Lacking motivation after half yearlies

[fkkiwi]

Hi all,

I received all my half-yearly marks last week, and whilst I'm satisfied with a couple of them, on the whole I was left a bit disappointed by my marks, particularly Chemistry, since I spent the most time studying for the subject. These are my marks from the HY period and my approximate ranks (I'm unsure of the cohort sizes of each at this stage as Semester 1 reports haven't been given yet):

English Adv: 93% | 5th
Maths Ext1: 89% | 2nd
Maths Ext2: 87% | 1st
Physics: 84% | 1st
Chemistry: 84% | 3rd

I realise that more time doesn't always correspond to better results, but I'm wondering if these scores are enough to reach my ATAR goal (I'm hoping 99+ but at this stage I feel as if I'll miss it). I know these aren't terrible results, and that people have done much better with worse HY results, but I'm still looking for some advice as to how I can improve my marks in general. I notice that I tend to perform worse in examinations than hand-ins because of stupid mistakes or not knowing how to apply knowledge (particularly for Chemistry).

FYI I go to a ~130 rank school if that's relevant.

Thanks

[Lumenoria]

Dude, I feel you. My marks overall are basically the same as yours, and I feel so fucking disappointed but everyone I turn to just thinks I'm being petty lol. I've achieved well over 85 in every assessment so far, but in the half-yearlies, I was expecting a crack a few more 90s than I did - considering the amount of dedication I put into my study. Your ranks are good, so I think that if you work hard going onwards then you're well on track for a 99 ATAR. I think the only way, for me, to improve is to refine my exam technique - doing more HSC style questions in my study. I usually do better in exams than assignments, so I'll give you a few pointers. I start studying from the beginning of the term, well before assessment notifications are out. Two weeks before the assessment, all my knowledge is consolidated and I should not be doing anymore study. At this point, all I'm doing is refining my exam technique - going over as many past papers I can find. This includes a shit ton of organic responses to HSC questions - I never memorise an essay verbatim because I think it narrows the scope of your ability to tackle the actual exam question at hand. Feedback from teachers is crucial. Seek out your errors and work on them, it pays off.

[BrittyG]

Hi Fkkiwi,
Looking at your results you have done extremely well! you really shouldn't be disheartened by them, plenty of people would love to be in your position. My marks for half yearlies range from 66% in some subjects to 90% in others but what I plan to do with these half-yearly results is do all the questions I got wrong in every exam and hand them back to the teacher and get them to mark it again. I will keep doing this until I'm getting a full mark response. I think this will help with the questions you're not getting 100% on.

I'd like to ask is what your study routine is like daily and then in the lead up to exams, It seems to be working well for you even though you aren't satisfied with your marks you're definitely doing well and there's plenty of time to break the 90's

[jamonwindeyer]

You are definitely allowed to be disappointed in your results. Even if you scored 95/100 - If you were aiming for 100/100, then you have a right to be disappointed. Being sensitive is important, of course, since everyone is running their own race

As for improvement, since you are saying you struggle more in exams - Practice. Like, as much as possible. You need to rehearse being under time and under pressure as much as possible and you'll find that the silly mistakes start slipping away. It takes time and patience, but if you put yourself in those conditions enough your brain starts getting used to it

PS - School rank is irrelevant, I got 99.8 at a school ranked in the 300's

PPS - You are absolutely well within reach of 99+

[leotlion]

OMG... I was so sad when I bombed my 4U Half Yearly exam! I got like 69% which was above grade average but like 10% below my class average because my class is like super competitive
I was ranked equal 12th out of 102 people before the half yearly but then the horrific 69% I received saw me drop 26 ranks to 38!
It's really disheartening getting such terrible marks but I'm so thankful that I saw Jamon's message during his Snapchat updates on how he bombed his 3U exam but still ended up achieving such great results! That was something I really needed to hear to help me get motivated and back on track after being super disappointed with my bad result for 4U.
The upcoming assessment for 4U is worth 25% I think and Trials is 40% so I just have to get my head back into the game and smash them!!

Thankfully I did really well in my other subjects but I haven't gotten English back yet! The wait for English results is always nerve-wracking so fingers crossed I did okay!