does going to a public school drastically affect your VCE performance?

[yusuke]

If so, in what ways?

And how?

My school consistently only gets about 3-4% of study scores above 40. what should i do?
so many lazy retards doing drugs, drinking alcohol and undertaking pre-marital sex to be bothered studying...

will this affect me in anyway?
my school also lacks resources, we are constantly behind and my school never gives us practice exams (i.e. the commercial ones).

anybody go to a school like this? or is it just me?
what does everyone think about all the inequality in VCE. i'm really disadvantaged...

[xtremeownage]

im in the same boat.

[Eriny]

You will get your the results given the situation if you stop worrying about everyone else around you and just focus on yourself. The lack of resources is a concern, but you can befriend someone who does get those practice exams or buy them yourself. The very best resources (VCAA exams, AN) are free anyway.

I think that the scores of private school children predominantly benefit from the fact that their parents value the education system and that they are around others who also value the education system. Just because you are deprived of this, doesn't mean you can't do well but it does make motivation more difficult. You clearly already have the motivation, so you can ignore everything else.

My school consistently only gets about 3-4% of study scores above 40. what should i do?
so many lazy retards doing drugs, drinking alcohol and undertaking pre-marital sex to be bothered studying...

I'm weary of calling them 'lazy retards' just because they value different things to you. Besides, if their only true problem is laziness, then all of this socio-economic analysis shouldn't matter as long as you aren't lazy. It's unlikely that laziness is the problem, probably it is disenfranchisement and being resigned to the idea that regardless of what they do, they won't be able to achieve all those arbitrary hallmarks of success (high ATAR, high paid job, etc.). It takes a lot to overcome that.

[boysenberry]

I also went to an under-funded public school myself so I can empathize very well with your situation.

It's unlikely that laziness is the problem, probably it is disenfranchisement and being resigned to the idea that regardless of what they do, they won't be able to achieve all those arbitrary hallmarks of success (high ATAR, high paid job, etc.). It takes a lot to overcome that.

Erinny, what do you think is the root cause of this?
I mean year 7-10 isn't even that difficult and it seems as though it's somewhere here where good students just stop trying. Do you think it could be parental negligence?

[nacho]

Yea, going to a crap school sux when you're in vce.
i can pretty much say that if i could stay home and study all day i'd get a higher ATAR than i would - i do nothing at school..
with that said, hopefully your school isn't so strict, and staying at rank 1 won't be hard for you.
Try your best,
and don't feel compelled to go to school. If you know you won't get anything out of the day, stay home and study.
Many exams on vn, so don't worry about resources.
Stay ahead of your class.
gl

[Eriny]

I also went to an under-funded public school myself so I can empathize very well with your situation.

It's unlikely that laziness is the problem, probably it is disenfranchisement and being resigned to the idea that regardless of what they do, they won't be able to achieve all those arbitrary hallmarks of success (high ATAR, high paid job, etc.). It takes a lot to overcome that.

Erinny, what do you think is the root cause of this?
I mean year 7-10 isn't even that difficult and it seems as though it's somewhere here where good students just stop trying. Do you think it could be parental negligence?

I don't know exactly. I think though people are very good at internalising the things they are taught implicitly. If they somehow get the understanding that university or certain universities are for a certain type of person and that they aren't that type, they may get the idea that they shouldn't bother, without even realising that they've gotten this message. This happens all the time to people, we say things we think others want to hear and we take on certain roles that are expected of us without realising that we are even doing it.

Parents play a part too. A family friend my mum's age, for instance, dropped out of school in year 11 and actively told her kids that school performance wasn't a big deal for her and that it would be better for them to get job and earn some money anyway. Her oldest daughter is only a few years older than me and stopped school in year 11 as well and is already married and a mother. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but I think we shouldn't estimate the influence of parents in this situation. Indeed, one of the biggest predictor of whether you are likely to go to university is if your parents (particularly your mother) went to university.

I think overall, as you are brought up you are taught what is important and not important to your family. You can rebel from this and find your own values, but it's difficult and I don't think people generally have the tendency to do so.

[monokekie]

Its the environment and how you react to it that matters.

[flash36]

It shouldn't matter too much. Don't associate with those distracting people and work hard yourself. The historical lack of good study scores at your school shouldn't matter either. At my school we generally had about two people get above 90 out of cohorts of atleast 80 each year; last year we had ten kids get above 90.

Don't worry about your environment, just do the work yourself.

[physics]

i went to a public school... and well thats why u can apply for the special considerations stuff...

[Hure]

Only if you let it.
I think I can relate to your situation, and I had some of the same fears as you earlier in the year when I found out about moderating, rankings etc.
But I have to agree with what a lot of people are saying- when it comes down to it, you do have a considerable amount of control over this; especially considering that you are aware of it, it's just a matter of being self-disciplined. Just try your best to rank as best you can-1 or 2 if possible, and use atarnotes as an indication of the standard of work you should be producing. I doubt there's much more even a very good teacher can give you in terms of extra resources and even advice etc than what this site can.

[lukew]

Something my parent's have told me:

If you try hard and are a good student/person in general you'll succeed regardless of whether you're at a public school or private school.

Just don't let the lack of support in school affect your support you can find outside of school.
You'll be fine as long as you don't feel like it's ok to perform at a lower standard, if you are aiming for a high ATAR.

[DarkVisor]

Eriny, I agree with you, but I do think laziness plays a part.. I mean even if they have 'resigned' themselves to not trying, it's a hell of a lot easier to go out and get drunk with friends than stay home up till 2am studying for a SAC.. I know which one i'd rather be doing.. but can't exactly allow myself the opportunity..

[Fyrefly]

Indeed, one of the biggest predictor of whether you are likely to go to university is if your parents (particularly your mother) went to university.

I think overall, as you are brought up you are taught what is important and not important to your family. You can rebel from this and find your own values, but it's difficult and I don't think people generally have the tendency to do so.

I be statistic breaking rebel.

Winnah \o/


Yusuke can be statistic breaking rebel too, if mindset be changed.

i'm really disadvantaged...

^ This is not winnah mindset. Change it.

i go to a shit school, which is awesome because i get all this extra attention from my teachers while all the other kids are busy getting stoned