Give me the lowdown on what to spend my money on (lectures, notes, guides, etc)

[thatisanote]

Woo! 1 Month till scores (did ECO 3/4)

Hey guys, seems to be a huge wealth of knowledge here, thought i'd tap in
And if you help me here and are selling anything that i'm looking at buying (IT SoftDev, Physics, MMM, English txts and notes - http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,33927.0.html), ill give you preference if its a similar deal

Subjects:
IT Soft Dev
English: Crucible, The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif, and Ransom (David Malouf). And 'On the Waterfront'
Methods (CAS): Using the nspire
Physics: Using Heinemann Physics

I'm interested in the best ways to spend money on each of those subjects. I'm looking for stuff that will help me go from 40s to 48s, and the less effort the better (though that is hugely contradictory ). If I keep it up, im looking at a 99.
2 qs: what are Jacks Notes and Derrick Ha's notes?

So some of the things, for example: should i get a studyguide for the crucible, rugmaker, and ransom? I already have sparknotes & cliffnotes for Crucible, are the insight ones on this stuff any good? What about for persuasive writing, the context stuff, on the waterfront, etc.
I'd rather get a small number of things for each in the case of studyguides so i don't have too much crossover - so id just get the best one of each. And thats why im posting this - to find out what the best is.

Eg im interested in whether things like checkpoints, tssm notes, certain lectures, etc are any good, which are worth it etc.

And regarding practice exam packs and stuff, i'll probably get some stuff like that. I'd rather get the stuff that will help the most (so current study design), but will only want to buy what I need because theres a lot on here. I'd consider the MHS Pack for $25, I saw that mentioned elsewhere. What exactly does it contain?



On an unrelated note, I am considering three things. How much work (obviously different for everyone.. blah blah.. give an estimate) would I need for a 44-45 (scaled) per week in: Accounting, Physics, Spesh, Further and Uni Computer Systems (Monash). Mainly looking for comparative figures, they don't need to be absolute numbers.

[98.40_for_sure]

Check out my booksale mate.
It seems im the only one selling software dev stuff on here?

[thatisanote]

cheers mate. any thoughts on which study stuff is better than x,y,z other study stuff?

[LFTM]

I have jacks notes , they're the whole years set of notes i got from jacks(tutoring in springvale)

I think i wasted money on checkpoints for methods though as you can just get those questions from past papers.

[LFTM]

Are you using the cambridge accounting book next year?

[taiga]

I don't think there is any worth in buying notes for methods.

Go to the derrick ha lecture at the end of the year.

Physics, just get "A+ notes", and summarize them yourself along with those in your 3/4 textbook, and you are set.

English study guides I never touched, I don't think they are that useful. Read the text alot, get some of your own unique material out of the text, and check up sparknotes if you want.

[eeps]

On an unrelated note, I am considering three things. How much work (obviously different for everyone.. blah blah.. give an estimate) would I need for a 44-45 (scaled) per week in: Accounting, Physics, Spesh, Further and Uni Computer Systems (Monash). Mainly looking for comparative figures, they don't need to be absolute numbers.

For Accounting anyhow, you'd be looking to do 7~8 hours per week - just read over the textbook, making sure you fully understand the concepts. Accounting is easy if you know the concepts and practice.

Cambridge are good for Accounting - best book.

[98.40_for_sure]

Imo, checkpoints is horrible... so many mistakes in them, especially with maths
Jacks notes and dha bound reference are quite good. never used A+ notes so cant compare.

[taiga]

I think checkpoints is good if you actually use it. Did I use it? nope :X

[Cianyx]

Just borrow English study guides off your friends. Read the background of the texts. Do not read what they have to say about the actual story. Most of it is absolute shite. It distracted me from the actual studying as I spent a significant amount of time dishing out verbal abuse. Actually, their background knowledge is also quite elementary and shit.

[Ghost!]

You really don't need anything for normal English, just read the books 5+ times till your seriously familiarised with the content, and your teacher should provide you with the rest.

[carolynt]

If you're like someone I know who is a quick learner, don't go to tutors and lectures just do questions yourself and motivate yourself.

But it depends what kind of learner you are.

[mod0001]

physics i a+ notes aren't that great. checkpoints is useful because they're organised into area of studies. it gets really tedious looking up questions in each past paper for each area of study. tsfx notes helped me heaps in physics. did it last year and got a high 40s study score.

[sam.utute]

If you're like someone I know who is a quick learner, don't go to tutors and lectures just do questions yourself and motivate yourself.

But it depends what kind of learner you are.

+1 Don't rely on tutors unless it's necessary (i.e. you are not self-motivated, teachers are not explaining the concepts etc.)

On an unrelated note, I am considering three things. How much work (obviously different for everyone.. blah blah.. give an estimate) would I need for a 44-45 (scaled) per week in: Accounting, Physics, Spesh, Further and Uni Computer Systems (Monash). Mainly looking for comparative figures, they don't need to be absolute numbers.

For Accounting anyhow, you'd be looking to do 7~8 hours per week - just read over the textbook, making sure you fully understand the concepts. Accounting is easy if you know the concepts and practice.
Cambridge are good for Accounting - best book.

EPL summed it up in one word: practice. Accounting is basically 10% understanding, and 90% practice. Unfortunately, most people ignore the understanding part considering it makes up a relatively small part of VCE accounting. But, to do well, it is absolutely necessary. How effective your 90% of practice will be depends on how well you understood the concepts.

[werdna]

IMO, no study guides/notes/lectures can be as useful as your own intensive study.

It seems as though you are being lazy, using these 'resources' instead of doing active study... a 40 study score isn't going to be transformed into a 48 if you read a study guide.... you actually need to apply your own knowledge in the exam!

For example, I've found that English study guides are useless. You could make your own study guide for each text you do.. making more perceptive interpretations of the text, rather than the superficial interpretations set out in each study guide.

Instead of hoarding as many commercial study guides and notes as you can.. why not write them yourself, apply your knowledge by doing plenty of questions, ask your teacher for help and so on.