Is it a disadvantage to come from a low achieving school?

[sam.utute]

I went to a REALLY, REALLY dodgy school. The majority of students (if not all) were not interested in studying or achieving a high ATAR. Thankfully, I was rank 1 for all my subjects (not sure about english though), so the crappy cohort couldn't ruin my chances of a good score.

Wow.. teachers actually do that? Thats mean D:

You bet they do. But the problem is, we just about never ever find out.

[Nike-chan]

I go to an extremely bad school. Unfortunately for me, my psychology teacher took a disliking to me, and starting giving me awful SAC marks, that seemed to get more awful the more immaculately I learned the material. When I would look at the SACs, every single SAC would have marks taken off for ridiculous reasons. And I mean ridiculous. There were several instances when my friend would cheat off my paper and have almost the exact same answer, earning herself full marks, where I would have marks taken off.
Considering that I had straight 100% in all SACs+ Exams last year (yr 11), my rank now is probably 4th or 5th. It’s infuriating and unfair, but I didn’t risk it in terms of complaining. This means that in psychology I'm screwed, because I know I did 300 times better on the exams than the rest of the (unintelligent, apathetic) cohort, and someone’s C is going to become my SAC mark. On the mid-year I got an A+.
Screw her.
The rest of my subjects are ok, I'm rank 1, but I was relying on Psychology as a top subject- I used to love it. Used to because she killed my love. Pig.

[stonecold]

I go to an extremely bad school. Unfortunately for me, my psychology teacher took a disliking to me, and starting giving me awful SAC marks, that seemed to get more awful the more immaculately I learned the material. When I would look at the SACs, every single SAC would have marks taken off for ridiculous reasons. And I mean ridiculous. There were several instances when my friend would cheat off my paper and have almost the exact same answer, earning herself full marks, where I would have marks taken off.
Considering that I had straight 100% in all SACs+ Exams last year (yr 11), my rank now is probably 4th or 5th. It’s infuriating and unfair, but I didn’t risk it in terms of complaining. This means that in psychology I'm screwed, because I know I did 300 times better on the exams than the rest of the (unintelligent, apathetic) cohort, and someone’s C is going to become my SAC mark. On the mid-year I got an A+.
Screw her.
The rest of my subjects are ok, I'm rank 1, but I was relying on Psychology as a top subject- I used to love it. Used to because she killed my love. Pig.

I know how you feel.  My EngLang teacher took a supreme liking to my friend, so I got to wave goodbye rank 1 from the very start.

She was such a bitch though.  She told our whole class, none of them except 2 knew how to write an essay.

And she waited till the last week before the exam to fail someone.

[eeps]

Well if you can ignore the negative attitudes of the majority of students and put your head down and study hard... I'm sure you'll do well.

If you are doing really well in your subjects - SACs and so on (Rank 1), then it wouldn't matter how well/badly your school does. If your exams grade reflect what you have been getting on SACs, for example, then nothing would be moderated (i.e. A+ in SACs and the exam - you would get that mark/grade). Work hard and give Year 12 your best possible shot and see where that takes you. In many instances, students have done very well in schools which aren't traditionally known to do well academically. As Chavi pointed out "a smart student will succeed regardless of what school he/she attends".

Obviously some resources may be limited, hence there is VN. VCENotes probably has more exams and material than my school does and it's a great resource for asking questions and materials. Use every available material to your advantage, including VN.

Best of Luck.

[Souljette_93]

Well if you can ignore the negative attitudes of the majority of students and put your head down and study hard... I'm sure you'll do well.

Obviously some resources may be limited, hence there is VN. VCENotes probably has more exams and material than my school does and it's a great resource for asking questions and materials. Use every available material to your advantage, including VN.

Best of Luck.

That is so true. I can confidently say that I had resource even before my teachers did..and probably even now, I would have what they don't. ( although I gave my chem teachers the resources..)

[eeps]

Rather be rank 50 at a good school than rank 1 at a crappy school... also teachers *may* chuck you NOT rank 1 if they don't like you. You never know what they do behind closed doors.

IMO I don't think going to good school, ranked 50, is any better than being ranked 1 at a "crappy" school. I'll freely admit my school is good, though we have students at my school who have failed every SAC and have had to do "redemption" SACs to at least get an S. The moderation of SACs isn't that great either. Being at a low-achieving school is irrelevant if you constantly work and put in the effort.

Personally, I knew someone last year - who achieved 98.XX - and this was at a "low-achieving" school in the Western Suburbs.

Ask heaps of questions on VN, if you're unsure of anything. People here are more than willing to answer any queries/qualms you may have - current and past students alike. Resources are also a plenty here.

[sam.utute]

Rather be rank 50 at a good school than rank 1 at a crappy school... also teachers *may* chuck you NOT rank 1 if they don't like you. You never know what they do behind closed doors.

Personally, I knew someone last year - who achieved 98.XX - and this was at a "low-achieving" school in the Western Suburbs.

I can also vouch for this. My brother went to the same school I did (RSC) and still pulled of an ENTER of 99.75.

This forum is like VCE gold. You can learn all the tricks-of-the-trade from people more than willing to share their tactics. If I knew about this forum at the start of this year, I think I woud have done exponentially better in English. But, I digress, VCE is finished!

[eeps]

I can also vouch for this. My brother went to the same school I did (RSC) and still pulled of an ENTER of 99.75.

WOAH. nice! =P 99.75 is absolutely great score.

[luken93]

Going to a good school is more of an insurance policy IMO

If you are rank 50 at a good school, you can be rest assured that the extremely smart kids that take up the highest ranks will do very well on exams. In essence, these scores will set a benchmark for your school, so you will somewhat be dragged along with your cohort.

If you are rank 1 at a bad school, the scores of you and your entire cohort somewhat depend on your score, as you have the prime responsibility of setting the benchmark for your school, so if you stuff up an exam, you will be pulled down accordingly because of your mark, and will have no one to back you up.

Oh I wish I went to a good school...

[HERculina]

My brother went to the same school I did (RSC) and still pulled of an ENTER of 99.75.

i live near u
i think.

[onerealsmartass]

Meh my schoool is average, however; last year there were a fair few people who got over 90.
Only thing that worries me is the strength of me cohort. Half the kids at my school dont even give a shit about education or just dont try, a quarter try but fail, the other quarter are half decent to bright students who will do well...

[sam.utute]

My brother went to the same school I did (RSC) and still pulled of an ENTER of 99.75.

i live near u
i think.

If you live near RSC, then you do live near me.

Meh my schoool is average, however; last year there were a fair few people who got over 90.
Only thing that worries me is the strength of me cohort. Half the kids at my school dont even give a shit about education or just dont try, a quarter try but fail, the other quarter are half decent to bright students who will do well...

It's probably been said to death and you are probably already aware of it, but I'll say it anyways. Make sure you're at the top for all your subjects, and then you'll have nothing to worry about.

[eeps]

The home page of VCENotes sums up this thread.

"It should be clear by now that the VCE system, unfortunately, is troubled by the problem of inequality between students from differing socio-economic areas of society. The vast gap separating the top and bottom schools ensures that there are able, willing and motivated students who are being left behind, struggling at the bottom. Top quality education should be easily accessible and affordable, but the current system does not allow this. VCENotes.com is not here to point the blame. www.VCENotes.com is here to provide the solution. "

[flash36]

If you're aiming to do well there'll always be a group of kids with the same aspirations in the year level, regardless of the quality of the cohort. So really the other kids shouldn't be a distraction.

[eeps]

If you're aiming to do well there'll always be a group of kids with the same aspirations in the year level, regardless of the quality of the cohort. So really the other kids shouldn't be a distraction.

Seconded.