this! i am a selective school student too, and I can honestly say that at least 95% of my year group gets tutoring for at least one subject. they'll always say, 'oh I have tutoring hw' or 'oh nah can't come coz I have tutoring'. it's really frustrating and annoying, definitely. I'm someone who has never had tutoring before, and I pretty much have work my butt off and understand concepts without turning to other external people for help etc. - and that does cost me time. but I've always said I will never get a tutor, I just don't believe in them. I'd rather put in that little bit of extra on my own.99.9 without tutoring.
Annoying because selective school, lots of people get tutoring. The people who got 99.95 had massive tutoring. I mean, one person had tutoring since year 1 and did the HSC courses through tutoring in year 11. If I did a little better in exams, I could've been the exception. Oh well.
congratulations to all those people out there who have achieved amazing atars without tutoring for any subjects! that is just amazing and fantastic! I'm sure it feels great.