Last minute prep for HSC exams

[hermansia12]

Last Minute Guide:

Hi everybody,
I know everyone is panicking right now with the stats. but calm down! Here is a guide on how to attack the last 24hrs and maximise your marks
Everyone’s to do list probably looks like this currently:

Must do check list:
-Go over statistics
-Revise principle economic issues in the current affairs
-Revise weak points
-Remember formulas

Now how to tackle it? That is the question that's even more troubling than Hamlet’s to be or not to be.
So let’s break down the list:

Going over statistics:
-Statistics will be so much harder to remember if they are in a list with numbers floating around everywhere. I know this for a fact because before trials, I had a whole list of statistics which were going everywhere but into my head. I found that taking them out of the list and using them to reason out economic concepts:

e.g terms of trade has recently increased by 4.5% is the stat. that you are trying to remember

Then justify it – why was it important to have this piece of knowledge? Well terms of trade increasing will decrease the CAD in the BOGS -> stimulating economic growth due to increased injections thus Aggregate demand increases.

This will make the fact register as “interesting” in your brain and make you remember facts quicker and easier. It’s why your brain will be more likely to remember that King Henry 8 had to get hoisted out of bed because he was too fat rather than the population of Australia (23 million btw).

Like Sherlock, if you remember stats. In this way, you’ll be way more likely to remember it in the exam room. When you get a question on CAD and how exports affect it, it’ll jog your mind palace and BOOM! 4.5% increase in terms of trade

So take every stat. out of that list and make notes in that way. You’ll be surprised at how much you actually know and it’ll make the statistics way more accessible and dynamic.

-Round the stats. To round numbers like 10, 5, etc. this will make it easier to remember
 
-Because trends are more important, you can also cut the number of statistics down by half if you take the difference e.g economy experienced a growth of 10% in household savings in the last 10 years beats memorising 2 figures and it makes for more effective analysis

-Panicking is the worst thing you can do to yourself right now. SO REMAIN CALM! *Insert minions running around

Revising Current Affairs:
-Current affairs are a must in your revision as BOSTES loves to take questions from current events happening in the economy. You’ll find that in your revision most of the questions are about things that were happening in the economy at the time.

-I have made a daily summary of the current affairs happening in Australia currently which are directly related to the HSC syllabus. You can find it here:

Minute Statistics

This will give you everything you need at a glance

-With the current concerns about inflation, unemployment, free trade agreements, exports and imports I would predict that those would be a few of the questions BOSTES throws in.

-Morning of the exam, I wasn’t even going over the economic concepts like my peers I was just looking up the news of my case study and Australia. I ended up using more last minute news items than the ones I ended up going over. (Although would not recommend this for those who like to be prepared- This is only for the hardcore last minute statistics memorisers with good short term memory)

Weak Points:

-Define, Define, Define; Definitions helps so much in your essays and short responses

-Target the questions from your weak points in your past papers. Now is the time to go over all the question you had trouble with and ask them on the economics question thread:

Economics Question Thread

Formulas:
-There is a formula sheet here:

 Economics Formula Sheet

-Check it out and make sure you know how to use all of the formulas on there. These are the basic minimum formulas.


Hopefully this breakdown of the list helps. Remember sleeping and eating well helps more than anything else. Economics is all just about linking everything together because it is a very integrated subject. You’ll find that your perspectives may be different to others as well. That’s ok! Discuss them and play devil’s advocate. It will enrich your understanding of economics.

Panic when the exam is over but for these last 24hr panic is your worst enemy and banned.

Keep calm and analyse! Wishing you all the best in your HSC studying and exams

[isaacdelatorre]

Thank you soo much for this, I'm still slightly panicked but this is definitely helping

Also, how extensive do our trends and statistics have to be. I have a feeling I went overboard - I have 17 pages worth of trends and statistics... I wasn't sure what i needed trends on, so I prepared for most parts of the syllabus to use in an essay - but there's no way I can cram 7000 words in 2 days.

What exactly do we need trends on, from the syllabus.

Thank you again for this

[hermansia12]

Thank you soo much for this, I'm still slightly panicked but this is definitely helping

Also, how extensive do our trends and statistics have to be. I have a feeling I went overboard - I have 17 pages worth of trends and statistics... I wasn't sure what i needed trends on, so I prepared for most parts of the syllabus to use in an essay - but there's no way I can cram 7000 words in 2 days.

What exactly do we need trends on, from the syllabus.

Thank you again for this

17 pages means that you have quite an extensive list you have there! You definitely do not need that much. From the syllabus, generally you need trends on the 5 main economic issues, microeconomics policies, globalization and your case study. This should cover you for most of the questions bostes throws at you. Those were the 8 topics that I did last minute sorted my trends and policies into. (I put Labour market policies into microeconomics). I think it would be beneficial for you to strip back the knowledge into these categories so that it will be more relevant and easier to link and integrate into essays and short answer.