General Advice - Secrets to VCE Success

[turley]

u only had one 3/4 exam to study for

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I got 99.75 with plenty of hard work and effort. Made time to watch a movie every Friday night though

I was disappointed overall with English. As you can see, I got 43 in English. I think I could have pulled up my ENTER further had I done well in English. Do not neglect English because you will regret it. I didn't neglect it, but was not really that good with it to begin with. In addition, I really disliked it. Form a liking for it, or force yourself to like it, because then you'll do the work and you can pull up your ENTER...

Yeah cos 99.75 is so bad 

LOL!

[methodsboy]

Seriously, there are no VCE secrets - there are no gimmicks or tricks to doing well
it (almost) solely comes down to how much work you put in
-however, its also important to have goals and find out what you really want to get from yr 12

but besides, hard work is integral, don't listen to any bullshit about people being "naturally talent etc..."
as a studying benchmark, i would recommend at least 2 hrs every day, starting TODAY

+1

+2

[IntoTheNewWorld]

Why isn't German in there if you are good at it? D:

[enwiabe]

Wow Jimmy, it certainly is very encouraging that you're so enthusiastic about your studies. You seem like a really bright kid (and manage to type better than many of the year 12s on this forum )

I think you still have about 10 months to decide your first lot of VCE subjects if I've understood your accelerated program correctly. I would say just enjoy this year, it's your final year before stuff starts to count. But during this year, really work out what you like. If the subjects you've put up there are things that you think you'd enjoy, then I'd say keep that plan.

One bit of advice I really want to give you is to not obsess about VCE just yet. You'll have 3 years to do that. I like your attitude, and I definitely think younger students should start giving their VCE some thought beforehand, but I really hope it doesn't become your main concern this year. These are some of the best years of your life, so make sure you make the most of them. I have no doubt that if you pick subjects you enjoy, you're going to rock your VCE regardless and will have no trouble getting into Commerce/Business etc. at Monash/Melbourne/Wherever you want to go if your preferences change. Good luck

[amirite?]

I wish I'd have been able to do at least a 1+2 in year 10 and/or a 3+4 in year 11. Now Ive only got 5 subjects contributing to my ENTER. :\ If only shit didnt happen...
I dont think school does enough to educate us about VCE prior to year 11. At least my school didnt. A few information sessions for the students in year 9 and 10 would have done well, provided students had reached a level of maturity that enabled them to comprehend the importance of VCE. I know in year 9 most of us (myself included) would not have paid much attention anyway but maybe thats for the school to teach also... I digress.

Jimmy - what I would do is Do English Language in year 11 and 12, the extra year.. I think you'd learn a lot. If youve only got 4 sunjects in your final year then the issue of time is not entirely valid.
I'd also switch further maths so you were doing 3+4 in year 11. It eases the maths workload (Could be very monotonous) in your final year plus having completed Further before doing 3+4 methods would give you some handy skills which you could apply to Methods I imagine.

Something like this:

Year 10:
Economics            Business Management (3/4)            Psychology        General/Further Maths        Accounting     
Year 11:
Economics (3/4)      Math Methods       Legal Studies         English Language    Further Maths (3/4)    Accounting (3/4)     
Year 12:
Maths Methods(3/4)    Legal Studies (3/4)     English Language (3/4)       Psychology (3/4)

[kyzoo]

>.< I eschew the notion of 3 years of VCE.

[brightsky]

I wish I'd have been able to do at least a 1+2 in year 10 and/or a 3+4 in year 11. Now Ive only got 5 subjects contributing to my ENTER. :\ If only shit didnt happen...
I dont think school does enough to educate us about VCE prior to year 11. At least my school didnt. A few information sessions for the students in year 9 and 10 would have done well, provided students had reached a level of maturity that enabled them to comprehend the importance of VCE. I know in year 9 most of us (myself included) would not have paid much attention anyway but maybe thats for the school to teach also... I digress.

Jimmy - what I would do is Do English Language in year 11 and 12, the extra year.. I think you'd learn a lot. If youve only got 4 sunjects in your final year then the issue of time is not entirely valid.
I'd also switch further maths so you were doing 3+4 in year 11. It eases the maths workload (Could be very monotonous) in your final year plus having completed Further before doing 3+4 methods would give you some handy skills which you could apply to Methods I imagine.

Something like this:

Year 10:
Economics            Business Management (3/4)            Psychology        General/Further Maths        Accounting     
Year 11:
Economics (3/4)      Math Methods       Legal Studies         English Language    Further Maths (3/4)    Accounting (3/4)     
Year 12:
Maths Methods(3/4)    Legal Studies (3/4)     English Language (3/4)       Psychology (3/4)

Woah! Eight subjects! I would probably rethink that as even 6 subjects are hell to people. Don't forget that there are SACs all throughout the Unit 3/4 course, a lot of exams and homework involved in each of the subjects. It's really good that you are spreading it out like that though. Then again, some people cope with 8 subjects just fine! Good luck and all the best! Just remember that only a very maximum of 6 contribute to your actual ENTER, so two subjects would not count a thing. Some people do over 6 subjects either because they want to fulfil a prerequisite requirement into their uni course or as backup in case they blow one of their subjects so there is always a Plan B or Plan C in your case.

PS: I'm a bit confused about the "I'm a year 9 student but I am in accelerated classes so instead of doing year 7, I go straight to year 8 and have 3 years of VCE." Does this imply you've skipped grades, or by the literal meaning, that you're doing year 8 classes in year 9, yet year 8 classes are accelerated? Lol, I'm confused ><

Another thing, 11+ means that you are doing two years of Year 11? When are you planning to graduate high school?

[amirite?]

That VCE schedule clearly isnt for me. I switched around Jimmy's subjects from HIS VCE schedule into positions where I thought it would be best. I used all the subjects he had on his initial schedule.
Ideally I'd tell him to do 2 in year 11 and 4 in year 12 but its my position to tell him to drop subjects.

[brightsky]

Also Jimmy, you need to make sure that your school allows you to do subjects in year 10. Some schools don't, and that can be an irritating obstacle for you.

amirite?: I agree with your renewed schedule. English should definitely go into year 12, as you want all the preparation you can get in this area. I'll probably switch Business Management around with Further, as being a mathematically inclined person, it would be easier for him to score highly. And yes, I do stand by doing the conventional 2 in year 11 and 4 in year 12, rather than spread it out over 3 years, but who knows? Everyone's different.

[ZachCharge]

I wish I'd have been able to do at least a 1+2 in year 10 and/or a 3+4 in year 11. Now Ive only got 5 subjects contributing to my ENTER. :\ If only shit didnt happen...
I dont think school does enough to educate us about VCE prior to year 11. At least my school didnt. A few information sessions for the students in year 9 and 10 would have done well, provided students had reached a level of maturity that enabled them to comprehend the importance of VCE. I know in year 9 most of us (myself included) would not have paid much attention anyway but maybe thats for the school to teach also... I digress.

Ack! I know what you mean. I wish schools made the benefits of doing a 1+2 earlier more clear. I DID do a 1+2 in year 10, but there wasn't enough people to do it this last year and DE requires the student to do work expierence as an office admin simultaneously...Why did I pick a VET subject in year 10...WHY? No more extra bonus lol.

I always thought year 10 seemed a little wasteful. For most schools, it is the first year were you can pick ALL your subjects...yet most of what the schools offer barely help with their VCE equivalent (aside from Maths and maybe English). In the grand scheme of the VCE system, what is the point of year 10? To have a taste of what likely isn't going to be in a similarly named subject that actually matters for your ENTER? I believe schools should force kids do a few (at least two) 1+2 subjects in year 10 so everyone will have more options for 3+4 subjects and nobody misses out on the bonus 6th subject. Why do some kids have to be (slightly) penalized with their ENTER just because of a bad decision made in year 10 course selection, or bad luck?

Why am I ranting about year 10? Eh lol.

Jimmy - If I was in your position I would SO try and get away with 4 subjects in the final year lol, spreading the workload over year 11 and 12.

[brightsky]

I believe schools should force kids do a few (at least two) 1+2 subjects in year 10 so everyone will have more options for 3+4 subjects and nobody misses out on the bonus 6th subject. Why do some kids have to be (slightly) penalized with their ENTER just because of a bad decision made in year 10 course selection, or bad luck?

That is analogous to saying that 'why should some kids have to be penalised with their ENTER just because they made a bad decision in selecting their VCE subjects in general?' It's proposterous to think that schools should force students to start VCE in Year 10. There are some people who do not want to do 6 subjects per se, and would settle on doing 5 subjects, or even less if VCE should allow them to. Not everyone is aiming for a high mark, and not everyone is willing to put the hard work in. Of course, there are exceptions such as in amirite?'s case, but it is major generalisation and unwise to say that because of this, schools should force people to do 1/2 subjects in year 10 to get a feel of it. I'm ok with that, but there are many who might not be, who are in an opposing predicament to amirite.

However, an alternative to mitigate the potential selection of the 'wrong' courses in year 10, I think students should be notified of the VCE system and how it works early on, so they have a wholesome understanding of the system way before hand, and have lots of time to ponder on it, in lieu of rushing to fit subjects in and potentially making a decision that would have hated or regret in later years.

[schmalex]

If you want an idea of what subjects are like, look at the past exams on the VCAA website.

[brightsky]

Yep have a look at the past exams. LOTE subjects in VCE are pretty weird. Sometimes even if you are generally good at Japanese, it doesn't automatically translate to a high score in VCE.

Yes, the girls at Macrob have been told that if you like Maths, you'll like Eng Lang. I don't think that's 100% veritable, but it may be the case for some people. English Language is a very new subject, and the stuff learnt has a huge disparity to what you'll find in Literature or English. To give you an insight, Eng Lang explores English itself, analysing the English spoken by Chinese people, Indian people, British people, American people, etc. It also entails you to analyse the purpose of slang, jargon, etc. etc. It's all fresh and exciting!

Remember you need to do at least one English subject out of English, Lit and Eng Lang, or if you are a non-background speaker, ESL.

P.S. Can you PM me back if possible?

[kyzoo]

Btw I did Aims tests and some weird University of New South Wales tests (forced to, all accelerated students had to). I was in the top 3% in Maths, 4% in English and 8& for Science (UNSW tests) and for my Aims I was off the little bar showing how good you are (don't know what it all meant) for all of them. I think it would've meant top 5%/10% or something like that. I don't know if it helps but from what you all know about my academic smarts what score would you be expecting? and more importantly, do you think I'll get a high enough score for a commerce degree?

AIMs testing would be similar to the GAT, it's irrelevant to VCE.

Yep have a look at the past exams. LOTE subjects in VCE are pretty weird. Sometimes even if you are generally good at Japanese, it doesn't automatically translate to a high score in VCE.

Yes, the girls at Macrob have been told that if you like Maths, you'll like Eng Lang. I don't think that's 100% veritable, but it may be the case for some people. English Language is a very new subject, and the stuff learnt has a huge disparity to what you'll find in Literature or English. To give you an insight, Eng Lang explores English itself, analysing the English spoken by Chinese people, Indian people, British people, American people, etc. It also entails you to analyse the purpose of slang, jargon, etc. etc. It's all fresh and exciting!

Remember you need to do at least one English subject out of English, Lit and Eng Lang, or if you are a non-background speaker, ESL.

P.S. Can you PM me back if possible?

Wow analyse the English spoken by Chinese people? Would that be translating word-for-word from Chinese, or something else?