Class of 2016!!

[The Usual Student]

Hello everyone

Sorry if this has been answered already but having only scored a 39 in biology this year after working extremely hard, I'm a bit worried that I'll be much more overwhelmed for next year. Is anyone else feeling like this. Thanks

HasibA summed it up very well
But I just want to add,
I understand how devastated you must feel, after working so hard of course. But i think your making the mistake many VCE students seem to do, wrongfully believe hard work = success
That is very much true of course but hard work in the right direction = success
not blind hard work

My strategy has always been: Create a criteria of success, a checklist of what you must do in order to succeed
For eg For bio I had
- Conceptual understandings
- Scientific thinking and analyzing
- Biological expression

^ Those three sum it up well IMO, so I knew if i could tick those three boxes i could do reasonably well in Biology. Then I broke it down into steps as to how i would accomplish this criteria. Over all it makes preparing for a subject all the easier!

[Biology24123]

I feel nervous abot this too. Although i didn't try my absolute hardest , i scored in the mid 30's for legal studies, which obviously made me worried and paranoid about year 12 ! I think the best way to think about your score is:
1) did you try your hardest? If yes , move on to the next point. If not , then go out there anf smash it !!!
2) did you work SMART and EFFICIENCTLY ? If yes, next point!!! If not , try see where you went wrong and continue to sek advice and work hard but focus on working smart moreso
3) if you've done both, maybe it was exam stress/another personal factor that stopped you reaching your goal/personal satisfaction? Try work out that out before next year!

If you've ticked yes to all three , then as long as you tried your utmost best, you should be extremely proud of yourself! Studyscores and Atars cannot measure your kindness, passion, creativity , personality, work ethic and just about anything else that's not 'academic'. As long as your full effort is given day in and day out , im 99% sure youll be fine ! A 39 is still a crazy good score !

Thanks. That really reassuring

I don't think I worked efficiently throughout the year despite a lot of hours which is why I didn't do amazing on the sac's (many stupid mistakes).  Why does 40 seems so much better than 39?

[Biology24123]

HasibA summed it up very well
But I just want to add,
I understand how devastated you must feel, after working so hard of course. But i think your making the mistake many VCE students seem to do, wrongfully believe hard work = success
That is very much true of course but hard work in the right direction = success
not blind hard work

My strategy has always been: Create a criteria of success, a checklist of what you must do in order to succeed
For eg For bio I had
- Conceptual understandings
- Scientific thinking and analyzing
- Biological expression

^ Those three sum it up well IMO, so I knew if i could tick those three boxes i could do reasonably well in Biology. Then I broke it down into steps as to how i would accomplish this criteria. Over all it makes preparing for a subject all the easier!

I guess I needed to score well in biology because I don't think I will score very well in English. Do you think it's worth doing anymore than the first area of study for each subject in the holdays plus read english books?

[pi]

Hello everyone

Sorry if this has been answered already but having only scored a 39 in biology this year after working extremely hard, I'm a bit worried that I'll be much more overwhelmed for next year. Is anyone else feeling like this. Thanks

A lot of people suggest the old "forget about it and move on... new year new me... year 11 was a practice run... good on you for giving it your all" and all sorts of other teeny-bopper shit; but I think you shouldn't move on until you understand what went wrong, there's always a reason (or two, or three, or...) and taking an hour to think about it can go a long way. Hence, I think the most important thing is self-reflection. I know that a lot of students scoff at the idea, I mean how dare some random mofo called "pi" suggest I look at myself critically and find my totally non-existant flaws, right?

But it helps. Take a step back before this new year and ask yourself questions and physically write down your responses. Don't think about it, write it down. By hand, write it down.

Some questions I'd be asking myself:
- What did I do well? What didn't go so well?
- How did I study? While sitting at my desk, what did I actually do? Did I have daily/weekly goals and did I meet them if so? Did writing notes/flashcards/whatever work for me? Did I ask enough questions on AN? Did I struggle and need a tutor?
- Did I do enough practice questions? Did I approach the answers to questions with an open mind that I could be wrong? (you'd be surprised how many students are just unintentionally arrogant about this and just ignore the possibility that their answer could be incorrect) How did I try and remove silly mistakes during exams?
- Did I pace myself well throughout the year? Did I finish the content on time before each SAC? Did I read too far ahead? (yes AN, this is possible imo) Did I have time to revise? Did I revise enough? Did I study into too much detail? (I think this is highly relevant with bio, some of the questions being asked in that thread... way too much LOL)
- Did I handle stress well? Did I have time to relax and pursue other things? How did I cope with stress? Was I too stress-free? Did I procrastinate too much and by what means?
etc.

Be really critical, the harsher and specific you are about your answers, the more useful the reflection will be.

From that, make another list: "What can I do to to do better now that I know where things went wrong and right?". Use fancy colours, highlighters. Tape it on the wall above your desk so that when you look up, it's there, reminding you that you want to remind yourself to do better (remind-ception!).

That's really all I have to say. No doubt you'll bounce back.

I guess I needed to score well in biology because I don't think I will score very well in English. Do you think it's worth doing anymore than the first area of study for each subject in the holdays plus read english books?

What's your plan of attack for the year? Doing holiday work can be great if you know what you're going to do next and if you know how you'll make sure you're revising "studied" material throughout the year. But if you don't have a plan on how to do that, then it can lead to a false sense of security and can ultimately lead to complacence.

I find that people on AN, in general, somewhat over-emphasise the importance of getting ahead. It's really not the be-all-and-end-all. I was behind in most of my subjects for most of the year, as long as you know when to pick up the pace and get to where you need to be (ie. two weeks before a SAC, month before exams) you'll peak at the right time and do alright. Granted, I didn't do that well in comparison to the high standard that is AN (low 99s), but I found that my year 12 was pretty stress-free because I had a plan and backed myself to get to where I needed to be when the time came around. If I put the pressure on to "stay 3 chapters ahead in all subjects at all times", I'd be in a stressful mess, and I'd be forgetting important material as I'd be sitting SACs on the study I did a month ago. That's not my preferred line of tact.

Regardless, I'd strongly suggest reading your English texts all at least once, making sure that the first time you're just reading for "enjoyment" and trying to get the story line. Subsequent reads can be more analytical as you slowly tear apart the minutiae.


edit: I have two textbooks to read in two weeks and as a result I'm borderline delirious right now, so it's highly likely that none of the above made any sense whatsoever

[The Usual Student]

I guess I needed to score well in biology because I don't think I will score very well in English. Do you think it's worth doing anymore than the first area of study for each subject in the holdays plus read english books?

Pretty much what Pi said but I also suggest getting better at your weak subjects, my English hasn't been amazing his year so I want to spend more time on that subject before school just to get back into the rhythm of things. I think this is more for skill subjects like English or maths.

[Biology24123]

A lot of people suggest the old "forget about it and move on... new year new me... year 11 was a practice run... good on you for giving it your all" and all sorts of other teeny-bopper shit; but I think you shouldn't move on until you understand what went wrong, there's always a reason (or two, or three, or...) and taking an hour to think about it can go a long way. Hence, I think the most important thing is self-reflection. I know that a lot of students scoff at the idea, I mean how dare some random mofo called "pi" suggest I look at myself critically and find my totally non-existant flaws, right?

But it helps. Take a step back before this new year and ask yourself questions and physically write down your responses. Don't think about it, write it down. By hand, write it down.

Some questions I'd be asking myself:
- What did I do well? What didn't go so well?
- How did I study? While sitting at my desk, what did I actually do? Did I have daily/weekly goals and did I meet them if so? Did writing notes/flashcards/whatever work for me? Did I ask enough questions on AN? Did I struggle and need a tutor?
- Did I do enough practice questions? Did I approach the answers to questions with an open mind that I could be wrong? (you'd be surprised how many students are just unintentionally arrogant about this and just ignore the possibility that their answer could be incorrect) How did I try and remove silly mistakes during exams?
- Did I pace myself well throughout the year? Did I finish the content on time before each SAC? Did I read too far ahead? (yes AN, this is possible imo) Did I have time to revise? Did I revise enough? Did I study into too much detail? (I think this is highly relevant with bio, some of the questions being asked in that thread... way too much LOL)
- Did I handle stress well? Did I have time to relax and pursue other things? How did I cope with stress? Was I too stress-free? Did I procrastinate too much and by what means?
etc.

Be really critical, the harsher and specific you are about your answers, the more useful the reflection will be.

From that, make another list: "What can I do to to do better now that I know where things went wrong and right?". Use fancy colours, highlighters. Tape it on the wall above your desk so that when you look up, it's there, reminding you that you want to remind yourself to do better (remind-ception!).

That's really all I have to say. No doubt you'll bounce back.


What's your plan of attack for the year? Doing holiday work can be great if you know what you're going to do next and if you know how you'll make sure you're revising "studied" material throughout the year. But if you don't have a plan on how to do that, then it can lead to a false sense of security and can ultimately lead to complacence.

I find that people on AN, in general, somewhat over-emphasise the importance of getting ahead. It's really not the be-all-and-end-all. I was behind in most of my subjects for most of the year, as long as you know when to pick up the pace and get to where you need to be (ie. two weeks before a SAC, month before exams) you'll peak at the right time and do alright. Granted, I didn't do that well in comparison to the high standard that is AN (low 99s), but I found that my year 12 was pretty stress-free because I had a plan and backed myself to get to where I needed to be when the time came around. If I put the pressure on to "stay 3 chapters ahead in all subjects at all times", I'd be in a stressful mess, and I'd be forgetting important material as I'd be sitting SACs on the study I did a month ago. That's not my preferred line of tact.

Regardless, I'd strongly suggest reading your English texts all at least once, making sure that the first time you're just reading for "enjoyment" and trying to get the story line. Subsequent reads can be more analytical as you slowly tear apart the minutiae.


edit: I have two textbooks to read in two weeks and as a result I'm borderline delirious right now, so it's highly likely that none of the above made any sense whatsoever

This was excellent. Thanks a lot

[mtse]

I guess I needed to score well in biology because I don't think I will score very well in English.

I can completely empathise with this. I absolutely detested english (not sure why, probs cause I'm a science maths person) , and although relatively good scores came easily to me (due to awesome cramming skills) I still had to put in double the effort to achieve my score in the end.
Besides just kinda blankly reading the books,
- look up any words you don't get and note it in the book itself
- after each chapter, you don't necessarily have to write it down but at least think it: create a summary of what's gone on and see if there can be varying interpretations to it (especially for your Section A texts because apparently having your "own" interpretation and putting it in your essay makes it heaps better)
- look up online (Schmoop, Litcharts, Sparknotes) to clarify any quotes you don't get, and understand some themes, motifs etc.
Like I didn't get a 50 or anything close, but if I had known ways to more effectively study the texts earlier in the year I think it would have helped.
(btw I did not do this within the holidays... I was realllllly lazy)

I don't think I worked efficiently throughout the year despite a lot of hours which is why I didn't do amazing on the sac's (many stupid mistakes). 

People say "work smart not hard" really often, but it's easier said than done. Fortunately though, I recently had a friend who did some research in the education field and came up with a relatively solid way of doing this.
It's all about conceptual understanding.
Like for example in bio there was the term "action potential". Rather than reciting and rote learning "action potential is an electrical signal which bla bla bla", it would be actually better for you to:
1. Describe it in the simplest and fewest words possible "It is a signal that transmits a message from one thing to another"
2. Expand off that simple sentence "signal = electrical, one thing to another = receptor to effector / neruron to neuron"
3. Once you understand the entire concept, then place the label "action potential" on it.
So in the SAC/exam even if you forget the technical definition of a term, you would remember your basic sentence describing it and can branch off from there. (better-than-nothing attitude lol)
I don't personally understand the science behind this, but tl;dr, apparently the brain will be limited in understanding a concept if you place a name/label/term on it too quickly.
So perhaps this year you might want to try this out with your subjects, particularly if you do subjects like chemistry where the concepts are not necessarily hard but can be long-winded and confusing.

Do you think it's worth doing anymore than the first area of study for each subject in the holdays plus read english books?

Tbh, the dedication of everyone on AN frightens me a little. In the holidays, I was sooo lazy (sleeping for extended periods of time is my strength). So by term 1, I had really done the bare minimum - holiday hw, read the semester 1 texts for english and like flicked through the textbook without reading anything in detail.
Although I don't recommend being a lazy sh*t like I was, I don't think its really that necessary to be so far ahead of class. If you are really dedicated and work really hard and have nothing better to do, go ahead, by all means, learn the entire course if you want  however I think if I had done that, I would have maybe ended up with a worse score. Why? I wouldn't listen in class cause I would be bored, I wouldn't have spent the extra time to really consolidate my knowledge cause I would have thought I already knew it etc etc. But hey that might just be me, don't hold me against it 

I think the most essential thing though (that I actually did do), was look back through year 11 and see what I did and didn't do. I spent days filing all the worksheets and crap teachers gave me throughout year 11 and while I went through them, I not only checked if I knew the stuff like academic knowledge, but also tried to remember how I approached each new topic. Then I noted down what worked and didn't work. This made it a lot easier in year 12, no more trial-ing and error-ing study techniques. I knew what worked for me and used it to be advantage.

I'm no genius, so take what i said with a grain of salt. 
in case you wanted to check my credibility, I did get high 99s for ATAR and high 90s for UMAT
And sorry for the essay 

[qazser]

Whats everyone done this holidays?

[The Usual Student]

Whats everyone done this holidays?

sleep.eat.repeat

[Maz]

off topic- but i got my leavers jacket today 
the idea of year 12 is sinking in 

[Swagadaktal]

off topic- but i got my leavers jacket today 
the idea of year 12 is sinking in 

leaver's jacket?
was dat

[babushka818]

You're not a failure!!! The fact that you're so keen to do well and passionate about your studies definitely proves that! Believe in yourself and I am sure all your aspirations will come true!

Thank you so much! I guess it's just year 11 and stuff, I never worked as hard as I could and I think I've always taken that for granted because I didn't do badly.. But there were some times that I didn't study and definitely had reason to regret it.. Hoping to turn that around because as you said, I am passionate about what I am studying and aim to do well

nooo fam omg does my signature make me come off as unapproachable? I think ima remove it... once I think of something funny or some shit
Say hi! I think im nice as (well that's what my mum says...)
and omg do not call urself a failure wth chill out - i believe u will do well next year - confidence is 30% of ur score tbh

haha not unapproachable as such, I just feel like people who do/want to do really well will think I'm stupid and beneath them or something idk..  don't change it on my account <3
you're mum is right, you're not all bad jk, you're all great, am still replying to your PM!
hahaha thanks fam  and thanks for the faith, hope I can feel like that soon, cos if that's true I'm only getting like 72% this year!

[Maz]

leaver's jacket?
was dat

you know...the jacket that says 'leavers 2016' on it all the year 12 wear it

[babushka818]

off topic- but i got my leavers jacket today 
the idea of year 12 is sinking in 

isn't a leaver's jacket like what some (my school) call a year 12 jacket. I think most schools allow year 12 students to have a customised jacket that might say your name or 'class of 2016' or something on it.

rant;
at my school, they usually make the year 12s organise the design of their jacket at the start of the school year so we don't get them til like term 3 which really really sucks, you start wearing it in like summer, its shit. class of '15 though, they got theirs organised at end of '14 so they could get them earlier, but there was so much  drama (principal wanted to not give them out til term 3 cos he thought they weren't professional enough n crap) so now our class can't do it til this year.. it's so damn annoying, other schools get them like in term 1 I want my jacket!!
~also we get to customise a name we want to put on the back of it, what should I write on mine? honestly thinking of putting 'babushka' (my name is actually Anushka) ADVICE PLEASE
rant over\

CHEERS FAM

[Swagadaktal]

hahaha thanks fam  and thanks for the faith, hope I can feel like that soon, cos if that's true I'm only getting like 72% this year!

LOL
I'm getting my yr 12 jacket on the first day