Just a bunch of questions i dont get...

[jasmineerrose]

1. Does it matter if we don't get the atar needed for our desired course?
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2. How do you apply for university?
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3. When are early entries? How do we apply for those?
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4. Does it get better after high school?
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5. How do you adjust from the transition from high school to adulthood?
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6. Do you have to get a job after high school? Is it hard to find a job as a graduate?
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7. How do you cope with the pressure and stress from high school?
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[fantasticbeasts3]

1. Does it matter if we don't get the atar needed for our desired course?
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2. How do you apply for university?
-
3. When are early entries? How do we apply for those?
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4. Does it get better after high school?
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5. How do you adjust from the transition from high school to adulthood?
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6. Do you have to get a job after high school? Is it hard to find a job as a graduate?
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7. How do you cope with the pressure and stress from high school?
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1. No, it doesn't! There's bonus points, and a ton of other schemes and pathways that will help you get into your desired course. For the course I'm studying now, I got that offer in the second round - adding on my bonus points, I just missed out on an offer in the main round.

2. Direct application for entry into the university, or through UAC.

3. Early entry is a scheme that will... well, get you early entry into a uni. It means your ATAR doesn't matter as much, because you've already gotten an offer. You apply directly to the institution. Most early entry applications are around trials, so end of July-ish.

4. Yes, and no. The freedom after the HSC is absolutely unreal - you can go out a lot, do whatever you couldn't during the year, etc. Then reality kinda slaps you in the face when you start uni lol like I'm drowning in work and finding it really hard to study properly like I did in the HSC. Like everything else, it takes time to adapt. :-)

5. I'm still not a legal adult, so I can't really give proper advice here hahaha - will leave it to someone else. :-)

6. No, not really, but it does help to have that extra money in your pocket. The experience of finding a job is different for different people - I have friends who still don't have a job, friends who kept the same job from year 9, and others who got the first job they applied for after the HSC. My advice is to apply for Christmas Casual positions around September - a lot of these jobs you don't need any experience, and because you have a lot of time on your hands, you're more likely to get the job.

7. Take it day by day. It's not the end of the world - you can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Study, but make sure you have fun and enjoy your last year of high school. :-) Make sure you take breaks, and don't tire yourself out. A few totally true cliches: it goes super fast, and the HSC is a marathon, not a sprint.

Hope this helps!

[Potatohater]

1. It depends on the uni. Some will have extra entry programs to help if you don't get the required ATAR such as Western Sydney True rewards (think that's what it was called) and maquarie's acedemic achievment entry thingo (again, can't remeber exact name) which basically reward you with entry if you get band 6 in subjects relevant to your course. Also most uni's have fluctuating ATAR cut offs due to demand. USyd has neither of these things though, but even they have early entry, which I'll get to in a later question.

2. You apply through UAC in August. Your school should give more info closer to the date but if you get in early it's cheaper. You make an account, put in your preferences and pay. You can then change these preferences up until offer rounds with out charge. You can have up to 5 preferences.

3. Early entry schemes also vary by uni. There are standard early acsess schemes you can apply for through UAC such as SRS (school's reccomend action scheme, which I applied for and got an offer through) and EAS which is for financially disadvantaged students. Some uni's have extra schemes such as USyd has E12 which lowers ATAR requirements and gives a small scholarship (my friend got one but didn't meet the lowered ATAR RIP  ) With early entry offers there are 2 types
A. Conditional - this gives you a set condition you must meet in order to gain entry, such as in the case of my friend and her E12 offer. If she'd gotten the ATAR she'd have a place, but since she didn't, she had to go somewhere else)
B. Unconditional - this gives you garunteed entry! This is like in the example above about me getting an SRS offer, where the uni says they want you no matter your results.

4. Depends on the person and how they live out their life I guess. For me, the 4 month break after the HSC was AMAZING and not once did I miss high school, for others, they miss the structure and routine and get bored with thier freedom. As for uni, I personally prefer highschool so far, but maybe that's because the transition is such a shock to me. That being said, it's a lot more laid back at uni than the HSC (thus far at least)

5. Just have a heap of fun in the break I guess and then work it out from there. To be honest, I'm still trying to work out the answer to this question, cause for me this has been the hardest life transition so far.

6. You don't have to, but it is good to start making an income, even if it's a small one. It will definatley help you do some of the things you might wanna do in your new life chapter as you have a bit more financial independence. If you do well enough that you think you can tutor I would 10/10 reccomend, as for fast food and retail, I'm not 100% sure because I started in year 11 rather than as a graduate but my hypothesis is that it would be easier to be a graduate than a highschool student. Yes, they have to pay you extra, but you have more time up your sleeve in terms of availability and that's something employers love.

7. Not too sure on this one either too be honest. I only seemed to get stressed enough that it made me productive, so if I was stressed about an English exam I'd just study as much as I could whilst also looking after myself. Getting stressed past this sweet productive spot is something that only happened a few times and in those few times I just lost the plot (shout out to 3 days before the geography exam) which I would not reccomend. I think it's very important to look after your body in these times, as this not only keeps you healthy but also alleviates some unwanted stress. So take a break, do some excersise, eat a healthy lunch and breathe, then get down into tackling the thing that is causeing the stress.

Hope you found this helpful and good luck with the HSC!