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March 29, 2024, 06:56:11 am

Author Topic: ATAR estimate  (Read 2128 times)

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dusto

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ATAR estimate
« on: June 15, 2020, 08:56:20 am »
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g'day ladies & gents

need an idea of what i'm capable of achieving atar-wise with my current subjects & rank (need a 75+):

EngAdv (9/95)
EngExt (3/13)
Chem (15/33)
Bio (27/65)
Music 1 (9/21)
PDHPE (8/40)
Maths Standard (no clue)

cheers.

also wouldn't mind (please) any thoughts on what 2 unit subject i should drop, as me, being lazy, have just realized the increasing stress of 13 units





« Last Edit: June 15, 2020, 10:13:55 am by dusto »

angewina_naguen

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Re: ATAR estimate
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2020, 11:24:13 pm »
+6
Hey, dusto!

Welcome to the forums  :) This is going to be a slightly terrible answer but it's an honest one from someone who has been through the HSC, seen her own students go through it last year and realised one thing- you can never accurately estimate what ATAR you get. A lot of factors come into the picture and will obscure your predictions, including whether your ranks will change after Trials (I found Trials really shook up things for my school!), how you perform on the exam days for all your HSC subjects, how your school cohort members perform and how the rest of the 2020 cohort performs. Moderation, scaling and other whacky things happen which, again, make it next to impossible to predict an ATAR at this stage for you. I would also steer clear from ATAR calculators; some people think it's a good motivation to know whereabouts you need to reach but what the calculators predicted for me was incredibly off to what I actually got in the end. My advice would be to try and maintain your ranks, if not ascend wherever you can, to see if you can boost your chances long term and for the greater sake of making the most out of your education  :D

As for what you should drop, it really depends on what you think would work best for you. I can't exactly give you an answer to this either but here are some questions you might want to think about and hopefully it will help you reach a decision.

- Which subject am I performing the weakest at? This is more in terms of rank, rather than marks and percentages because faculties all mark and measure students differently.
- Which subject consumes most of my time? Does this same subject also happen to be my weakest one?
- Which subject is the main cause of my stress? What are my reasons for still holding on to it?
- Which subjects do I need to keep for my long term career choices and pathways? If you don't have any ideas yet, which ones at least align with where you might potentially go post high school?

Hope this helps  :)

Angelina  ;D
-HSC 2018-

-ATAR-
97.50

-UNI 2019-2022-
Bachelor of Music (Music Education) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music

dusto

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Re: ATAR estimate
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2020, 05:17:25 am »
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Hey, dusto!

Welcome to the forums  :) This is going to be a slightly terrible answer but it's an honest one from someone who has been through the HSC, seen her own students go through it last year and realised one thing- you can never accurately estimate what ATAR you get. A lot of factors come into the picture and will obscure your predictions, including whether your ranks will change after Trials (I found Trials really shook up things for my school!), how you perform on the exam days for all your HSC subjects, how your school cohort members perform and how the rest of the 2020 cohort performs. Moderation, scaling and other whacky things happen which, again, make it next to impossible to predict an ATAR at this stage for you. I would also steer clear from ATAR calculators; some people think it's a good motivation to know whereabouts you need to reach but what the calculators predicted for me was incredibly off to what I actually got in the end. My advice would be to try and maintain your ranks, if not ascend wherever you can, to see if you can boost your chances long term and for the greater sake of making the most out of your education  :D

As for what you should drop, it really depends on what you think would work best for you. I can't exactly give you an answer to this either but here are some questions you might want to think about and hopefully it will help you reach a decision.

- Which subject am I performing the weakest at? This is more in terms of rank, rather than marks and percentages because faculties all mark and measure students differently.
- Which subject consumes most of my time? Does this same subject also happen to be my weakest one?
- Which subject is the main cause of my stress? What are my reasons for still holding on to it?
- Which subjects do I need to keep for my long term career choices and pathways? If you don't have any ideas yet, which ones at least align with where you might potentially go post high school?

Hope this helps  :)

Angelina  ;D

hey angelina! thank you
@angewina_naguen

there are a couple of factors i didn't include:

chemistry and english extension 1, both equally difficult, are on the same day in the hsc timetable. is it even remotely possible to go well in both with preparation? or would it better to consider the following:

i'm in mid recovery from an injury, so unfortunately i can't practice my performance pieces for music 1 until directly before trials. my teacher strongly believes i should perform rather than undertake vivas, however i can't predict how i can cope with relearning and learning pieces post-recovery all whilst handling my more worrying subjects during trial & HSC time.

half of my cohort in music 1 is currently in the high band 5 - low/high band 6 range, albeit harder, my chemistry cohort is about a quarter. however, i assume state-wide that chemistry would have a far less range of low band achievers in comparison to music 1. is it wrong of me to consider this scaling factor? this only really applies if i perform well. oh, and i go to a regional school.

i preferably want a minimum atar of about 80, but i always visualize for higher as a means of deterring my laziness where i only perform under immediate pressure (which i'm working on managing).

i can talk about it more in private, but only if you're not busy.

also, out of curiosity, have you seen anyone achieve in the 80 range despite having 1 or 2 band 4 results?

what are your thoughts on all of this?  thanks!

« Last Edit: June 16, 2020, 06:17:25 am by dusto »

angewina_naguen

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Re: ATAR estimate
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2020, 12:59:04 pm »
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hey angelina! thank you
@angewina_naguen

there are a couple of factors i didn't include:

chemistry and english extension 1, both equally difficult, are on the same day in the hsc timetable. is it even remotely possible to go well in both with preparation? or would it better to consider the following:

i'm in mid recovery from an injury, so unfortunately i can't practice my performance pieces for music 1 until directly before trials. my teacher strongly believes i should perform rather than undertake vivas, however i can't predict how i can cope with relearning and learning pieces post-recovery all whilst handling my more worrying subjects during trial & HSC time.

half of my cohort in music 1 is currently in the high band 5 - low/high band 6 range, albeit harder, my chemistry cohort is about a quarter. however, i assume state-wide that chemistry would have a far less range of low band achievers in comparison to music 1. is it wrong of me to consider this scaling factor? this only really applies if i perform well. oh, and i go to a regional school.

i preferably want a minimum atar of about 80, but i always visualize for higher as a means of deterring my laziness where i only perform under immediate pressure (which i'm working on managing).

i can talk about it more in private, but only if you're not busy.

also, out of curiosity, have you seen anyone achieve in the 80 range despite having 1 or 2 band 4 results?

what are your thoughts on all of this?  thanks!

Hey, dusto!

Here are some of my thoughts; hopefully they will provide you with further direction in your decision-making!

- Having two exams on one day totally sucks (I had this happen twice for me in the HSC and it was not fun)  :'( That being said, you can still do as well with both of those subjects so long as you distribute your study effectively and prepare for them in the best ways you can. As an example, I had Modern and SAC on the same day which was such a pain because both have heavy content and essays to write. How I prepared for it was in lead up to those exams, I had a solid week off so I alternated my study day by day to make sure I covered them equally (I spent slightly a bit more time on Modern because it was the harder of the two for me). Ext 1 English, as shocking as this might sound, doesn't actually require much studying. What it does require is exposure to different questions and practice responses. If you want to keep Ext 1, you'll need to be proactive in getting practice responses to your teacher when Trials and the HSC comes around to improve your writing. I can't speak for Chemistry but I would imagine that it's a similar principle with content also involved. In short, it is definitely possible to be prepared for both exams if you allocate your study accordingly!

- Really sorry to hear that you're facing an injury right now. I'm pretty sure you can apply for special consideration or something along those lines if you decide to keep Music 1 because it's unfair for the markers to expect the same level from you as a student who has had all the time in the world to practise. I don't think having a Viva or composition should be a problem. I would actually encourage it because it means you'll have something you can prepare without being affected physically. I would ask your teacher why they are so against it and express interest, if you have any of course, to them about doing either as an elective given your current circumstances. This also means you can channel more of your energy into the performances you do have once they come around  :D I also found that during Trials, I took a total break from my practice and it didn't affect my performance dramatically so if you are worried about being overloaded, consistent practice in lead up to it and after Trials can still enable you to do well.

- Scaling is a natural concern when it comes to the HSC but I also think it's important to think about your own relative place in the cohort and the cohort overall. Whether you go to a regional school or not, you can definitely achieve the ATAR you are aiming for. For Music 1 as an example, I would consider the strength of your cohort, particularly the 8 students above you. If they are all Band 5-6 level students and you all perform as well in the HSC, you won't be dragged down. Alternatively, if you are sitting around average for Chemistry but the whole cohort is strong, you'll be able to be supported by them. There's a lot of other complex factors that go into scaling so I will be completely transparent about it and just say that I'm probably not the most versed in it  ::)

- You could also come to a decision after your next assessment tasks. You can still drop a subject all the way until before Trials I believe so you might want to see how you perform in the next round of assessments first before thinking about what you should drop, especially if you're still unsure about what subjects you want to keep long term or not.

I think the ultimate advice I would give is keeping the subjects you enjoy the most and that you can see yourself pursuing in some way post high school. If you feel like laziness and demotivation are key issues that you need to address, having the subjects that you do find joy going to is one step to having a better attitude towards study. Scaling, moderation and everything else doesn't hold a candle to whether you perform well or not; it's a matter of how hungry you are to learn and demonstrate your knowledge both in the exam room and in the wider world. Hope this helps and do let us know what you end up deciding to do!

Angelina  ;D
« Last Edit: June 17, 2020, 01:04:48 pm by angewina_naguen »
-HSC 2018-

-ATAR-
97.50

-UNI 2019-2022-
Bachelor of Music (Music Education) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music

indianmaster69

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Re: ATAR estimate
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2020, 10:47:46 am »
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Hi there

I am just wondering whether i can still get a 90 atar with a bad rank for chem of 25/30. I do 10 units and my other subject ranks are top 35-30 percent. This is before trials btw.