ATAR Notes: Forum

National Education => Admissions tests => Selective Schools Admissions Tests => Topic started by: annsab on May 20, 2017, 10:15:43 pm

Title: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: annsab on May 20, 2017, 10:15:43 pm
Hi,
I'm in year 10 this year, trying out for the Elizabeth Blackburn School of sciences.
I was wondering if anyone could give me some information on what the exams are like, or knew of any available practice exams.
What level of maths does the test cover? What's in the English part? And what exactly is the science reasoning test? What specific areas and what level of science would I have to know.
Also, if anyone has any other tips, I'd be grateful to receive them.
Thanks.
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: Aaron on May 20, 2017, 10:23:44 pm
You may find this guide helpful:
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=161374.0
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: Blueivy_2000 on May 21, 2017, 10:31:40 am
Hey guys!
I am currently in JMSS and want to try out for Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences. Wondering which one was better?

I love how Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences allows you to do 7 VCE subject and does not make you do a humanities in year 11.

How is the school? Is it worth moving?

Thankyou
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: adamyu on May 22, 2017, 12:53:04 pm
Hi Annsab,

I have found the following post from gha_tebs about the structure details of EBSS examination and interview which could be extremely useful for anyone who want to get a seat in Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences (EBSS).

EXAM & INTERVIEW GUIDE: Elizabeth Blackburn School Of Sciences (By EBSS)
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=161374.0 

Alternatively, you may try http://www.aameperth.com.au/selective-school-test for a free diagnosis assessment as well as plenty of practice questions in all areas to get you better prepared for admission test of any selective entry high school including EBSS.

Best Luck!
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: miguel_1 on May 23, 2017, 07:39:03 pm
I'm torn between JMSS and EBSS, even though I haven't been accepted to JMSS nor have I taken the test. I'm in year 10 at the moment and the JMSS Entrance exam is this Saturday (27 of May). Both JMSS and EBSS offer a lot in terms of maths and science. If I do get an interview, and hopefully get accepted to JMSS, the results are released early Term 3. According to the Enrolment Policy of JMSS, "Confirmations of acceptance need to be made within   7 days of   receipt of   the letter of offer." The EBSS entrance exam is around second week of Term 2 (29th of July) and results will probably be released weeks after.

Hypothetically speaking, if I am lucky enough to get accepted into JMSS, I only have seven days to respond. What if I decline the offer and I don't get accepted to EBSS? I would be such a fool to decline JMSS.

(Worst case scenario, I end up getting declined by both JMSS and EBSS.)


Not sure if I'm wrong or missing a point, but any clarification or knowledge about this situation would be appreciated.  :)

Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: Shadestache on May 23, 2017, 08:54:31 pm
I'm torn between JMSS and EBSS, even though I haven't been accepted to JMSS nor have I taken the test. I'm in year 10 at the moment and the JMSS Entrance exam is this Saturday (27 of May). Both JMSS and EBSS offer a lot in terms of maths and science. If I do get an interview, and hopefully get accepted to JMSS, the results are released early Term 3. According to the Enrolment Policy of JMSS, "Confirmations of acceptance need to be made within   7 days of   receipt of   the letter of offer." The EBSS entrance exam is around second week of Term 2 (29th of July) and results will probably be released weeks after.

Hypothetically speaking, if I am lucky enough to get accepted into JMSS, I only have seven days to respond. What if I decline the offer and I don't get accepted to EBSS? I would be such a fool to decline JMSS.

(Worst case scenario, I end up getting declined by both JMSS and EBSS.)


Not sure if I'm wrong or missing a point, but any clarification or knowledge about this situation would be appreciated.  :)

My advice may not mean much, but oh well:
If you DO get accepted into JMSS, you should probably accept it. Better safe than sorry, since you know at least know that it's a definite acceptance.

Is there one school that you hope to get accepted into more than the other? By the sounds of it, you seem more interested EBSS.
Both schools specialise in science, and as long as you feel happy in a community that embraces that, you should be fine.

As hard as it may sound, try to stay positive. Have faith in yourself and just try your best on both exams.
Things will hopefully work out.
Good luck.



Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: NatAmiee on June 28, 2017, 04:20:23 pm
Hi guys,
I'm looking at apply at EBSS for next year, but as I'm in year 11 now I'd be doing only year 12 there. Is it worth changing? Also, has anyone done the entrance exam going into year 12? If so are there any tips you have? Also, what topics within maths and science would we need to know?
Thanks
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: Joseph41 on June 29, 2017, 03:15:37 pm
Hi guys,
I'm looking at apply at EBSS for next year, but as I'm in year 11 now I'd be doing only year 12 there. Is it worth changing? Also, has anyone done the entrance exam going into year 12? If so are there any tips you have? Also, what topics within maths and science would we need to know?
Thanks

I think that first bit depends on a lot of factors! Do you like your current school? :)

Also, welcome to ATAR Notes! :D Can't wait to see you around the forums.
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: annsab on July 25, 2017, 06:58:57 pm
Hi all,
Thanks for responding, the exam is in a few days.
Does anyone know much about the writing piece? How long do we get to write it? What format is it in? Thanks.
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: emi87 on July 29, 2017, 01:47:17 pm
hey how'd u guys find it? i didn't do as well i hoped, didn't finish the tests and was not expecting the writing. i already know i'm not gonna get in  :'( sigh
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: JayC on July 29, 2017, 05:46:45 pm
hey how'd u guys find it? i didn't do as well i hoped, didn't finish the tests and was not expecting the writing. i already know i'm not gonna get in  :'( sigh
Hey guys, I also did the Year 10 to Year 11 exam and found it to be alright. I think I did well on most of the multiple choice tests, but for writing, I messed up thinking that there would be 25min and only got down 2 out of my 3 prepared paragraphs. Hopefully, we all did well, and good luck for the upcoming interviews :)!
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: gwenstacy on July 29, 2017, 09:19:19 pm
Eyyy, good job everyone for your effort today! It takes a lot of work to do an exam so early on a Saturday morning (I had to wake up at 5:45 for the exam (': )

Personally, I think it went pretty well.

Reading comprehension and verbal reasoning went smooth for me. I found that most of the passages were extremely interesting, except for the one about Aldo or something. That was meh. Also noticed that Edutest really love the word "excavate".

Scientific reasoning went okay. They recycled a lot of questions from other exams.

Maths was quite good! Didn't feel like 60 questions tbh.

Writing piece was pretty fun :') I liked learning about Elizabeth Blackburn's love for science. It's pretty neat that UHS was able to foster a Nobel Prize Laureate (actual goals)
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: NatAmiee on July 30, 2017, 03:59:49 pm
Scientific reasoning was the hardest bit for me, the rest I don't think was too bad. Definitely needed a bit more time for the writing bit though, I thought it was going to be much longer than 15 minutes.
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: gwenstacy on August 09, 2017, 10:54:17 pm
bruhhhh,,,, i got an interview,,,, who here got one too,,,,im sweating

ayy congrats! i got one as well :D

what day is yours?
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: NatAmiee on August 10, 2017, 10:18:44 pm
I got one too!!
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: Joseph41 on August 11, 2017, 02:17:33 pm
Congrats and good luck to the three posters above! :D Make sure you keep us updated!

How are y'all feeling?
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: JayC on August 28, 2017, 08:49:49 pm
I accepted yall,, hallelujah,,, who else got an offer??

Aye, I also got in and accepted the offer. (Sorry for not posting about it, sort of forgot about this post  ::))
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: emi87 on August 28, 2017, 10:26:42 pm
same, i got in too. But i'm not going
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: annsab on August 30, 2017, 09:51:26 am
I accepted yall,, hallelujah,,, who else got an offer??

I got an offer as well! :)
Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: coldpIays on June 01, 2021, 10:36:07 am
Hello, everyone! I'm currently a year 11 student at Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences. I just wanted to help in any way possible by posting tips and my recommendations while studying for the entrance exam. If you have any questions you can ask me here or through my Discord which is: "coldplays#1419".

Exam date: Saturday, 24 July 2021



Entrance exam tips
Here I'll post a few tips where may be relevant to the exam, I say may because I don't fully know what'll be on the test as obviously they change each year. This is off from others tips, tutoring centres and my own experience. Additionally, for context my result were:

1 Superior in Reading comprehension
2  Above averages in Mathematics and Verbal Reasoning
1 High average in Science Reasoning

1. For the mathematics test have a very good understanding of methods unit 1. While I was studying for the exam I used the "Cambridge 1/2 methods" textbook, I highly recommend you guys use this aswell as I found it very useful. You might also want to know some basic specialists mathematics 1/2, such as factorials, algebraic fractions, trigonometry, and domain/range.
2. For science reasoning have a prevalent understanding of chemistry, biology and basic physics. If anyone has done yr 10 JMSS entry, the tests are very similar except EBSS has a few questions that are not graphs but raw science knowledge.
3. You need 1 superior to be guaranteed for an interview. Usually if you receive an interview you'll get accepted unless your subjects disrupt one another. EBSS will accept top 100 exam sitters into the interview and does not have a certain percent they take from each school. Although they seem to take a lot of UHS kids.
4. When studying do not just focus on the maths segment of the exam. A lot of people will do this meaning it'll be much harder to receive a superior in maths. When I was studying I focussed on verbal reasoning and reading comprehension as exam sitters for a science school won't really put much focus on them compared to science reasoning and maths.

Interview tips
During the interview you'll just be asked about your subjects, your EI (Extended Investigation) topic and why you wish to go to EBSS. As my interview was online I did not experience group interviews, although from talking to my friends you will have to do a group interview with other applicants if it is not online. During my interview I was asked these questions:

1. Why do you wish to attend EBSS?
2. What are your future endeavours?
3. What is your EI topic? Elaborate on the details.

The questions may vary, as I remember after the interview many of my peers had been asked 5-10 questions while I was only asked 3-4 questions. Before going into the interview you want to have a good understanding of what subjects you want to take, what your EI topic may be (this is not set and may be changed once you get accepted) and knowledge on the school. There's really not many other tips I can say, although I suggest you maintain confidence and seem enthusiastic about science or maths.

My thoughts of EBSS
As it is now May I have attended EBSS for 4-5 months and currently really enjoying it. Although it takes about a term to settle in with everyone at the end it's a really fun experience. The school has amazing facilities and great teachers; out of all of my 6 subjects, I honestly only have 1 iffy teacher. The rest are amazing and offer free services such as tutoring and 1 to 1 aid. A few of my teachers are also VCAA examiners which makes it really useful. I've also heard you keep the same teachers for 2 years which again is really useful. The only downside of EBSS is the large classrooms, although this has it's pros and cons I'd rather smaller classrooms for classes such as specialists. Although having big classrooms also means there are more people you can go to for help.

Conclusion
Overall, EBSS is a great school. I highly recommend anyone with a science or mathematics passion to attend and apply. EBSS also has great VCE results being 58% receive over a 90 atar which places EBSS in the top 30-40 in the state. If you'd like to apply or already planning to apply we also have a discord server you can join to communicate with other applicants and students. You can also ask for help and tips on how to study for the entrance exam.

Discord server https://discord.gg/Jaa48X9DWu

If you're having trouble joining you can shoot myself a DM which I mentioned at the start of this post.



Title: Re: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences
Post by: across35 on July 30, 2021, 03:47:00 pm
Has any one received result/interview invitation for Elizabeth blackburn school for Year11