How did you manage your time in VCE?

[Andiio]

I didn't manage time, time managed me.

because in Russia, time manages you!

*Soviet

[Ghost!]

Without knowing if I did well or not, I would probably say a balance is hard to achieve if you want a good score.

I think someone said in this thread earlier that you should not waste your time with irrelevant homework, which is true. Often the homework teachers give you is basic, irrelevant or stuff that you did weeks ago, so I suggest find a way that you like to study and do that, instead of doing exactly what the teacher says. This may be different in a school with excellent teachers, or particularly good subject teachers though. But ultimately your teacher is trying to move your class along through the coursework at the same level and at the same pace, and this doesn't always bode well for students wishing to get better than the median study score for subjects.

I tended to work through the coursework at my own pace, but only on a SAC by SAC basis, never studying for a SAC before I had done the previous one. I was also told on numerous occasions throughout the year to study multiple subjects a night to break it up, but this didn't work for me; I would rather concentrate on one subject a whole night, but this is obviously up to the individual.

However it is important that you allocate adequate time for each subject; eg not doing a week of one subject and ignoring the other because you think you have it covered. However undoubtedly you find yourself doing more in some subjects than others (for me I spent little time doing Business Management and English relatively, and instead focused on Legal Studies and PE because they were my favourite subjects). In addition, at some point during the year, unless you're a freak at all your subjects which I wasn't, it will become clear to you what your 10% subject will be, based on SAC marks, enjoyment of the subject etc etc. Therefore, you should obviously spend the least amount of time on this and concentrate on your main 4 (for me this was Further Maths).

In terms of 'balance' as such, I played football during the year, starting in January up until the term 3 holidays (so basically the whole year). This ultimately consumed all the free time I had away from study, so I found myself either studying or being occupied by footy. Nonetheless I recommend an extra-curricular/out of school activity to mix things up a little; I would have gone insane had I studied for 5 or 6 hours every single night of the year. Also, I recommend doing a rough plan of each week, which can just be in your head if you don't want to write it down, of what you plan to do/study for each night, and also on the weekends. This makes things less confusing as you know exactly what you're doing when you get home from school etc.

With regard to study habits, I did the majority of my study in my room, with music on always. Most of my time was spent doing summaries of the coursework for the upcoming SACs, learning it, then doing as many practice questions/tests that I could find, which most of my teachers provided me with heaps of. Come the end of the year, all my summaries for each SAC were typed up, so all I had to do was join them together and I had a full set of comprehensive notes for each subject by the September holidays. This allowed me to already be doing practice exams throughout the last 3 weeks of school, and feeling confident going into the exams that I had done as many practice exams as possible. I essentially ran out of practice exams to do for most of my subjects by the time the exam came around. I also recommend to clear anything up with your teacher/with other resources as soon as you come across a problem in your subjects. This way you won't forget that you don't quite understand it, and come exam time all the main concepts will be clear in your head. You don't want to be learning major concepts in the September holidays.

Reading my advice, bear in mind I didn't do any Sciences this year (so arguably I chose 'easy' subjects), hence this advice may not work for those doing Chem, Spec Maths etc. I did Business Management, PE, Legal Studies, Further Maths and English.

Really interested in seeing how you go! This sounds like a pretty similar to the way I'm going to go about next year.

[flash36]

I'll let you know how I go mate!

[iffets12345]

if you can listen to music whilst doing a subject like English or Lit, that's pretty good. I mean the pure logic of maths means music doesn't distract me. I always find however, when a shitty song is playing I can tell, but I can't notice when my favourite song is playing. Too in the zone perhaps?

Anyways Cambridge:
I am probably not the best person to listen to because I probably won't hit 98+ ATAR wise and my school captaincy demands were quite low compared to private schools which are more demanding. On Thursdays when I did MUEP I did little homework because I was simply too tired. I always tried to do spesh everyday because I used to do methods everyday. English or Lit I alternated and chem I would read up on. But I had so many spares I tried to study then to be honest.
Also, I tried to do 3 hours a night but it was damn hard and I ended up surfing the net for VN or msn or "typing up my essays' as an excuse. During school term I never went out to parties unless they were my close friends. In the final holiday I did try to study minimum 6 hours. In the end I am here now and if I am successful in VCE then I guess my wacko routine worked out:)
I actually can't fathom how I managed to fit study time in now......
But you can do it! When the pressure is there, your resolve emerges. TRUST ME.

[dptjandra]

I was always dreadful studying with music...but very good studying with television in the background for some reason.  My theory is that I need to have a baseload level of white noise to provide a certain level of distraction which prevents me from getting distracted by other things.  Music kind of exceeds the threshold by being too catchy and thus penetrating, but television shows provide that required buffer to protect against just staring out the window

[Greatness]

I was always dreadful studying with music...but very good studying with television in the background for some reason.  My theory is that I need to have a baseload level of white noise to provide a certain level of distraction which prevents me from getting distracted by other things.  Music kind of exceeds the threshold by being too catchy and thus penetrating, but television shows provide that required buffer to protect against just staring out the window

im quite the opposite, i get drawn in by the tv even if a stupid show is on... but depending on how intense the study sesh is, i can usually do it with music

[kyzoo]

>.< when i listen to music i get into thsi habit of changing the song every 5 seconsd even if its a good song, just because i want to hear something new

[Romperait]

>.< when i listen to music i get into thsi habit of changing the song every 5 seconsd even if its a good song, just because i want to hear something new

Haha you would.

[Greatness]

>.< when i listen to music i get into thsi habit of changing the song every 5 seconsd even if its a good song, just because i want to hear something new

lol yeah i do as well... sometimes i just change it for the sake of changing it xD
i usually listen to R&B sometimes trance/techno

[FatnessFirst]

I was always dreadful studying with music...but very good studying with television in the background for some reason.  My theory is that I need to have a baseload level of white noise to provide a certain level of distraction which prevents me from getting distracted by other things.  Music kind of exceeds the threshold by being too catchy and thus penetrating, but television shows provide that required buffer to protect against just staring out the window

Wow, sadly this is true, but some times there's something in the tv that will still distract me. I still find that I'm working harder when it's on than when it's all quiet. I always thought brown noise helped me study...it just made me fall asleep

[eeps]

For me personally, I found listening to music good while doing work. IMO it works for subjects like: Methods, Chemistry, Legal, Biology etc (Maths/Sciences subjects). Though I don't think listening to music while doing English helps me (that's just me though)!

Or choosing a different song because you're sick of hearing the same songs in the same order over and over!

+1

I have my songs on repeat or sometimes I just shuffle songs (iTunes DJ).

[LFTM]

studying with the tv on wasnt really an issue for me.

[Greatness]

well everyone is different as we can see with these responses 
hopefully one of these helps you