Help? I'm genuinely scared.

[xlaiyn]

O.o okay?! Just goes to show how elite AN forumites actually are.

Back on topic,  its good to be healthy,happy and social (somewhat) even in year 12. If it wasnt for my friends, family and jogging last year, i would have crashed and burned long before the end of year exams. If you balance out your life properly, everything (including academics) will follow an upward trend. Overexerting your energies on any one task is counterproductive and causes for nothing but stress (as alondoek and brendinkles have said previously). If you study 7+ hours after school everyday, for instance, its only a matter of time before you give up on school entirely. Pace yourself, and dont cheat yourself out of enjoying year 12 for what it truly is ~ a year where you can hang out with your childhood friends and pursue fresh dreams. embrace it

And also, i know how much vce emphasises numbers and atar and whatnot... and its great to have a goal in mind... but i implore you to do just one thing. When you sit down to study, make sure that the reason for that study is intrinsic; study because you love the subject, not because you want X study score or Y Atar, at least while youre physically studying. It important to just detach yourself from the statistical monotony of vce as much as you can goodluck

Edit: please ignore spelling mistakes :S I am really tired and i have no idea why Im not trying to get to sleep

I honestly know how you feel Last year, I completed year 12 at one of the worst schools in Victoria (bottom 25% in the state). Before I entered VCE, I hardly learnt anything in class: the teacher would spend 10 minutes teaching and the rest of the time they'll be trying to tell the class off and to quiet down.  As a result, I did enter VCE struggling with English, as it isn't my native language, and understanding the complex concepts of the scientific and maths subjects I chose. I knew this was due to a true waste of my education during years 7-10 but that didn't stop me from trying to achieve my aims of an Atar around 90. However, in year 11 my hopes fell down as I was achieving results that I was completely unsatisfied with despite my hard work in my subjects, a D+ in English and a C on my Biology exams. Then came year 12, a stressful and painful year. I used the summer holiday to read as many complex scientific articles as I could to improve both my English skills and my understanding of my science subjects. Additionally, throughout year 12 I did as many practice exam questions from books I had bought from eBay lol and had written many practice essays. I achieved a 38 in biology, a 35 in English and A on my English exam(D+ in year 11 exam) and an atar of 90. So don't be disheartened if your school is a low performer, what you ultimately will achieve will hopefully come down to YOUR own hard work and dedication towards your studies. Just work hard, never give up and maybe that 95 atar will be waiting for you. Good Luck

That's brilliant! Ah, you people are making me feel so much better.

[Dedicated]

My chemistry class was hectic throughout the whole year (too many jokers). Still managed to be my best subject through commitment. At the end of the day hard work gets you places. 

[xlaiyn]

My chemistry class was hectic throughout the whole year (too many jokers). Still managed to be my best subject through commitment. At the end of the day hard work gets you places.

Any particular tips for Chemistry? My Chem class is fairly hectic, and I'm doing fairly well, and have started a study guide for all of my courses with enough pages to get me through the next two years (it's so hard to find books with that many pages -.-). Anything in particular I should definitely focus on?

[Dedicated]

Chemistry rewards those with strong conceptual understanding. It's also problem solving orientated so doing trial exams helps a lot. I used two textbooks (one pdf) as allowed for better understanding. With the new change with no mid year exams consistency is more vital and knowing how to answer longer question types is a new skill that needs to be know. Its not only knowing the course but being able to communicate that to the marker.

[xlaiyn]

Chemistry rewards those with strong conceptual understanding. It's also problem solving orientated so doing trial exams helps a lot. I used two textbooks (one pdf) as allowed for better understanding. With the new change with no mid year exams consistency is more vital and knowing how to answer longer question types is a new skill that needs to be know. Its not only knowing the course but being able to communicate that to the marker.

Thank you. :3
I'll definitely take that into account.

[slothpomba]

I cannot wait to leave highschool and go to University.

I don't know your situation and it may very well suck but once you get to uni, you'd be surprised how many people would want to reverse this direction (maybe even myself a little). Cherish it, if it's absolutely horrible, then, make the best out of a bad situation.

I'm hoping to undertake a Bachelor in Biomedicine or a Bachelor in Science

My main problem is that for each University I've looked at, the minimum ATAR is in the high 90s.

Most science courses are not 90. I know Monash is around 80, melbourne is somewhere around 88 i think and it all drops off a fair bit after that. So, i wouldn't worry too much. All uni's teach basically the same thing in undergrad. It's not like you'll massively miss out if you go to La Trobe Vs Monash. Even then, you can transfer if need be.

I got no tips except the obvious, work hard. People can give you all kinds of fancy and flashy advice but in the end, it really just does boil down to this. In VCE and in life in general, it doesn't matter to the extreme how smart or capable you are at x, its if you actually work towards x. I've seen many people who are incredibly intelligent do almost no work in uni and totally drop the ball. If you handed in no work but say "Oh, lecturer, i'm so intelligent though", you're still getting a 0. If you're in the workplace and do nothing but say "No, really, it's ok, i'm a genius" you won't have a job very long. In the end it all boils down to action over inaction.

If you don't get where you want uni is very flexible. There are pathways to transfer around and its a lot less rigid and structured than school.

[xlaiyn]

I don't know your situation and it may very well suck but once you get to uni, you'd be surprised how many people would want to reverse this direction (maybe even myself a little). Cherish it, if it's absolutely horrible, then, make the best out of a bad situation.

Most science courses are not 90. I know Monash is around 80, melbourne is somewhere around 88 i think and it all drops off a fair bit after that. So, i wouldn't worry too much. All uni's teach basically the same thing in undergrad. It's not like you'll massively miss out if you go to La Trobe Vs Monash. Even then, you can transfer if need be.

I got no tips except the obvious, work hard. People can give you all kinds of fancy and flashy advice but in the end, it really just does boil down to this. In VCE and in life in general, it doesn't matter to the extreme how smart or capable you are at x, its if you actually work towards x. I've seen many people who are incredibly intelligent do almost no work in uni and totally drop the ball. If you handed in no work but say "Oh, lecturer, i'm so intelligent though", you're still getting a 0. If you're in the workplace and do nothing but say "No, really, it's ok, i'm a genius" you won't have a job very long. In the end it all boils down to action over inaction.

If you don't get where you want uni is very flexible. There are pathways to transfer around and its a lot less rigid and structured than school.

But the biomedicine course I've been looking at is a 95
Bachelor of Science would be my backup, if need be.

That makes sense though. I'm just worried that I'll put in tons of effort and get nothing out of it.

[Starlight]

But the biomedicine course I've been looking at is a 95
Bachelor of Science would be my backup, if need be.

That makes sense though. I'm just worried that I'll put in tons of effort and get nothing out of it.

If you got into bachelor of science, it won't be limiting you from anything that BBiomed has. There are way more majors in bSC and bBiomed has all these compulsory subjects too like math and statistics. Just some food for thought...

[xlaiyn]

If you got into bachelor of science, it won't be limiting you from anything that BBiomed has. There are way more majors in bSC and bBiomed has all these compulsory subjects too like math and statistics. Just some food for thought...

Thank you! I was mainly worried that I would be limited if I didn't get into a biomed course, mainly because in the brochures I was looking at there were certain jobs (ie. laboratory technicians, forensic scientists etc.) that were in the biomed one that were absent from the Bachelor of Science. D:

[slothpomba]

Thank you! I was mainly worried that I would be limited if I didn't get into a biomed course, mainly because in the brochures I was looking at there were certain jobs (ie. laboratory technicians, forensic scientists etc.) that were in the biomed one that were absent from the Bachelor of Science. D:

They teach almost exactly the same thing in Bachelor of Science. If you're learning physiology in science, it's not like they'll leave out how the heart works but tell the biomed kids how it does.

We've had discussions over this heaps of times on the forum now (you can search for them if you like) but biomed and science teach pretty much the same  thing. A fair few people (myself included) think science is actually the better choice compared to biomed because there is more freedom in what you chose and more wiggleroom.

[alondouek]

They teach almost exactly the same thing in Bachelor of Science. If you're learning physiology in science, it's not like they'll leave out how the heart works but tell the biomed kids how it does.

We've had discussions over this heaps of times on the forum now (you can search for them if you like) but biomed and science teach pretty much the same  thing. A fair few people (myself included) think science is actually the better choice compared to biomed because there is more freedom in what you chose and more wiggleroom.

You could also take the Biomed/Science double degree at Monash (like me!) if you're keen - it's a pretty solid workload, but you get to have both that specialised biomed course as well as the flexibility of the B.Sc.

EDIT: Replied to the wrong person.

[lala1911]

The strongest advice I can give to a year 11 is to form a regular study habit. I think that is what most people lack. Last year I heard year 11's say they're not going to try because it doesn't contribute to their ATAR but in year 12 they're going to nerd it out like crazy.. nope.. still slackos.

Also, the English course from year 11 and 12 is literally identical apart from different texts.

Also, teachers might BS you about "year 11 topics arent in year 12", all my teachers said that but a lot of year 12 topics we do branch off from the year 11 fundamentals.

[xlaiyn]

Oh thank god. That means Bachelor of Science wouldn't be a bad idea then.
I'm glad there are people on AN I can clarify it with, because teachers, career advisors, counsellors, my psychologist and various friends at Uni all had no idea, so I was pretty stumped.

Yeah, I already had a semi-regular study habit, but it's gradually building up to be more consistent now, so I'm happy.