ATAR Notes: Forum
HSC Stuff => New South Wales Technical Score Discussion => Topic started by: twelftholmes on September 26, 2020, 12:56:21 pm
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I am ranked 6/6 for extension 1 maths, however I feel that even if I try extremely hard it may be pointless because my mark will be scaled according to do how I well I do in internals (at least I've heard something along these lines). Is this true? I.e. like how the person who ranks first gets the highest external mark.
I don't want to give up even at this point, but if this were true then I feel like I would (so i really hope not)
Thanks for any replies!
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'Is this true? I.e. like how the person who ranks first gets the highest external mark.'
This is true - but the second person doesn't necessarily get the second-highest external mark as their internal, and so on. Everything is scaled to a distribution that reflects your cohort's performance. If you have a strong cohort, 6/6 in externals might be 92, but if you've got a weak cohort, 6/6 might be a 71. It's really hard to assess without more information.
Nothing is pointless though, and the above is actually beside the point. Your external makes up 50% of your final mark regardless of what your internal might be, and that's usually the incentive for people to do well. A person with a high rank can't tank because they've got nothing to lose with their internal, and a person with a lower rank has everything to gain with a high external mark.
Hypothetically, you could end up with an 80 internal, but if you do well yourself, you could get pushed up to high 80's. This makes a world of difference. As such, the best thing you can do is try to put this thought aside (though I know it is really hard to motivate yourself sometimes) and focus instead on how you can maximise your marks. Trust and believe in yourself, and keep going! Ask lots of questions - here or to your teachers, friends. Everyone is willing to help because they literally cannot lose by doing so (and more importantly, you win by doing so and that makes everyone happy :D ).
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this is literally so encouraging, thank you so much.
you just motivated me for the entire week.