Getting a 50

[m@tty]

For any help it can provide:

Physics - depends on the difficulty of the exam, but in 2009 it essentially required full marks in both. Perhaps one lost mark would have been acceptable.
Chemistry - much more leeway for lost marks. However the 2009 Chemistry Midyear was considered pretty difficult by the cohort. Still, one would think losing 4-5 marks over both may be acceptable
Methods - unless there's a tough exam, one can probably only lose 1, maybe 2, marks in methods over both exams.
Specialist - last year the exams were considered fairly straightforward, with the tech active very calculator heavy. In that year 1-2 marks over both was enough to get a raw 50. For a scaled 50 one could likely have lost 5-6 marks over both. In a year with harder exams you could probably lose a bit more than that.

Are you serious for Chem?  That is heaps!!!

Definitely serious. Maybe even more than 5 marks. It all depends on the difficulty of the exam. In some subjects you can lose a load of marks and still get a 50.

Last year maybe 5 marks, but this year there are many people I know - and presumably it is consistent across the state - who  lost less than 3 marks in the mid year exam - therefore assuming a similar performance on the end-of-year from these people, 50 will require a loss of less than 5 marks, perhaps 2-3.

[KBT]

#1 hint to getting a 50: Do business management

At some schools

Just pick the subjects you enjoy and are most proficient at. Odds are you're more likely to spend the hours doing trial exams for the ones you are happy answering the questions for.

[Russ]

#1 hint to getting a 50: Do business management

#2 hint, do psych/bio and be really really good at memorising stuff

[EvangelionZeta]

Russ I havent struggled. In fact it's the opposite I'd find it too easy and get bored with the work. But yes I'm trying really hard now and so far this semester every mark I've dropped is silly error not a problem in solving or understanding. But yes, learning the fundamentals took ages this semester but I've caught up well. It's just in Science and Math i thought elite students at private schools may have learnt the entire course even previously to Vce and their hard work in past years and Year 12 is just am unassailable lead of students like myself. Also, I do find  years 7-10 weren't a good indicator as Ive quickly caught up to my owns schools top students and surpassed most.

Oh trust me, pretty much nobody knows the whole course prior to VCE at my private school, and we're certainly not encouraged to do so...

[matt123]

Curious here, in terms of getting a 50 in any of the following:

Physics
Lit
Chemistry
Methods
Specialist

Is it still possible to get a 50 if you haven't been the best student from years 7-10. I've been quite good this semester, I'm talking average of approx. 92% and if I really studied hard over the holidays and next year all the way through, assuming I am quite intelligent, would a 50 be possible?

I go to a shit school btw.

I honestly dont think you know how hard it is to get a 50.

there are various factors that can hinder ur chances.

1. how u feeling on the day
2. luck of the questions
3. luck in general
4. accidentally making silly mistakes
5. accidently reading questions wrong ( usually the biggest killer)
6. significant figures
7. forgetting states
8. brain freeze
9. feeling sick

.... many are interrelated
but u get my point

I averaged 100% for pe last year ... I got 100% on almost all the prac exams i did
yet .. i only got a mid A+ for the exam

Thought i would get a 50 .. everyone around me thought id get a 50
I was honestly REALLY lucky to get a 44.

man ..
You can do it. you can get a 50 . and i wish you the best of luck , honestly

but the fact is .. there are so many things that can go wrong .. leading to a loss of 3-4 marks or more .... which limit your chance of the 50..

Goodluck though , hope you get it.

[shinny]

Yeh, the factors Matt123 mentions pretty much sums it up. On the UMAT, I had heard news that morning that a friend was in hospital so I wasn't in a particularly good state of mind and possibly did worse on the emotions section of that exam as a result. In terms of luck of the questions, English screwed me over mainly because the context prompt that came up was not something I'd expected and hadn't prepared for. On the other hand, the ones I did prepare for were of a 10/10 standard as marked by a VCAA marker. If only they'd come up. Spesh for me was a combination of many factors and I'd be arrogant to say that my own ability wasn't a limiting factor. However, I do believe I could have easily achieved higher if not for brain freeze/luck of questions/reading questions wrong etc.

Keep in mind that I had spent all year pretty much studying for spesh and English (~80% of study time spent). However, then these factors were on my side for my other exams. I had gone in to the others with little preparation yet I'd done better in them than I had in spesh and English. Almost all the right questions turned up and I didn't make any stupid mistakes. So yeh, preparation isn't the only thing. These other factors are probably more important to scoring that 50 than anything.

[MBBS]

Oh wow that is good news. What school is that? I know a kid from Scotch in year 8 and he knows way way more chemistry than I did in year 10 even. However I find in private schools parents very regularly make the mistake of thinking their kids are intelligent because they are well educated.

[shinny]

Oh and yes, there's no need to learn the entire course prior to the year. I just learnt all the courses as I did them in school. VCE is quite light on content and more heavy on concepts and such. It's generally better to learn things in class so you get a firmer grasp of the concepts, as opposed to learning things outside of class and having shaky foundations, but then being too bored in class to pay attention to something you've already learnt and not fixing these foundations up.

[Stormer]

How many can you lose for Accounting? I think ilovemathmethods lost 5 or 6 marks for a 49?

[stonecold]

For any help it can provide:

Physics - depends on the difficulty of the exam, but in 2009 it essentially required full marks in both. Perhaps one lost mark would have been acceptable.
Chemistry - much more leeway for lost marks. However the 2009 Chemistry Midyear was considered pretty difficult by the cohort. Still, one would think losing 4-5 marks over both may be acceptable
Methods - unless there's a tough exam, one can probably only lose 1, maybe 2, marks in methods over both exams.
Specialist - last year the exams were considered fairly straightforward, with the tech active very calculator heavy. In that year 1-2 marks over both was enough to get a raw 50. For a scaled 50 one could likely have lost 5-6 marks over both. In a year with harder exams you could probably lose a bit more than that.

Are you serious for Chem?  That is heaps!!!

Definitely serious. Maybe even more than 5 marks. It all depends on the difficulty of the exam. In some subjects you can lose a load of marks and still get a 50.

Last year maybe 5 marks, but this year there are many people I know - and presumably it is consistent across the state - who  lost less than 3 marks in the mid year exam - therefore assuming a similar performance on the end-of-year from these people, 50 will require a loss of less than 5 marks, perhaps 2-3.

Yeah...you can do it m@tty!  You're mid year mark was very good.

[MBBS]

I realise exactly how hard it is. It means not dropping a mark in the whole year in my eyes.

[MBBS]

I have a European father. Believe me there's no shakey foundations with him. You do shit like your life depends on it.

[EvangelionZeta]

Oh wow that is good news. What school is that? I know a kid from Scotch in year 8 and he knows way way more chemistry than I did in year 10 even. However I find in private schools parents very regularly make the mistake of thinking their kids are intelligent because they are well educated.

Melbourne Grammar.  That year 8 would be an anomaly.  Not even Scotch pushes their kids that far ahead of the syllabus.

[iffets12345]

What is the point of learning stuff in year 7-9... more often than not it'd have a detrimental effect because you would either (or all actually):
a) be bored
b) get arrogant because you think you know everything
c) burn you out because you would be mulling over the same things and questions
d) lose track and move on to more and more advanced things
e) further emphasis on "burning out"

[sillysmile]

If you suddenly switch on, then yes but getting a 50 is more of an exercise in a mechanical approach in most subjects

If you haven't done well in previous years, it'll be harder to deal with concepts because you've got a weaker base. But still possible.

this was your 1000th post