ATAR aim? (1 Viewer)

[D4rkfang]

I have no idea at the moment what I want to do after I finish school, what ATAR should I aim for? I've been very laid back this year and I want to try to do well for years 11 and 12. Subjects I'm doing are maths ext1, eng standard (not sure if I should move do advanced, should I?), economics, physics, chemistry and software design and development. I kind of like those subjects but aren't very good at them being honest.

I want to go to university like UNSW as it is relatively close and is a good university.

Please give me suggestions ^^

 

[TheCardician]

Your ATAR aim would depend on what field you want to study at university. Eg. if you want to do medicine, you'll need to aim for at least 98-99, or if you want to do Engineering aim for at least 92-93, as the cut-offs can vary each year depending on the demand for a particular uni. UNSW is an ideal choice for engineering, and at the moment the cut-off is 91.15, because the demand is pretty high, and is likely to increase in future.
But regardless of what you want to do, just aim for the highest you can get - 99.95.

 

[findx]

It really depends on what course you want to do in university

 

[D4rkfang]

Hmm, the thing is I'm not sure what course I want to do yet. So I should go for the max atar?

 

[enoilgam]

Pick the course then derive your ATAR aim from that - it is much easier to be motivated when you have a clear goal. You should aim to get out of standard as fast as possible, it is the worst HSC subject there is due to its horrid aligning.

 

[dest]

99.95 baby

 

[D4rkfang]

My teachers said that if I loved english to choose advanced, I don't really love it being honest. How does standard compare with advanced what are the differences? how is it beneficial to choose advanced?

 

[ducksonquack]

Advanced will also help you in uni with essays etc... It's good preparation, well that's what the teachers said anyway.

 

[D4rkfang]

this year is it true that standard scaled higher than advanced?

 

[enoilgam]

this year is it true that standard scaled higher than advanced?

Advanced scales equal to standard, however it aligns differently. In 2010, less than 5% of standard students got a band 5 with only 64 out of 32,000 getting a band 6. In comparison, 13% of advanced students got a band 6 with a further 40% getting in the 80's (source: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ebos/static/BDHSC_2010_12.php). Also, standard isnt that much easier than advanced, meaning both prepare you similar for university. In saying that, HSC english doesnt really help you much at university, so its more correct to say that they are both equally useless when it comes to uni prep (my law and business lecturers routinely bag HSC english for failing to prep students for academic writing).

 

[ducksonquack]

Advanced scales equal to standard, however it aligns differently. In 2010, less than 5% of standard students got a band 5 with only 64 out of 32,000 getting a band 6. In comparison, 13% of advanced students got a band 6 with a further 40% getting in the 80's (source: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ebos/static/BDHSC_2010_12.php). Also, standard isnt that much easier than advanced, meaning both prepare you similar for university. In saying that, HSC english doesnt really help you much at university, so its more correct to say that they are both equally useless when it comes to uni prep (my law and business lecturers routinely bag HSC english for failing to prep students for academic writing).

Well, that sucks :l I guess my teachers were wrong :/ Thinking of changing to standard now..

 

[enoilgam]

Well, that sucks :l I guess my teachers were wrong :/ Thinking of changing to standard now..

Stay in advanced, standard aligns horribly compared to advanced.

 

[big_bang344]

Wait, even though English Advanced aligns better, does that really affect your ATAR at all? Does it give a better boost to your ATAR or does tha ligning just make your marks look better because i get a higher score?

 

[enoilgam]

Wait, even though English Advanced aligns better, does that really affect your ATAR at all? Does it give a better boost to your ATAR or does tha ligning just make your marks look better because i get a higher score?

It does affect your ATAR because it affects the final marks. Yes, 90 in advanced scales the same as 90 in standard, but it is significantly easier to get 90 in advanced as opposed to standard due to aligning.

 

[D4rkfang]

I don't really understand the aligning, so advanced is a bit harder but you get a higher ATAR with the same marks? please dumb this down for me ^^

 

[RealiseNothing]

0.2% of the state got a band 6 in standard last year, 13% got a band 6 in advanced.

Less than 5% got a band 5 in standard, something like 40% got a band 5 in advanced.

Stats speak for themselves.

 

[D4rkfang]

ahh, but aren't people who do advanced smarter than those who do standard? should I move to advanced? I did decent in my sc (82 from my memory, but my report mark was like 70)

 

[AussieVesti]

ahh, but aren't people who do advanced smarter than those who do standard? should I move to advanced? I did decent in my sc (82 from my memory, but my report mark was like 70)

I would recommend having a go at Advanced first, and if you don't like it then you can drop it. Year 11 is the time for experimenting with these kinds of things so don't feel too rushed.

 

[Pfortune35]

you're a 2013er like me, your ideal course/slash career is gonna change about 500 times in the next two years, just keep consisently working hard and when you have a good idea what you want to do work towards that and if you do better than you need to no harm done

 

[Examine]

Aim-90+ HSC in all subjects
Secret aim-95+ HSC in all subjects