Are commercial notes (checkpoints, a++, leading edge) useful?

[slothpomba]

Hey guys, all the texts books and such are on order but i havent actually picked up any of the notes on the list..yet.

I'm wondering if they're actually useful, because i had checkpoints for IT:SD and to be honest they were completely useless... i barely used the book at all and it just seemed like they were a direct rip from previous VCE exams which you can get for free off the net. The only thing i used were the little tear out study cards at the back to glance at before the exam.

So, do you guys think these commerical notes are actually useful?
(Futher to that, which ones do you guys think i should buy for the subjects im doing, theyre listed in my signature down there)

~Cheers, kingpomba

[*ryan777*]

i think it depends on how you study,
if your a person that likes having everything in one spot (ie past exams) then yes these notes/checkpoints are good
after a while you may loose track of what exams you put where etc (books are more neat)
as for it being "useless" it really depends on what subject your doing etc

[crappy]

I used A+ notes for physics and chem for casual study ie when I didn't want to have a very intense study session. Great for some light reading but the questions aren't very challenging.

[Akirus]

Checkpoints are more intended to be completed progressively throughout the year as you cover the content as a supplement to your main coursework so you're familiar with the VCAA exam style by the time you approach exams. 

[Eriny]

It really depends on the notes and your learning style and such. I think it's a good idea to have at least one textbook supplement, just in case something isn't covered fully in your textbook.

[kyzoo]

Checkpoints are more intended to be completed progressively throughout the year as you cover the content as a supplement to your main coursework so you're familiar with the VCAA exam style by the time you approach exams. 

Hmm I did Checkpoints in a one-week period after I completed around 20 practice exams.

I would say it's best to produce notes based on your textbook first, and then scan through commercial notes to look for anything that wasn't covered in the textbook (will most likely be irrelevant though, finding the average value of a function in a given interval was in those "tear out study cards" for the Methods Checkpoint but I never encountered it on a single practice exam)

This way you don't waste time on stuff that is already in your textbook; you instantly recognise it as familiar and skip over it.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Oh definitely. Those formed my SAC study ritual.

I did all that stuff before SACs so did practice exams only before exams

[akira88]

I had A+ notes for further maths but I'm not really sure if they helped me or not, but I'm guessing they did something more than nothing

[Shinyumnoodles]

Checkpoints are more intended to be completed progressively throughout the year as you cover the content as a supplement to your main coursework so you're familiar with the VCAA exam style by the time you approach exams. 

Hmm I did Checkpoints in a one-week period after I completed around 20 practice exams.

I would say it's best to produce notes based on your textbook first, and then scan through commercial notes to look for anything that wasn't covered in the textbook (will most likely be irrelevant though, finding the average value of a function in a given interval was in those "tear out study cards" for the Methods Checkpoint but I never encountered it on a single practice exam)

This way you don't waste time on stuff that is already in your textbook; you instantly recognise it as familiar and skip over it.

What if your text book is so long, and some things are irrelevant. Im trying to write notes for my legal, but the book is SOO long (Justice and OUtcomes) so i resort to the leading edge and the "legal notes". They're useful, but sometimes it gets quite confusing though, because they group ideas differently and put things in different order > .>
so yeah, maybe its wiser to write notes from the book first, then study guides.. rather than the other way around T. T

[stonecold]

I've got A+ notes for meths this year (it was on the booklist) and having flicked through it, it doesn't really look all that useful.

As for checkpoints, only buy them if you don't want to print off past exams or you want worked solutions to the questions, but tbh you'd just be better off asking here on VN.

[kyzoo]

Hasn't happened to me, I've gone through Spesh and Chem textbook and it's fairly easy to deduct what's irrelevant and what's not.