ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => Victorian Technical Score Discussion => Topic started by: MusicEqualsLife1997 on August 19, 2014, 09:19:04 pm

Title: atar of 90+ - is it possible?
Post by: MusicEqualsLife1997 on August 19, 2014, 09:19:04 pm
so basically all my life i've never been a "good" student. i never did my homework, barely passed, failed a lot. actually failed english in year 10. this year i've gotten better, but i need 91.05 (bachelor of laws/psychological science @ la trobe is my top choice).

my subjects are:
- english language (unit 1 average = 82%)
- general math (unit 1 average = 71%; unit 2 average so far = 90%)
- religion & society (unit 1 average = 90%)
- psychology (unit 1 average = 79%)
- legal studies (unit 1 average = 69% - my average was dragged down by a 48% which was very rushed and i could have done much, much better - got 90% on the resit).
- music performance (unit 1 average = 88% - not doing music next year)

i'm wondering how i could raise my average for everything and do better. would averaging 80-90 be good to get above 90? how can i get above 90?

also, do you get study scores in year 11?

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also, my school never gets high study scores. last year there was nobody who got more than one study score over 40, and the dux of the school was 79.6...
Title: Re: atar of 90+ - is it possible?
Post by: JackSonSmith on August 19, 2014, 10:36:34 pm
The sheer fact that you care will mean that you will likely do well in year 12. Year 11 results do not count towards your ATAR. I suggest asking your teachers for help/suggestions regarding improvement. Find something that motivates you to do well and try your best to keep on top of your work.

Best of luck in your studies.
Title: Re: atar of 90+ - is it possible?
Post by: brenden on August 19, 2014, 11:10:26 pm
I was in an eerily similar position to you three years ago, and I managed it. Honestly, because of the nature/culture in your school, you're probably going to have to work harder and better than you think is reasonable or normal in order to do it, but it is definitely doable. Especially if you're starting to catch up now.
Title: Re: atar of 90+ - is it possible?
Post by: Special At Specialist on August 20, 2014, 12:20:36 am
Your unit 1/2 subjects do not count for anything, so long as you "pass" at least 16 units. Let me clarify the process for you on how the ATAR is calculated:

1) You complete unit 3/4 subjects and you are given a "raw study score" for each subject, which is a whole number between 0 and 50 inclusive. The average and median score is a 30, with 9% of students scoring a 40 or higher. So basically, your performance is compared against the rest of the state and they try to find out how well you did in that subject compared to everyone else in that subject.
2) Your subjects are then scaled to give you a "scaled study score". A difficult subject that has a lot of high-achievers in it (such as specialist maths) will get scaled up, since you are competing against much brighter people, making it harder to get a good raw score. An easy subject with a lot of low-performing students (such as food tech) will get scaled down, since it is easier to get a good raw score in these subjects.
3) Your scaled scores are then added up. Your "primary 4" subjects (the top 4 scaled scores, with either English, Literature, English Language or ESL included in the top 4) will count for 100%. Your 5th and 6th subjects will count for 10%. Your 7th subject onwards won't count for anything. Once this has been added up, you will be given an "aggregate".
4) Your aggregate is compared against the rest of the state. If your aggregate is in the top 0.05% of students in the state, you will get a 99.95 ATAR. If your aggregate is in the top 0.1% but not the top 0.05%, then you will get a 99.90 ATAR, and so on.

Now, the difficult thing is: you've told us what your scores are for unit 1/2, but all of the assessments you've done are internal. You haven't done any external assessments (such as a unit 3 or unit 4 exam). We don't know how difficult your assessments are or how generous your teachers are with handing out marks. A 90% in one school might be equal to a 30% in another school, if the latter has much more difficult tests and exams. There is also the chance that your marks might be very different in year 12 compared to year 11. Some students put in a lot more effort during year 12, whilst other students crack under pressure and their performance decreases.

All I will say is: a 90 ATAR might seem daunting, but it is a very achievable goal for someone who is motivated to do well in VCE. If you study regularly, stay organised and keep up to date in all your subjects, then you will have a good chance of getting in the 90's. Good luck!
Title: Re: atar of 90+ - is it possible?
Post by: zsteve on August 26, 2014, 06:01:24 pm
Definitely. You're still in Year 11 and nothing has actually counted yet.
As long as you're motivated ... the rest , what Ned Nerb said