How to get a 99.95 + State Rankings (3 Viewers)

[alyssa21]

Umm, so I don't quite know what to make of this thread. BUT, even though I am a Humanities-based student, just some advice. (Btw, I attend a top-5 school and am ranked in the top 10-15 in my grade)
1) Take time off sometimes. It's not beneficial to spend EVERY WAKING HOUR studying; you'll need time off to do social things and spend time with your friends, enjoy your classes etc. The HSC is important, but it's not worth sacrificing enjoyment etc- Yr12 is a wonderful year!

2) With English, (in my experience at least), past papers are not the most effective means of studying, nor is it extremely beneficial to simply read other people's essays. How I've studied Advanced is through reading the texts closely, reading some critical readings, forming practice theses for a wide range of question, and writing a few essays out, especially before Trials etc. I've ranked in the top5 in my year in Advanced, and I've written about 2-3 practice essays per module, and done about 3 practice sections of Belonging. It's really not necessary to do hundreds of papers- what I believe differentiates the top English students is sophistication, clarity and precision, which cannot really be gained by doing hundreds of past papers in itself.

3) This may be a little different for Science subjects (as opposed to Humanities), but I don't believe it's extremely beneficial to finish all notes in the Summer Holidays. I find it's extremely useful to write notes as you're learning the topics in class (or a little after it's been covered), as it serves as good revision and consolidation of what you've studied.

4) Please remember to have some fun in your HSC year. It's fantastic to aim highly and want to strive to achieve extraordinary marks, but remember to take time to appreciate your school, your teachers and find enjoyment in what you're learning. This motivation and love/interest in what you're doing is ultimately the best form of achievement anyone can take out of the HSC.

 

[such_such]

^ Well said

I also think it's nice you have big goals Lazy people like me can be more motivated to catch up to your diligent level!

 

[atar90plus]

Do not cram!!!

 

[atar90plus]

Revise properly!!!

 

[TheProfessional]

That's a matter of opinion. I personally found Module C significantly more difficult than Module B, which I thought was one of the easiest parts of Adv English.

That said, to OP: As someone who just missed the mark with the .95, my advice to you is to focus on English. English cost me the ever dear .95, and extra work in it goes a long way. That said, in order to excel in the other subjects, it is NOT necessary to do as much work as you intend to. I had NO tutors for maths or economics, and I graciously accepted help from iSplicer on various occasions with English. He also tutored me in Physics, which was important not in acceleration, but rather the development of exam technique. So basically, knowing the content early doesn't really put you at an advantage, in my opinion - it's what you do with the knowledge that counts. Revise your exam technique to perfection for each subject, and you really don't need to do as many past papers as you're aiming to do.

Good to see you're motivated! As the others have said, take it easy, so you don't burn out.
Keep working hard, and be CONSISTENT (that was my biggest problem) in your work and how much you do, and you should be fine.
And NO, you definitely do NOT have to finish everything in year 11 for a 99.95 or state ranks, you just need to understand ALL the concepts as well as you can, and be able to answer HSC-type questions perfectly(this can take some time to master, especially for sciences). Focus on your weaker areas - like english, now, so you can smash those internal ranks, or you may regret it later. For maths and sciences, just practise, practise, practise!

Best of luck and hope you achieve your goal!

Umm, so I don't quite know what to make of this thread. BUT, even though I am a Humanities-based student, just some advice. (Btw, I attend a top-5 school and am ranked in the top 10-15 in my grade)
1) Take time off sometimes. It's not beneficial to spend EVERY WAKING HOUR studying; you'll need time off to do social things and spend time with your friends, enjoy your classes etc. The HSC is important, but it's not worth sacrificing enjoyment etc- Yr12 is a wonderful year!

2) With English, (in my experience at least), past papers are not the most effective means of studying, nor is it extremely beneficial to simply read other people's essays. How I've studied Advanced is through reading the texts closely, reading some critical readings, forming practice theses for a wide range of question, and writing a few essays out, especially before Trials etc. I've ranked in the top5 in my year in Advanced, and I've written about 2-3 practice essays per module, and done about 3 practice sections of Belonging. It's really not necessary to do hundreds of papers- what I believe differentiates the top English students is sophistication, clarity and precision, which cannot really be gained by doing hundreds of past papers in itself.

3) This may be a little different for Science subjects (as opposed to Humanities), but I don't believe it's extremely beneficial to finish all notes in the Summer Holidays. I find it's extremely useful to write notes as you're learning the topics in class (or a little after it's been covered), as it serves as good revision and consolidation of what you've studied.

4) Please remember to have some fun in your HSC year. It's fantastic to aim highly and want to strive to achieve extraordinary marks, but remember to take time to appreciate your school, your teachers and find enjoyment in what you're learning. This motivation and love/interest in what you're doing is ultimately the best form of achievement anyone can take out of the HSC.

Thank you so much

 

[SpiralFlex]

One thing to add: Don't talk about it, be about it. Good luck OP.

 

[enoilgam]

One thing to add: Don't talk about it, be about it. Good luck OP.

Good post (man do we need rep back).

 

[TheProfessional]

One thing to add: Don't talk about it, be about it. Good luck OP.

Thanks man Good luck with your externals and everything!
and I need to get off BoS too, this website is strangely addictive hehe

 

[2xL]

You don't need to do hundreds of papers. I got 99.7 and I probably only did a handful before the actual exams, and only for Maths. You just need to know the syllabus because they can't ask you anything that's not on there. Good luck everyone...

+1, the syllabus is EVERYTHING.

 

[alstah]

It's great to aim for 99.95. I did too. But I didn't achieve it (came close though...good enough to get into my course).

Just aim to get the best marks you can possibly achieve. There is no clear cut method to get state ranks and score in the top percentiles of the state. But there is one, proven way to guarantee success - hard work.

If USyd Med is your dream, then don't settle for anything less than that. USyd Law was my dream, and yes, I was tempted into UTS Law and UNSW Law when I felt I wasn't going to make the ATAR, but I worked harder and was more determined than ever to achieve my dream.

Remember that for medicine, as with law, there are postgraduate opportunities. Medicine is a 7 year course at USyd, so you do your other degree in the first 3 years (Science, Commerce, Economics, Arts, etc.), and then complete the 4 years of medicine. If you don't get into the combined medicine program (ie. don't get 99.95), honestly - don't worry about it too much. You can enrol in a Science (Adv.) course at USyd...do the subjects you enjoy, get a high WAM/GPA, sit the GAMSAT and then get into medicine at USyd that way. The beauty of it is, it takes no more time that if you had got into combined medicine.

Hard work and determination will get you there. Just never lose sight of the dream.

 

[iSplicer]

It's great to aim for 99.95. I did too. But I didn't achieve it (came close though...good enough to get into my course).

Just aim to get the best marks you can possibly achieve. There is no clear cut method to get state ranks and score in the top percentiles of the state. But there is one, proven way to guarantee success - hard work.

If USyd Med is your dream, then don't settle for anything less than that. USyd Law was my dream, and yes, I was tempted into UTS Law and UNSW Law when I felt I wasn't going to make the ATAR, but I worked harder and was more determined than ever to achieve my dream.

Remember that for medicine, as with law, there are postgraduate opportunities. Medicine is a 7 year course at USyd, so you do your other degree in the first 3 years (Science, Commerce, Economics, Arts, etc.), and then complete the 4 years of medicine. If you don't get into the combined medicine program (ie. don't get 99.95), honestly - don't worry about it too much. You can enrol in a Science (Adv.) course at USyd...do the subjects you enjoy, get a high WAM/GPA, sit the GAMSAT and then get into medicine at USyd that way. The beauty of it is, it takes no more time that if you had got into combined medicine.

Hard work and determination will get you there. Just never lose sight of the dream.

#ALLdafeels

 

[Cinndy]

My friend's brother got an ATAR over 99 and got state rankings. All he did was become organised and didn't stress.
He only did a few set hours per day of studying. Not all state-rankers are crazily into their studies. Chillax !

 

[RivalryofTroll]

My friend's brother got an ATAR over 99 and got state rankings. All he did was become organised and didn't stress.
He only did a few set hours per day of studying. Not all state-rankers are crazily into their studies. Chillax !

define 'a few'

 

[hayabusaboston]

define 'a few'

I know a girl who got hammered almost every weekend, as well as went to parties every weekend. She also had a job and worked a few hours almost every day in yr 12. Went partying DURING hsc too I think. Got a 99+ ATAR with absolute ease, cos she just did a little bit each day, like, 1-2 hours.

 

[RivalryofTroll]

I know a girl who got hammered almost every weekend, as well as went to parties every weekend. She also had a job and worked a few hours almost every day in yr 12. Went partying DURING hsc too I think. Got a 99+ ATAR with absolute ease, cos she just did a little bit each day, like, 1-2 hours.

Natural talent obviously.

 

[someth1ng]

Natural talent obviously.

1-2 hours is a lot of study to be done per day...

 

[enoilgam]

1-2 hours is a lot of study to be done per day...

I think so as well - its far more then what many HSC students do.

 

[hayabusaboston]

I think so as well - its far more then what many HSC students do.

Fuark serious? cos she told me she only did 1 hr/day pretty much and up to 2hrs on weekends. It doesnt seem like much. Shit man im planning for like 5hrs+ each day lol, I know this goal is probably bullshit haha but I wanna have phys and chem SO well done that I get 100 in both in HSC. LIKELY to be bullshit haha but im going to spend a LOT of time ensuring I get as close to that goal as possible

 

[Sacredoblivion]

I've just read the first part of this whole thread, and this is my 2 cents.

Firstly it is amazing that you are working so hard this early on. Some people were concerned about the fact that you would burn out, but this is what my mentor told me when I was doing HSC to keep me motivated "Burning out is the excuse that white boys spread around because they can't compete. There is no such thing as burning out". I know what he said was racist, but he was one of 3 curries in a predominately white GPS school about 10 years ago (he's a surgeon now). In terms of state ranking, it is really important that you rank 1st in your school. In my experiences, sure I topped chemistry, but I could have also topped MX1 if it wasn't for my assessment marks. I was the only one to get 100 as my Exam mark and 99 as my Assessment Mark because I was ranked 3rd at school (and I used to go tutoring with the guy who topped MX1 and he knew that I was better than him).

I know that trials should be over now, and your school rankings are finalised. The only advice I can give you now is spam past papers and work on your English. I have almost 3 cartons of MX2 papers with my worked solutions in my garage, and if English is your weakest subject it will most certainly drag you down (English was my lowest mark at 94) but if everything else is high enough you can sort of cover it. I've heard that a HSC mark of 92 in English is the point of no scaling so you would wanna get above 92 at least (but im not too sure about this).

And seriously, do not buy english essays, that is the saddest thing you could do. You are disadvantaging yourself by copying or melding someone else ideas. if the idea is yours, you can adapt it anyway you need to, and express it in anyway that is required. The trick is being to able to decipher the lingo in the exam question and extract exactly what they want, and adapt what you know to the question. English is not really about what you say (to an extent), but rather how you say it, and the meaning that is conveyed. it is the impression that is left upon the marker gets you 20/20, rather than a flawless essay that ticks all the boxes but is otherwise boring to read. Originality is highly rewarded in English.

The last bit of advice I can give you is to listen to your teachers. My physics teacher in year 12 was considered the worst teacher in the school because he was so dull and boring. But I listened to him anyway, and even though I had my notes ready by Feb (like what you were doing), the information that I was able to extract from him was invaluable and the process of collating his knowledge into my notes took my until my trials. For example, here is a question you can think about, "Discuss the relationship between thought and reality" (8 marks). If you think this is beyond the scope of the syllabus, it's under relativity topic in space in the third column XD.

 

[Sacredoblivion]

Also if you're aiming for 99.95 to get into Sydney, you should apply at The University of Melbourne and study med there. It's the same degree length, considered the top medical degree in Australia and you also receive a scholarship of $10000 (and there's also the chance of receiving a $20000 scholarship if you're good enough. I got it but my heart was set on UNSW hehe)