VCE Year 12 Class of 2015

[appleandbee]

English: 60/70 pending on text response, Rank: 15/110 (only because the SACS are fucked up and averages are low)
Methods: full marks so rank 1, except the apps task which I haven't received back screwed me over
Spesh: 59/61 pending on 3rd SAC) Rank: 5-10/100
Economics: don't know my exact marks, but ranked around 15-20/35
Chemistry: don't know exact marks but ranked around 15/180

I really need to improve lol

[pi]

Entirety of ATARNotes: "lol percentages don't matter just look at your rankings".

The AN community cares way too much about shit they can't do anything about, I was probably like this in year 12 too. Hopefully you guys will grow out of it one day

[strawberries]

ranked like last in everything
not to mention that my cohorts are large and aren't strong (but not weak either)
really sucks cos I did put in quite a bit of effort (I know I could've done better as always but still)

if you're ranked last is there no point in trying for u4 sacs and just start preparing for the final exam???



anyway, I'm so glad it's almost holidays omg last day tomorrow!

[cosine]

if you're ranked last is there no point in trying for u4 sacs and just start preparing for the final exam???

Never speak like this again in your life, or I will personally slap you. You know I myself, and I am sure everyone else here will always respect the people who actually TRY and work HARD for their grades, and even if they don't achieve them, well at least they DESERVED IT! They are disciplined, but they are not yet deprived of their success, because hard work will always pay off.

Don't ever give up, if there's one thing that I learnt during tough times, during times where the content was too hard, too overwhelming in my subjects, it's to always to just keep pushing forward, just never give up! EVER! Im not saying you are going to pull a 360 turn and completely ace all your SACs in Unit 4, but im also not saying that you cannot. So what's stopping you? Seriously, ask yourself, what is stopping you from picking up your game next semester? Is it not new content? Can you not learn it independently during these holidays and get a head start?

Anything is possible, so never give up, please!

[tashhhaaa]

Never speak like this again in your life, or I will personally slap you. You know I myself, and I am sure everyone else here will always respect the people who actually TRY and work HARD for their grades, and even if they don't achieve them, well at least they DESERVED IT! They are disciplined, but they are not yet deprived of their success, because hard work will always pay off.

Don't ever give up, if there's one thing that I learnt during tough times, during times where the content was too hard, too overwhelming in my subjects, it's to always to just keep pushing forward, just never give up! EVER! Im not saying you are going to pull a 360 turn and completely ace all your SACs in Unit 4, but im also not saying that you cannot. So what's stopping you? Seriously, ask yourself, what is stopping you from picking up your game next semester? Is it not new content? Can you not learn it independently during these holidays and get a head start?

Anything is possible, so never give up, please!

I'm ranked last in methods, I have a SAC tomorrow and this was actually inspiring

thank you

[fareseru]

Hey guys, just figured I'd drop in and say hi

I hope your year is going well so far - you're half way! In fact, probably more than half as term four isn't really a term (it is, however, more stressful haha). I wouldn't worry about the rankings - they only really matter if you're ranked one at the end of the year.

Other than that just try your hardest - I really don't think that it's worth stressing about. I know that I can say it now but I wish I'd worried less throughout the year. Before you all know it you'll be at uni, having a ball and year twelve will just be a memory. I hope you all enjoy your holidays and let me know if you have any questions re law/Monash/the subjects that I did 

[99.90 pls]

Got some updated SAC marks, have a quick question to ask AN. Unit 3 SACs are as follows...
English: 95/100
Literature: 93/100
Methods: ~A (MHS)
Specialist: B (MHS)
Legal Studies: 85/100

Would it be worth consigning Legal Studies to my bottom two? I already have a top four sorted out (from last year, a scaled 52), so I feel as if my time would be better spent winging Legal and gaining an extra 5 study scores (or whatever) on another subject such as Spesh. Thoughts? and experiences?

[Alter]

I feel exactly what you're saying, bro. For me, Methods doesn't seem worth putting in any extra effort at all because I would need a 40+ raw to kick another subject out of my top 4 (English, German, last year stuff) and in a simple cost-benefit analysis all that effort isn't worth it. It's probably worth my extra time maximizing my score in English.

While many would disagree with me, I think it's fine to have an idea of what you main top 4 will be and give your effort towards that. If I get an extra three study scores for both Chemistry and Methods, my predicted ATAR would go up 0.10. Now let's just say I invested those 6 points across 3 each for English and German... and I get an ATAR a full point higher. That's 10x as much an impact simply because they'll be contributing the full score to my aggregate rather than the 10%.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should drop all effort in Legal. For me, I continue to try my best in Methods and Chemistry, but I accept these simply aren't my stronger subjects. In this sense, I think an approach similar to the one I'm referring to is 100% fine, and you should do it if you think it will help you go where you want to go in terms of maximising your scores.

tl;dr: healthy and reasonable approach, just don't stop trying altogether because they're still safety blankets

[99.90 pls]

I feel exactly what you're saying, bro. For me, Methods doesn't seem worth putting in any extra effort at all because I would need a 40+ raw to kick another subject out of my top 4 (English, German, last year stuff) and in a simple cost-benefit analysis all that effort isn't worth it. It's probably worth my extra time maximizing my score in English.

While many would disagree with me, I think it's fine to have an idea of what you main top 4 will be and give your effort towards that. If I get an extra three study scores for both Chemistry and Methods, my ATAR would go up 0.10. Now let's just say I invested those 6 points across 3 each for English and German... and I get an ATAR a full point higher. That's 10x as much an impact simply because they'll be contributing the full score to my aggregate rather than the 10%.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should drop all effort in Legal. For me, I continue to try my best in Methods and Chemistry, but I accept these simply aren't my stronger subjects. In this sense, I think an approach similar to the one I'm referring to is 100% fine, and you should do it if you think it will help you go where you want to go in terms of maximising your scores.

tl;dr: healthy and reasonable approach, just don't stop trying altogether because they're still safety blankets

Exaccttllly man! I played on ATARCalc heaps and everything is telling me that to get the ATAR I really desire, it's smashing out the top four that really count; the bottom two, in all candour, means jack shit. A 35-40 is sufficient; spending the extra time on high-scalers such as Specialist (for me) gets me higher ATARs significantly.

I reckon you're right, I'll probs just do what's required, and try for a 40 in Legal (it's where I'm headed atm) and then spend the extra time on other subjects to get 45+
Definitely seems more worth it right now.

[Alter]

Do people genuinely have their detailed studies for LOTEs ready at this stage? I was reading the Chinese SL subforum and it seems like people have already prepared what they will be saying. Nobody in my class has even written a tenth of what's needed and I'm the only person who has (barely) decided on a topic. Asking this to anyone that is doing or has done a language for VCE.

In a similar vein, I've heard so many conflicting ideas about learning your personal world oral component from people that have achieved awesome scores. However, all the teachers I've had said not to learn them off my heart, but simply be able to respond to common questions and have a good understanding of the language. Similarly, most examiner's reports say that people should avoid memorising pieces of text. I'm a bit confused, what's the best approach if you want to achieve a good score?

[Orb]

Do people genuinely have their detailed studies for LOTEs ready at this stage? I was reading the Chinese SL subforum and it seems like people have already prepared what they will be saying. Nobody in my class has even written a tenth of what's needed and I'm the only person who has (barely) decided on a topic. Asking this to anyone that is doing or has done a language for VCE.

In a similar vein, I've heard so many conflicting ideas about learning your personal world oral component from people that have achieved awesome scores. However, all the teachers I've had said not to learn them off my heart, but simply be able to respond to common questions and have a good understanding of the language. Similarly, most examiner's reports say that people should avoid memorising pieces of text. I'm a bit confused, what's the best approach if you want to achieve a good score?

Chinese is so hyper-competitive you'll find that you really need to have/or start memorising detailed studies/general conversations by now or you'll fall behind. May vary depending on the subject.

I got a decent oral score and I memorised both of my texts, and pretty much recited what i needed to. On the day of the exam I did add in a few idioms and extra sentences here and there based on my knowledge but apart from that it was pretty much off the book.

[Alter]

Well that certainly makes me feel a bit behind! I'm really quite unsure of what I should do to start preparing my material and resources. I've already decided on two of the resources I intend to use (Stasiland and Das Leben der Anderen) but I don't know where to start in terms of writing up my material.

Should I begin just collating all my information into a massive word document? I don't really know how it works inside the examination itself - do you get a time to regurgitate as much info as you want during the introduction of your topic, or do they constantly guide you with questions? To what extent do I have to explain my resources, and will they ask me about them or should I be controlling the entire conversation? I'm quite confused as to how these part of oral examinations work.

[99.90 pls]

Well that certainly makes me feel a bit behind! I'm really quite unsure of what I should do to start preparing my material and resources. I've already decided on two of the resources I intend to use (Stasiland and Das Leben der Anderen) but I don't know where to start in terms of writing up my material.

Should I begin just collating all my information into a massive word document? I don't really know how it works inside the examination itself - do you get a time to regurgitate as much info as you want during the introduction of your topic, or do they constantly guide you with questions? To what extent do I have to explain my resources, and will they ask me about them or should I be controlling the entire conversation? I'm quite confused as to how these part of oral examinations work.

For Chinese, the VAST majority of kids (myself included) just had two documents - one with General Conversation and one with Detailed Study. Inside each document is about 40 questions with accompanying answers with extremely eloquent language. It's designed to cover every single possible question. You memorise both documents verbatim, and by the end of the process, your language and adaptation skills should have developed enough to improvise lest they throw a curveball not on your prepared questions (uncommon)

[Orb]

For Chinese, the VAST majority of kids (myself included) just had two documents - one with General Conversation and one with Detailed Study. Inside each document is about 40 questions with accompanying answers with extremely eloquent language. It's designed to cover every single possible question. You memorise both documents verbatim, and by the end of the process, your language and adaptation skills should have developed enough to improvise lest they throw a curveball not on your prepared questions (uncommon)

For a 95+/100 oral score, 40 questions is considered the bare minimum. Mine spanned around 7-8000 words each and had around 60-70 questions each if i recall correctly

[Alter]

kms that sounds like a ridiculous amount of effort for a shot at such a small reward.

Now I know what I'll be spending my holidays doing, lol. By the way, are there any mock VCE orals that I can find online or anything? Resources are dry af for languages it seems.