HSC Class of 2017 Discussion Thread

[jamonwindeyer]

Haha a big aim for these holidays is to get a better idea of what I actually want to do at uni. Kinda sucks studying without a clear aim in mind

Don't worry! I had rough ideas but I really didn't decide properly until the middle of Year 12!! Do a bit of research over the holidays and see if you spot anything that seems interesting (maybe even go to some of the Info Days for the graduating class of 2016?)

[mbdtHSC]

I need to start UMAT prep these holidays but now I doubt med is a good choice for me HAHA
I really want to know how the UNSW Law entry works for taking into account both ATAR and LAT result, but they haven't released much information

[jamonwindeyer]

I need to start UMAT prep these holidays but now I doubt med is a good choice for me HAHA
I really want to know how the UNSW Law entry works for taking into account both ATAR and LAT result, but they haven't released much information

The only info I know is in this thread; In addition, you may want to send Lauradf36 (the original poster of that thread) a nice private message asking her how it all worked, she's the only person I know who sat that test!

[RuiAce]

I need to start UMAT prep these holidays but now I doubt med is a good choice for me HAHA
I really want to know how the UNSW Law entry works for taking into account both ATAR and LAT result, but they haven't released much information

If med isn't a good choice for you then you shouldn't think about it.

You will have to contact UNSW law if you require further information. They aren't necessarily obliged to release the split between ATAR and LAT in counting towards your enrolment, but with good reason.

If they release too much information regarding the ATAR and LAT (e.g. say 40% ATAR 60% LAT), then students will begin to think oh I HAVE to put more emphasis on the LAT. If they release, say, 50%-50%, they'll put in effort just to balance it out, not necessarily push. By leaving some kind of ambiguity, you are forced to push harder in both methods of assessment.

This gives you some 'loading'. If you mess up one by a tiny amount, but still blitz the other, you're going to get in anyhow.


They want you performance across both to be the best. And because one may get in due to a 99.7 ATAR, whilst another gets in from being in the 95th percentile in the LAT, it's hard to disclose a fully defined algorithm just like that. Of course, you can try your chances with UNSW law; it doesn't hurt at all and there's always a chance they WILL disclose something. But don't expect anything.

[RuiAce]

BOSTES has changed to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)

[tissue]

anyone else feel like crap that they did basically nothing worthwhile study-wise these holidays? I was way more motivated at the start of year11 and now I feel burnt out. I was content with my results from prelim but seeing as they do not count towards my ATAR I see myself having to start this process all over again, something that I have no enthusiasm for anymore(I made this sound a lot more sombre than reality ).

[Rathin]

anyone else feel like crap that they did basically nothing worthwhile study-wise these holidays? I was way more motivated at the start of year11 and now I feel burnt out. I was content with my results from prelim but seeing as they do not count towards my ATAR I see myself having to start this process all over again, something that I have no enthusiasm for anymore(I made this sound a lot more sombre than reality ).

Yes, I feel the same! I feel so guilty for not doing much..only did 2u and 3u Integration these holidays which is barely anything.

[Syndicate]

anyone else feel like crap that they did basically nothing worthwhile study-wise these holidays? I was way more motivated at the start of year11 and now I feel burnt out. I was content with my results from prelim but seeing as they do not count towards my ATAR I see myself having to start this process all over again, something that I have no enthusiasm for anymore(I made this sound a lot more sombre than reality ).

Yes, I feel the same! I feel so guilty for not doing much..only did 2u and 3u Integration these holidays which is barely anything.

I haven't done much myself either.... I was expecting to finish one of my subject courses, but I was only able to finish 3 chapters. Now, I only have 1 week to go, and I still have a myriad of English and chemistry homework to do.

[kyli]

anyone else feel like crap that they did basically nothing worthwhile study-wise these holidays? I was way more motivated at the start of year11 and now I feel burnt out. I was content with my results from prelim but seeing as they do not count towards my ATAR I see myself having to start this process all over again, something that I have no enthusiasm for anymore(I made this sound a lot more sombre than reality ).

Hey! I know exactly what you mean by feeling 'burnt out'. Truth is, we can attribute a few reasons to this- I can think of two right now:

• Putting in too many hours of study at one go- although this may seem productive, it's really not. Usually there are two outcomes, one being half-heartedly studying for the whole time and typically getting distracted, equating to a much lower amount of actually productive work, or through some kind of miracle incredible self-discipline, actually forcing yourself to concentrate for a large period of time. Except the problem with this is that you feel a LOT less motivated to do your work after this, often for days, sometimes even longer, due to exhausting your willpower (I read about this in an article, I will link it if I can find it again). This often is described as 'burning out'. As you can see, the second outcome is a lose-lose situation, and we don't want to be feeling like this in Year 12.
• Maybe a more likely reason in your case, might be a feeling of demotivation because you're not sure what exactly you're aiming for. On the contrary, perhaps you've planned your whole future out had a goal in mind, and/or a dream career, and now you're not sure where you stand. Or you do presently still have a specific goal, but for some reason, the motivation just isn't coming. In this case, you need to find out what's working for you and what isn't. Whether you have plans for what comes after the HSC, you still have to do it (provided that you are taking the exam, which I can assume you are since you asked this question), so you need to find your purpose. But not just any purpose, something that you know you'll work towards. Sometimes having smaller goals and similarly small rewards for accomplishing these can be more effective than having a long-term, vague goal that you're consistently working towards. Of course this all depends on what works for you.

As for these holidays: undoubtedly, some people use them to get a head start on their work for the upcoming year, but not everybody does. Remember that there are many people just like you- they may also feel burnt out, or demotivated, and haven't done anything these holidays. But there's definitely hope, so don't give up on your dreams just yet! It's not too late to start. Although having a headstart might be advantageous, don't forget that you still haven't learnt this content at school, so you haven't missed out on anything! If you're really worried, you could read up on the first few dot points of each subject area for all your subjects, so that you have a brief idea of what's happening as you get back into regular school work. Even revising content from last term can be really helpful. Alternatively, sign up for an ATAR Notes Lecture so that you get the best of both worlds

In all honesty, only you can motivate yourself to be, well, motivated. After surviving prelims, all of us are like "oh no not again!" but just remember that Year 12 is ONE year, which is a comparatively small time to invest effort and hard work into, if you think about the long life you have ahead of you. And definitely remember that there are many alternative pathways to reach the same outcome. Don't feel like crap, you can do this! 

[tissue]

I haven't done much myself either.... I was expecting to finish one of my subject courses, but I was only able to finish 3 chapters. Now, I only have 1 week to go, and I still have a myriad of English and chemistry homework to do.

Yes, I feel the same! I feel so guilty for not doing much..only did 2u and 3u Integration these holidays which is barely anything.

Glad you guys can relate, makes me feel a bit better. Time to get back into the school routine though.

I feel motivated after reading that reply already(genuinely) In all seriousness, you really put some sense into me and I totally agree with everything you said(especially the productivity bit). I'll try to have fresh start at school next week and really try to get myself organised and plan for the remaining 3 terms ahead. Thanks for the advice!

Mod edit: Double post merged. Please only double post when necessary.

[Neilab]

Hey! I know exactly what you mean by feeling 'burnt out'. Truth is, we can attribute a few reasons to this- I can think of two right now:

• Putting in too many hours of study at one go- although this may seem productive, it's really not. Usually there are two outcomes, one being half-heartedly studying for the whole time and typically getting distracted, equating to a much lower amount of actually productive work, or through some kind of miracle incredible self-discipline, actually forcing yourself to concentrate for a large period of time. Except the problem with this is that you feel a LOT less motivated to do your work after this, often for days, sometimes even longer, due to exhausting your willpower (I read about this in an article, I will link it if I can find it again). This often is described as 'burning out'. As you can see, the second outcome is a lose-lose situation, and we don't want to be feeling like this in Year 12.
• Maybe a more likely reason in your case, might be a feeling of demotivation because you're not sure what exactly you're aiming for. On the contrary, perhaps you've planned your whole future out had a goal in mind, and/or a dream career, and now you're not sure where you stand. Or you do presently still have a specific goal, but for some reason, the motivation just isn't coming. In this case, you need to find out what's working for you and what isn't. Whether you have plans for what comes after the HSC, you still have to do it (provided that you are taking the exam, which I can assume you are since you asked this question), so you need to find your purpose. But not just any purpose, something that you know you'll work towards. Sometimes having smaller goals and similarly small rewards for accomplishing these can be more effective than having a long-term, vague goal that you're consistently working towards. Of course this all depends on what works for you.

As for these holidays: undoubtedly, some people use them to get a head start on their work for the upcoming year, but not everybody does. Remember that there are many people just like you- they may also feel burnt out, or demotivated, and haven't done anything these holidays. But there's definitely hope, so don't give up on your dreams just yet! It's not too late to start. Although having a headstart might be advantageous, don't forget that you still haven't learnt this content at school, so you haven't missed out on anything! If you're really worried, you could read up on the first few dot points of each subject area for all your subjects, so that you have a brief idea of what's happening as you get back into regular school work. Even revising content from last term can be really helpful. Alternatively, sign up for an ATAR Notes Lecture so that you get the best of both worlds

In all honesty, only you can motivate yourself to be, well, motivated. After surviving prelims, all of us are like "oh no not again!" but just remember that Year 12 is ONE year, which is a comparatively small time to invest effort and hard work into, if you think about the long life you have ahead of you. And definitely remember that there are many alternative pathways to reach the same outcome. Don't feel like crap, you can do this! 

Hey dude! this post was really helpful - I often find myself "burning out" after too much work!

[beau77bro]

Hello, I know this isn't exactly something that anyone can answer directly. But how do I stay motivated whilst studying? And how do I know where I need to improve? I'm currently attending an alright school but the assessments haven't been super challenging (minus my English assessment which was dumb AF and I know I'm gonna have to step up English anyway even tho it was dumb) and I've smashed them. 4u was relatively easy and so was Chem and phys assessments, and they weren't really exam orientated so how do I know where my holes are? And the second, probably more annoying part is how do you stay motivated day to day. Studying consistently. I think that's something that is really important, right now I suck at it. One day I can do 5 hours of solid study, smash out everything, others I can do a bit. But recently (atleast 3x a week) I just get ceebs and can't do anything. How did u guys, mighty gods of atar notes stay motivated, keep consistent and stay on top of stuff(I'm on top of stuff, but wanna get all the help I can get). Any tips and tricks or just a plain mindset you need to take on the HSC.

Thankyou for even reading this Hahahah, appreciate any replies thankyou again.
Would I be able to message any of u more specific questions about study and how I should approach things?

[RuiAce]

Hello, I know this isn't exactly something that anyone can answer directly. But how do I stay motivated whilst studying? And how do I know where I need to improve? I'm currently attending an alright school but the assessments haven't been super challenging (minus my English assessment which was dumb AF and I know I'm gonna have to step up English anyway even tho it was dumb) and I've smashed them. 4u was relatively easy and so was Chem and phys assessments, and they weren't really exam orientated so how do I know where my holes are? And the second, probably more annoying part is how do you stay motivated day to day. Studying consistently. I think that's something that is really important, right now I suck at it. One day I can do 5 hours of solid study, smash out everything, others I can do a bit. But recently (atleast 3x a week) I just get ceebs and can't do anything. How did u guys, mighty gods of atar notes stay motivated, keep consistent and stay on top of stuff(I'm on top of stuff, but wanna get all the help I can get). Any tips and tricks or just a plain mindset you need to take on the HSC.

Thankyou for even reading this Hahahah, appreciate any replies thankyou again.
Would I be able to message any of u more specific questions about study and how I should approach things?

Staying motivated usually requires a goal to underpin it. And one may argue that goal should be pluralised, because once you surpass one goal you stack a new one over it. You need that target to keep you motivated, because things that are more comfortable (aka. procrastination material) sway you away about as easily as magnesium gets oxidised. Occasionally, the goal may be just be the negative connotations of pressure and deadlines breathing down your back, but try to redirect them to you wanting to attain ____ result.

Really depends on what subject as to how you find your areas of improvement. For something like English, if you really don't see where your marks were lost you need to consult with your teacher. They are the ones that put a mark on your paper. Some teachers are (ironically) nicer than others in that when you do lose marks, they obliterate your essays with reasons and suggestions for improvement. You're just going to have to see them, usually. If your teacher is one of the more careless types, well don't forget that there's an essay marking service on this forum to find all of your holes.

Whereas for something like physics and chemistry, in all honesty if you do past papers and compare your responses to the marking criteria, then you should know where the faults are there.

I don't think I ever did 5 hours a day unless I had a ton of exams coming right at me... Most might say that this is normal, but in all honesty I probably put in at most 3 hours a day. That being said, this is again about goals. Also, you do not study continuously anyway. You put in breaks, and you're harsh to yourself about the breaks (timetabling) so that once time's up, you get straight back down to work. Gotta be more forceful than usual at times.

[beau77bro]

THANKS RUI. With regards to 4u and 3u I've kinda slowed up on my studying for both. In the beginning for 4u I was just tryna smash out every textbooks and do every question I could find, I've realised that's quite unsustainable... (I've done Cambridge, terry Lee, these northsyd booklets, and some Sydney grammar booklets for most of my topics so far aswell as some Fitz for some aswell) is it a better idea to simply go through what I've done and note done all the useful things I learnt doing those questions(I did this for a bit but stopped) or should I keep doing questions from textbooks but more picking and choosing harder ones( I was gonna start doing trial paper questions in 1-2weeks aswell)? Should I do both or one or something else entirely Hahahah?

Now 3u, has frankly gotten boring and I'm lacking the motivation to do it because it's not challenging. I thought terry Lee might be the solution, but it's over the top and draining for the most part. Are trial questions the answer? What are the options? Thankyou for ur already great response sorry for so many hahaha.

[RuiAce]

Yeah it doesn't work like that for maths. Doing every single question is overkilling it and absolutely draining.

Remember for maths, past papers overrules all. Whilst past papers are beneficial to every subject, this is especially true for maths. The subject is skill-based in its entirety, and the only way to prepare for what you'll see in the exam is actually doing the questions that were already in the exams. Pick a good handful (you should keep SOME foundation questions there, not rely entirely on development sections) of questions to do out of textbooks, and then prepare to migrate out.

That being said, until it's exam preparation time, there's nothing wrong with a bit of a balance between textbook questions and trial papers.


If you're bored of the textbook, just stick to past papers. There's nothing worth commenting on until you start getting bored of the trial papers for 3U.