General Advice - Secrets to VCE Success

[happyhappyland]

I have to agree with that, I just want to attain a high enough enter score to give me enough options for uni. Honestly I reckon a 97 enter is sufficient for almost any course (considering if you were going to take graduate pathways for medicine, law etc)

[lolbox]

Honestly I reckon a 97 enter is sufficient for almost any course (considering if you were going to take graduate pathways for medicine, law etc)

Using that logic, an ATAR of 0 is sufficient for almost any course

[Plan-B]

Hey guys, what are your opinions of studying on the day of exams for a subject, assuming its one of the afternoon exams?

[kyzoo]

Shouldn't need to do it at all

[schmalex]

I think it's really helpful actually. Very underrated.

[ben92]

I reckon it's probably too late to be studying anything new. I'd definitely have a last read of some notes though.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

I think it's really helpful actually. Very underrated.

I endorse this view.

[m@tty]

On the day of the exam I wouldn't read any notes for the subject. And DEFINITELY don't try and learn anything new. Both of these will bring concepts to the fore of your mind at the expense of other concept's position. You can 'forget' some of the small concepts. Then you're screwed.

Plus if you are studying on exam day you there will be enormous pressure which will, in turn, make the study rather inefficient.

[schmalex]

I found last year for my politics exam that the stuff I'd looked over before the exam came to my head really quickly and easily, whereas stuff I hadn't studied for a couple of days took a longer amount of time to recall. I didn't put pressure on myself, I just had time to kill so I went over stuff.

[Plan-B]

Yeah, what I actually meant by studying was like revision and skimming over notes. I guess what I'll be doing is creating mindmaps of key concepts and to simply browse over it, nothing heavy.

[pirocan1]

What I don't understand is why so many students are so caught up on the perfect score. Sure 99.95; fantastic, great, awsome, inspirational, think of the pride, the achievement... not to denigrate the score but it's a score. Who I really look up to is individuals who try their personal best. They don't have to get perfection, just their best. A measurement of ones best can only come from the inside of such an individial.
Those who do no homework or study but get amazing scores, I can't exactly say that i'm not jelous, but it sadens me to see such potential wasted. Yes you have amazing ability but your cheating yourself if you think it's enough to bludge on that potential. Inventions and discoveries often happen by accident, but many are based on a collection of thoughtful processes from diligent individuals with passion for a subject or process.
The ATAR score, it's a number it dosn't define you. If you have had to sacrifice many essential aspects of your life in order to study, well then you too are cheating yourself. While it would be nice to get all expenses paid into uni and a boarding college (I would be amazingly happy), I can't neglect the benifit of economic struggle. for example moving out of home, living with new people, living off of noodles or lentles during uni teach an individual how to budget, and essentially how to live with independance.
Honestly if you get into the course you want to get into then there is no point in worrying about the few marks you have missed. As a year 12 this year i have found failier to be extremily eye opening, not pleasant, rather unfarmilliar and terrifying. I have made some massive mistakes and errors that I can never go back and fix, but, well you live, (Though I did contemplate suicide :S). After such mistakes if you chose to figure out where you went wrong you will learn.
I always though (untill this year) that I wanted to get a 99. But now i realise not if it is at the expense of a life. I have a job, I have friends, I have leadership comitments, I study. Though I have given up structured sport which I really miss. I realise that the balance must exist for true growth, not everything must be sacraficed for acedemia.
My study habits are not typical, I have a lot of trouble keeping focused, I have a comprimised family unit, financial difficulties, as well as my own mental and body health issues. I have spent lots of time trying to learn from others, reading how others did it but it is just not applicable to copy the life of another. We all have our own needs, and circumstance and that is something that is difficult to change. 
I study after school at Mcdonalds with a long black coffee and strangely the chaos that surrounds me in that booth does not distract me. Living in a rural area I have 2 bus options as to how to get home, 6pm or 8pm. I just can't concentrate at home, i've tried and tried but it rarely works.
Year 12 is hard and to get the marks that are your best possible you have to study. Some people slip through the system with their amazing memories and such but by doing this surely they are missing out on the essential skill of how to learn. I hate year 12 in the notion of its stifled ridgidity. As a student you can rarely make your own discoveries, and if you choose to it is generally at the expense of your scores in other areas we are therfore stuck in a system of learning about the past. Though the past does have its inherant value, and we must learn such essential principles sometimes I just want to dicover whats happening now, to tangibly access, to do my own research and present a peice of work which I can be proud of. Sadly in year 12 there is little time, and thus we are required to use our brains in regurgitation rather then analytical thought.
I think doing a language is extremily benificial, not for the mark up but for its cultral aspects and futre direction. I love Japanese, although people see it as really hard I see it as a fun outbreak from my other subjects, Japanese allows me to learn about another culture, and comunicate in a way I would have never though possible.
VCE isn't what defines a person, universities are accecible, scholarships are there and if you have a passion, regardless of your ATAR you have to strive to achieve it, even if that does mean back entries. Nothing in life comes easy and by complaining about such hardships, your only wasting time that could be spent fixing or manipulating your environmetn to give yourself the best possible outcome.
The thing that gets to me most about VCE is the ranking. i've become a different person under this system, rather than florishing as a young adult, I feel I must comply to a number to beat my cohort, it hurts to fail, it hurts to be beaten and it hurts others if you gloat about a score thats higher then theirs. But thats life...
Education dosn't stop at year 12, year 12 is just a mechanism for people to florish or crash, both of which help such an individual to rationalise their capabilities and individuality into a possible pathway that will make them happy. I want to be a ivet and work in animal welfare, and there is no way I will let a number get in my way.
n closing stress less, find your passion and jump the hurdles that life puts in front of you. 

damm, you inspire me.

thank you!

[Greggler]

secret to vce. it's just one big game.

[ariawuu]

Jean said she couldn't have done it without the support of her parents and brother who had a calming influence on her, despite a rigorous study routine in which she studied for four hours each week night and three hours a day on weekends.

So typical of Asian kids...
I think that's going overboard

My study routine was around 1-2 hours a day max, Fridays off, 2-3 hours on Saturday and about 2 hours on Sunday. I was a night person, and was at my most productive in the wee hours of the morning - that is, 3-5 am.

I also went out a lot, like to the pub, to gigs. Social life is needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle!

what.. i did 6 hours on week nights.. and i thought 4 hours werent simply enough  plus around 10-12 hours on weekends  ....

[Ghost!]

Jean said she couldn't have done it without the support of her parents and brother who had a calming influence on her, despite a rigorous study routine in which she studied for four hours each week night and three hours a day on weekends.

So typical of Asian kids...
I think that's going overboard

My study routine was around 1-2 hours a day max, Fridays off, 2-3 hours on Saturday and about 2 hours on Sunday. I was a night person, and was at my most productive in the wee hours of the morning - that is, 3-5 am.

I also went out a lot, like to the pub, to gigs. Social life is needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle!

what.. i did 6 hours on week nights.. and i thought 4 hours werent simply enough  plus around 10-12 hours on weekends  ....

In Year11?

[ariawuu]

Jean said she couldn't have done it without the support of her parents and brother who had a calming influence on her, despite a rigorous study routine in which she studied for four hours each week night and three hours a day on weekends.

So typical of Asian kids...
I think that's going overboard

My study routine was around 1-2 hours a day max, Fridays off, 2-3 hours on Saturday and about 2 hours on Sunday. I was a night person, and was at my most productive in the wee hours of the morning - that is, 3-5 am.

I also went out a lot, like to the pub, to gigs. Social life is needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle!

what.. i did 6 hours on week nights.. and i thought 4 hours werent simply enough  plus around 10-12 hours on weekends  ....

In Year11?

was? 12 nxt year!