hi guys, feels good to be back hahahaha.
anyways, last year i took the entrance exam for the Victorian selective schools. here are my results:
vr- sup
nr- aa
writing- a
reading- sup
math- ha
i didn't get into my first nor my second preference but rather my third; nossal high. i'm not exactly sure why that was the case bc many have told me nossal is much more prestigious than my first choice; schs
i chose to decline the offer due to travel and other reasons.
i may have been rigged by the 5% rule because there were a lot more people who sat the exam than i thought there to be.
here are my top 3 tips and tricks for smashing through the exams + a "key things to study" at the end
1. ok this one was probably against the rules but it gave me a head start so yeah... i'm sorry for cheating (is it really cheating though?) upon getting your tests for each component the sheet of paper at the front of the booklet is extremely thin meaning you can see the questions underneath (you'll have to read backwards though) while the examiner was blabbing on about the exam and the rules i was deciphering the first 5 questions or so and planting the answers in my head. this gave me a head start of about 5 questions meaning while everyone was still on the first page i was already flying through to the second.
2. time is your biggest enemy! the biggest problem i had with all the tests was that i ran out of time, during my prep leading up to the exam i didn't really know how much time would affect and because i was so stubborn i refused to take it seriously and thought i could just 'fluke it'. also last year i was told there was going to be a clock and after searching or one which took up a minute or so i realised there was no clock, so if you can, bring an analogue watch with you
3. speed round :3
- get a good night of sleep the night before
- bring plenty of pencils just in case one breaks you can quickly swap instead of wasting time sharpening
- do the quicker, less lengthier questions first
- for verbal reasoning broaden your vocab, no like really there were some funky as words in there
- bring food and water for your break
- go to the bathroom during breaks or before the exam, don't waste precious time pls
- do not stress, ik it's a lot of pressure but the more you stress the worst you will perform
- if you happen to not do well in one test, FORGET BOUT IT and focus on the next test. just focus on whatever is in front of you
- as mentioned, bring a watch!
- do a lot of timed practice tests. it helps with time management and can you help develop new skills and techniques on how to tackle a particular question that you can take into use during your exam
key questions and topics that i can recall (not exactly precise)
VERBAL REASONING:
for vr there were also some questions about prefixes and suffixes and they take up about 5 questions, vr also had around 1/2 the questions based around word meaning and synonyms and antonyms. if anyone did it last year do you recall those weird questions with the words in the circles, i forgot what the questions were but there were around 5 questions of that too
READING COMP:
the reading comp passages can be lengthy and i remember having to complete at least 10 questions of finding the meaning of a proverb. one of the questions were the classic "what is the meaning of the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover?'". so make sure to be studying some proverbs and idioms too! also for passages, i found it useful to read the question before and looking back to the passage to search for key words to find the answer.
MATHEMTATICS:
ooof, my biggest fluke. some of the topics, especially in mathematics can go a little beyond year 11. THEY WERE HARD. i don't entirely remember the sort of questions on there because it's been over a year now, but i'm sure if you go back to the older forums you can see the type of questions that were on there. i guessed over 3/4 of the math exam and only surely did the first 15 questions. i guess everyone else found it hard as well thus increasing my rank but honestly it was all a giant fluke. please read past forums for more detail on the questions because i do not remember sowwy :c
NUMERICAL REASONING:
ok this was the only one where i do not remember anything, there were some questions on finding a missing number in a sequence, finding the missing number in a grid (usually 3x3 or 5x5) and a lot of lengthy worded questions. but other than that i do not recall anything in that particular exam
WRITING:
last year it was creative, i forgot what it was about hhahhaaha sorryy, again you should check other forums for this sort of info, im just giving you my overview. use lots of description and do not use words such as "don't" instead use "do not", paragraph your piece correctly, it helps to end on a cliffhanger as it builds tension i guess?
i'm not good at argumentative writing so i cant give you any tips, but there are a lot of users out there that are so hit them up for help, im sure they'll be happy to help!
thank you for reading this far, my arms hurt from typing lmao, i won't be on atar notes as often so sorry if i don't reply instantly. ill probably be on here again in a month or two or whenever i feel like it heheh
best of luck guys, stay determined and believe in yourself and really focus on preparing in these next few months <3333
rooting for you!
- sippingtea
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