Hey guys,
Not really sure if you guys are in yr eight or nine tryng to get into macrob in 2019, but either way, I guess i hae some tips for both? Im in yr ten currently at macrob who tried out in yr nine last year. I also got into schs for yr nine entry but declined it.
Yr nine entry
MATHS AND NUMERICAL REASONING WILL HAUNT YOU. I remember sitting the tests andd just crying to myself while looking at the papers. There were a lot of linear equations and turning point questions and algeebra stuff. A good way to get your head around this stuff is to do a lot of questions from yr nine maths textbooks. Also would be helpful knowing your squared and a biit of cubed numbers, espcially for numerical reasoning. A lot of people who goes to james an (aka yr eight me) and struggled with the maths being taught there will find the maths papers toture.
READING COMP AND VERBAL
I actually found these papers easy. The texts in reding weren't that wordy (unlike what james an says) and i was able to thoroughly read through them. The verbal reasoning was really easy, a lot of people found it easy as well. For reading, I really wouldn't recommend much other than you read. James an does a pretty good job with teaching reading and verbal, but thir tests are so much harder than the actual papers. I rememeber they taught us literary devices for reading like euphamism and allegories so i took it uppon myself to learn literally all the devices there was. Turns out it was a big waste of tiime because none of them were talked about on the test... However you may have some questions about alliterations and allegories, but nothing to tricky.
WRITING PIECES
The actual topics weren't too hard, but it was the time management that was obvviously the hardest thing. The topics that were on my test were "You are locked in a room with a box that said 'Do not open'" and "Should atheletes' salary be capped to be given to amateur sport leagues?". I didn't do too bad on these, but a really good way, if not the best way, to do well on essays is to give yourself 15 minutes to write ann essay. If you dont have enough time, skip out on planning. I know a lot of people emphasise the importance of planning, but when you're under pressure where every second counts, you realy doon't have time to write out what you're going too write even though you have it in your head.
That is my advice for the yr eights trying out! TBH I kind of wouuldn't suggest going to james an's selective prep class because a lot of people dropped it midway through the year. Im not sure if this happened in other james an places but i went to the kealba/st albans branch.
BTW i got one superior, two above averages (the one before superior) and three high averages (before above average and after average) unfortunately that wasnt good enough to get in so thats why i tried again. This leads me to my...
YR TEN ENTRY ADVICE!!
I jusst want to start by sayinng that its okay if you guys havennt sat for the yr niine entry. A lot of people who got into yr 10 didnt sit for yr nine, but they still knew there stuff. I went to Hendersons for preparation,, thinking it was gonna be really good given their very pricey lessons. I was so hesitant for my parents to spend just over a grand on me, going to only 5 lessns and two practce exaams. However, the only thing that i really gained from that was doing the practice exams. They actually helped me becaus thy were actually quite similar to the actual tests, plus they would give out everyone's resultts on the tests on the same day!! but just to break down what was on the test....
MATHS AND NUUMERICAL REASONING
Okay remember how I said the maths stuff for yr nine entry was hard? Forget it. These papers were a breeze. There were questions about ppythag, algebra, inequalities, turning points and parabolas, surds, linearr stuff, just yr ten stuff. Numerical reasoning was kind of the same as the paper for the yr nine entry, but harder ofc and had a lot of simultaneous equations. Time managament wasn't an issue for me and i still hadd some time to check my answers twice. I know, it sounds crazy but legit. I think it was because I was in the advanced maths class in yr nine and so that helped me with my yr ten maths skills. so yeah, just work off yr ten textbooks and know how to att least do some basic maths stuff of your head (like (x+3)(X+1)=x^2+4x+3)
READIG AND VERBAL
emember how i said these papers were easy for yr nine? well forget that as well. I had to guess at least 50% of the questions in reading comp. There were texts about the earth's atmosphere (ik its weird this is reading comp, not science) and there was evenn a text from Charles Dickens. Verbal wasn't too bad i guess but you really have to be good with your vocabulary. If you can't read or you suck in vocab, yoou can always rely on guuessing the answer as "C". This trick is probably why i go to this school tbh.
WRiTIng
These pieces were killer for me. I loved the persuasive piece but the creative piece was just... The topics were "Should canteens continue to sell unehealthy/junk food?" and "Write a creative piece with the starting sentences being 'it was almost as if i imagined it' and 'i couldn't believe it'" I was so surprised with the creative writing topic and spent five minutes solid thinking of a topic. I completely failed the creative, gettining a below average (was it because my writing was just bad, or because i talked about drugs? just ill never know...) Anyways, a good way to practise is to ofc practise at home. I wrote an essay a day for a month and gave it t a tutor to correct them and send it back. I found her feedback help me to improve my essay skills which was good.
I somehow manged to get three superiors, one above and one high averge and a very sad below average. I really don't know how i made it in tbh
ALSO KEY THING FOR YR TENS
YOU GUYS HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN COCURRICULAR ACTIVITIES . IT IS SUCH A KEY I CANT STRESS IT ENOUGH!! I heard from my mum that girl in yr ten got a really good score with four superiors but she didnt make it in because she wasn't involved enough. It is very important to do something outside of school, whether it be dancing, singing, swimming or even volunteering. I did stuff like debating, swim squad and math comps so i think that made up for my below average?
INTERVIEWS
Interviews are unfortunately required for potential students after sitting the test. Im not ure how many people get to be interviewed, but im thinking maybe 50? considering that i have 25 people in my form/new yr ten students. it's really good to just practise and practise interview questions if you are able to be interviewed. I was interviewed by the transition director and the principal and were asked questions that knd of surprised me? I remember they asked me'what was the best moment of your life?'ans i was so clueless on the spot and sat there for five seconds before saying ' tbe best moment of my life was sitting for the test for this school as i know hat if i gt in, it will change my life so sitting for the test is only one stepping stone for my future' and completely sucked their ass, which im sure they were fully aware. these are the following questions they asked as well
how do you feel about leaving your school to potentially come here?
if youre in term two, and you dont have any friends, what ould you do to find some?
why do you want to come to this school?
what do you know about this school?
what can you offer to this school?
and a bunch of questions like that. its importnt not to get scared or nervous as it is really obvious. i am a really anxius person that the transition diretor had to tell me to breathe right when she saw me. Not a very good impression. But in the end, i realised that we had such a normal conversation and talked about books and movies. its also important to come up with a question for them when they ask for one. When they asked 'do you have any questions?', it's so obvious that they want one to see if you arereally interested in this place so i answered with 'what sort of competitions do you guys hold?'. Just the most obvious question will probably be good enough. But just remember that you're not only there to be interviewed because youre alo interviewing them to see if you really want to be a new student at macrob.
So yeah, those are all my tips and adviCe for getting into macrob or schs in that case. i remember trying to find tios for yr ten entry last year but i seriously couldnt find any so i had to learn it the hard way. Hopefully this helps at least one of you guys
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