plenty of time to study so don't stress out too much

 

[jane1820]

to those who joined a selective school in year 11 through HAST, how did you prepare for the exam? what are some free (or cheap) methods i can do to study / take a look into what HAST may be like this year?

in addition, are there any selective schools that have other methods to join in year 11 that aren't through HAST or edutest? if so, please let me know.

U can try applying high partially selective schools through the selective process but u wont enter selective
Thats the only option if u dont want to do hast/edutest
some p.s that are top 120:
sefton, chatswood, parramatta and rose bay


edit: u cant apply yr 11 for parramatta high they dont accept

 

[hi_998]

cant rlly say much about hast but im moving to a new selective for yr 11 this year and it was through edutest. the striveforexcellence package helped me alot, thats pretty much all i did + keep up a good report + good relationship with my teachers (i made sure to participate in class and do many competiotns)

to those who joined a selective school in year 11 through HAST, how did you prepare for the exam? what are some free (or cheap) methods i can do to study / take a look into what HAST may be like this year?

in addition, are there any selective schools that have other methods to join in year 11 that aren't through HAST or edutest? if so, please let me know.

 

[jiajin213]

to those who joined a selective school in year 11 through HAST, how did you prepare for the exam? what are some free (or cheap) methods i can do to study / take a look into what HAST may be like this year?

in addition, are there any selective schools that have other methods to join in year 11 that aren't through HAST or edutest? if so, please let me know.

Okay so hast yk has abstract reasoning, maths + science, reading and writing
Abstract reasoning is easy. the only reason people get so bad is because its so easy (so like mistakes or literally one answer wrong will drop ur percentile down by a lot). Literally just doing like 10-20 questions a day for like 2 weeks will get u more than prepared. I recommend UCAT, although they are significantly harder and the style of their questions are different than the ones in HAST. Also, just searching up abstract reasonign questions online and doing those helps a lot. Write questions that you dont know down, and remember them. All abstract reasoning questions bascially follow a pattern of like size, colour, shape, number etc etc (SCANS). DONT stress on AR.

I know a lot of people say reading is the hardest (although this was my best performing one). Familiarise yourself with texts. Do year 6 selective school reading exams. ICAS READING COMPREHENSION!!!!!!!! Start reading books. BROADEN YOUR VOCABULARY!! Sometimes they'll ask u questions on like 'what is this text's tone' and then they present 4 complex words. its basically a guessing game if u dont know the meaning of them.

I found writing the hardest, because i did not practice writing. PLS PRACTICE WRITING. They will not force you to write a persuasive or discursive or imaginative, you will almost always have free choice on the style you write. SO PLS PRACTICE. When i did it, they gave me like a sentence, idk if they give you like amn image as a stimulus (pls lmk). Literally to practice this, just get a stimulus generator and write for 20 minutes. Then ask people for feedback. Easy. Refine to the feedback and you'll be fine. (BROADEN YOUR VOCAB I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH). Also read more. If you read more, you'll start to know how to write good and emulate techniques in books you've read into your own writing.

Math is math. Its like harder selective school math. I think icas has pretty good questions that are somewhat similar to hast. i genuinely dont remember what science questions were in it. I think there were circuit questions. U cant really practice for math in this case.

anyways i hope anyone reading this found this useful. i was writing this instead of studying . goodluck everyone

I got top15th percentile in 2023. i have a google drive that helped me. It has pretty hard abstract reasoning questions, 3 sample hast/acer/selective school entrance practice papers and a year 10 maths icas booklet. (theres other stuff on it that can help you too). I can sell the google drive to you for $20

 

[Shavi Masee]

U cant really practice for math in this case.

real it fcked me up so bad

 

[jiajin213]

real it fcked me up so bad

bro ikr and what makes it worse is when everyone says math is the easiest. math was NOT the easiest

 

[Shavi Masee]

bro ikr and what makes it worse is when everyone says math is the easiest. math was NOT the easiest

omg finally someone who gets me!

like math was my BEST subject at that time and it was the LOWEST i got out of all the tests T-T
And for some odd reasons i got so good at the writing part, like wtf it's my worst in school.

hast just wants to confuse me i swear

 

[Study to success]

omg finally someone who gets me!

like math was my BEST subject at that time and it was the LOWEST i got out of all the tests T-T
And for some odd reasons i got so good at the writing part, like wtf it's my worst in school.

hast just wants to confuse me i swear

This is kinda unrelated but I swear used to be good at English before and I used to suck at math but since I moved schools it’s being the opposite and now math is one of my better subjects and English is my worst. Idk I really hope my school is just making my marks seem way worse than they are cause I don’t understand how I used to be good at English all my life and now suddenly I suck.

 

[Shavi Masee]

This is kinda unrelated but I swear used to be good at English before and I used to suck at math but since I moved schools it’s being the opposite and now math is one of my better subjects and English is my worst. Idk I really hope my school is just making my marks seem way worse than they are cause I don’t understand how I used to be good at English all my life and now suddenly I suck.

woahhh!!!
math for me has always been
english is just, but have been seeing it go like this the last few months

 

[Study to success]

woahhh!!!
math for me has always been
english is just, but have been seeing it go like this the last few months

For me math is like but it’s getting worse because of my stupid teacher
English is like

But honestly this year I feel like I’m getting worse at everything

 

[Ilikedrivingbymycarandthe]

to those who joined a selective school in year 11 through HAST, how did you prepare for the exam? what are some free (or cheap) methods i can do to study / take a look into what HAST may be like this year?

in addition, are there any selective schools that have other methods to join in year 11 that aren't through HAST or edutest? if so, please let me know.

Most are HAST or Edutest from what I know- but I can assure they judge you more based of your grades rather than or HAST/Edutest score so don’t stress over it. I personally, practiced with year 6 selective school practice questions bc they’re pretty similar in their wonkey premise in the sense that the questions r more aimed to trick u rather than test ur skills

 

[jiajin213]

Most are HAST or Edutest from what I know- but I can assure they judge you more based of your grades rather than or HAST/Edutest score so don’t stress over it. I personally, practiced with year 6 selective school practice questions bc they’re pretty similar in their wonkey premise in the sense that the questions r more aimed to trick u rather than test ur skills

yeah this isnt true.
the hast exam is to select candidates. your grades and extracurriculars is what differentiates you from other candidates that have been selected. if you get a bad hast or edutest score then you're guaranteed to not make it in

 

[Ilikedrivingbymycarandthe]

yeah this isnt true.
the hast exam is to select candidates. your grades and extracurriculars is what differentiates you from other candidates that have been selected. if you get a bad hast or edutest score then you're guaranteed to not make it in

Not true. My friends and others applied to selectives last year. They ofc judge your hast/edu scores but prioritise your grades more especially if you’re applying into year 11. Because your hast/edu isn’t a reflection of getting a good atar which is what selectives want. Those who get better grades r more likely to be accepted than those with better scores but weaker grades—> ofc this depends on which school you’re applying too, as some are more competitive then others.

 

[jiajin213]

Not true. My friends and others applied to selectives last year. They ofc judge your hast/edu scores but prioritise your grades more especially if you’re applying into year 11. Because your hast/edu isn’t a reflection of getting a good atar which is what selectives want. Those who get better grades r more likely to be accepted than those with better scores but weaker grades—> ofc this depends on which school you’re applying too, as some are more competitive then others.

yeah but if you get a bad score you A HUNDRED PERCENT wont get chosen. grades dont really matter, unless your getting c's and d's. its the EC'S (higher rankign schools) and ur actual percentile is what they look for.
my friends tried out for syd girls with mixed grades of c's, b's, and a's, but with one superior you're basically 100% guaranteed an interview. 3 of my friends got one superior, and they all got an offer. I had another friend get all above averages + they're in enrichment class but no offer.

ur main priority is getting good in the hast/edutest. idk why ur telling people to not stress over it when its definitely the most important factor of a student being considered for a placement

 

[Ilikedrivingbymycarandthe]

yeah but if you get a bad score you A HUNDRED PERCENT wont get chosen. grades dont really matter, unless your getting c's and d's. its the EC'S (higher rankign schools) and ur actual percentile is what they look for.
my friends tried out for syd girls with mixed grades of c's, b's, and a's, but with one superior you're basically 100% guaranteed an interview. 3 of my friends got one superior, and they all got an offer. I had another friend get all above averages + they're in enrichment class but no offer.

ur main priority is getting good in the hast/edutest. idk why ur telling people to not stress over it when its definitely the most important factor of a student being considered for a placement

Well that applies to schools with the Edutest like Sydney girls, Baulkham, etc. I still stand with what I said, especially the HAST doesn’t matter when you’re applying to Y11, you can still do bad in it and get accepted. They judge based on grades more because a majority of ppl who apply honestly don’t have the best grades, and as I have said, it’s not a good indicator of getting a good atar/ actually performing well at the school. Unless you’re applying into year 8 or 9, there’s no reason to be scaring people over the HAST.

 

[jiajin213]

Well that applies to schools with the Edutest like Sydney girls, Baulkham, etc. I still stand with what I said, especially the HAST doesn’t matter when you’re applying to Y11, you can still do bad in it and get accepted. They judge based on grades more because a majority of ppl who apply honestly don’t have the best grades, and as I have said, it’s not a good indicator of getting a good atar/ actually performing well at the school. Unless you’re applying into year 8 or 9, there’s no reason to be scaring people over the HAST.

the hast doesnt matter in year 11? have you not seen how competitive it is to get into penrith or girra LOL? i have friends who tried out for hornsby and fortstreet, mind you they're all also in the enrichment class with good grades. didn't do well on the test and therefore did not get an offer let alone an interview. they're all so smart and for sure bound for 95+ atar, but its just like the selective entrance test in year 6, if u do bad in the exam then you have no other real way of making it in.

i'd rather be overly prepared than under prepared. its not hard to get an A, especially in non-selective schools. if you have two straight A candidates, one of them get top 20 percentile, the other got top 10, i'm sure everybody would pick the person who scored in the top 10 percentile. u literally cant rely just on the grades that you get in school. i don't mean to scare people, but i was once in their position and if someone gave me the advice that i was giving now, then i would probably be way more prepared than i was back then.

 

[Ilikedrivingbymycarandthe]

the hast doesnt matter in year 11? have you not seen how competitive it is to get into penrith or girra LOL? i have friends who tried out for hornsby and fortstreet, mind you they're all also in the enrichment class with good grades. didn't do well on the test and therefore did not get an offer let alone an interview. they're all so smart and for sure bound for 95+ atar, but its just like the selective entrance test in year 6, if u do bad in the exam then you have no other real way of making it in.

i'd rather be overly prepared than under prepared. its not hard to get an A, especially in non-selective schools. if you have two straight A candidates, one of them get top 20 percentile, the other got top 10, i'm sure everybody would pick the person who scored in the top 10 percentile. u literally cant rely just on the grades that you get in school. i don't mean to scare people, but i was once in their position and if someone gave me the advice that i was giving now, then i would probably be way more prepared than i was back then.

Hey woah, I never said there was anything wrong with over-preparing, it’s good, it’s just not something to OVERSTRESS/ PANIC about unless you’re applying to a top 10 selective as your grades should come before studying for the Hast. I’ve seen people who did bad on the Hast still get accepted into selective schools. Obviously if 2 people both get straight As, the schools will then look at the HAST scores to choose between the two, but like I said a majority of people aren’t getting straight As, and if multiple people from the same school r applying- they will compare applicants since many public schools give their students easy grades + selective schools like to accept applicants from a variety of different schools rather than the same 1 school. I get what you mean, as I was also in that position and got accepted to a good selective, but my grades + extracurriculars carried not my HAST ( I did pretty bad) and same for my friends, so unless you’re applying for a top selective I would still OVERPREPARE ( if possible) but not OVERSTRESS/ feel as if it’s the only thing selectives care about