What makes a successful student?

[Jenny_2108]

In addition to what has been said by b^3, TT and MJRomeo in particular, I think most successful students have a goal.

A goal is important and can be anything: a uni course, an activity after VCE (schoolies, gap year, etc.), an occupation, freedom, a specific ATAR, and the list goes on. Having a goal is in itself a source of motivation. For me, I had occupation (on of doctor or actuary) and a numeric ATAR goal (99.15) that got me through VCE.

what happens if you set a goal and dont get it? Its kinda disappointing.

[charmanderp]

In addition to what has been said by b^3, TT and MJRomeo in particular, I think most successful students have a goal.

A goal is important and can be anything: a uni course, an activity after VCE (schoolies, gap year, etc.), an occupation, freedom, a specific ATAR, and the list goes on. Having a goal is in itself a source of motivation. For me, I had occupation (on of doctor or actuary) and a numeric ATAR goal (99.15) that got me through VCE.

what happens if you set a goal and dont get it? Its kinda disappointing.

You set a new one. For example, I had a goal to get a 50 in Literature last year and an ATAR greater than 99.00. That clearly did not happen and so I immediately set a new goal to get an ATAR as close to 99.95 as possible this year, something I wouldn't have even bothered with until I didn't live up to my expectations in Lit. And thanks to that goal I'm more motivated to work this year than I was last year. It's all about looking at the positives, and every situation has a few.

[pi]

In addition to what has been said by b^3, TT and MJRomeo in particular, I think most successful students have a goal.

A goal is important and can be anything: a uni course, an activity after VCE (schoolies, gap year, etc.), an occupation, freedom, a specific ATAR, and the list goes on. Having a goal is in itself a source of motivation. For me, I had occupation (on of doctor or actuary) and a numeric ATAR goal (99.15) that got me through VCE.

what happens if you set a goal and dont get it? Its kinda disappointing.

If you are afraid of failing a goal, then your goals are probably too ambitious, goals shouldn't be feared of, they should be sources of motivation. I know some people say "'aim for the stars, if you fall, you will land amongst the clouds" (or something like that), but personally, I prefer to keep things realistic and plausible (because I don't want to be sad afterwards or lots of regrets).

I set my goal of 99.15 (to take that example of the two goals I had) in yr11 after playing around with atarcalc.com with study scores that I honestly though I can achieve accounting for my procrastination, hatred of physics, etc. For me, not only were those scores ones that I would be happy with, they were also scores I thought were realistic. They were neither too high or too low, I was honest with myself. They didn't reflect my potential (whatever that may be), they reflected my work ethic, and that's what matters.

If you (and make sure that it is YOU setting your goal and not your parents or anyone else - I never told my parents my goal of 99.15) aim realistically, and apply yourself accordingly (which shouldn't be hard if the goal is realistic), then you will pull though fine


edit: this is just how I tick, others prefer to aim huge and they don't mind falling short (even if it is short by a lot)

[Jenny_2108]

In addition to what has been said by b^3, TT and MJRomeo in particular, I think most successful students have a goal.

A goal is important and can be anything: a uni course, an activity after VCE (schoolies, gap year, etc.), an occupation, freedom, a specific ATAR, and the list goes on. Having a goal is in itself a source of motivation. For me, I had occupation (on of doctor or actuary) and a numeric ATAR goal (99.15) that got me through VCE.

what happens if you set a goal and dont get it? Its kinda disappointing.

If you are afraid of failing a goal, then your goals are probably too ambitious. I know some people say "'aim for the stars, if you fall, you will land amongst the clouds" (or something like that), but personally, I prefer to keep things realistic and plausible (because I don't want to be sad afterwards or lots of regrets).

I set my goal of 99.15 (to take that example of the two goals I had) in yr11 after playing around with atarcalc.com with study scores that I honestly though I can achieve accounting for my procrastination, hatred of physics, etc. For me, not only were those scores ones that I would be happy with, they were also scores I thought were realistic. They were neither too high or too low, I was honest with myself. They didn't reflect my potential (whatever that may be), they reflected my work ethic, and that's what matters.

If you (and make sure that it is YOU setting your goal and not your parents or anyone else - I never told my parents m goal of 99.15) aim realistically, and apply yourself accordingly (which shouldn't be hard if the goal is realistic), then you will pull though fine


edit: this is just how I tick, others prefer to aim huge and they don't mind falling short (even if it is short by a lot)

Actually my parents let me decide everything, they never force me to do what I dont like.
When I get high scores, I'm full of energy and study crazily. Atm, I feel like I can achieve my goal but if I get low marks or make any stupid mistakes in sacs or exams while I put lots of effort, I'm really disappointed and doubt about my aims. Its really scaring for me because I dont wanna study anything in bad mood @@

[pi]

That sounds pretty normal to me then, everyone needs time off from studying and everyone loses confidence every now and then.

Currently, what are your strategies to getting back from those periods of low confidence (bad mood)?

When this happened to me, I usually just did something completely different (PC gaming, and badminton were things I liked to do in particular), then I was cool to start studying again with a fresh mind

[yearningforsimplicity]

From what I think, 4 things make a successful student:
1) Taking initiative in finding practice resources for yourself (don't just depend on what the teacher gives you)
2) Persisting and not losing hope when times get rough
3) Not allowing the school you go to/teacher/other influences to stop you from achieving the ATAR you want
4) Asking questions and acknowledging then rectifying your own weaknesses

[Jenny_2108]

That sounds pretty normal to me then, everyone needs time off from studying and everyone loses confidence every now and then.

Currently, what are your strategies to getting back from those periods of low confidence (bad mood)?

When this happened to me, I usually just did something completely different (PC gaming, and badminton were things I liked to do in particular), then I was cool to start studying again with a fresh mind

I usually talk to my close friends or listen to music. Yr 12 is very competitive though, it makes me feel like I never work hard enough

[paulsterio]

It's only as competitive as you make it out to be, that's what I've seen. Never try to beat other people, you'll always get carried away when you either think you're the best or you're too far behind the competition to catch up. Try to beat yourself, try to do better than what you did last time.

Personally I didn't have any goals, I just saw it as a way of challenging myself and seeing what I could achieve, I just found it fun to test out my limits and have that challenge. I've always found that having a goal is different to having a purpose. To me, a purpose to study is much more important. Even though I never had any goals (I'm just that kind of person), I had a purpose to study and my purpose was to give it the best I could, to have fun and to really love what I was doing. So that's one of the reasons why I never cared about how anyone else was doing or what ATAR I would end up with, it's the satisfaction of knowing that my purpose was achieved.

[charmanderp]

I think essentially it's just about being able to say, at the end of the day, that you did your best and you gave it your all. No one can take that away from you.

[paulsterio]

I think essentially it's just about being able to say, at the end of the day, that you did your best and you gave it your all. No one can take that away from you.

That's right, this is what I believe too, it doesn't matter whether you got higher than person A or you got 99.95 or you got 92.50, it's the fact that you gave it your best shot and that you know you did everything you thought was right at the time, and that you did the subjects which you enjoy and love.

Not related to studies, but it's a similar concept, plus this is so true in life

[WhoTookMyUsername]

Personally aim as high as realistically possible, and then add a bit.
If i aimed for 45 in bio throughout the year (i did at the start) there's no way i would have gotten what i ended up aiming for.

For mine always aim high as it will probably raise your eventual score

[max payne]

I "aimed" for 40+ last year and I would've been happy with any score in that range. I tried my best and got significantly higher than I expected. So even if you aim for a realistic goal, always try your best because you never know how much you could surpass that aim.

[pi]

I "aimed" for 40+ last year and I would've been happy with any score in that range. I tried my best and got significantly higher than I expected. So even if you aim for a realistic goal, always try your best because you never know how much you could surpass that aim.

Same with my aim!

[Phy124]

An outlook like so;

(Image removed from quote.)

[Soul_Khan]

Hardwork and determination.