Pessimistic About VCENot too surprisingly, I am doing worse than expected (against my extremely high expectations for 2020). What bothers me most is the fact that Unit 3 is weighted more even though we were either doing the SACs during online schooling (opportunity for cheating) or SACs taken after online learning (a huge disadvantage for everyone).
For the most part, the only goals that remain the same is for mid-40s SS in English (with A average in strong cohort and difficult SAC marking).
I should probably stop relying on my cohort strength to moderate SACs up because that is the main thing that holds me onto the hope of a 99+ ATAR, but at this rate the chances grow slimmer.
That isn't to say that I've given up! If anything, this is even more motivation to work harder! 99 is still within my realms with less than half of the year to go and many more SACs and exams to go. But if I were to continue at my current rate, a 95-97 would be a more realistic goal.
EnglishEnglish has been going quite well and a mid-40s SS is still within the realms of possibility. I was a bit disappointed in the POV statement of intention that I lost marks due to accidentally referring to Annika Smethurst as Samantha (indicating poor knowledge of topic): .
MethodsI am doing much better than my methods teacher had anticipated and a low 40s is surprisingly still possible for me. I achieved a B+ on our SAC (with cohort average at a C), which blew my teacher's mind, as I was averaging around 35% on our methods test. As a revelation she made, studying for a methods test that does not contribute to our study score when we have SACs for other subjects was at the bottom of our priority lists. After that, she actually really encouraged me and was hoping for me to earn at least an A for my next SAC (which I took today). Unfortunately, for part 1 I think I performed extremely bad but for part 2 & 3, I felt confident but am bothered by the fact that I didn't have enough time to finish the SAC. So whilst A is definitely still possible, I think it's unlikely. On the otherhand, I'm actually relatively optimistic about methods!
EconomicsOh boy. I truly love this subject with all my heart but this subject does not love me
. Economics content as a humanities subject is conceptually hard. But once you're able to wrap your head around the content, the next challenge is learning how to answer questions. This seems to be the pitfall of my economics endeavour. Our SACs are usually 30 marks with 10 two-markers and 10 multiple-choice questions. This leaves very little room for error and with harsh marking, you can demonstrate a sound knowledge of the content but lose marks for missing out on definitions or detail. This easily drags down your SAC score and is the bane of my economics mission. I've been averaging low 70s on my SACs, which is not quite the 45-50SS pursuit I was hoping for. I'm truly wondering how far a strong cohort and difficult SACs will take me.
Global PoliticsEasily my favourite subject (tied with economics). Everything about this subject is amazing (content, teacher and work). I have been doing okay, but I would be hoping to do better for a mid-40s score. I was a bit cut about my last SAC score, which I genuinely deserved because I was not well versed in the content, with a low 60s for short-answer and 75% for the essay. But I'm rather hopeful for the rest of the year with global politics, as long as I keep up with the workload!
Legal StudiesOh boy (again). I would consider this as techincally my 'easiest subject' yet somehow my worst. The content feels like memorisation to do well in a legal SAC, but I honestly found Unit 3 so boring that I didn't even have the motivation to take extreme lengths to revise. This is my least revised subject because I deem it as my 'easiest' but with Unit 4, which is more politics and law-making based, my interest is being piqued and maybe that sweet A+ to reviving my SS is coming. Anyways, if I could choose again, I probably would not have picked legal studies to study as a VCE subject (should've done spesh or Japanese rip). But oh well, it's not the end of the world.
Looking back at my busman grade average usually gives me hope but with the new amendments, everything is so uncertain.
Sorry for that rather pessimistic and bland journal entry. I hope everyone had a lovely day <3