How much does your ATAR score matter to you?

[Furbob]

your ATAR is just the yes or no answer to your #1 preferred course imo

doesn't matter what number it is, as long as you get the course you want

[Mr Keshy]

your ATAR is just the yes or no answer to your #1 preferred course imo

doesn't matter what number it is, as long as you get the course you want

My thoughts exactly

[sodapop]

A lot. For me, a high ATAR means:
1. Getting into my dream course, like Furbob said.
2. A scholarship, which would really help my parents out.
3. A personal sense of validation. If I fall short of my potential (by not working hard enough), I will have failed myself.
4. And to a lesser degree of importance, prestige and respect from others. It's shallow I guess, but I can't help admiring those with high ATARs, and aspiring to them.

[Toto.]

"However, my parents probably view it as more of a prestige thing. Something tell and compare with other aunties and their son/daughters score."

Totally agree. Whether it actually is prestigious is questionable.

Also, I agree with Furbob and physiks' comment about integrity. rife, get a move on haha

AlizarinCrimson - I understand your point of view... besides the prestige and respect from others Question, is your ATAR score really a reflection of your potential though?
Doesn't it seem like just one big competition? We get a score, and get ranked according to it. And competitions don't necessarily reflect ability.

Starfish - You have high standards/expectations which is good to see, and obviously have a drive to perform well. Your justification is still a little unclear though. Is it fulfilling personal standards and expectations? Or your parents as well? Or are there other reasons

Hopefully I'm not being a pain, I'm just questioning everyone to gain greater insight.

[Limista]

"However, my parents probably view it as more of a prestige thing. Something tell and compare with other aunties and their son/daughters score."

Totally agree. Whether it actually is prestigious is questionable.

Also, I agree with Furbob and physiks' comment about integrity. rife, get a move on haha

AlizarinCrimson - I understand your point of view... besides the prestige and respect from others Question, is your ATAR score really a reflection of your potential though?
Doesn't it seem like just one big competition? We get a score, and get ranked according to it. And competitions don't necessarily reflect ability.

Starfish - You have high standards/expectations which is good to see, and obviously have a drive to perform well. Your justification is still a little unclear though. Is it fulfilling personal standards and expectations? Or your parents as well? Or are there other reasons

Hopefully I'm not being a pain, I'm just questioning everyone to gain greater insight.

Fulfilling my standards and expectations, and because my expectations are higher than that of my parents, it's also fulfilling their expectations.

[StumbleBum]

I should really care a lot more about my ATAR, I need to get 99+ to get accepted into the course I want (PhB Science at ANU), but so far I just don't feel like doing work for any subject except UMEP maths, which will be my two last exams in about a month.
The English exam is in 4 days and I haven't even completed a full practice essay. Oops.

In the same boat, although i only need a 90.. still just lack motivation.

[rebeccab26]

my hhd score matters more to me than my atar
i just want a 50 in hhd.
i wanted a 93.40 atar but i'll be happy with a 72 as long as i get a 50 in hhd
but if not that in hhd 93.40 atar!!!!

[Greatness]

When I was in year 12, it meant whether or not I got into my first preference - so in that sense it meant a lot!!
Looking back at it, it was nice to achieve a high ATAR for self fulfillment and satisfaction as well as repaying the faith and dedication that my teachers put in for me and other students. Now, ATAR means nothing, it's not even discussed anymore unless it's with family or current year 12s!

[RTandon]

Tbh, I don't even care anymore. I wanted to do really well at the start of the year, but as long as I get into my course, I don't give a shit.

[Jenny_2108]

How much does your ATAR score matter to you?

Scholarship. End of story!

[MJRomeo81]

It means nothing besides your first preference / scholarships.

A couple of exams in late november (for many) cannot define an individual's academic merit. Given all of the possible pathways after Y12, it still baffles me how much emphasis is placed on the ATAR by teachers, parents, etc.

[Stick]

I guess it means a lot to me simply because I put so much effort into it all; I'd be fairly disappointed if all that hard work didn't pay off (that being said, I have not once set myself exact numerical scores). For me, I think of VCE as a personal challenge; sort of like being an athlete training for the Olympics, but with books.

[paulsterio]

I'll be honest, last year, my ATAR was important and getting a 99.95 would be on my list of Top 10 best things that can happen in life. However, times chance, I grew up, I matured, I learnt more about life, more about people and more about what's actually meaningful and important. Sadly, the ATAR just doesn't really matter anymore, I wouldn't really care even if I had gotten an 85.00 or something like that because it really doesn't matter - there's so much more to life than just Year 12 and even if you don't get into the course you want, there's always ways of getting there and even then, there's obviously always the fact that maybe you just weren't cut out for it.

I bet you my bottom dollar, if you go out and ask a bunch of 40 year olds what their biggest regret was, I doubt more than a handful of them would say "not working hard in Year 12" or "not getting the score I wanted" - it's because as life goes on, other events, opportunities and achievements outshadow your ATAR. It becomes something that's in your memory, something that you wouldn't even bother putting on your resume or CV unless it was something really special.

The ATAR is very reflective of how smart you are - I definitely agree with that, it's because most people put so much work into it, so much time, so much effort and so much emotion that when it comes down to it, it reflects just their life so well. Those that have dedicated their lives in the pursuit of education are rewarded with a good ATAR and they deserve it.

If you asked me if I respect people who have attained a high ATAR, I would say yes, I respect them to no end because it's the embodiment of a certain set of skills which are very difficult to master all at once, and those who have gotten 99.95 or 99.90 or something of the like have mastered so many of those skills perfectly and that's something which I truly admire, respect and wish to see in more people.

However, I respect people for doing a lot of other things as well, the ATAR is one of many milestones in the river they call life. When you grow up, you'll start going to uni, your degree and your uni marks will matter probably even more than your ATAR will and even then, heaps of other things can shape your life so much more, when you get married, when you score your first professional full-time job, when you learn and gain experience on your job, your promotions, having children, getting more promotions, changing workplaces to better suit your needs - all these events will shape who you are and are just a few of the many milestones you'll encounter in life.

[Jenny_2108]

I guess it means a lot to me simply because I put so much effort into it all; I'd be fairly disappointed if all that hard work didn't pay off

I know how you feel   

At the beginning of year 12, ATAR means a lot for me. I put lots of efforts during the whole year and I hoped I could get into medicine course but since 2 months ago, I knew that the tuition was too high and my parents couldn't afford it, I was totally lost. I felt like everything was collapsed.

And now ATAR has no meaning for me, it can't help me to get into the course I like. My parents' friends won't know wth is ATAR so there is no reason for them to be proud of my ATAR. The only reason I keep going is to get scholarship so that my parents don't have to work their ass off to pay my uni fees next 4 years

Now we are doing year 12, ATAR seems to be the most important thing but when we get the job, who cares what ATAR you got in VCE as long as you get into your fave course. In the future, you do the job you like and have a happy life. Thats all.

[CaiTheHuman]

The ATAR score is not really so much important for me in the sense that it will not be a measure of my intelligence.

I know my efforts and organization skills this year have been weak (eg. going to the mid year exams late). However I learnt from it and was able to effectively improve my studying habits.

The thought of finishing Year 12 is more appealing to me then getting a decent ATAR.

"The ATAR is very reflective of how smart you are" : Don't let these assertions bother you so much when you receive your ATAR . There are plenty of other people who are smart and I repeat the ATAR is not an indicator of your intelligence. My psychologist actually failed Year 12 the first time around and barely manage tor register an ENTER-Score. However through his hard work ethic and dedication; he managed to do well the 2nd time and surpassed those who had scored higher than him at University. It is what you do with the opportunity an ATAR gives you .