Hey everyone!
For the past few months, the ‘Recent Posts’ section on AN has been filled with posts in the ‘Selective Schools Admissions Tests’ section, and I’ve been wanting to contribute to the community for a long while now so I’ve decided to give some tips which helped me get into Uni High’s AP program in Year 6 (3 superiors and 2 above averages), and Suzanne Cory High school in Year 8 (4 superiors and 2 high averages). Suzanne Cory also does this thing where they make you do the Year 10 Edutest to see if you’ve improved and I got 5/5 superiors on that, so you can trust my advice (I just realised this whole paragraph seems like a brag oops). This is mainly for Year 8 entry into Year 9, but some of these tips such as writing can be applied to any selective school exam.
The Edutest usually has 6 components: persuasive writing, creative writing, mathematics, reading comprehension, numerical reasoning, and verbal reasoning. Here are some tips to cover each one:
Verbal Reasoning-You only have 30 seconds per question so if you see a paragraph before you actually get to the question, skip it and come back to it later
- If you get one of those ‘All PUFS are RUFS’ questions, draw venn diagrams. Seriously.
- Read a LOT of books to develop your vocabulary. I remember in Year 7/8 I read the Harry Potter series (which seriously skyrocketed my vocabulary and was a great read), the Divergent series, and the Percy Jackson series. I’m not saying you have to read all of these so pick the genre you like (although I really recommend Harry Potter). I also subscribed to a website called vocabulary.com and it would send you emails quizzing you about the meaning of words. I remember one of the words I did the previous day came in the exam.
- Learn to skim read. It saves you not just in VR, but also RC and Maths.
Question specific tips- If you get the ‘which word does/ doesn’t fit in the box’ question and do not recognize most of the words, don’t worry as some of those questions are put there so you can waste your time freaking out. Skip it and come back to it after you’ve guessed your other answers.
- With the questions which have some alien language in three sentences and the English translation given to you, and ask you to give the alien word for an English word, just cross out the words that it is not, and narrow it down.
For example:
JUMP SUMP RUMP= Happy Easter Dad
RUMP TUMP JUMP CUMP= Dad is happy today
EUMP JUMP FUMP CUMP= Mum is happy today
What is Easter?
So for this you narrow it down to either SUMP, JUMP, or RUMP. Then you notice that RUMP and JUMP are used in the next sentences. Therefore it’s SUMP.
- For questions which ask for the statements that prove a given statement, don’t do what majority does and just read the 5 given statements. Instead, use the multiple choice options given and skim the pairs given. One of them must sound logical, so that’s the answer. For example:
Which statements prove this statement: Kelly has brown hair
1. Kelly's mum has blonde hair
2. Kelly's friend Sharon is in the football team
3.Sharon has brown hair
4. Kelly's brother has brown hair
5. Sharon and Kelly have hair of the same colour
a) 2&5 b)1&5 c)3&4 d)3&5 e)none of the above
Instead of wasting time reading all of the statements, just go straight down to the multiple choice and use the process of elimination.
- There’s no way for me to help with the vocabulary questions. That’s on you to develop your vocab.
DRAW DRAW DRAW for the following questions:
- ‘6 people sitting around a table. Jenny sits next to Laura. Johny sits next to Will.’ Physically draw the tables and write the initials of the names in the corresponding ‘chairs.’ This can be time consuming so if the paragraph is a little big then flag it and come back later.
- ‘All PUFS are RUFS and all HUFS are TUFS.’ Draw venn diagrams. Seriously.
- ‘Truck A arrives before Truck D. Truck C arrives before Truck D’ or like ‘Baby A is heavier than B.’ Literally draw each sentence before moving on to the next one.
Numerical Reasoning- The questions on the first page and last page are the easiest. Do those first.
- You have 50 questions in 30 minutes so you can give yourself some leeway but try and finish the first and last page really quickly, because I guarantee there are questions which may take over a minute which you cannot spare.
- Master your mental math. Addition, subtraction, multiplication of 2 digit by 1 digit, and division of 2 digit by 1 digit, knowing squares up to at least 15 by heart. This isn’t just for the Edutest but also just for life.
Question specific tips- The ‘which number goes in the grid’ pattern is usually very simple. If there’s more than 3 steps then you’re overthinking it. Very common patterns are: plus/minus by one/two, times by a number, times/divide by a number (usually 1,2,3,4,5, or 10) and add/minus a number (1,2,3,4,5, or 10). If the pattern is really complicated analyse the alternating numbers and if squares are involved. Obviously there are exceptions to throw you off but most of the grid questions I got had these patterns. This tip can also be used for the normal sequence questions too.
- With ‘6 pairs of this costs that and 7 pairs of this costs that’ use algebra. Assign a pronumeral for each item. Suddenly, you’ll finish this question within 30 seconds if you have even decent mental math.
- With the compound interest or basically the money questions which are huge, my tip is unless you can do them quickly and usually get them correct skip them. I have never done them. Ever.
- This tip works in Maths too so I’ll put this in the Math section but remember basic formulae like area, volume, and speed/distance/time, and also basic convertions between units such as meters and that shebang, litres and that shebang, and dollars and cents (AUD only ahaha)
- With questions such as ‘Rick does not know how many cars he has. He arranges them into groups of blah and there’s blah left over,’ there’s usually one number which can narrow the options down. For example, if you times something by 2, to get none left over the number must be even. If you times something by 5, the number must end in 0 or 5. If you have 3 left over, that narrows that the number ends with 8 or 3. Multiplying by ten has to end with a 0. Only narrow it down. Use the multiple choice options to check the conditions. There should be one that sticks out.
Reading Comprehension- You have 50 questions in 30 minutes. But don’t get complacent. You may read slower than you think you do. Try and finish the questions as fast as VR.
- To improve in Reading Comprehension, you need to know what your worst text is. Do you do horrible in poetry, or comics? What type of questions do you keep stumbling upon and getting incorrect? Once you find a pattern you need to expose yourself with these questions as much. If it’s ‘what does this word mean in this context’ then you need to improve your vocab
- Unless the paragraph is like two sentences skip the ‘what statement best conveys the theme of this paragraph’ question. It’s a waste of time.
- The grammar questions and vocab questions are the easiest ones. Don’t lose marks. Perfect your grammar.
- With the question that swaps clauses in a given sentence and asks you to pick the best option to finish the sentence, pick the option with all the words in it.
For example: Once Jimmy lifted his knife, killing became easy
If we change the sentence to: killing became easy…
What will the sentence become?
The correct answer needs to be ‘once Jimmy lifted his knife.’ Sometimes they don’t give you the exact replacement so pick the option which most resembles the clause.
- With the proverb questions, I had this proverb book which I used to read which really helped me analyse the given quote. The best way to get this answer is elimination and picking what sounds the most logical in comparison to the proverb.
Mathematics- This is the worst test for most people, so it’s easier for you to stand out
- First of all, please know basic BODMAS. Please master mental math for your own sanity.
- This tip works in Maths too so I’ll put this in the Math section but remember basic formulae like area, volume, and speed/distance/time, and also basic convertions between units such as meters and that shebang, litres and that shebang, and dollars and cents (AUD only ahaha)
- Learn the Year 9 content from a textbook. I’ll list down most of the topics on the exam (btw this is coming from my Uni High Year 8 textbook). Most of you should probably learn these topics in your own time though.
o Algebra
o Linear equations and graphs
o Some quadratics, parabolas, and factorization
o Surds, indices, and some logarithms (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, simplifying)
o Basic probability
o Reading different types of graphs
o Simultaneous equations
o Financial math and the jargon like deposit, compound interest, simple interest, etc.
o Perimeter, area, volume, surface area
o Speed, distance, time questions
o Angles
o Trigonometry (sine, cos, tan, Pythagoras theorem)
o Ratio
o Fractions, decimals, percentages. Being able to convert between them
I’m not going to go through types of questions as a Year 9 math book can help you with that, but consistent practice in these topics under timed conditions can definitely help you improve!
Now the writing. The only time I’ve gotten a superior for writing was last year for Creative, so I’ll address only the creative. My persuasive was never all that good and I don’t remember what I did so I’ll post some super cool links from other AN users:
Essay writing tips from pi (who went to Uni High for their AP program as well whaat!)
http://www.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=40269.msg425216#msg425216Awesome Username’s Guidelines for writing a persuasive essay:
http://www.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=148442.0 And another amazing post by pi:
http://www.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=155074.0 The Creative- Don’t try to cover a lot of plot points. Instead focus on a couple of scenes and really show your creative writing skills (attention to detail, show don’t tell, basic grammar and punctuation, etc.)
- Try and incorporate something deep in your writing. Last year, majority of us (including me) responded to a prompt by writing about this rich aunt in a mansion, so I was really shocked when I found out that I got a superior! After some thinking, I realized that I addressed cancer a lot in my piece and mixed it with some creative elements such as setting the story during the medieval period. I didn’t outright say that it was set in the medieval period, but I hinted towards it by mentioning hiding daggers in cloaks or something.
- Have a clear idea in your head before you write. Then, really think about your next sentence before you write it. Remember, you want to showcase your creative writing skills so try to show that through each sentence. You want your story to capture the examiner’s attention.
TuitionI highly recommend going to James An College. I went there for both Year 6 and Year 8 entry, and if it wasn’t for them I would not have gotten into the school. I learnt to finish questions under timed conditions and learnt what topics come in the exam. The week after you finish their tests, they give you these red and blue sheets with the topics of the questions you get wrong and right, how many students got the questions right, and your percentile (superior, above average, high average, etc.). The key to improving is to analyse the sheets given over a month or more and find any patterns in the questions you get wrong. You should target your practice on those topics. Asking your teachers to clear your doubts along with this should almost guarantee a skyrocketed improvement.
That being said, you don’t need to go to a coaching centre, and many of my friends have gotten into MHS and MacRob without them. It’s just playing safe if you do. James An College has a great success rate, and sometimes their tests are harder than the Edutest, but your performance in the actual Edutest can be improved significantly if you do go.
Unfortunately, I can't give tips for the interview as I don't think I did that well in Year 6, and I didn't have to do an interview in Year 8, but there are AN users who are happy to help and a lot of tips on Youtube you can check out.
Anyways, those are my tips and it may not work for all of you. Your dedication is already miles above other people if you willing to come to these forums and ask for help. With hard work, you all will surely pass! All the best for the exams!