I know I'm just repeating things people have said over and over, but -
Have faith in yourself! The worst thing is getting to the end and realising that you had all the ability the whole time, but you just didn't use it. Don't give up, follow your dreams, and all that
(And don't worry about your maths. It's not a concrete indicator of intelligence at all, nor a sign of ability. From what I've skimmed of this thread alone, there are a million things you're good at.)
Regarding technicalities etc., don't get too caught up in calculations and try to minimise worrying if you can. I know for a fact that I wasted a lot of time stressing out over ATAR calculators and study scores, and it wasn't helpful at all - towards the end I was ready to give up on some of my subjects because of that. In the end, you just have to do your best, don't 'abandon' any of your subjects, and remember it's never too late to pick up your game if that's what you need to do. Valjean is right - it's early times yet! Term 2 hasn't even ended.
Because it's fairly early in the year, it's super super super important not to give up. About this time last year, people in my English Language class were getting C or D on a SAC that ended up being scaled up to ~B in their final study score because their later work had improved that much. So if it's a SAC or test score you're worried about: focus on the next SAC, the next test, the final exam. That's what can really make a difference. Also keep in mind that - as far as I know - when it comes to scaling SACs, they can go up but never down.
I also agree with Valjean on how VCE can be really unpredictable. When people say things like "You have to get such-and-such score" or "You must do this-or-that subject" to get a good ATAR, take it with a grain of salt. There are a lot of ways to get the score you need, and there's no hard and fast rule.
As for how competitive and intense VCE gets, I feel like it's something that gets a huge emphasis at school and feels almost like a life-or-death situation, but in the end it's just one year of your life and it hardly dictates anything about your future, other than what you do in the subsequent year. At most you spend another year waiting to transfer to another degree, and that's not always a bad thing - if you're smart about your course preferences, there's a good possibility you might find that you prefer your second preference to your first. Go to the Open Days (as you're already planning) and keep an open mind. If a course looks like something you'd absolutely love, don't write it off as a last resort just because it's not unimelb. On the other hand, if you know what course you want to do and where, and you end up missing out on a place, there are so many opportunities to get there in other ways. If Melbourne is absolutely your favourite, there are still so many ways to get there after VCE. Your ATAR won't lock you out of anything.
But yeah, university is great. You've just got to get through VCE first. Keep at it!
And listen to everyone else here, they give awesome advice, haha.
Thanks for that Nikoli; places things into perspective a little.
I guess Melbourne University is something that attracted me quite late, e.g. at the start of Year 12 rather than 11 or 10. But I can absolutely say (without visiting it though) that the general prestige of the university and the reputation, structure and interesting subject areas for the Bachelor of Arts course fascinate me. It would take something really good to change my first preference. But I will go to the university open days and enquire more.
Does anyone have an email address that I can harbour even more about the intricate details of the Melbourne Arts course? If not, I understand.
I am very pessimistic even at the best of times, but I look at your VCE scores and you have got however many 40's, one 50 and done specialist maths and all these hard subjects and I cannot even pass further - doesn't mean for one second I am not putting in the effort though!
Today I have put a flash card on top of my room saying: 93+. Somewhere around the ATAR range for the Melbourne Arts course.
And yes sometimes I do worry very intensely about the last SAC, exam or previous result. E.g. I got 27/30 for english but felt like I wrote the best essay of my life.... and this is my best subject, oh the irony...
I got 5/10 for a multiple choice SAC in economics, and i studied very hard and it is days like these that make me think that Melbourne Arts is just not for me. The short answer section I did well in though, so I am not completely stupid.
But thanks everyone again
