Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 28, 2024, 09:26:51 pm

Author Topic: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6  (Read 6749 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« on: June 29, 2022, 01:26:59 pm »
+4
Hello everyone, I am making this journal to create a place for me to express my academic journey and have the ability to provide advice and solutions with people wishing to do the atar pathway. For people who don’t know the “suicide 6” I have chosen methods, specialist, chemistry, biology, physics and English. With all these subjects chosen I have been most scared for English, I HATE English and I feel like that is something that’s going to make me procrastinate.

You may be wondering why I am starting this journey now, in the middle of the year. Well my school lets us have a ‘trial’ of all the subjects we wish to choose and basically is a head start on unit one, this is done over terms 3 and 4 of year 10, which is what I am doing right now and has led me to start this journal.
I hope that I use this journey as a form of motivation and justification of the amount of ridiculous hours I imagine I am going to have to spend in studying. But, this isn’t just about me and I hope I am able to help many of people with subject selections, atar etc.
p.s. I probably won’t be posting much until school starts again as there won’t be anything to update so expect a post in week one of term 3.
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology

K.Smithy

  • QLD MVP - 2019
  • QCE Moderator
  • Forum Obsessive
  • *****
  • Posts: 400
  • "We are the cosmos made conscious." B.C. (she/her)
  • Respect: +396
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2022, 10:50:04 am »
+2
Hello everyone, I am making this journal to create a place for me to express my academic journey and have the ability to provide advice and solutions with people wishing to do the atar pathway. For people who don’t know the “suicide 6” I have chosen methods, specialist, chemistry, biology, physics and English. With all these subjects chosen I have been most scared for English, I HATE English and I feel like that is something that’s going to make me procrastinate.

You may be wondering why I am starting this journey now, in the middle of the year. Well my school lets us have a ‘trial’ of all the subjects we wish to choose and basically is a head start on unit one, this is done over terms 3 and 4 of year 10, which is what I am doing right now and has led me to start this journal.
I hope that I use this journey as a form of motivation and justification of the amount of ridiculous hours I imagine I am going to have to spend in studying. But, this isn’t just about me and I hope I am able to help many of people with subject selections, atar etc.
p.s. I probably won’t be posting much until school starts again as there won’t be anything to update so expect a post in week one of term 3.

Hey PattyOOO!
That is quite the selection of subjects! What made you choose these? :)
I felt the same about English during school as well! But I found some of the skills I had developed in that subject to be useful in uni - especially with having to do some communication assignments (which I never expected I would be doing in a science degree).

It sounds like your school has a very good plan for getting through ATAR. At my school we crammed all of Units 1 and 2 into the first three terms of year 11 and then started Unit 3 in term 4 of that year. It was not fun - so its good to see that your school has taken on a different approach.

I look forward to seeing your journal grow! :)
Katelyn
QCE 2020: Physics (92) || Psychology (96) || Biology (93) || Methods (79) || English (98) || SOR (91)
ATAR: 98.40
2021-2024: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) @ UQ

Uni Journal ; U3 Bio ; U3 Psych ; U3 Physics

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2022, 02:49:48 pm »
+2
Hey K. Smithy. Well the subjects I have chosen are based off my major interests except biology and English (will talk about soon), I have always loved math and learning why everything happens, stereotypically I would be called a “math and science student” and I guess that is the reason I have done well in these subjects, thus my reason for doing methods, specialist, chemistry and physics.
Now, English and bio… I have never liked English, in the past term or 2 I have tried to enjoy and like English aswell as put more effort in, my grades have not been up to what I want them to be so I wish that I put in even more effort in the future with English. On the other hand biology is a subject that, yes I do well in but I have no interest in it other than human biology and I’ve seen on the syllabus that it includes it but also many things that don’t particularly make me feel passionate about.
But, my plan is quite broad, there is no 1 desired career path I wish to take. I have chosen these subjects to keep my options open, but as of now I have been looking into medicine, nursing, engineering and teaching maths. All of these careers seem worthwhile and something I enjoy and I believe that the subjects I chose cater the needs of all of them.
One question I do have for you is, how do I get better at English? For example you can get better at math by learning new concepts, ideas, formulas etc and understanding how they work and apply that Knowledge to questions. But with English I am always stumped, I try to study for it then (.other than homework) I just don’t know what to do.
 
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology

jinx_58

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 143
  • "I am not afraid to walk this world alone" - MCR
  • Respect: +22
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2022, 08:02:45 pm »
0
One question I do have for you is, how do I get better at English? For example you can get better at math by learning new concepts, ideas, formulas etc and understanding how they work and apply that Knowledge to questions. But with English I am always stumped, I try to study for it then (.other than homework) I just don’t know what to do.

Hello PattyOOO, welcome to the QCE Journey Journals! With English, it really depends on the type of task. For example, getting better at doing orals is quite different to getting better at writing short stories or analytical essays for that matter.
 
For an analytical essay, the best way to prepare is to understand the text, and the argument you're going to make. You'll need a thesis with 3 main reasons for your argument. Each paragraph should be a reason with 2-3 quotes, and remember to link it back to the argument. Writing dot point essays really help, to understand the basic structure of your argument and making sure it flows nicely. Looking at exemplars for these also help like heaps, so you get an idea how one idea flows smoothly to the other.

For speeches, the best way is to get your speech done, get feedback, apply the feedback and start practicing your speech. If you don't have the time or environment, you can always listen to your speech through a text-to-speech app. I found that really helped me. The more you know your speech, the more eye-contact you make which boosts your mark. Body language is also a huge factor. Moving around and emphasising key words in your speech shows the marker you really care and it gets you those extra marks.

Regarding short stories (or literary essays) I don't have the best advice, but make sure your story is very straight to the point. Creativity was never my strong suit, so I looked for something realistic rather than something crazy dystopian. In year 11 and 12, short stories must be based on poems studied in class. I found taking a character and putting them into a new situation was really interesting. The key thing with short stories is be descriptive. Like really descriptive. Reading fiction books also help with this, as you get an understanding of particular phrases you can use for your short story. I personally like to write my stories before I plan so I get an idea of how it flows first.

Hope this helps!
 -jinx_58
Class of 2022!
Currently doing Unit 4: QCE
Physics || Chemistry ||Methods || General English || Ancient History || Religion & Ethics
My Year 12 QCE Journal!

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2022, 12:31:43 pm »
+1
Thank you jinx for the reply. I think that English is the subject I wish to improve the most upon as in the past I have not received as good a grade as I think I could be getting, so hopefully next semester if I put the effort in I could get low A’s, my question is do you think that is a possible grade? I have averaged B’s and B+ but have only got one A. Sorry if this paragraph isn’t written good as I am in a rush lmao. 
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology

jinx_58

  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 143
  • "I am not afraid to walk this world alone" - MCR
  • Respect: +22
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2022, 10:14:25 pm »
0
I deffos believe you can get A's in English. The trick is to understand what the criteria sheet is asking of you. Go through it with a teacher, or a friend who thoroughly understands it. It also depends on the task, I feel I do better in analytical essays than short stories. Anything can be achieved if you do it right and give it a good amount of effort.

Hope this helps!
jinx_58
Class of 2022!
Currently doing Unit 4: QCE
Physics || Chemistry ||Methods || General English || Ancient History || Religion & Ethics
My Year 12 QCE Journal!

K.Smithy

  • QLD MVP - 2019
  • QCE Moderator
  • Forum Obsessive
  • *****
  • Posts: 400
  • "We are the cosmos made conscious." B.C. (she/her)
  • Respect: +396
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2022, 02:24:50 pm »
+1
Hey K. Smithy. Well the subjects I have chosen are based off my major interests except biology and English (will talk about soon), I have always loved math and learning why everything happens, stereotypically I would be called a “math and science student” and I guess that is the reason I have done well in these subjects, thus my reason for doing methods, specialist, chemistry and physics.
Now, English and bio… I have never liked English, in the past term or 2 I have tried to enjoy and like English aswell as put more effort in, my grades have not been up to what I want them to be so I wish that I put in even more effort in the future with English. On the other hand biology is a subject that, yes I do well in but I have no interest in it other than human biology and I’ve seen on the syllabus that it includes it but also many things that don’t particularly make me feel passionate about.
But, my plan is quite broad, there is no 1 desired career path I wish to take. I have chosen these subjects to keep my options open, but as of now I have been looking into medicine, nursing, engineering and teaching maths. All of these careers seem worthwhile and something I enjoy and I believe that the subjects I chose cater the needs of all of them.
One question I do have for you is, how do I get better at English? For example you can get better at math by learning new concepts, ideas, formulas etc and understanding how they work and apply that Knowledge to questions. But with English I am always stumped, I try to study for it then (.other than homework) I just don’t know what to do.

Everything that Jinx has said is really good.

I would like to also highlight that your subjects will change a lot between year 11 and year 12. For myself, and I know many others in my grade, year 11 was more challenging than year 12. I think the main contributor to that was the new style of assessment. For me, I did worse in year 11 for most of my subjects than I did in year 12. So I wouldn't worry too much about your grades for Unit 1 and 2, as they aren't a reflection of how well you will do in Units 3 and 4. For example, I think I got around 80/100 for English in year 11, but in year 12 I ended the year with a raw 98/100. The only thing that was different was how I approached the assignments.

There isn't a lot you can do in the way of studying for English. I wouldn't say that there is a textbook that could help you. It comes down to practice and reading the ISMG. For your spoken task, pay a lot of attention to audience you are given. Maybe you are presenting something for a news station or maybe you are presenting a sales pitch. Really consider who your audience is and what your purpose is so you can nail the style of writing that they expect. For your written response and for the analytical essay, the key is all about authorial intent. So who is the author, what has informed their perspective, and what are they wanting the audience to believe (as well as how are they getting the audience to believe it)? Finally, for the imaginative task, remember authorial intent, cultural assumptions, and remember to show rather than tell.

I would also like to note that there are a lot of ways to go about completing the assignments. Don't fear finding inspiration from other people - just don't plagiarise them. Instead, use their ideas to inspire your own or to find new connections to topics that you hadn't thought of before. For me, I found it really helpful to read essays on JSTOR about the novel 1984. These essays helped me to analyse the text myself.

The best thing you can do is practice. Practice writing introductions and conclusions. Practice comparing different texts. Practice reading aloud. Practice answering questions about your prescribed text. Practice analysing texts.

I hope this is helpful! I'm sure you will do very well. :)
QCE 2020: Physics (92) || Psychology (96) || Biology (93) || Methods (79) || English (98) || SOR (91)
ATAR: 98.40
2021-2024: Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) @ UQ

Uni Journal ; U3 Bio ; U3 Psych ; U3 Physics

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2022, 09:27:57 pm »
0
Thank you all for the really useful information, I have been implementing it into my study schedule and truly have been enjoying it. So far, doing 3 sciences and 2 math is really fun (I’m sure I’m going to regret saying it ahah) but the content is really interesting but for specialist I think our teacher is trying to introduce us to the topic of proof, and I really want to start it but right now we are doing congruence.
But for anyone who has done unit 1, when do you start actually getting given the majority of content, obviously I’ve only had 2 days in school and half of it is the teachers talking about ATAR etc.
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology

Phytoplankton

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 24
  • 2021!
  • Respect: +4
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2022, 10:24:46 am »
0
Thank you all for the really useful information, I have been implementing it into my study schedule and truly have been enjoying it. So far, doing 3 sciences and 2 math is really fun (I’m sure I’m going to regret saying it ahah) but the content is really interesting but for specialist I think our teacher is trying to introduce us to the topic of proof, and I really want to start it but right now we are doing congruence.
But for anyone who has done unit 1, when do you start actually getting given the majority of content, obviously I’ve only had 2 days in school and half of it is the teachers talking about ATAR etc.

Hey PattyOOO,

Schools most definitely do units 1-4 in different ways but I imagine you will be doing your FA1s soon: data test for your sciences and your PSMT for your maths. So, usually, most of unit 1 is covered quite quickly (like a term) and the remaining is covered after the FA1. You said you were doing proofs in specialist and that I would say is more of a low yield topic; you will mostly be doing matrices, vectors and complex numbers because those topics continue into a lot depth in Grade 12. So, to answer your question, if you haven't reached those topics yet, its going to be soon to start the "majority of content" but remember it all depends when you do your FA1s. As you are in Grade 11, they will be talking quite a bit about ATAR because its important for you to know the system before Grade 12 (but they usually do drag on and repeat quite a lot  ;D). As you may have noticed, I did the same subject combination as you and as you know I'm sure, its important to take every assessment in Grade 11 seriously because it's like a "first chance" for you.

Anyways, hope this helps and good luck!
- Phytoplankton
QCE Class of 2021: Physics | Chemistry | Biology | Specialist Mathematics | Mathematical Methods | General English

Uni 2022-2028: BMedSci and MD

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2022, 03:15:22 pm »
+1
Thank you phytoplankton for the response, I am looking forward to the content that I am awaiting to learn.
As you said you did the same subject combination, how was it? Was the workload too much at some point and what was your daily study schedule like? As for the subjectivity of these questions, i just want your perspective on it :)
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2022, 03:17:19 pm »
0
Oh sorry I forgot to ask and state.
What atar did you receive and what was your best/worst subjects?
And I noticed you are doing an MD pathway, that is what I wish to pursue, or teaching.
How was the ucat prep for you?
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology

Phytoplankton

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 24
  • 2021!
  • Respect: +4
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2022, 01:55:53 pm »
+2
Thank you phytoplankton for the response, I am looking forward to the content that I am awaiting to learn.
As you said you did the same subject combination, how was it? Was the workload too much at some point and what was your daily study schedule like? As for the subjectivity of these questions, i just want your perspective on it :)

Happy to help! Like you, I would be that person who was called the "maths and science student". So, I did very much enjoy the subject combination I had throughout Grade 11 and 12. However, I would be lying if I didn't say that it was very very very stressful in the month/last few weeks before the external exams. With the UCAT on top of that, it made it more difficult to schedule the necessary study in. Ideally, my daily schedule should have looked like a consistent studying and reviewing of each subject equally but of course, I wasn't that ideal, perfect student. Same with the UCAT prep and school, I studied the a few days/weeks before the exams so it became very stressful and I had to do like 2-3 exams every day and then review them for hours on end. It certainly wasn't a great time. What I would suggest to anyone in Grade 11 is that take every assessment very seriously as it is a "first chance" at ATAR and what I would recommend after that is to consistently keep up with the work.

In terms of the ATAR I received, I got a 99.85, my best subject was, naturally, Physics (100%) and my worst subject was English (also naturally). Medicine is certainly a pathway to pursue and a difficult one but luckily, in Australia, there are countless pathways to go through so don't get too bogged down on UCAT to the extent that you compromise ATAR. That being said, doing UCAT the best you can is VITAL as it makes your life much much easier. Despite my lack of UCAT prep, the enjoyment of doing it got the better of me at the end which probably is the reason for my performance on the test.

Anyways, I hope this helped and feel free to ask any more questions.
- PP
QCE Class of 2021: Physics | Chemistry | Biology | Specialist Mathematics | Mathematical Methods | General English

Uni 2022-2028: BMedSci and MD

PattyOOO

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • love math hate english
  • Respect: 0
Re: My QCE journey doing the suicide 6
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2022, 05:42:14 pm »
+1
Update: 19/07/2022
After my first week and beginning of the second I am still anxious for the future but am pleased with what I have learnt, For methods we are doing arithmetic and geometric sequences, functions etc. (part of unit 1), specialist we are doing trig, circle geometry, congruency and linear equations. I am happy with the topics and really wish what next term is gonna be like. For physics we are doing heating processes, so kinetic particle models etc., chemistry is just year 10 chem with more, so different types of bonds, solubility, rates of reaction etc. and for biology we have done biological molecules and starting the digestive system. Every single subject I love at the moment.
BUT I haven't mentioned English yet, that's because we start doing Shakespeare novels, and I hateeee Shakespeare texts right now I am studying the merchant of Venice, how do I read Shakespeare text, it is just so weird and unusual reading English in a different way, I don't comprehend what's going on and I feel like I'm falling behind, any tips?
At this rate I'm doing about 1 and a bit hours a night for homework, is this enough to stay on top of what I'm doing (mind you we only do a bit of unit 1 for each subject). If you have any suggestions or tips to help with this journey.
p.s. how do I split up studying for different subjects? 1 "easy" and 1 "hard" subject a night? or 3, so 1 easy hard and medium subject? (I'm very confused because no ones ever given me an actual answer of how they would split it)
Patty :)
QCE Year 10: English | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Physics | Chemistry | Biology