Can someone please explain very carefully and not too long. (3 Viewers)

[roryclifford]

USyd Med is insane! A 99.95 "fast-track" ^^

Personally I am hoping for 95+ ATAR but I am struggling to do any work during these holidays! Motivation is at a minimum currently.

And indeed I realise how random this is as a response to the thread, but it seems to be the current topic of conversation

 

[MrBrightside]

USyd Med is insane! A 99.95 "fast-track" ^^

Personally I am hoping for 95+ ATAR but I am struggling to do any work during these holidays! Motivation is at a minimum currently.

And indeed I realise how random this is as a response to the thread, but it seems to be the current topic of conversation

lol I don't mind : )

btw whats with smiley emoticons? you have to leave a space in between the : and the ) otherwise it doesn't show :/

 

[editav]

Subjects do matter. Sure there are people who do relatively well, anyway with any combination of subjects but I've seen all my friends this year get dragged down. My friend only got 2 band 6'es and the rest low/mid band 5's and got 96.8. whereas another person topped a state in a subject and got 4 band 6'es and only 1 band 5 and only got 96.4 T_T; tell me subjects don't matter ......

 

[saveme]

Hi, just popping into give my 2c.

Everybody has their own perspective of a 'high ATAR' so it depends on them. For me personally, my biggest dream and goal was to hit that 90 mark, which was 'very high' for me as I usually range in the 83 - 85 areas. It proved even more challenging for me during my HSC time because I was confronted with Scaling in ever direction therefore caved into sciences & maths. I hate Maths & Science. In year 11, I flunked Maths Chem & Physics. Legit failed. Chem, I was on the border. So I realized my mistake then, choosing subjects depending on 'scaling'

In year 12, dropped Physics/ Changed Chem into Senior Science & Maths into General Maths along with IPT / ESL & Ancient. So I was stuck with only 10 units and ALL of them were low scaling subjects except for Ancient perhaps. However, essay writing comes naturally to me and I love humanities I realized then. Even still I was really scared I might miss out on 90. I studied throughout, but I must say I never consistently studied, as much ashamed I am to admit it. I am more of a listener, so a lot came from during classtime. When I come home, I just do any assignments if I have any and thats it. Literally - no studying. Then everything came down to the last two weeks of half yearlies, trials ( 1 hour for Ancient all together if I remember correctly lol.) & pretty much sat down a month before HSC. I managed to get an atar of 93!!! In which I am beyond ecstatic because that for me is SO DAMN HIGH!

Anyway, the point is - I know that may not be a 'high atar' for anyone but I just realized the importance in choosing what you love. Therefore, I guess it didnt burden me down with the feeling 'Man, I have to study' I guess I could have donw heaps mroe preparation & even got past 95 perhaps. Even so, I dont regret it. I never stressed ... except for wanting to get to that 90. My biggest fear was landing a 89. Hehe. Even 88 I would be happy with but not 89! Other than that, never! Not even a single time during my HSC year. I had fun, & now even got into my course with more than enough ATAR. I am just happy that I have reached my goal. =) Subjects do matter a lot, but what matters more is doing what you like. I'm saying this cuz I had a friend who believed doing my subjects, I'd be looking for a 70+ (which broke my heart) and she naturally, maths/ext/chem/phy and so on. When the results came, she got 86 (which is good) but even still I managed to beat her.

PS: I actually failed my first assessment task for General maths!

EDIT* - My post kind of contradicts the whole topic seeing it is very long & completely off topic. But, just thought of adding my input seeing we're on this topic.

 

[Deer]

Note he did get state ranks in ALL his subjects and he is a certified genius in english (a hurdle for most people in attaining a really high atar) and humanities. All this tells us is that if you are a genius (like Daniel Swain), you could pull it off with most subject combos (you would not choose subjects like standard english or general maths anyway as they would bore you to death). For the average person, it would much easier to pick higher scaling subjects where you dont require state ranks in to get a high 99 atar.

Yeah it was the infamous Daniel Swain. And yes, I know he is a super genius and yes he did get state ranks in all his subjects, but it doesn't matter. Y'all are saying that it can't be done, but he proved that it can yo!

The fact is that he chose subjects that he loved and that were his strengths, and therefore did exceptionally well in them. He didn't have to state rank in order to get 99.95. As I said, he was the highest aggregate out of the 100's anyway, so he could have even afforded to drop a couple of marks to stay up there.

There's no point in an 'average person' doing a difficult and high scaling subject if they're not going to do well in it! (Unless they do enjoy it, that's different.) It would be much better for them to choose subjects that they enjoy, regardless of the scaling, because a very high mark in a low scaling subject will 'scale' better than a low mark in a well scaling subject, and it will be easier to achieve for the individual.

I mean I know my atar wasn't high 99's, but I did get a good atar with visual arts, and ironically, my 'lowest scaling' subject probably contributed the most to my atar because I got a high mark in it. (98) Whereas 'high scaling' chemistry I did fairly shit in, and it was probably my lowest atar contribution.

Anyway there's no point in debating this. rah.

 

[slyhunter]

rah.

Well articulated Deer. =)

 

[MrBrightside]

Hi, just popping into give my 2c.

Everybody has their own perspective of a 'high ATAR' so it depends on them. For me personally, my biggest dream and goal was to hit that 90 mark, which was 'very high' for me as I usually range in the 83 - 85 areas. It proved even more challenging for me during my HSC time because I was confronted with Scaling in ever direction therefore caved into sciences & maths. I hate Maths & Science. In year 11, I flunked Maths Chem & Physics. Legit failed. Chem, I was on the border. So I realized my mistake then, choosing subjects depending on 'scaling'

In year 12, dropped Physics/ Changed Chem into Senior Science & Maths into General Maths along with IPT / ESL & Ancient. So I was stuck with only 10 units and ALL of them were low scaling subjects except for Ancient perhaps. However, essay writing comes naturally to me and I love humanities I realized then. Even still I was really scared I might miss out on 90. I studied throughout, but I must say I never consistently studied, as much ashamed I am to admit it. I am more of a listener, so a lot came from during classtime. When I come home, I just do any assignments if I have any and thats it. Literally - no studying. Then everything came down to the last two weeks of half yearlies, trials ( 1 hour for Ancient all together if I remember correctly lol.) & pretty much sat down a month before HSC. I managed to get an atar of 93!!! In which I am beyond ecstatic because that for me is SO DAMN HIGH!

Anyway, the point is - I know that may not be a 'high atar' for anyone but I just realized the importance in choosing what you love. Therefore, I guess it didnt burden me down with the feeling 'Man, I have to study' I guess I could have donw heaps mroe preparation & even got past 95 perhaps. Even so, I dont regret it. I never stressed ... except for wanting to get to that 90. My biggest fear was landing a 89. Hehe. Even 88 I would be happy with but not 89! Other than that, never! Not even a single time during my HSC year. I had fun, & now even got into my course with more than enough ATAR. I am just happy that I have reached my goal. =) Subjects do matter a lot, but what matters more is doing what you like. I'm saying this cuz I had a friend who believed doing my subjects, I'd be looking for a 70+ (which broke my heart) and she naturally, maths/ext/chem/phy and so on. When the results came, she got 86 (which is good) but even still I managed to beat her.

PS: I actually failed my first assessment task for General maths!

EDIT* - My post kind of contradicts the whole topic seeing it is very long & completely off topic. But, just thought of adding my input seeing we're on this topic.

ahk yeah thanks, I don't mind it, it was worth the read. luckily i choose subjects I enjoy then

btw did you work? ... Did anyone here with high atars work

no its the final hsc mark - 50% assessment mark, 50% exam mark

so by saying that roughly from 95 HSC mark, 47.5% was from internal and 47.5% was from external. :/

 

[slyhunter]

so by saying that roughly from 95 HSC mark, 47.5% was from internal and 47.5% was from external. :/

Even I'm slightly confused now.

Say 95 HSC mark is our example. Internal assessment mark could have been 97 and external assessment mark could have 93. Take the average and there's your HSC mark of 95. All theoretical of course.

 

[deterministic]

so by saying that roughly from 95 HSC mark, 47.5% was from internal and 47.5% was from external. :/

Simply:

 

[deterministic]

Yeah it was the infamous Daniel Swain. And yes, I know he is a super genius and yes he did get state ranks in all his subjects, but it doesn't matter. Y'all are saying that it can't be done, but he proved that it can yo!

The fact is that he chose subjects that he loved and that were his strengths, and therefore did exceptionally well in them. He didn't have to state rank in order to get 99.95. As I said, he was the highest aggregate out of the 100's anyway, so he could have even afforded to drop a couple of marks to stay up there.

There's no point in an 'average person' doing a difficult and high scaling subject if they're not going to do well in it! (Unless they do enjoy it, that's different.) It would be much better for them to choose subjects that they enjoy, regardless of the scaling, because a very high mark in a low scaling subject will 'scale' better than a low mark in a well scaling subject, and it will be easier to achieve for the individual.

I mean I know my atar wasn't high 99's, but I did get a good atar with visual arts, and ironically, my 'lowest scaling' subject probably contributed the most to my atar because I got a high mark in it. (98) Whereas 'high scaling' chemistry I did fairly shit in, and it was probably my lowest atar contribution.

Anyway there's no point in debating this. rah.

By laws of probability, I do agree with you that you can attain high 99 with any reasonable subject combination (not including stuff like gen maths and standard english, which has a superior and higher scaling versions advanced maths and english). The only issue i have is that it is much less likely to occur for the typical hardworking student (rather than "average student") doing lower scaling subjects. For a "typical hardworking student" , it is much harder to get a very high 90 for a subject like visual arts (which you did - a commendable effort I must say), than to get a low to mid 90 in say physics and 3u maths through sheer determination and hard work assuming that he/she is indifferent to physics/3u maths to visual arts and their ability in these subjects are roughly equal.

By all means, choose your favourites first and never choose those you hate. Unfortunately, most people do not have 4 subjects other than english they are passionate about. In order to fill in the 10 unit quota, many people choose one or two higher scaling subjects for the sole purpose of atar boosting. Otherwise, I should be seeing a lot more people doing a maths major rather than commerce/law/med given the increasing popularity of 4 unit maths. The HSC is a game for most people, and the aim is to get a number to get into their desired university course. You are luckier than most if you have gained more than this from the HSC.

 

[Absolutezero]

Yeah it was the infamous Daniel Swain. And yes, I know he is a super genius and yes he did get state ranks in all his subjects, but it doesn't matter. Y'all are saying that it can't be done, but he proved that it can yo!

The fact is that he chose subjects that he loved and that were his strengths, and therefore did exceptionally well in them. He didn't have to state rank in order to get 99.95. As I said, he was the highest aggregate out of the 100's anyway, so he could have even afforded to drop a couple of marks to stay up there.

There's no point in an 'average person' doing a difficult and high scaling subject if they're not going to do well in it! (Unless they do enjoy it, that's different.) It would be much better for them to choose subjects that they enjoy, regardless of the scaling, because a very high mark in a low scaling subject will 'scale' better than a low mark in a well scaling subject, and it will be easier to achieve for the individual.

I mean I know my atar wasn't high 99's, but I did get a good atar with visual arts, and ironically, my 'lowest scaling' subject probably contributed the most to my atar because I got a high mark in it. (98) Whereas 'high scaling' chemistry I did fairly shit in, and it was probably my lowest atar contribution.

Anyway there's no point in debating this. rah.

I remember debating him. Your school was insanely good.

 

[Deer]

btw did you work? ... Did anyone here with high atars work

I worked. About 10 hours/week. Took two weeks off before english paper 1, but I did a couple of shifts between english and science exams. I know some people who quit work entirely for the 4 months or so leading up to it. Totally unnecessary imo.

I remember debating him. Your school was insanely good.

Yeah, I saw him debate once. I feared for the opposition.

 

[Kamal15]

Just study hard and get them as high as possible - the only impact on the atar then is positive!

 

[MrBrightside]

By laws of probability, I do agree with you that you can attain high 99 with any reasonable subject combination (not including stuff like gen maths and standard english, which has a superior and higher scaling versions advanced maths and english). The only issue i have is that it is much less likely to occur for the typical hardworking student (rather than "average student") doing lower scaling subjects. For a "typical hardworking student" , it is much harder to get a very high 90 for a subject like visual arts (which you did - a commendable effort I must say), than to get a low to mid 90 in say physics and 3u maths through sheer determination and hard work assuming that he/she is indifferent to physics/3u maths to visual arts and their ability in these subjects are roughly equal.

By all means, choose your favourites first and never choose those you hate. Unfortunately, most people do not have 4 subjects other than english they are passionate about. In order to fill in the 10 unit quota, many people choose one or two higher scaling subjects for the sole purpose of atar boosting. Otherwise, I should be seeing a lot more people doing a maths major rather than commerce/law/med given the increasing popularity of 4 unit maths. The HSC is a game for most people, and the aim is to get a number to get into their desired university course. You are luckier than most if you have gained more than this from the HSC.

+ 1

I worked. About 10 hours/week. Took two weeks off before english paper 1, but I did a couple of shifts between english and science exams. I know some people who quit work entirely for the 4 months or so leading up to it. Totally unnecessary imo.

hmmm, I Don't know if should get one. Having never had an official job before, im worried that I won't be able to handle it as I have never experienced what its like to work. I have been trying 3 years trying to get a job. and i'm afraid year 12 just isn't the time first expeirence one :/

 

[decadentDee]

Anyway, answering the thread's question.

Moderation of Marks -
1. The person who came first in the External Exam will take the External Mark of the person who came first in the Internal Assessment.

2. The person who came last in the External Exam will SOMETIMES take the External Mark of the person who came last in the Internal Assessment. This isn't always the case, because if the last ranked person in the Internal Assessment scored really badly in the External Exam, then it would screw this person's marks up. They have a means of compensating for dodgy/outlier marks, usually through scaling.

3. All the above is done to produce a 'skeleton' or an 'outline' of the marks achieved by that particular Cohort.

The reason why they do this with the marks is because some schools give really easy assessments/mark easy and some schools give really hard assessments/mark harshly and to make it fair for everyone, they will moderate your internal mark up/down, depending on how well you did in your external exam. This makes sure that each student gets what they really deserved for the Internal Assessment Mark.

Scaling of Marks -
1. Depending on how your own class and NSW did in that particular subject, you will be scaled up/down/not change much based on how well you did, in relation to them.

2. The reason why subjects like Maths Extension 2, Physics, Chemistry and Distinction courses (like Philosophy) have 'high scaling' is because, 1. It actually is quite hard to score a good mark in that subject, because they are difficult subjects and 2. Generally speaking, there are higher numbers of 'more-abled' students who score really well in these subjects and as a result, allows other students (and themselves) to have higher scaled marks, than in comparison to the scaled marks you get in Music, Drama, Food Tech, etc.

One the Internal Assessment Mark and the External Assessment Mark is moderated and scaled, they take the average of these two marks to produce your final HSC Mark. Your HSC Mark is the mark you should really look at.

When calculating your ATAR, they will look at your HSC Mark, as well as your Raw HSC Marks to see where you stand, in comparison to the rest of NSW.

Hope that answers your query.

Sorry that was uber long.. Like a few other members have said, it is quite a difficult concept to grasp at first, but towards the end of your HSC, you should have a fairly good grip on how the whole HSC/ATAR thing works.

Good luck with your studies and stuff

P.S: Consistency is the key to doing well in the HSC.

 

[MrBrightside]

Anyway, answering the thread's question.

Moderation of Marks -
1. The person who came first in the External Exam will take the External Mark of the person who came first in the Internal Assessment.

2. The person who came last in the External Exam will SOMETIMES take the External Mark of the person who came last in the Internal Assessment. This isn't always the case, because if the last ranked person in the Internal Assessment scored really badly in the External Exam, then it would screw this person's marks up. They have a means of compensating for dodgy/outlier marks, usually through scaling.

3. All the above is done to produce a 'skeleton' or an 'outline' of the marks achieved by that particular Cohort.

The reason why they do this with the marks is because some schools give really easy assessments/mark easy and some schools give really hard assessments/mark harshly and to make it fair for everyone, they will moderate your internal mark up/down, depending on how well you did in your external exam. This makes sure that each student gets what they really deserved for the Internal Assessment Mark.

Scaling of Marks -
1. Depending on how your own class and NSW did in that particular subject, you will be scaled up/down/not change much based on how well you did, in relation to them.

2. The reason why subjects like Maths Extension 2, Physics, Chemistry and Distinction courses (like Philosophy) have 'high scaling' is because, 1. It actually is quite hard to score a good mark in that subject, because they are difficult subjects and 2. Generally speaking, there are higher numbers of 'more-abled' students who score really well in these subjects and as a result, allows other students (and themselves) to have higher scaled marks, than in comparison to the scaled marks you get in Music, Drama, Food Tech, etc.

One the Internal Assessment Mark and the External Assessment Mark is moderated and scaled, they take the average of these two marks to produce your final HSC Mark. Your HSC Mark is the mark you should really look at.

When calculating your ATAR, they will look at your HSC Mark, as well as your Raw HSC Marks to see where you stand, in comparison to the rest of NSW.

Hope that answers your query.

Sorry that was uber long.. Like a few other members have said, it is quite a difficult concept to grasp at first, but towards the end of your HSC, you should have a fairly good grip on how the whole HSC/ATAR thing works.

Good luck with your studies and stuff

P.S: Consistency is the key to doing well in the HSC.

and when should that consistency start ?

 

[Alkanes]

Anyway, answering the thread's question.

Moderation of Marks -
1. The person who came first in the External Exam will take the External Mark of the person who came first in the Internal Assessment.

2. The person who came last in the External Exam will SOMETIMES take the External Mark of the person who came last in the Internal Assessment. This isn't always the case, because if the last ranked person in the Internal Assessment scored really badly in the External Exam, then it would screw this person's marks up. They have a means of compensating for dodgy/outlier marks, usually through scaling.

3. All the above is done to produce a 'skeleton' or an 'outline' of the marks achieved by that particular Cohort.

The reason why they do this with the marks is because some schools give really easy assessments/mark easy and some schools give really hard assessments/mark harshly and to make it fair for everyone, they will moderate your internal mark up/down, depending on how well you did in your external exam. This makes sure that each student gets what they really deserved for the Internal Assessment Mark.

Scaling of Marks -
1. Depending on how your own class and NSW did in that particular subject, you will be scaled up/down/not change much based on how well you did, in relation to them.

2. The reason why subjects like Maths Extension 2, Physics, Chemistry and Distinction courses (like Philosophy) have 'high scaling' is because, 1. It actually is quite hard to score a good mark in that subject, because they are difficult subjects and 2. Generally speaking, there are higher numbers of 'more-abled' students who score really well in these subjects and as a result, allows other students (and themselves) to have higher scaled marks, than in comparison to the scaled marks you get in Music, Drama, Food Tech, etc.

One the Internal Assessment Mark and the External Assessment Mark is moderated and scaled, they take the average of these two marks to produce your final HSC Mark. Your HSC Mark is the mark you should really look at.

When calculating your ATAR, they will look at your HSC Mark, as well as your Raw HSC Marks to see where you stand, in comparison to the rest of NSW.

Hope that answers your query.

Sorry that was uber long.. Like a few other members have said, it is quite a difficult concept to grasp at first, but towards the end of your HSC, you should have a fairly good grip on how the whole HSC/ATAR thing works.

Good luck with your studies and stuff

P.S: Consistency is the key to doing well in the HSC.

well said =) + 1
can u explain point number 1 a bit more in detail? like givin some examples would help. cheers

 

[Official]

well said =) + 1
can u explain point number 1 a bit more in detail? like givin some examples would help. cheers

Last year I was ranked 1/118 for MX1.
Somehow I managed to minorly fuck up the HSC and I attained a mark of 48/50. However, some tank at my school got 50/50 for his external mark - so that became my internal mark.
HENCE - I got 48 for external, 50 for internal which averaged to 49

Which is somewhat an explanation of pt. 1 taking effect.

 

[MrBrightside]

Last year I was ranked 1/118 for MX1.
Somehow I managed to minorly fuck up the HSC and I attained a mark of 48/50. However, some tank at my school got 50/50 for his external mark - so that became my internal mark.
HENCE - I got 48 for external, 50 for internal which averaged to 49

Which is somewhat an explanation of pt. 1 taking effect.

ok so, i think i understand now, how atar works, int + ext / 2 so if you come 1st in int it can slightly put your overall mark up thus your atar.

 

[decadentDee]

and when should that consistency start ?

Consistent studying should start ASAP, haha. I guess, the logic here is that the more you procrastinate about studying, the harder it is to fully get back into it. It's also an advantage to start studying consistently now, as you could probably bet that many of your peers probably haven't even started studying/don't know how to study, so it'll give you a great headstart.