Is there any correlation between intelligence and ATAR score?

[killer_bot]

Is there any correlation between intelligence (IQ) and ATAR score obtained in year 12?

Also, can even the most unintelligent student obtain a 95+ ATAR with sheer hard work in years 11-12?

Or is it more a matter of knowing and understanding the mechanism of how the VCE works (SACs, scaling etc)?

[InsaneMcFries]

Is there any correlation between intelligence (IQ) and ATAR score obtained in year 12?

Also, can even the most unintelligent student obtain a 95+ ATAR with sheer hard work in years 11-12?

Or is it more a matter of knowing and understanding the mechanism of how the VCE works (SACs, scaling etc)?

It is definitely mostly understanding how VCE works and how the exams are written. A smarter student who has never done a practice exam would not understand the questions that could be asked compared to a student who is less intelligent but has done plenty of practice exams and is familiar with the system.

That being said, hard work is necessary to get an ATAR like that, and hard work balancing over your favourite subjects will give you the best chance at that sort of ATAR.

[pi]

Is there any correlation between intelligence (IQ) and ATAR score obtained in year 12?

There is a little correlation, but I wouldn't say that "if you have a high IQ you'll get a high ATAR and if you have a low IQ you'll get a low ATAR". One of the most brilliant mathematicians I know didn't get a great ATAR (ie. 97+) or great math study scores.

[Phantom-II]

very much to do with knowledge of vce system, access to the information related to the subject, and exam techniques

for example, knowing that sacs are important, knowing about scaling, in terms of knowing if you can get a higher study score by doing a "easy" subject that scales down rather than one thats "hard" and scaled up. Its important to choose subjects that are to your strength, rather than other reasons

sometimes the teachers have limited knowledge and experience, so its good to tlk to other people about it or read the study design to make sure you have whats needed. Exam technique is more just, being able to not make mistakes in stuff like maths and being able to convert knowledge into a full mark response/essay in humanity studies

[Unknown_one]

I would say there is a moderate correlation.
Having a higher IQ would most likely lead to a higher enterscore, but it most likely is determined by the determination and the personality of the person itself.
Saying that you are smart and hence you will get a high ATAR score weighs little against a person of average calibre working 5 times the average student. Being smart only means that you have in most cases an easier comprehension and a faster understanding in work in most cases, but there are outside factors.
What if they are people who can't perform under pressure?

But if you have a high IQ, you would do the smart thing. You would study, but if you are that smart, you probably are slightly lazy...
You might understand the stuff, like some stufents I know that are smart, as in 50 calibre smart, and actually get high 40's for spesh, methods etc. So it balances out. There are smart people who are logical smart and then there are the intelligent people who are academic smart, but not logically, if you understand what I mean, intelligence plays only one of several factors in performing extremely well in the VCE, hard work would excel you and further you instead if that is what you are inquiring...
Well thats what Im insinuating...

[mr.politiks]

IMHO:

Someone with higher IQ needs less work to figure out the system of getting more marks in VCE, but still needs to put in the work and still needs to find out that the way to do it is to figure out what the examiners want and how question should be answered. Also higher IQ helps for critical thinking in questions (particularly science). Most of this can be compensated for if you put in the hard yards tho.

So overall IQ helps but isnt the be all and end all IMHO

[charmanderp]

Doing well in VCE (95+, exceeding your expectations, getting into your course, 99.95, whatever) isn't necessarily about intelligence or how much you study. It's about how intelligently you use your study time and develop studying methods. Skills like critical thinking and depth in analysis definitely do help though.

[mark_alec]

I think there is a high correlation.

[pi]

I think there is a high correlation.

Any reasoning?

[mark_alec]

I think there is a high correlation.

Any reasoning?

The VCE system serves as a selector for universities. If it was not an effective system universities would put pressure to change it to something that better measures aptitude. It isn't the best predictor, which is why Melbourne (and others?) implement SEAS to moderate for different student backgrounds.

That along with anecdotal evidence of people I believe are smart and what their ENTER scores were.

[Bhootnike]

I dunno.
I'm gonna go back to India and say, imagine if VCE and the indian education system NCERT, /cbse were swapped. So we got the Indian education system. i would not be surprised if they jumped joyfully, while we died. painfully. 
I'm generalising, profusely..! but my point is that once a standard is set, and by that I mean, british influence to our primary schools, and eventually to VCE, we cant implement some crazy ass course. To change VCE entirely into something measuring aptitude purely, would make the exams, and the coursework much harder, (note, im saying, imagine if we got a new course this year). I think that to change the course entirely is Something australian students currently studying the already implemented prep-12 design probably won't be able to manage, unless ofc, teachers are trained to teach the new style, and they somehow figure out  when to make the new course start for e.g. 2025 - so what , our current preps/next years preps are taught in different ways from previous years.

if we're going to test aptitude, we need to test true aptitude, and the base for that begins in primary school.

So VCE was probably designed for many reasons. It's a reasonable way to select students into unis, it's not a course that will burn the absolute hell out of you, and its not insanely hard, like some other countries.

Oh and yeah, no, in my opinion, there's definitely not a strong correlation between iq and atar.
i find that to be strong correlation is flawed statement. I agree that there are people who are just generally smart, that however does not mean that all people getting 99+ will get great IQ results.
there may be a certain percentage, but definitely not that much to prove a strong correlation.

also, think of the poor humanities students 

[Truck]

I'd say that a person with a high ATAR must be, to some degree, intelligent, whilst you can still be intelligent despite a low ATAR score.

[cyrus_atlantis]

Agree that there will be a strong correlation between intelligence and atar, though I would vote for a stronger correlation between hard work and atar score cause I noticed from a lot of people that the harder they work, the higher they score.

[ninwa]

Define intelligence

[greenbeans]

It's a tricky one. You could also ask does a low ATAR mean that someone is unintelligent? Well perhaps. But you really have to figure out whatever the frack "intelligence" means....and I'm not exactly fist pumpin to define it...

It's also hard to say if there's a correlation at all or not. Sure, you could attempt to find data to form some sort of explanation, but there are so many variables.
I think that yes, there CAN be a correlation in terms of smart learning and using your TIME intelligently to get a good ATAR, such as learning how to beat the procrastination blues, how to have a social life AND get sleep AND do quality study AND emerge from your room once every so often... QUALITY study over quantity any day, just build that up to more and more quantities of quality!

I know someone who has book smarts but has limited general knowledge. Couldn't pass her learners driving test. I personally don't think I am that smart, just interested in learning. I never did the "high flyers" sort of subjects but I got a pretty alright score. Whereas some of my peers had absolutely brilliant minds but fell short of ATAR scores that many thought were gonna be a cakewalk.

When we have the high achievers come back to our school every year, there's always one or two girls who are surprises. We can usually pick the majority, the ones that get the academic awards EVERY single year in assemblies and do ten thousands co-curricular activities, but then there's always a few faces that shock everyone, which gave me hope that anyone can do it