Starting/Finishing Course Early - Necessary??

[Tyleralp1]

AN Users,

Recently, after reading a lot of posts on several other threads and from people I've talked to, there seems to be a correlation between starting/finishing the course early and high scores. Some people start/finish course before thr year even begins. Is it really essential to start and finish the course early to start practice exams and the like quickly? Or, is staying just ahead of your class and workibg through things at your own pace the way to go with learning content and practice exams. I've heard mixed opinions about this.

If you have any advice, or want to share your experience, please do so! All is appreciated

[psyxwar]

Generally yes. If you're aiming for those 45+ scores, it's a good idea to finish the courses early. You don't need to finish it super early though; I probably finished the Biology course this year halfway through term 3.

[Tyleralp1]

How did you go about that? Study it your own time I'm assuming? Also, what did you do after you finished the course early?

Thanks

[psyxwar]

How did you go about that? Study it your own time I'm assuming? Also, what did you do after you finished the course early?

Thanks

Yeah, my school didn't even end up finishing the biology course by the time classes had finished, so I did a lot of self study. I did trial exams mainly.

[Stick]

AN Users,

Recently, after reading a lot of posts on several other threads and from people I've talked to, there seems to be a correlation between starting/finishing the course early and high scores. Some people start/finish course before thr year even begins. Is it really essential to start and finish the course early to start practice exams and the like quickly? Or, is staying just ahead of your class and workibg through things at your own pace the way to go with learning content and practice exams. I've heard mixed opinions about this.

If you have any advice, or want to share your experience, please do so! All is appreciated

I worked ahead and completed the whole course for Further Maths in Year 11, and while I did get a 50 in that subject, this wasn't the reason why. Honestly, I felt as if I wasted my holidays doing that. I pretty much forgot the some of the stuff towards the end anyway. This year I decided only to do my set holiday homework and got similar results. What I've come to realise is that different approaches work for different people - while I personally didn't like being ahead of the class, others do and it works for them. Have a bit of an experiment and see if it helps or not. Good luck.

[Zealous]

I went ahead in both my subjects this year, I felt it gave me quite an advantage especially with time.

It can helpful but not necessary.

[krisskross]

I am definitely not an advocate of working ahead/finishing early.
I just followed my school's pace & I definitely did get enough time to do whatever exams I want.

In my opinion, doing 10000 exams is not the way to go, like for biology, in 2012, I got a 45 but i only did 5 exams (VCAA) for each unit.
Even though yeah, it's not awesome like Stick's score, but it shows that you don't actually need to work ahead.
Idk, I hated biology so it was hard for me to do any work anyway.

Perhaps for methods, you can work ahead when you start probability.
That's what I did, because i think once you grasp it, it becomes really easy.
That was the only time i worked ahead and that gave me an extra 2 weeks for exams?

But ultimately, I dont think you should work ahead (at the start)
It makes you complacent, you pay attention less, and it's quite hard to control that.
I think you're better off doing your holiday homework, chilling, and mentally prepare yourself for an arduous journey.

But over the year, I think it's better to work on the current topic at hand, and maybe find challenging questions on that to do (like the atarnotes book)
that would consolidate your knowledge quite well & it's better to specialise in individual chapters/topics first as you do them in school and then finally, at the end of the year, you'll be an expert across all topics & once you do your exams, it'll be easier, I guess.

Just my 2 cents worth!
Find what suits you best

All the best

[Tyleralp1]

Thank you all very much for your replies!

Indeed it does seem like you should stay ahead, but I do agree with Kriss. Definitely don't overload yourself or rush through content that you mightn't learn it proerply.

I will definitely be sure to look up the topics and have w basic understanding before we cover them in class. Though I won't get really major in depth or too far.

Oh and Kriss, whilst its not 99.9, your ATAR is still great and almost comparable :

Cheers

[Yacoubb]

Strongly recommend you get ahead! But I warn you, don't think that just because you're ahead you know everything. While your class is learning topic X, you've already learnt topic X, and you're studying a lot about topic X, so that after 1 week of studying for topic X, your understanding of it is strengthened, giving you an advantage.

I don't recommend finishing super early, though. Mid term 3 sounds pretty reasonable. I finished the Biology course around then too. But one thing I recommend is that you spend equal time on unit 3 and unit 4. I spent about 2 terms going over unit 3, only to realize I needed to finish unit 4 in one term. I really crammed for unit 4. Luckily, I had background of unit 4 from going ahead in year 10 Biology in the areas of genetics and evolution. Once you finish unit 4, start with prac exams. I did 45 of each unit. Once you finish the exams, write up a mini report of what you need to improve, IGNORE THE SCORE YOU GET ON PRAC EXAMS and rectify errors. Best of luck, and I hope you achieve the score you're dreaming of. Oh, and also, pray for a hard exam!

[~T]

I definitely think you should be wary of going ahead. Whether or not you do is only something that you can judge yourself. In my case, I put a lot of my scores down to my enjoyment in learning and my ability to work hard over ridiculous hours, and I was able to go ahead in my mathematics subjects for these reasons. I remained focussed and I had a tutor who had a seemingly endless supply of extension questions for me when I ran out of my own material (otherwise the internet and these forums are wonderful resources).

I found that in going ahead I had a distinct advantage over those around me. I really mean this. I was able to get my head around different concepts at my own pace, and then when they were covered in class it was like free revision lectures. If you do go ahead, definitely continue to pay attention and take notes in classes on topics you've already covered. In fact, being able to use these classes as revision is the only true advantage I felt by going ahead. Regardless, you will have enough time at the end of the year for practice exams. It is the fact that you can "learn the material twice", so to speak, that will help you out the most.

However, I chose not to go ahead in Physics (among my other subjects). Even though I have an aptitude for maths/science subjects, I am generally bored by the science ones. I couldn't stand Chem or Bio in year 10 and 11 so I dropped them before year 12. I tolerated Physics so I chose to do it, but for this reason I knew that I shouldn't be going ahead. You really have to enjoy what you're doing if you want to go ahead of the class. Additionally, my score in Physics suggests to me that going ahead really isn't required for "those 45+ scores" as someone said earlier. Sure, I felt more confident with my mathematics, but I still managed to stick with the class and get a 50.

But ultimately, I dont think you should work ahead (at the start)
It makes you complacent, you pay attention less, and it's quite hard to control that.

^This, from my experiences and from those of friends, is what can happen when you attempt to go ahead if you aren't a diligent worker and/or you don't enjoy the work you're doing. So take heed of the warning, I guess. There is an abundance of good advice in this thread, so I'm sure you'll make a good choice

P.S. Again I would like to dispel the belief of correlation between number of practice exams and study scores. It's truly about how you use them. Make an "exam log" for each subject, and keep track of every question you get wrong, why you got it wrong, and the correct worked solution. Review this in the immediate lead-up to the exam. If you do this well, it shouldn't matter if you did 5 exams or 50.

[Tyleralp1]

Oh, and also, pray for a hard exam!

Why is that? Wouldn't an easier exam make it still a bit easier?

[Zealous]

Why is that? Wouldn't an easier exam make it still a bit easier?

If you are very prepared for your subject (much more than the rest of the state), a harder exam will give you greater opportunity to show off what you know. The methods exam 2 this year is a good example of this.

An easier exam, a lot of people will score well in which isn't always a good thing.

[Only Cheating Yourself]

How do you guys finish an entire chapter during the holidays?

[chasej]

How do you guys finish an entire chapter during the holidays?

By reading it (no shit).  Then you can write notes and answer textbook questions.

[shadows]

It is helpful to finish the course early (By early-mid term 3) but not too early (Like start of the year)

Thats just my opinion because there are a few people I know that literally finished methods on the holidays.... got really cocky and then ended up getting a poor score. The people who score the highest work hard throughout the year.

By finishing the course early.... it's really easy to disregard what the teacher is saying and just chill because you already know it... this can quickly turn into a bad habit that will come back to bite you come exam time.

Everyone is different so just stick with what you are comfortable with and what you think is best for you. Just make sure that if you finish the course early it does not mean you are finished, you need to keep revising and studying!

Also by working too far ahead and hard in the beginning you risk burning out. (Although some people say its a myth, I've witnessed people that have just lost all motivation and did nothing the few weeks before exams because they finished the course like in Term 1) You need to be at your best and at your most motivated a few weeks before exam time. That is why make sure you pace yourself although it may be helpful to get a leg up these holidays... you NEED to relax!